Big Trouble In Little Bystrica is a Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition campaign played by a group of tropers who frequent the Character Development Threads - specifically Killer Clowns (DM), Gault, Eterna Memoria, Snowy Foxes, Aqueos, Ladytanuki (Minerva Ravenesque), and Darkblood Carnagefang (Three-Eyed Bat). It is set in a custom world on the continent of Solemar, consisting of the countries of Ingileif, Maiteander, Bystrica, and the main continent in which the campaign takes place, Mbisa.

The place is ruled by Dragon Emperor Sjanoach, and has been at peace for two centuries... until some big trouble has stirred up beneath the surface in the Little Bystrica district of Mbisa. Demons have been running loose, and the University of Mbisa can't seem keep things under control. Three professors in particular are looking into this problem: Professor Thembayo of the School of Enchantment, Professor Ruskov of the School of Divination, and Professor Nqethuna of the School of Illusions.

And of course, the professors end up quietly recruiting a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits to look into the problem. We have:

Corso (played by Gault): A newly-recruited blood hunter who dabbles in alchemy and regularly cheats at stuff.
Mira (played by Eterna Memoria): A fighter fallen from the ranks of Bystrican nobility, and a staunch supporter of the Empire. After receiving worrying news from her homeland, as well as a chance to reclaim her station, she left the party. In a letter, she revealed her true identity, Baroness Vesna Bilakladiv, and now she works towards atoning for the deeds that made her subjects depose her in the past.
Julis (played by Snowy Foxes): A sometimes caustic bard and Ingileifan shepherd-turned-adventurer who can be very compelling when he wants to be—as long as he's not drowning his regrets in yet another bottle of vodka.
Elaris (played by Aqueos): An elfin druid from Maiteander who grew bored with communing with nature and instead partakes in scamming the rich.
Venifica (played by Ladytanuki): A morally dubious shadar-kai wizard trying to thwart a prophecy predicting her upcoming death, studying necromancy and making a pact with an archlich for guidance.
Izmo (played by Eterna Memoria): A Mbisan wizard that joined the party after Mira left. Has a taste for the dramatic, likes fire and strange masks, but in the end he would rather leave peacefully and climb the social ladder. A tiefling born of elves, and a worshiper of Oshara, Goddess of Ambition.
Hazel (played by Snowy Foxes): A brash, energetic, and somewhat naive teenage bard and accomplished swordswoman from rural Ingileif, eager to make a name for herself and get a taste of the adventuring life.
Giligr (played by Darkblood Carnagefang): A large, crocodile-like Lizardfolk barbarian with a great big axe, the liver of a sailor, and the only non-squishy member.
Ravi (played by Ladytanuki): A cleric of Lecreus who delivers prophecies about people's deaths, earning her the title of Doomspeaker. Is Venifica's great-aunt, and she's after her head for trying to defy the prophecy and death itself.
Lysander (played by Gault): A gun-slinging wizard who looks to be of Ingiliefian nobility, but is actually not.

The campaign was carried out in real-time, with no archive or recording available.

Big Trouble In Little Bystrica contains examples of:

Accidental Hero: Well, accidental villain. Vanko the Man, Corso's criminal alter-ego for infiltrating criminal organizations, gets credit for silently wiping out the entirety of the Goat's Horns' crew (actually done by Father), becoming The Dreaded in the process.
Anachronism Stew: Comes with the system, but further increased deliberately. Mbisa's political situation — with a dedicated police force not far from one you'd find in an early 20th century city, a formalized university system, and an anarcho-communist organization comfortably established — is unusually advanced for what is a pre-industrial world where gunpowder is a new rarity.
…And That Little Girl Was Me: One day in between missions, Mira tells the story of the infamous Lady Vesna of White Anvil and how she snapped after many sneaky offensive attempts by outsiders, and that she was the Lady's confidant. Then after she leaves the party to set affairs straight in White Anvil, she reveals that she was Lady Vesna all along.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Without exception, Imperial officials are either nobles trained from birth in swordplay and combat, or tough enough to have earned the respect of the same. Exemplified by the Emperor, a literal dragon.
Berserk Button: In the secret-spilling party meeting at the Witch's Cup, Mira and Venifica end up pressing each other's almost simultaneously. First, Venifica's is triggered by Mira wanting to talk about the gods with her (which Mira calls her out on), and then Mira's when Venifica states her disdain for the gods. Another of Mira's buttons is pressed later, when Elaris questions her undying loyalty for Baroness Vesna (who is allegedly dead), even as she admits all the wrong things Vesna has done. Little did he know that she was Vesna all along, finally confessing her shames... in her own, prideful way.

