open/close all folders
The Crew of the Per Aspera
The Ship
A Spelljammer ship travelling around the Planescape and going on various adventures. Home to the Crew of the Per Aspera.
- Bookcase Passage: Dani has installed many secret passages on and around the ship, not all of which are known to the rest of the crew.
- Cool Ship: It's a very cool ship that can fly, planeshift, and shoot fire via an attached flamethrower.
- Home Base: Almost every episode begins and ends on the Per Aspera.
- Meaningful Name: "Per Aspera" means "Through Hardship", and is taken from the latin phrase "Per aspera ad astra"; "Through hardship to the stars".
- Non-Residential Residence: While it is undoubtedly the Crew's home, the Per Aspera is still a ship, not a house.
Dani
- Artificer and mechanic Dani cares about three things, her cat, her crew-mates, and keeping the Per Aspera from falling apart in the middle of the Astral Sea. Though, not necessarily in that order...
Race: Fire Genasi
Class: Artificer (Artillerist)
- The Captain: Officially, as of season 4.
- Crazy-Prepared: There are trapdoors and shortcuts practically everywhere on the ship thanks to her.
- Crippling Overspecialization: Her selection of spells focuses heavily on fire damage, which becomes a problem when fighting fire-resistant enemies like devils.
- Flaming Hair: As a fire genasi, her hair is partially composed of fire/magma, which changes color along with her skin.
- Glass Cannon: She’s great at wreaking havoc with cannons and fire spells, but has less hit points than VR-LA and isn’t much harder to hit.
- Hidden Depths: For all her trolling and impulsiveness, she has some surprisingly deep insights into matters of grief and loss. Granted, most of them are packed into a few seconds while rushing the crew to the next crisis they have to deal with.
- Magitek: All Artificers infuse magic into mundane objects, and she mostly works with mechanical devices.
- Mechanical Animals: Plug, her robot cat homunculus.
- Playing with Fire: Has a preference for fire-based spells, which the player picked for largely thematic reasons.
- Street Urchin: Dani's background is that she was a street rat in the city of brass.
- Technicolor Fire: After a fight in the ship's engine room set off a burst of Wild Magic, Dani's entire body, including her flames, was recolored blue.
- Wrench Wench: A skilled artificer and the ship's mechanic.
- Wild Child: She's the most feral of the crew. Highlighted in Season 2 Episode 2 with her fashion choice.
Kyana
- Kyana, Per Aspera's navigator and resident monk, is eager to leave her cloistered past behind and see the world, but her inexperience might get her in trouble along the way!
Race: Kalashtar
Class: Monk (Way of the Astral Self)/Barbarian (Path of the Ancestral Guardians)
A monk who joined the Per Aspera after the rest of the crew discovered her stranded on the Astral Sea.
- Butt-Monkey: Because she's the only frontline fighter in a party full of spellcasters (and an artificer), she ends up being collateral for their area of effect spells a lot of the time.
- Every Scar Has a Story: She gets a slash across her stomach in season 1. She's really hyped about it.
- Fighting Spirit: As an Astral Self monk, she can summon the arms of her astral self, clawed mystical arms, to punch people on her behalf. The Astral Self monk exists as a Shout-Out to Jojos Bizarre Adventure.
- Fish out of Water: Being both a native of the Material Plane and a monk who has been cloistered in an Underdark monastery for her entire life, she's unfamiliar with both the fantastical things the party encounters, like devils, and mundane things like money and omelets.
- The Glomp: Prone to hugging in emotional moments, with all the arms at her disposal.
- The Heart: She has more connection to the people than the actual ship. Her sheltered upbringing means she sees everything new with incredibly childlike awe and the others are very protective of her. Her conversations with NPCs such as Cressida highlight how she tends to make those around her want to be better versions of themselves. And how many other people have experienced a The Glomp from Dani?
- Instant Expert: Spelljammers like the Per Aspera run on spellcasting, the more powerful the pilot, the faster the ship. Despite not being a spellcaster, Kyana could pilot the ship at full efficiency with no prior experience.
- Mundane Object Amazement: She thinks restaurants, menus and soft seating are absolutely incredible, having spent her entire life in an ascetic monastery.
- Super-Speed: At her best, she can keep pace with the Per Aspera at full speed, though doing so will exhaust her.
- Telepathy: As a Kalashtar, one of her racial features is the ability to telepathically communicate with other creatures.
- Wall Crawl: Thanks to her Slippers of Spider Climbing, she can walk on walls and ceilings as easily as floors.
