Kit, the Sea Witch - Friendship is Magic with Savannah Rayne (D&D5e)

Savannah: 2:18

There's something so profound to me about deep, innate, ingrained in a person power that they just either can't control or don't realize that they have. I mean, why would I play a human in a world where elves and gnomes and tieflings exist?

Star: 2:37

So, friendship is magic.

Savannah: 2:40

A thousand percent, friendship is magic. Found Family is my absolute favorite trope of all time.

Star: 2:47

Friends, welcome to Characters Without Stories, a TTRPG podcast about the roads not yet traveled. I'm Star. This episode I'm joined by Savannah Rayne. Savannah is an RP enthusiast, art witch, and podcaster. While relatively new to TTRPGs, she has been making original characters and building their worlds and their stories outside of game spaces pretty much her entire life. Savannah, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself?

Savannah: 3:52

Yeah, like you said, I am very new to like TTRPG spaces, but pretty much since I was like 11 years old, I've been doing like little roleplays and stuff with my friends, I make OCs, I was definitely into like, RP accounts on Tumblr and stuff like that, pretty much forever. And now I've had this sudden like, emergence into the TTRPG spaces, and everyone is like, super welcoming, so I'm like, oh, this is, this is my people now. Yeah, I'm very new, but I'm immediately, I'm just like, okay, I'm in it, let's go, let's do something.

Star: 4:26

Yeah, I felt the same way. It's funny because I first played TTRPGs, I played Rifts like 25 years ago, once, and then never played until like, I don't know, four years ago or something. And then I was like, this is it.

Savannah: 4:42

Yeah. Amazing.

Star: 4:43

So I get that. Yeah. What did you start with? Did you start with D&D?

Savannah: 4:47

I started with D&D, yeah, and I actually, so I just moved into the house that I live in now, which is my friend's house, and she was the one who introduced me to D&D. Her partner was the DM of their campaign, and I came over just, like, for the snacks, you know? I was just here just to hang out, just to, like, I had hung out for their game nights, like, a couple of times, but I was just there to, like, vibe for a little bit, and, um, while they were setting up for their Uh, session. They were like, oh, well, you know, Savannah, in our last session, we found this giant lizard. You can play the giant lizard if you want. And so it was just three hours of just me going, [lizard sounds] Like it was just that. It was so fun. And my, I love telling this story because my very first role, in my very first D&D session ever, was a natural one. It was awesome. It was because I was a lizard. What the role was, it's even more poetic. Another player was saying, Oh, I want to go up to Squishy and see if I can like, feed the lizard, because it was like a wild animal that they had just found. So, Z, the DM, he was like, Alright, you make animal handling and Squishy insight. I rolled a natural 1 and he rolled a natural 20. And it was beautiful. And just that alone was like, I'm sold on this game. That's so funny.

Star: 6:06

Yeah, sometimes the dice tell the story.

Savannah: 6:08

Absolutely, yeah. Up until then, I had actually, I watched a lot of D&D like content. I started by listening to Fantasy High on Dimension 20, still absolutely love Dimension 20, and then I got into listening to Legends of Avantris, and now I'm just anyone who has an actual play podcast, I'm like, give me your content. But yeah, I started with that and then I went and had that session and it was a blast. Then a friend of mine, who Started a campaign, and now officially my first campaign that I ever was in started back in like July of last year.

Star: 6:40

Wow, okay. So, Savannah, who are you bringing to the table today?

Savannah: 6:45

I am bringing Kit. Uh, she doesn't really have a last name, but she is my pirate witch character.

Star: 6:51

So this is for D&D, correct?

Savannah: 6:54

Yes. So she, originally, because I only just started playing D&D very recently, I have started looking back on all of these, like, OCs that I've had, like, private RP with, done cosplay, or That I've had over, like, the years. And I start thinking like, oh, which of these characters would be great for a campaign? Which would be awesome, like, I would love to play her. And immediately, the first answer that came to mind was Kit. And I would absolutely love to put her in a campaign at any stage of her life. Cause the RP that I've had that kind of dictates what her, like, canon is. At any point in that time, I would love to just stick her at any level of her power into a campaign, because it would be so cool.

Star: 7:37

So what kind of RP have you had with Kit?