Bolt of Divine Retribution: Downplayed from the typical tRPG usage. In the fight with Giligr's dream double, the top of each round sees a bolt of lightning crashing down on a random party member. Meaning that the only thing the player did to deserve this was have bad luck.
Chest Monster: A literal one appears in the tomb where Tecatzin the monk is imprisoned, in a room full of ordinary treasure chests. Fortunately the party is able to defeat it quickly.
Chummy Commies: The Free Order are a group with beliefs comparable to anarcho-communism, who have clerics able to draw directly from spheres without a god and a paladin order.
City of Adventure: Mbisa itself, a metropolis that combines one part medieval Timbuktu, one part Vailian Republic, and three parts Ankh-Morpork.
Clipped-Wing Angel: The Faceless, a Celestial fought by the party at Scar Mesa. After taking some damage, he turned into a weak swarm of doves and tried to flee the battle... but was killed in just a few hits (and the killing blow did necrotic damage, which he was resistant to) before his next turn.
Close-Call Haircut: During the fight with Giligr's double, Venifica aims a Fireball just high enough in the air to hit the large-sized air elementals but not the medium-sized party members. When Snowy (Julis's player) worries about Julis (who is low on HP at that point) being caught in the blast, the DM reassures her that he won't get hit, but rules that the fireball scorches the top of Julis's hair. Julis is not pleased.
Julis: "My hair is already red, you don't have to set it on fire, it doesn't need the help!"
The Cloudcuckoolander Was Right: Vashenka is a blithering loon whose ramblings are inspired by the Time Cube in both style and content. It also makes a lot of sense when Elaris looks it over, and what he says apparently aligns with the ramblings of the insane oracle Kanse.
Critical Failure: Any campaign is bound to have a few hilarious ones, and this is no exception:
- Leonitas has a particularly epic one where he crit-fails a Wisdom save against Julis's Suggestion, resulting in him being completely compliant with the party's interrogations of him. This would normally be a stretch for the spell, but the DM ruled it as plausible only because of the critical failure.
- During the Bystrica mission, the party finds the Magic Mirror they were after, and spot some strange shadows swirling around in its surface. Mira gazes into it and the DM calls for a Wisdom save. Upon hearing this, Minerva (Venifica's player) decides to have Venifica check it out too, figuring Venifica will be fine since she has proficiency on wisdom saves. Cue rolling a natural 1 on the save.
- During the fight with the commander of Father's automata in Scar Mesa, Mira tries to grapple him. Despite his robotic Super-Strength, the commander ends up crit-failing the Strength check and is successfully grappled by an (extra)ordinary human.
Crystal Prison: Sejara's dream double imprisons the real Sejara in one of these after she enters the mirror by herself, prompting the party to defeat the double and rescue her.
Defeat Means Friendship: When Sejara the dragoness first appears, rather than immediately punish the party for trying to steal her treasure, she decides to face them in a fair fight to deem if they are Worthy Opponents. After Elaris owns her with two packs of dire wolves, she becomes an ally to the party.

Disc-One Nuke: Elaris's brown bear form. He can do this at the very beginning of the campaign, and the form has more HP and attack power than any of the other PCs at that point (and if defeated, only returns him to his elf form rather than knocking him out). This form becomes outclassed at around level 4 though.
Divine Intervention: Courtesy of Lira, whom the party encounters when they are dragged into the Plane of Negative Energy by the Wandering Lantern. She gives the party a bunch of useful magical items to help them on their quest.

