Basil Bottletop was my first actual
played character. During AD&D olden times, my cousin ran a game and I made Dakar Woodshadow, kagonesti ranger, who never saw the light of day.
But Basil, oh Basil! My 3.5 new player mistake was trying to introduce some comic relief into a large gaming party that had been playing together awhile. Basil was a ranger to begin with, with a habit for the herb. Did I mention I forgot to buy him a melee weapon and our first couple of encounters were very very close up? So I got creative. Then I kept getting creative. Before long, the whole party (and DM) were pleased with the creativity and evolution of Basil. He soon became a wizard/rogue with a familiar that hated him due to the conflicting alignments between them.
No one messes with a gnome who accidentally steals the power of an evil god for his own use, rebukes the god when he orders his allegiance, and then declares himself the protector of dragons. I'll say it again (because I've said it before on MW), a gnome who protects dragons? You betcha ass.
Basil might have had an bloated sense of himself, but the moment we had to make a major in-character decision from an NPC (one who was offering a 'wish' for each champion for their hard work...3 years of real-life gaming in the making...) and replied to the NPC with:
"I must protect
Ancient Gold dragon who died and her soul returned in the form of a pseudodragon and friend to the evil-God defying gnome. |
Constance. But more, I must protect all dragons. I need nothing from you, but directions out of this Tower."
8 players at the table just clapped their approval. One (the uber-animal lover) sat stunned. Nobody talked after that for a solid 5 minutes. It was my/Basil's shining moment.
That is why he's my MW's name. Because he's the reason I love gaming.