Savannah: 7:40

So, Kit was originally designed back in, like, 2019, I think I started on TikTok. You can't find any of my cosplay content anymore because I've privated all of it. But I used to do cosplay content, but specifically for original characters. Because it's just been easier for me to be like, Well, I can just design this character and I can make it really quickly, usually out of things I already own, or I can like go to a thrift store really quick and grab the stuff I need for it. And so, a good friend of mine, Candle Bandit, on social media, has this like pirate character, and I was like, Oh, he's cool. I want to do a character that will like, be on his crew, or like go along with his story a little bit. So I kind of reached out to Finn and I was like, Hey, let's talk about a character. Here's my idea. And it kind of went from there and it's all been private role plays. So the actual storyline is just written over text between me and that friend. And so it's just kind of us writing the story together, but I would make, you know, TikToks of just her being funny or, like, audios that I thought would fit with her, or interesting little, like, plot points that we had in the story I thought would be really good on video, so I would make little clips and things like that for her.

Star: 8:49

Very cool. So, what got you started with Kit? Was it something in your wardrobe that inspired you, or was there another starting point?

Savannah: 8:58

It was Finn posting cosplay content of their original character, uh, Julian, who's a pirate captain. And I was like, well, that looks cool. Like, wait, I want to do a pirate character. I can make a pirate cosplay really quickly. And it was that. And then I just kind of went from there, and I was like, okay, what do I have that's already kind of piratey? And I think it was around like Halloween, so I was able to easily go to like Spirit Halloween and grab some accessories and yeah, and then I just went to, went to a thrift store, grabbed like a good billowy kind of shirt for it, tied a little sash around my waist, put a headband on. The hardest thing to find for her character was actually the wig, because her character has like really big kind of reddish brown kind of bushy hair. I called it my Hermione wig for the longest time because that's what it looked like. But yeah, the hardest thing was finding the wig, but I lived in California at the time and. Honestly, it was not hard because there was a lot of like costume shops where I live and so I was able to go in and find like, oh, that looks like I could do something piratey with it and, um, without getting too much into it, I was able to put on the wig and just put a headband on over the hairline. So that I didn't have to spend too much time, like, gluing was a lace front and I don't know anything about how to put wigs on, so. How lazy can I do this? How quickly?

Star: 10:15

So when you first imagined Kit, sounds like you started with "pirate". Where did it go from there?

Savannah: 10:21

Almost all of my characters, uh, have something magical or witchy or some kind of power behind them. Because I, you know, as my name on Instagram suggests, I am the DIY witch. I consider myself an art witch. I practice witchcraft kind of in my regular life. And so I try and incorporate magic or sorcery of some kind into almost all of my characters. It's kind of really funny because at this point, my friend who now DMs one of the campaigns I'm in has told me, your next character has to be a human fighter. Like, you're not allowed to do magic anymore. I love having characters who are incredibly powerful but don't realize it. Maybe they don't know how to control it or they don't, they haven't unlocked that part of their power yet. Which is why I think I really like playing sorcerers. So I have one warlock but the other two campaigns I'm in are both sorcerers. And then looking at Kit and being like, well, What class would she be? Obviously, she would be a sorcerer. That's just what I love. But there's something so profound to me about deep, innate, ingrained in a person power that they just either can't control or don't realize that they have. Like they don't know the extent of it and that's kind of it with Kit. Her whole story is very much about she thinks that her power is dangerous and she, she tries not to use it but eventually through being a part of this like pirate crew she learns how to like really control it and really harness it into who she is and she becomes just as powerful and I love that about her.

Star: 11:51

Yeah, I am also a fan of the sorcerer who does not, does not realize their power or thinks their power is dangerous.

Savannah: 11:59

So much fun.

Star: 12:00

This is like, at least two of my characters.

Savannah: 12:04

Because I make original characters, like OCs for, I make them for everything. Every piece of media, movie, show, TTRPG podcasts that I listen to. I've made an OC for it, just how, how it goes, and, uh, there's one OC that I have for one of the podcasts I'm obsessing over right now that is heavily inspired by Kit in that same kind of vein of just like you are very powerful and you do not know it and you are scared of it.

Star: 12:33

Yeah, I, I like the self actualization stories that sorcerers can give. There's, there's something really powerful about a character finding their power and learning how to, to work with what they have at their disposal.