Dude, Not Funny!: When the group is hanging around at the Witch's Cup, Corso, jesting at the possibility of Mira being a teetotaler, snatches the glass of vodka she orders and squeezes an orange into it, making a makeshift screwdriver. Mira does not react well to having her order "adulterated".
Enigmatic Minion: The servant of "Father", who stalks the party, asks many random questions utterly unrelated to the campaign as well as a few that are, and eventually deems the PCs "irrelevant".
Evil Counterpart: There's a parallel campaign taking place in Bystrica, and its PCs are more interested in power than saving the world. The two intermittently interact, mostly through Vernova... and eventually, an assassin sent by them to Mbisa For the Evulz. They actually didn't intend to send him, but their criminal ally willfully misunderstood their request.
Exact Words: The Guitar Devil, disguised as a mortal bard, first offered Julis his earnings for the night when challenging him to a playing contest. He lost... but revealed that, as a devil, he had no need for mortal money, and hadn't been playing for money that night at all. Julis got nothing, and lost the rematch where a secret was wagered against a secret.
Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The countries of the southern region of the empire (which is by no means the entire empire).
- Though the names are Zulu-based due to pre-campaign Early-Installment Weirdness, Mbisa is mostly Mali, specifically Timbuktu, albeit with the Sankore Madrasah replaced by something akin to the Unseen University.
- Distant Bystrica, the homeland of many characters, is the resident Überwald, with Dithmarschen style peasant communes dotted about and holding their own.
- The archipelago of Maiteander combines Basque-inspired names with independently-minded pirates who range from Horny Vikings to classical peg-leg pirates (relying on magic and ballistae instead of cannon).
- The Imperial capital province, Ingilief, is Arthurian with a dash of Irish; fae are common and often dangerous, they field the finest knights in the known world, and their names are mostly Saxon-inspired.
- From the distant corners of the empire, the Acoaxtec are mostly Aztec, albeit with a monopoly on the fine art of hurling chunks of metal with alchemical explosives that made them tricky to conquer.
Fantasy Gun Control: Sort of. They're the secret weapon of the Acoaxtec Empire, allowing them to resist Sjanoach's conquest, but the Acoaxtecs jealously guard the secrets of gunpowder. Lysander managed to independently engineer his own weapons, but has also kept the secrets to himself.
Final Boss Preview: In session 4, the party has their first face-to-face encounter with Keelyn in the sewers. Leaving the fight alive triggers the first party level-up in the campaign.
Gambit Pileup: The Mbisan party, the University, the Empire, the Silken Circle, Lubek, the Ogmillan Theocracy, and Father all have plans, among others. Even with the Free Order and Mbisa City Guard actively avoiding getting involved, it gets messy fast.
Geas: When agreeing to have Phile act as a mole for the Silken Circle, Sjanoach has his court wizard place one of these on him to ensure his loyalty to the Empire.
"Get Back Here!" Boss:
- Vashenka initially behaves like this. Throughout most of the battle, he acts in a cowardly fashion, shutting himself inside a Resilient Sphere for a while and then casting Dimension Door to move far away from the party. Once he's spotted again, he initially plans to flee again, before altering his strategy after getting hit by a Scorching Ray (see Nice Job Fixing It, Villain below).
- Nkame also acts this way. After attempting a high-level Fireball on the party, she moves away from the party, and continually flees after the party traps her in the Wandering Lantern. To the point where the fight ends when Hazel casts Hold Person on her.
- Note that both Vashenka and Nkame are Squishy Wizards, so the strategy is pretty justified for them.
Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: Chasing down an impersonator Vanko results in the party having to fight the impersonator, his thugs, and a very angry vampire bartender.
Gone Horribly Wrong: During the infiltration of Viceroy Phile's basement, the party stumbles upon a demon-summoning ritual. However, this ritual has been hijacked by Father's constructs so that it instead summons an angel powerful enough to defeat Sjanoach. Fortunately, the party was able to destroy the summoning circle.
Grey-and-Grey Morality: Between the University and the Empire; each has its valid complaints about the other's secret-keeping and plotting, but both are just as fast to keep their own secrets as they are to tell other faction off.

Grim Up North: One of the countries of Solemar has a dark history of being ruled by the undead. Of course it's the northernmost country, Bystrica.

Impossibly Tacky Clothes:
- Corso, in his disguise as up-and-coming drug dealer Vanko the Man. The combination of a leather overcoat, white blouse, leather pants shredded beneath the knees, faux leopard print stole, and pork pie hat with a feather in it caused much amusement and consternation.
- Leonitas wears some questionably designed clothes underneath his cloak.
In Vino Veritas: Notably subverted, as this takes place at the one party meeting where they have non-alcoholic drinks. In this meeting, most of the party divulges some secret characteristic or plan they had been doing behind the rest of the party's back. Played straight for Julis and Venifica though, who sneaked in a drink or two before telling their secrets anyway.
Joke Item: One of the items the party receives from Lira is an oil that can be smeared on a door, which makes it open up to a portal full of spiders. The DM even stated that he added it for the sole purpose of seeing what creative use the players could come up with for it.
Killed Offscreen: When questioned about having Julis's rapier, Hazel spun a story about how he was murdered by someone with a long-standing grudge in distant Ingileif. Unable to beat her Deception roll with Insight, the party had to unravel the lie with old-fashioned logic.
Killer Game Master: Double subverted. With a name like Killer Clowns, one might expect the DM to act this way. But character death is not too much of an issue and the enemies the party faces aren't too dangerous... except for the 13th-level wizard at level 6, the vampire at level 7, and the archdevil with Power Word Kill at level 9.

