New Submissions
Appearance
Aged and frumpy, old Grafton blinks owlishly from behind his glasses. He smells of the tanned hides he sews, and flecks of precious metal leaf cling to his cuffs. Medium height and thin build with long white hair in the few places he has hair anymore. His pockmarked face has settled to squinty eyes and a tight-lipped grin.
History/Background
Trained by his own father, and an elder member of the Bookbinder’s Guild, he partnered for many decades with his good friend Martimus Barton, a bookseller on St. Beryl’s Square. Barton bought libraries at estate auctions and Johnlouis would re-bind the most ancient volues for resale at premium prices. His way with gilding made his work highly coveted among book collectors, and in his prime he rendered bindings that stood on their own as materworks of embossed leather and embellishment.
After Barton’s death he took over their shop along with his daughter, Theyra. He has taught her everything he knows and directs her work when his eyes are tired or his hands shake too much. His shop has become more like a personal collection, and he knows every book and its contents. His great comfort is having some of his friends over in the evenings to drink port and talk about ... books.
Special Equipment
Leathworking equipment, large sewing needle, Fabulous Knowledge of Literature.
Roleplaying Notes
Grafton is a kindly soul, and extremely helpful. He is useful for looking up obscure facts or finding ancient maps bound in with other texts.
January 19, 2007, 20:24
This does scream out for a plot hook or two though, or a minor twist on his nature.
I will link him to 'The Rest of the Cast - Extras and Minor Characters' scroll.
Welcome Pshaw! Hope to see more of your ideas!
January 30, 2007, 12:22
January 19, 2007, 21:34
January 19, 2007, 22:44
Great solid NPC just they way he is though for sure! Just like him and want more!
January 30, 2007, 12:25
January 19, 2007, 23:34
Matter of coding: He is not really scenario based, unless a scenario revolves around him... so he is a minor or an extra character. Unless you are going to post said scenario soon?
January 20, 2007, 13:39
January 20, 2007, 3:19
A nice first post, welcome to the site!
January 20, 2007, 13:01
January 20, 2007, 20:51
January 30, 2007, 12:34
January 30, 2007, 12:57
Well, maybe not _That_ many....
:)
January 21, 2007, 11:32
Old Grafton is a well done NPC, the sort of character that thoughtful PCs would encounter regularly as they attempt to gather information. I could see him contacting wizard characters, hawking rare and unusual volumes of magical lore...
... I am glad to offer the original notebooks of the Void Magus Knallin to you, but I must warn you that other wizards, (perhaps less scrupulous than yourself) have expressed interest in these unique volumes. Please contact me immediately if you are interested in this opportunity...
This gets interesting if the message is delayed, so that the PC discovers that the book is gone, sold to some sinister magus.
January 30, 2007, 12:26
April 9, 2009, 16:24
April 10, 2009, 1:08
The theory is: You only have X amount of creative time/ energy to spend on a campaign and a given session. Most of that is spent on "the big things", leaving very little for those special details that help bring a campaign alive. Strolenites create solid complete pieces for people to grab. These are usually done with more detail than most people have the time and effort to do for their campaign. They provide more versmilitude and depth for the campaign than the normal material the GM had the time/ effort to do.
So we like it when people make minor characters or extras and lavish attention on them. (Or other things which can plug and play or just be added to the campaign). We want material that people can use in their everyday campaign. They can (and want to) make up their own grand npcs and villians, but do they have the time to create an interesting book binder?
September 23, 2010, 7:22
September 23, 2010, 15:03
Re. what MoonHunter said, this is the most important part of this site to me, pulling out all the books, potions, weapons, etc that are already detailed enough to use in the campaign so I can spend my time making up other things, which will then be put on Strolen's.