VR-LA
- The ship’s resident wizard, VR-LA goes out of his way to make sure people are comfortable in his presence, often creating the opposite effect. VR-LA yearns to learn more not just about the world, but about himself as well.
Race: Mechanite (Warforged)
Class: Wizard (College of Scribes)/Cleric (Tempest Domain)
- Artificial Intelligence: Not VR-LA himself, but as a scribes wizard his “spell book” contains a magical equivalent named Bing who can manifest a ghostly projection and make adjustments to his spells on the fly. He later winds up having two installed directly into his body as assistants: first Docent, then Emi.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Because of a lot of his memories being stored externally in orbs, he quite literately lost them when the ship was raided by pirates. So he's lost a lot of very specific memories even though he has lots of other memories stored on his ship he can go through.
- Lying by Omission: He does this a lot in season 3, relying on half-truths and technicalities to keep his secrets secret.
- Glass Cannon: In true wizard fashion, Vr-La has the second lowest health and the lowest armor class of the crew, he also has the highest damage output spells without suffering from Dani's crippling overspecialization.
- Meaningful Name: According to his player, the name VR-LA is derived from (and pronounced the same as) the Dutch name "Veerle," which means "Battle Traveler," fitting for a person travelling the planes.
- Robot Wizard: He's a Mechanite, and a wizard.
- Shock and Awe: While his range of damage spells is fairly well-rounded, Lightning is his go-to element.
- Spell Book: Like all wizards, though he uses a data sphere to store his spells rather than a traditional book.
- The Stoic: He's a very private individual, but he cares deeply about his friends. Might cross over with Shell-Shocked Veteran
- The Swarm: The Staff of the Clockwork Swarm is a magic item he uses that deploys mechanical insects for devastating AOE effects as well as some other abilities. Though the Insect Plague is the most used.
Finbar
- Equal parts hunter and chef, Finbar grew up in the woods of the Feywilds. While scouring the Planescape searching out ingredients for his recipes, Finbar brings both sweetness and searing might to the Per Aspera.
Race: Firbolg
Class: Ranger (Swarmkeeper) / Druid (Circle of Stars)
- The Big Guy: Being a Firbolg, Finbar is both the largest member of the party and the tankiest.
- Chef of Iron: Type One: He is both an excellent chef and a ranger.
- Combat Medic: The most dedicated healer on the crew, but also a capable fighter up close and at range.
- Dumb Muscle: Has the highest Strength score in the party at 19, and the lowest Intelligence score at 7. Well, until he gifts his Gauntlets of Fomorian Power to Kyana, that is.
- Edible Theme Naming: All of Finbar's pixies are named after spices.
- One Last Job: Season 3 (and the first six episodes of season 4) are this for him, as he retired from adventuring after getting married to Elyse.
- Only Sane Man: His character has the most detailed history and probably the healthiest upbringing. He gets exasperated with his crewmates' antics, but clearly adores them.
- Simple-Minded Wisdom: Despite having the lowest intelligence in the party, Finbar is very evenly tempered and will often suggest very reasonable solutions to problems. A good example is in "Mechanite Mayhem" when they are trying to get past an arcane lock on a door, Kyana suggests punching it, Dani in her frustration wants to throw a fireball at it, Finbar knocks. (It doesn't work but it's still a very reasonable suggestion.)
- Team Dad: He has a parental sort of relationship with the rest of the crew, and often calls them "the kids" when talking about them with other people.
- The Swarm: A cuter version than normal. A large number of friendly pixies live in his clothes, emerging to help out with chores and aid him in combat.
Bloodless Vhas
Spoilers for season 4
Race: Gith (Githyanki)
Class: Sorcerer (Divine Soul)/Bard (College of Swords)/Warlock (Hexblade)
Guest Player Characters
Hans Jaeger Jr.
- Race: AasimarClass: Cleric (Light Domain)
- Cowardly Lion: While he, to quote his Guardian Angel, "lacks a spine," Hans is no slouch in combat, as much as he tries to hide from the front lines.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "Junior" is this, as his dad doesn't share his name, but instead it was given to him by his peers at the Spires of Morning as he was weaker than them in terms of magical and combat prowess.
- Guardian Angel: Was assigned one at the Spires of Morning, named Archadios, who only speaks to him, and is a massive jerk.
- Nervous Wreck: His inner monologue is basically a nonstop stream of weak reassurances devolving into self-deprecation.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He only hires the crew for one adventure, but casts a spell as part of his payment that reveals the dual nature of Kyana’s soul.