Laser-Guided Karma:
- In the fight with the evil Keelyn in the sewers, Keelyn nearly screws the party over by taking control of Bear!Elaris. But before she can attack anyone with him, the dice gods conspire to break her concentration by giving Venifica near-perfect rolls on a Witch Bolt.
- After the fight with Leonitas, Julis approaches the also evil dwarf and uses Suggestion to try and make him tell the party everything he knows about the demon-summoning circle he's affiliated with. Leonitas gets double 1s on his saving throw... with d20s (that's a 1 in 400 chance).
- Much later, during the encounter with Agares, Vesna challenges him to a fight and promptly gets Power Word Killed. ...Or she would, but then Venifica pulls off a successful Counterspell against it (requires a DC 19 ability check). The dice gods want her to live after all.
Like a Son to Me: Umbra, Corso's revived dream double, is like a little brother to him, despite being an entirely separate individual from another world reincarnated into the body of a celestial.
Love Triangle: There's a love triangle going on between Elaris, Venifica, and Nahatz. Venifica likes Nahatz, but Nahatz likes Elaris instead; Elaris has feelings for neither of them (but may be willing to sleep with Nahatz in exchange for inside information, pushing this more toward a Type 4).
Mass "Oh, Crap!":
- While the party was infiltrating a criminal hideout, the minions asked Julis (disguised as their boss) if he wanted to wake up "Fluffles". He casually agreed. Cue mass panic when the party realized that Fluffles was a Displacer Beast.
- More or less the group's (or at least the players') reaction when Keelyn, during her first fight with the group, took control of Elaris's body... while he was in bear form.
- En route to Balduhad's place, the party comes across a cave that has a treasure hoard in the back and fights some space toads. And then the owner of the treasure (a dragon) comes along, provoking this reaction.
- Two meta examples happen in Nkame's mansion. First, upon learning that Nkame was going to cast a level 4 Fireball on the party (which fortunately Venifica counterspelled). Second, upon learning that Nkame's Banishment "out" of the Negative Plane could allow her to appear anywhere on the planet... which cause panic sufficient enough to warrant the DM deciding she should appear in the same spot where the party stuffed her in the Wandering Lantern.
The Mole: After imprisoning Phile in the Wandering Lantern and while meeting with Sjanoach, Corso and Venifica propose that they plant Phile as one for the Silken Circle, after the party convinces the emperor that he wants to atone for allying with the circle. Sjanoach reluctantly complies.

Never Split the Party: When the party is recruiting Nahatz for a Silken Circle infiltration, Nahatz suggests that he go into the candy store hideout sword-a-blazing, while the others investigate the warehouse. Almost everyone else agrees that that's a bad idea. Julis even plays the Emerald Rose song for him to try and convince him that splitting the party is bad.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The party had a chance to pull this in Phile's basement by allowing the summoning ritual to continue after it was hijacked by Father's constructs. This would have summoned a Celestial powerful enough to defeat Sjanoach (whom the party is allied with) in single combat. Mira (or Eterna, rather), notably, wanted to see what would be summoned; fortunately she was outvoted by the rest of the party.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- The Bystrican PCs are rivals of the Mbisan ones, and yet a few of their actions have (inadvertently) weakened Keelyn. Eventually they turn out to be against Keelyn's actions themselves, though.
- In his fight with the party, Vashenka casts Feign Death to give the impression that he has been killed with Venifica's Scorching Ray. The idea is that once the spell ends, he could come back later and haunt the PCs. Which would have been a good idea if Venifica had not decided to reanimate his body for the lulz, tipping the party off that he was faking when the spell failed. So instead, his catatonic state not only helped them capture him, but also potentially get more information out of him.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: The first undead minions Venifica creates are giant alien zombie toads.
One-Hit Polykill: Happened a couple of times:
- Underneath Phile's mansion, Julis kills a bunch of cacodaemons with Shatter while destroying the demon (or celestial, rather) summoning circle.
- A straighter example (literally): in the Tecatzin rescue mission, Venifica fires a Lightning Bolt that goes straight through three monks, killing them all in one shot. Even though they all succeed on the saving throw.
- In Nkame's mansion, Izmo nukes three thorny plants with a Fireball. He does the same to some skeletons in Vashenka's lair.
Our Souls Are Different: The campaign thus far has involved a lot of soul gems, which are essentially trapped souls given substance. They are not quite Soul Jars, though - more like Crystal Prisons which store the soul of a being who has been killed.
People Puppets: Keelyn does this in her first fight with the party, taking control of their bodies and making them attack each other.
Pocket Dimension: The Wandering Lantern is one, containing a portal to the Negative Plane. The party uses it a few times to imprison someone.
Purple Is Powerful: The Imperials are especially fond of tyrian purples.
Russian Reversal: Grigori asks the party how everyone feels about working as debt collectors. Julis responds with, "As they say in old country, debt collects you, in the end."
Secret Circle of Secrets: The Silken Circle, a secret cult dedicated to summoning demons and collecting souls.
Slippery MacGuffin: The Wandering Lantern. It's an artifact sacred to Lira which has a variety of uses, meant to lead the one who holds it exactly where they need to be. However, it doesn't stick around for long if one holds onto it but doesn't use it. And the mysterious shade-attracting amulet the party found in Tovalach's hoard after slaying him, which returned to Izmo after he gave it to one of Father's agents.
Straight for the Commander: This is Venifica's strategy in the fight with Vashenka. While most everyone else is focusing on his skeletons and flail snails, she attacks Vashenka with a Lightning Bolt before he hides and flees, and once he is spotted again she immediately fires a Scorching Ray at him. In fact, she and Izmo are the only ones who end up doing any damage to him (the latter only because Vashenka happens to be in the area of a Fireball).
These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: This is the reason why the secret of a wand stolen from the Temple of Lecreus ended up possessing was kept a secret by everyone except Elaris, the Skull Queen, and perhaps a few druids. They refuse to tell the rest of the party, for apparently its secret is ruinous.
Tome of Eldritch Lore: While infiltrating Phile's mansion, Julis, Corso, and Venifica stumble across one in the viceroy's bedroom. It is a book about entropic nightmare dragons, that Phile thought was the Emperor's species, after being cursed with terrible dreams by him. He also kept a tome written in Celestial, that speculates on ways to physically enter the plane of dreams.
Villain Ball: Vashenka was holding this during his encounter with the party. Phile told the party earlier that he will destroy his notes if cornered. However, he ends up giving Venifica a chance to see if she understands his views on necromancy and agrees to hand over his notes if she does. Even though he could have just lied in his letter and initiated combat immediately when they showed up, burning his notes in the process. Sure enough, Venifica passes his "test" and receives the notes, and even though he does decide to try and kill the party anyway, by then the party has a chance to hide the notes before combat starts.
We ARE Struggling Together: The Empire and the University can barely stand one another, even with a demon on the loose, though individual Imperials and professors range from "hyper-paranoid" to "pragmatic".
Wizarding School: The Mbisan University is this (in addition to some mundane research facilities), of the University sort. It's pretty stable in the campaign's era, but the oldest elven professors are old enough to remember when Klingon Promotion was the preferred way to rise through the ranks, and it still takes occasional visits from Sjanoach threatening to eat non-compliant professors to keep things in order.
You All Meet in an Inn: The party all gets together initially in a coffeehouse. Subverted in that a few of the characters (Mira and Corso, and Julis and Elaris) knew each other before arriving - though not too long beforehand. Also in that they had all previously attracted the attention of one of the three professors.