Savannah: 12:47

Yeah. As someone who practices witchcraft in, in my real life, that hits so close to home for me because, you know, I grew up Christian, I grew up in the South and, you know, Very much like when I left the church and when I found my faith and my power, there's something just eye opening about that entire feeling of just like, oh, I have this ability to like be my own creator and create my own life, create my own story, my own path. And there's something just so empowering and like, I'm getting chills talking about it because like you literally feel it in your blood.

Star: 13:21

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Would you say that this is the kind of thing that you usually do with characters in terms of bringing in aspects of yourself and your story?

Savannah: 13:31

Absolutely. I have a few characters that I, that I would say I, like, don't identify with, I didn't put any of myself into, but for the most part, almost all my characters have something, something to do with an aspect of my life. Maybe not, like, everything about me, it's not, like, a self insert, but I will find something to identify with my characters. If only just that. because it helps me to connect with them and it helps me to play them or write them better because I can identify and agree with this thing that they're going through. Whether it is a metaphor for masking your neurodivergency or the coming out queer experience or finding your spiritual faith, some kind of aspect about my life or something that I can identify with goes into my characters. Because it helps me to connect with them as a person, like that character, but also it just helps me to tell that story very well and to tell that experience maybe from a different viewpoint or from a different background, but it's still that experience seen from different eyes.

Star: 14:30

Is this something that you do consciously or subconsciously?

Savannah: 14:34

Sometimes. It, it really just depends. Sometimes it is conscious. Sometimes I'll be like, hey, I want to write a character who is queer and is having to struggle with figuring out what their identity is because that's something that I'm going through at the time that I'm making this character. But then there will be some times where I'll just make this character, think that this story is really cool. And then as I'm writing it, I'm like, Ooh, I gotta call my therapist real quick. That was, that made me hit too close to home. That was, no, I, I didn't mean to do that.

Star: 15:08

Besides this, uh, approach, this kind of sorcerer approach that you're talking about in your personal faith. Is there anything else about Kit that really rings true for you and your personal experience?

Savannah: 15:19

I mean, quite a bit. I mean, she absolutely has some masking that she had to really, like, get through and really, which I'm realizing as I'm saying out loud is like, oh, that's totally not an autism metaphor, good to know, you know what I mean? Her backstory is that she grew up as a con artist, like her parents were con artists, she was raised in that life, and she was just really good at it, and she kept that up. She got married really young, fell in love with this guy, and, but they were hard on money, so she kept doing her con artist thing, and her con was that she was a psychic, quote unquote. You know, she was one of those, like, fake snake oil salesmen type of people, but she would, like, sell potions or fortunes and things like that, and she didn't believe in it at the time. She had a customer come up to her who was a real witch. And basically was completely insulted that she would make a mockery of the arcane arts and cursed her with magical abilities. She goes, alright, you're going to act like you have these abilities, let's see how you do with the actual abilities and gave her them. Her story does get kind of dark because what happened was that there was this big accident, she accidentally killed her husband and had to go on the run. And had to run, hide, so that she wouldn't, like, get arrested. and ended up finding herself on a pirate ship. But to do that, she ended up pulling her hair up and her name was Catherine. But when she had to go on the run, she changed her name to Kit and pretended to be a boy. And so very much there was like a level of masking of she had to pretend to be this boy named Kit. Every time things got too intense on the ship, every time something odd or weird and people started questioning things happened, she would jump ship on the next port and find the next ship to go on to. And absolutely, like, the more I think about it and the more I describe it, the more it feels like, yeah, the second things start getting too real or too intense, I will, like, leave a friend group because I'm like, oh, that's too real. I will, like, start to pull back from social situations because I'm like, that's, That's too close, because you're gonna, you're gonna learn something, you know? So her story is that she eventually finds the ship, the crew that is run by my friend's captain character, and through them and through actually being discovered, being discovered as, who she is as she keeps the name Kit but she lets her hair down and she starts like being herself and then they start noticing her magic and she has to again kind of hide that but the captain he is very much like let's see what you can do and she is able to really harness that power she's able to find out who she is what she can do and it's all through the power of just like unmasking and being accepted and understanding, like, who she is and saying, not only can this be useful, but also you've become such a valued member that you're just a part of the family now, you're a part of the crew.

Star: 18:12

So friendship is magic.

Savannah: 18:15

A thousand percent friendship is magic. Found family is my absolute favorite trope of all time. There is something so good and intimate and comforting about people who are like, Hey, you're our family because we chose you. Like we want you here. And I think that's so cool.