HE- 11 & Vice
Player: [1]
- Race: Mechanite (Warforged)Class: Bard (College of Lore)
- Gleeful and Grumpy Pairing: HE-11 is a rather polite mechanite bard who cheerfully greets everybody he meets, while Vice is an angry warlord from Hell with bad impulse control and a tendency to yell a lot.
- Magic from Technology: HE-11's body uses a punch card mechanism to play Magic Music for their spells.
- Multiple Head Case: HE-11 and Vice each have a distinct head, which switch out depending on who is in control.
- Sharing a Body: Vice lost his original body in a power struggle, but what's left of him has taken refuge in HE-11's. They switch control whenever either takes damage.
Weird Little Dudes
Plug
A mechanical cat homunculus built by Dani, as well as the protector and (in his mind) captain of the Per Aspera.
- Heroic Pet Story: The Weird Little Dudes one-shot counts as this for Plug and his posse.
- Loyal Animal Companion: In the Weird Little Dudes one-shot, we get to see just how loyal Plug is towards Dani, and how dedicated he is to guarding her and the ship.
- Mechanical Animals: A robotic cat with an accordion-like body.
- Non-Action Guy: Plug technically has a ranged attack and could help Dani out in fights, but since she has Eldritch Cannons for that sort of thing and doesn’t want him in harm’s way she usually just leaves him on the ship or has him run for cover.
- Running Gag: Plug has the Ship's deed squirreled away somewhere, and thus is the Ship's Captain.
Sunny
Kyana's pseudo-dragon familiar.
- Feather Boa Constrictor: Sunny can regularly be found wrapped around Kyana's neck like a scarf.
- Heroic Pet Story: Plug all-but drags him into one in the Weird Little Dudes one-shot.
- Psychic Link: Kyana and Sunny share some kind of mental link.
- Seeing Through Another's Eyes: As he is Kyana's familiar, she can choose to see through Sunny's eyes. This is useful if the crew needs someone small and fast to scout ahead.
- Shoulder-Sized Dragon: Sunny is a recently-hatched baby pseudo-dragon.
Drone
A mechanical wasp built by MX-IM and gifted to VR-LA.
Old Bay & the Pixies
Finbar's swarm of pixies.
- Assist Character: Their main role in combat is to ride along on Finbar's attacks, swarming the target for a little extra damage or to drag it around the battlefield.
- Edible Theme Naming: They're named after spices and seasonings.
Coriander
Finbar's blink dog, and a good girl.
- Summon Magic: She doesn't travel with the crew, mostly staying with Finbar's family in the Feywild. When he needs her help, he can call on her using the Summon Beast spell.
- Surprise Litter of Puppies: When Finbar sees Coriander for the first time in a while, she's accompanied by her puppies. According to Love, this is a recent development.
Docent
An Artificial Intelligence formerly living in VR-LA's mind.
Emi
An Artificial Intelligence currently piloting the Per Aspera.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Played with. She's not actively malicious when introduced so much as childlike, lacking a sense of restraint and a full understanding of the harm she can inflict. That said, she has incinerated a burglar and came fairly close to killing Dani.
- Benevolent A.I.: She's a curious and friendly companion to VR-LA and friend to the crew... after her initial bout of violence, that is.
- Constantly Curious: Her main goal is to see the planescape firsthand and learn as much as she can. Originally this involved building herself a robot body, but she's agreed to tag along in VR-LA's mind instead.
- Heel–Face Turn: Introduced as a rogue AI who came to blows with the party, VR-LA managed to talk her down and recruit her as an assistant.
- Power Copying: In house form, she could instantly learn any spell cast within her walls. As VR-LA's assistant, she can help him analyze and learn new spells.
- Smart House: Introduced as an advanced magical equivalent, but she wasn't too happy with the arrangement.
The Heap
The Heap
Oto
The owner of the heap.
Roy
A fire genasi mechanic who works at the Heap.
Egan
Mandy
Zaxx
Assorted Allies
Enoch
A Githzerai monk who the crew first encounter captured on a train in Avernus.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: When the crew sends him a message asking for his assistance rescuing Kyana from the mind-flayers, he and the other Githzerai he got together only manage to arrive after she and the other monks have been rescued and the illithid have escaped.
- I Owe You My Life: He feels indebted to the crew after they rescue him from Avernus, to the point of attempting to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save them.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: Lampshaded by Red when he attempts to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save the PCs from a pursuing red dragon. The crew then defy this, just barely managing to rescue him once again. Played straight in season 4 where he actually dies and has to be resurrected.