Characters

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Corso

The Leader: He is usually the one who makes the final decision on how to go about a mission, and he also tends to have the most information on a task due to his ties with the blood hunters. This position was further solidified when Julis passed on the job of party treasurer.
Playing with Fire: Has a knack for making alchemist's fire for use in various situations. No magic needed.
Poisonous Person: Becomes this upon joining the Order of the Mutant, which grants resistance to and association with poisons.
Stealth Expert: With the highest Dexterity of the group, he is well equipped for stealth missions.
Team Dad: Started growing into this role after Izmo and Hazel joined the party and brought down the members' average age. Compounding that is the fact that he feels responsible for Hazel in her father's absence, and he's less than amused by Izmo using illusions to tease her.

Baroness Vesna "Mira" Bilakladiv

Originally a member of the low Bystrican nobility, who fled to Mbisa under a false name after an armed revolution.

Anti-Magical Faction: Downplayed. She has seem what magic can do to the minds of its targets, so she is very wary of it, but she does not complain when her allies apply those spells against criminals to benefit a good cause, and prevent the need for less efficient forms of interrogation.
Dark and Troubled Past: She has one, and she was determined to hide it from everyone. Eventually, she revealed herself as Baroness Vesna Bilakladiv, a ruler deposed by her own subjects due to her iron-handed ways, who faked her death and fled the country. She managed to return to her throne, and now has a less oppressive style of rule.
Genius Bruiser: She is quite intelligent for the group's primary melee fighter and tank, and also an amateur painter and historian.
Heel–Face Turn: Went from a justly deposed tyrant to a loyal, if disagreeable mercenary, to a diplomatic and heroic demon-slayer, to a Reasonable Authority Figure accepted by the land that once rebelled against her.
The Lancer: As the only lawful member of the party, she often finds herself in arguments with them about what to do and who to talk with. Her confrontational nature and desire to prove her point does not help.
Mighty Glacier: What she lacks in Dexterity, she makes up for with the highest Strength and Constitution of the group.
Rightful King Returns: Downplayed, subverted, and eventually reconstructed. She was only a baroness, and despite her good intentions, she was utterly disconnected from the wishes of her subjects and was deposed after multiple unpopular actions, justifying her deposal. It is reconstructed eventually, as she grows wiser by living as a mercenary in Mbisa, returns to power diplomatically and gives more power to her subjects than before, setting her signs towards bringing stability to the region.
The Wise Prince: Deconstructed and downplayed. She was a baroness only, without power for wide-reaching reforms, and her inclination to philosophy and thinking in the long term made her utterly disconnected with the actual needs of the common people.