Star: 18:33

Yeah, definitely. I think that that idea is almost baked in to D&D, that you meet in a tavern, like you form an adventuring party, this ragtag group, and by the end of it, you're all best friends.

Savannah: 18:45

Yeah, absolutely.

Star: 18:45

And I think too, within the community, like on a meta level outside of the game, that a lot of people who play TTRPGs, you know, coming from like nerd spaces, maybe aren't accepted, or maybe are neurodivergent or queer. And are struggling maybe with being accepted and find a safe space in TTRPGs.

Savannah: 19:09

Oh yeah. Like, I'm still completely shocked about how much the TTRPG community saw me and was like, That one. We want that one in our space. Like, we want that one in our community. I jumped onto Threads because of, I had seen a bunch of people posting on it, and then one of my friends, I saw him post it, and I was like, you know what, alright, fine, I've seen a lot of people, let's jump on and see, and it was Johnny from Talking XP. I had chatted with him. I was like, Hey, I, you know, I'm about to start listening to your podcast. You're really cool. Let's be friends. We started like being friends and then I saw him post on thread. So I jumped on and immediately he posted, Hey, Savannah's cool. Go follow her. I was very shocked. And then I posted something about my podcast. Instantly, I got a massive response and it was almost all TTRPG creators. And I was just like, oh, oh, you guys popped off with this one. Okay, cool. I guess I'm a part of this group now. And it's very much, honestly, very much similar to Kit's experience of like, oh, this is my crew now. Like, these are my people. They saw me, saw that, hey, what you're doing is really cool. We want you on our side. And Kit was very shocked and surprised and kind of nervous. And I am the same way. I'm like, oh, all right. What?

Star: 20:28

You know, I think there are still people who have problems entering the space. I think there are probably, there's still some people who are not as welcoming, especially to women or to people who aren't white. So I don't want to gloss over that, but in my experience, not having played until very recently, I feel that it's been a very welcoming space.

Savannah: 20:49

Oh, absolutely. I can only speak to my experience and speak to what I've seen and been through with it. And I've had nothing but positive. And all I can say is like, I'm going to be that person for other people. If someone is like, I'm new, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm like, cool, come here.

Star: 21:06

Gonna be the person that goes up to the kids sitting alone at lunch and says, Hey, come on over to my table.

Savannah: 21:10

I always have been. Absolutely. Because I was that kid that was sitting alone. And so now I'm like, hey, hey. You, you want to be friends? Fantastic.

Star: 21:23

So Kit has been basically in drag as a man. for a long time. Is she cis? Is this gender exploration for her at all, or is this merely costume?

Savannah: 21:37

It very much was merely costume for her. She is cis, and I think the reason for it is because that was before I started exploring my own gender, being non binary, and for her, it was very much like, I'm just doing what I have to do to survive, and her, I guess, gender, like, euphoria for her, Was being able to embrace her femininity again and being able to be like no I can be on this ship I can be in this space that all of these guys are saying Oh, it's bad luck for a woman to be on a pirate ship or it's bad luck for a woman to be on the ship Basically her saying I am welcome here. This is my space As soon as she accepted it in herself, she really did. She became, like, absolute girl boss. And we love that for her.

Star: 22:21

Wonderful.

Slovenly Trulls: 22:22

Hi, I'm Shardae. And I'm Lyssa. And together we're The Slovenly Trulls. We're not your average D&D podcast. We do monthly deep dives on topics like D&D art, the early years of TSR hobbies, and rhetoric, all with cited sources. Think of it like a feminist critique of D&D, or don't, or not your moms. Or are we? Check us out wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on social media, at Slovenly Trulls. Tune in on the first of every month for new episodes. See you there! And don't forget the number one rule of D&D. Don't be a dick.

Star: 23:47

So tell me about Kit's relationship with Julian.