Elyse
Another chef of the Searing Tongue guild, Finbar's former ex, current wife, personal chef of Hira, the Grand Connoisseur
- Chef of Iron: Type Three, though she doesn't particularly like fighting. She's a Bard who specializes in food-based magic, and even has a homebrew subclass called the College of Feasts.
- Foil: To Finbar. She is described as a wizard in the tower, while Finbar is one that travels.
- Improbable Weapon User: Caught without an instrument when a fight breaks out, she manages to work some bardic magic by playing a water glass.
- Supreme Chef: Is seen as Finbar's equal (or, if you'd ask her, his better) when it comes to cooking, and when the cooking competition is announced, immediately suggests they team up so they can guarantee a win.
MX-IM
Another Mechanite, who knows something about VR-LA's past, and apparently had a business arrangement with him.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: When the crew is attacked by Cressida and Lula, his alarm system is set off, and by the time he gets out of his home, Kyana's already been abducted.
- Collector of the Strange: He keeps a wide variety of spells and magic items for his research, and whatever he doesn’t have he usually knows where to find.
- Robot Wizard: A Mechanite spellcaster, though a Sorcerer rather than a Wizard. His magic is derived from an innate connection to Mechanus.
- Shout-Out: His voice explicitly sounds like that of Optimus Prime
Cassimir
Cressida (and Lula)
A Drow bounty hunter and her pet spider-robot.
- Consummate Professional: Cressida only takes one job at a time and states up front that she won't be bribed to drop it. Nor does she appreciate her client trying to re-negotiate in the middle of a fight.
- Heel–Face Turn: The duo's introduction is them being hired to bring Kyana back to her monastery, however, since they are spared after completing their mission, they then become allies with the Per Aspera on later adventures.
- Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Lula is a mechanical Giant Spider that can travel between dimensions that's also possessed by something.
Davion
A Tiefling starting out on his adventuring career after inheriting his own spelljammer.
- Butt-Monkey: He’s a charming Rogue and fairly competent on paper, but his luck in combat is so atrocious that tiny singing mushrooms can give him trouble.
- Fragile Speedster: His ship is a hummingbird-class vessel built for impressive speed, but not as sturdily as the Per Aspera. It also needs more maintenance than he knows how to provide, which exasperates Dani every time they meet.
- Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: He comes from a wealthy family and inherited his ship, but has a lot to learn about the adventuring business. At the very least, he’s in desperate need of a proper crew.
Athos
A leonine barbarian who resides in the Beastlands.
Ione
The (Former) Crew of the Per Aspera
Major spoilers for Season 3. MR-SN
A Mechanite, the captain of VR-LA's old crew of the Per Aspera. Spoilers for Season 3 ahead.
- Dead All Along: Is revealed to be this, much to VR-LA's sadness.
- Talking to the Dead: Is dead by the time the series begins, and is only able to speak with VR-LA when the Goddess of Magic herself brings him to the Per Aspera.
K-LB
AS-TR
E-DN
C-RA
Assorted Antagonists
DX-TR
A Mechanite
- I Will Punish Your Friend for Your Failure: In the season 3 finale, DX-TR ends up killing Dani as a consequence of VR-LA's failed Persuasion check.
Endellion
Azotico (The Dread Mallocybrius)
A mysterious water Genasi with a grudge against The Searing Tongue. He’s quite a bit more than he appears.
- Death World: Makes his home in the Plane of Salt, a miserable place caught between the Plane of Water and the Shadowfell.
- Festering Fungus: His preferred Mooks are giant carnivorous fungi.
- Hannibal Lecture: Admits he has a habit of slipping into these, though he’s not above exploiting them to distract the crew while his plans are in motion.
- Make Them Rot: When not leaving the fight to his mooks or relying on mind control, he favors withering blasts of magic. His Breath Weapon as a dragon is much the same.
- Sadistic Choice: When the crew tracks him down to confront him, he has one all set up for them: save the guild leader from being eaten by a fungus monster, or stop a brainwashed Elyse from assassinating her boss. Much to his disappointment, they manage to do both.
- Scaled Up: In his final battle with the party, he takes his true form as a Topaz Dragon.
- Straw Nihilist: The core of his philosophy, and what ultimately puts him at odds with The Searing Tongue. Their belief that the wonders (and flavors) of the planescape should be sought out and experienced clashes with his goals of embracing entropy.
The Lichen Bride