Julis Fawe

Originally from rural Ingileif, Julis discovered his knack for singing during long hours of herding sheep in his youth. Now thirty-five, he spends his days as a wandering entertainer who occasionally takes up mercenary work. Lonely, bitter, and blunt to a fault, Julis has slipped into alcoholism in an attempt to keep his mind off of his regrets. However, he takes his job seriously and is a fountain of good music and awful jokes when he's in a good mood. He associates with the College of Lore and specializes in Enchantment spells.

Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Working as a mercenary necessitates extensive travel, but dropping off the radar for five years because he couldn't face Petra and Hazel after becoming an alcoholic isn't quite as solid of an excuse.
Dark and Troubled Past: His impulsive behavior as a youth led to his family being evicted from their farm when they couldn't keep up with their debts, leaving them destitute. Although he mostly blames himself, this is the root of his deep grudge against landlords and distaste for the idea of private property.

I Have No Son!: He was disowned after he ran to sea instead of finding a steady job to help pay off the family's debts.
Magic Music: As a bard, Julis uses instruments as a spellcasting focus, usually an accordion or ocarina.
Pungeon Master: His Cutting Words are just terrible puns that make enemies roll their eyes so hard that it throws them off their game. He also sprinkles puns into everyday conversation at every opportunity.

Elaris

Cloistered in a druid circle as a child, Elaris is an unusual druid who spent most of his adolescence swindling people, using his druidic powers to escape consequences again and again. Now 102, he is finally using his magic for something other than robbing people blind.

Animorphism: As a druid, he has the ability to transform into animals.

The Medic: When he's not turned into an animal, Elaris is the strongest healer in the party by far.

Only Has Same-Sex Admirers: He seems to attract men, but not women. Nahatz in particular has his eyes on him.
Our Elves Are Different: Of the high elf variety. While he is generally pretty chill, he will occasionally use his longevity to bash one of the party members.

Irena "Venifica" Bogdanova

In a bleak corner of Bystrica called the Demivoid, there is the shadar-kai cult of Cienosad who serve Lecreus, the god of death. Venifica grew up in this cult and was a proud follower... until she discovered a prophecy foretelling her death at the age of 100 as a sacrifice in a black rite. Not wanting any of that, she took to studying necromancy to find a way to thwart the prophecy, leaving the cult of Cienosad and making a pact with the Skull Queen for guidance. Though she has an unsettling fondness for all things creepy, she is very eager to investigate and take on missions. Perhaps a little too eager.

Blood Magic: A couple of her spells are this, involving spilling her own blood to create some magical effect. One such spell (Bloodburn) causes the target's blood to literally boil.
Combat Sadomasochist: Especially shows when casting her favorite spell, Bloodburn; she clearly seems to be enjoying the pain inflicted on both herself and the target.
The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: She invoked this with regards to her decision to study necromancy. Being passionate about the art is a great way to forget that you once faithfully worshiped a god who hates undead. On the occasions when she remembers, she shows a grim acceptance of her fate Beneath the Mask, laced with emptiness or even guilt.

For Science!: The reason why she has been eager to acquire soul gems in the campaign; she is conducting her research on them at the university. Never mind the ethics behind using trapped souls as test subjects.
Glory Seeker: One reason why she's so eager to participate in missions is to prove that necromancers aren't all bad, figuring it would be a step toward worldwide legalization of necromancy. Since she is a necromancer herself, she strives to gain recognition for helping to put a stop to Keelyn's deeds.
I Did What I Had to Do: This is how she justifies, well, everything about her. A couple of times she has told the party that she chose to study necromancy because It's the Only Way to thwart her prophecy.
Lady of Black Magic: She is described as "calm, elegant, and proud", and is also the group's primary offensive magic user.

Meaningful Rename: Hear real name is Irena, but went by a pseudonym to distance herself from the Cult of Cienosad. Could be interpreted as a Non-Indicative Name, as Venifica is Latin for "sorceress"... but she's a wizard, not a sorcerer.
Prophecies Are Always Right: She believes this about Lecreus's prophecies, which is why she goes out of her way to find a way to thwart hers rather than dismiss it as baloney.
The Smart Guy: With the highest Intelligence of the group, she takes on the role of information gatherer, especially given her proclivity towards research and ties with the university (but not its politics).

Token Evil Teammate: Downplayed a slight, as she's not outright evil, but is by far the most morally dubious member of the party.
Villainous Fashion Sense: Her entire appearance just screams "edgelord". Items include a black and red color motif, spiky shoulders, a High Collar of Doom, and an Obviously Evil looking staff with a baby's skull on it. A few characters have called her out on it, but she doesn't care.

Izmo Dumisani

Apologetic Attacker: Semi-constantly apologizes to his enemies as he casts spells on them, and occasionally prays for the souls of those he is forced to kill.
Ambition Is Evil: As a worshiper of Oshara, Goddess of Ambition, he would very much disagree. Ambition is what you make of it, and if you lack it, you are under the mercy of those he don't.
Evil Costume Switch: He has an "evil villain outfit" which he sometimes dons while in a particularly mischievous or devious mood. Subverted, because he isn't evil. He just likes scary masks.
Hidden Depths: Is a cultist of Oshara, Goddess of Ambition, and was born from an elven family. Being a tiefling, his lifespan will most likely be an human one, so he puts great importance on accomplishing what he can while he still lives.
Large Ham: Likes to be showy and dramatic, sometimes needlessly so... though he can be serious and subtle when he needs to be.
Playing with Fire: His love of fire is almost as deep as his love of trickery, and just about all his offense spells do fire damage. Not that surprising for a tiefling.
Snakes Are Sinister: The fact that Izmo has a snake as his familiar is one of the many references to the classical Devil in the character. Thankfully, those similarities are mostly aesthetic.
Reluctant Warrior: In stark contrast to the other wizard in the party, he consistently opts to avoid violence on missions. However, if combat does end up occurring, he'll be fine with tossing some fire around (though he's equally likely to set up illusions).
The Trickster: Enjoys messing with people, the party included, by disguising himself and creating illusions.

Hazel Fawe

A teenage Ingileifian bard who associates with the College of Swords. Hazel is brash and confident, but has a sweet side and is fierce about honoring her commitments. She had trouble making connections with other people as a child thanks to her sharp tongue, and many people shunned her and her mother because her mother had never been married. Angry and resentful about being neglected by her father, Julis, she stole his things when he finally came home and made her way to Mbisa. She is eager to make a name for herself and stop living in the shadow of her father's deeds. Although she sees Julis as a scoundrel and wants little to do with him, she doesn't quite see the irony in how alike they are and is fascinated by his stories of adventure.

Because You Can Cope: Confident in Hazel's own combat prowess and that the rest of the party will look after her, Julis opts to keep searching for his siblings in Ingileif instead of travelling to Mbisa to take her home.
Berserk Button: Hazel is aware that she's less booksmart than average, and greatly resents being tricked because she assumes that people are trying to take advantage of her lack of intelligence.
Cuteness Proximity: Attempts to leverage this when she uses the Persuasion skill, taking advantage of the fact that she's a sixteen-year-old girl who can make puppy dog eyes.
Disappeared Dad: A major source of resentment because it placed a stigma on her and her mother in their community.
Generation Xerox: Just like her father, she's an impulsive and blunt but well-intentioned bard to whom the fey have granted the mixed blessings of magic and wanderlust. They also ran away from home at around the same age.
Hot-Blooded: She's eager to stab and slash her way out of trouble, and also struggles to hold her tongue.
I Am Not My Father: Her obsession with keeping promises comes from resenting Julis for never keeping the promises he made to her.

Lovable Rogue: Stole all her father's possessions, ran away from home, and nearly tricked the party into thinking he had died, but is near-universally adored now that she's confessed to her misdeeds.
Magic Music: College of Swords bards can use a weapon they're proficient in as a spellcasting focus, but out of combat, Hazel uses an accordion or violin.
"Not So Different" Remark: She doesn't react well when people point out similarities between her and Julis.

The Social Expert: She takes full advantage of her excellent Deception bonus, almost tricking the party into thinking Julis had been murdered before her eyes before she stole his magic rapier.
Wandering Minstrel: How she planned to make a living before she was folded into the party.

Giligr

A lizardfolk barbarian formerly belonging to a mercenary group called the Red Fangs. Has some ambitions of owning a smithy.

The Big Guy: He functions as the muscle of the group, not being too involved in diplomacy.

Ravania Bogdanova, a.k.a. Ravi the Doomspeaker

Ravania Bogdanova

Venifica's great aunt, and a cleric/prophet who devoutly serves death god Lecreus. Her fearsome role is to deliver prophecies about people's deaths, made particularly fearsome by her habit of "enforcing" those prophecies by killing the recipient herself. Her reputation with the cult grew shaky after Venifica left to thwart her prophecy, and now she's in Mbisa trying to find both her and evidence of the Skull Queen's appearance there.

Doomy Dooms of Doom: Her "doomspeaker" title.
Have I Mentioned I Am a Dwarf Today?: At least once per session, she sees fit to remind everyone that she is known as the Doomspeaker.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: The reason why she gets so worked up over people defying her prophecies is because she wants to prevent future necromancers from rising to power... she takes their attempts to defy the prophecy as an attempt to defy death. One of her ancestors even delivered such a prophecy for a wizard who would eventually become one of the Corpse Lords (the Skull Queen), sparking this fear. Later on she realizes that the prophecies might actually encourage its recipients to study necromancy, as was the case for both the Skull Queen and Venifica.

Lysander

The Gunslinger: Even has the ability to infuse his bullets with spells, forgoing their use as actual bullets.

The Bystrican Party

As a whole:

Even Evil Has Standards: Despite Lubek, they don't actually want to kill the other party. Just screw with them.

Hero of Another Story: To those suffering from Father's wrath, they're Anti Heroes.

Indy Ploy: It's really hard for espionage to determine their plans, since they don't have ones. That's part of what makes them so dangerous.

Other

Professor Nqethuna

Immortality Immorality: The party was once attacked by shades. According to one of Father's agents, those are the shades of those she killed to extend her life.
Lonely at the Top: Venifica suspects that she suffers from this, even though she doesn't show it. She has said that she doesn't trust anyone, which is implied to be because she's paranoid about others stealing her secrets.
Older Than They Look: Much older, even by elf standards.

Professor Ruskov

Token Minority: The only non-Mbisan of the trio.

Nahatz Xitiga

Agent Peacock: Very flamboyantly dressed and full of himself, but a deadly fighter and uncannily good at getting information.
BFS: Seen carrying a large zweihander cloaked in black flames.
Kicked Upstairs: Eventually "promoted" to the Viceroy of Bystrica's personal agency.
Like Father, Unlike Son: A deceptive, arrogant wielder of diabolical powers whose father is a paladin of the most classic kind.

Sjanoach

Nightmare Weaver: One of his favorite weapons is his power to cause nightmares in his foes' minds. He is even able to cause elves to suffer horrific hallucinations while in their trance.
Our Dragons Are Different: The only known member of his breed, he has destroyed all records he could find describing what, precisely, he is. His purple and black color scheme and four eyes set him immediately apart from the well-known chromatic and metallic dragons.

Keelyn

Demon Lords and Archdevils: A twisted, childish Demon Lord.

The Skull Queen

Amplifier Artifact: Her phylactery is one. Father even tells Venifica that the Ogmilans could get their hands on it and use it to considerably increase their power, and the Skull Queen agrees when Venifica breaks the news to her.
Bilingual Bonus: Her actual name is Konigin von Totenkopf... which is German for "Queen of Skull". Nowadays people simply call her the Skull Queen because the name's easier to say.
Trapped in Another World: She was allowed to flee to the Plane of Negative Energy in lieu of being destroyed, and is now trapped there.

Inspector Njabe

I Need a Freaking Drink: Fortunately for Njabe, Julis had a flask of vodka on his hip when Njabe and the party came face-to-face with the goddess Njabe once served as a paladin.

Lubek

Greater-Scope Villain: Keelyn is out to kill them now, but every so often, Lubek sends assassins after them.
The Mafiya: Comes from a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Eastern Europe and leads a brutal criminal organization.

Viceroy Phile

Tecatzin

Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: There is something about him that makes his soul taste awful to Keelyn.

Kanse

Mad Oracle: For all his visions and prophecies, he is quite mentally unstable... even going so far as to believe that the reality everyone's existing on is all just a dream, and that the Plane of Dreams is a dream within a dream.

Darth Wiki / Big Trouble In Little Bystrica

Big Trouble In Little Bystrica contains examples of:

Characters

Corso

Baroness Vesna "Mira" Bilakladiv

Julis Fawe

Elaris

Irena "Venifica" Bogdanova

Izmo Dumisani

Hazel Fawe

Giligr

Ravania Bogdanova

Lysander

As a whole:

Professor Nqethuna

Professor Ruskov

Nahatz Xitiga

Sjanoach

Keelyn

The Skull Queen

Inspector Njabe

Lubek

Viceroy Phile

Tecatzin

Kanse

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Darth Wiki / Big Trouble In Little Bystrica

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Big Trouble In Little Bystrica contains examples of:

Characters

Corso

Baroness Vesna "Mira" Bilakladiv

Julis Fawe

Elaris

Irena "Venifica" Bogdanova

Izmo Dumisani

Hazel Fawe

Giligr

Ravania Bogdanova

Lysander

As a whole:

Professor Nqethuna

Professor Ruskov

Nahatz Xitiga

Sjanoach

Keelyn

The Skull Queen

Inspector Njabe

Lubek

Viceroy Phile

Tecatzin

Kanse

Previous

Index

Next