Savannah: 23:51

When she made it onto his ship and she was still very much like in her disguise and everything, the scene that I had written with who plays Julian, what we had basically established was there was some kind of like raid there were these two rival ship and there was this big fight and julian got thrown overboard and everyone thought oh the fight is lost. And while everybody else, the whole crew, was retreating and going back to the ship, Kit, without even thinking, jumped overboard after him and grabbed him. And so while everybody else in the crew was retreating, she went and saved him. And when she, you know, was able to grab him and say like, Hey, get us up here, like, get us back onto the ship, they did. I mean, she saved his life and she was soaking wet and she was like, oh, someone give me a towel. Someone cover me up. They did. No one really noticed at that point the truth about her yet. They were mostly focused on, oh, our captain almost drowned. Wow. And so let's fix him up. Once he was kind of conscious again and came back, he called her into his quarters to be like, we have to talk privately. And he was like, all right, I know what's up. Like, I know who you are. And she got so scared. She was like, I will get off at the next port. I'm so sorry. Please don't tell the others because they will kill me. Like, she was just terrified and he was like, Stop. Stop. You're not going anywhere. Everybody else retreated. You came after me. You were the one who jumped in. And that just became this very like, protective relationship of, he knows that if the crew found out and he wasn't around, that they would come for her. They would either attack her, they would throw her overboard, they would kill her. do something, right? So he became very much like, do not let anybody on this crew mess with you. If they do, they will answer to me because I'm the captain of the ship. And she is very much of the power of, I will use my magic and I will do whatever I can to help you and to keep you alive and to keep the ship alive because you're doing this as like a life debt to me, but protecting me is my life debt to you. And then over time that just grew into a much more like personal bond. He just became generally protective over her and became very much like a father figure to her to the point where she sees him as her father. She, she basically is like, that is my dad, point blank, and I will do anything to keep him and this family and this crew alive.

Star: 26:05

Does she maintain relationships with anybody else or is all of that just gone because of what happened?

Savannah: 26:12

The crew does eventually find out the truth about her, they find out that she's a woman and then they start seeing like odd things start happening on the ship and Of course, Julian finds out first. He calls her out. It's the same thing. Like, the same thing happens twice, basically. He still was like, if you can use that or keep it in check, that's fine. Do your thing. And then the crew finds out. And over time, after basically the crew is like, why is she still here? Because she is dangerous. She, that's a witch. That's a woman on a pirate ship. Why is she here? Julian just says, why are you questioning me? I said, she stays. She's a part of this crew. So she's a part of this crew and over time they start coming to accept it They are kind of like begrudgingly like sure you're on this ship, but she, she's a con artist, so she starts like, hey, let's play cards, you know, she starts like, hustling the crew, and it very much just becomes like a friendly thing, and over time, like, that is her family. They end up having the same relationship with her as like, she has with Julian, of like, that's the sister, you know what I mean? That's our sister, and we'll fuck anyone up who messes with her. And she does the same. Something I love about her character is like, by the end of the, it's not even the end, because I still, think of new scenes to RP with my friend over it. But at this point in her story, she's insanely powerful. She very much is the character of like, if she didn't have the love and acceptance from her crew and from the people she's with, she'd be the big bad. She's insane. She would have no moral dilemma. with ripping apart an entire ship by herself. Because she could, and she would. But because she has these people that she has to keep in mind, she's like, I'm going to do what I have to do for the good of them. And, and they'll do the same for her.

Star: 27:51

Interesting. So it seems like her morality is a little relative. She's not necessarily the, the big hero.

Savannah: 27:59

Oh no. Yeah. She's definitely not like a hero. Like I said, she was raised by con artists. She knows how to swindle people left and right. She was good at gambling by the time she was 10. She knows what's up. So she's always had kind of a skewed morality in that way because of her upbringing and so when she found this crew, you know, her, her parents basically all they taught her was be loyal to your family. You don't con your family, you con everybody else. And she took that lesson to heart, she internalized it, and brought it onto this ship. Yeah, you can screw over anybody, we're pirates, we can take what we want. But you don't hurt us, we don't hurt you. We are the crew, we are our morality is as one unit, we protect each other. And that is first and foremost.

Star: 28:42

What is her magic like? How does it manifest?

Savannah: 28:45

I would love to figure out how mechanically I could put this into D&D because I've come up with, there's a lot of like homebrew things and little magic things that she's done just in RP because it was not in game space. And thinking about it, I would love to figure out how to make this mechanically work. Because one of the major things that had the crew realize, like, how important she was was that she had a magical ability to heal somebody's injuries. I think there was a scene that I had written where Julian got, like, stabbed or something. It was some kind of, like, visible and very, like, gory kind of wound. She was able to heal it, but when she did, she ended up getting that same injury. So she basically transferred that injury to herself. And that was the realization of like, Oh, she can take away someone's hurt or injury. She takes it on for herself. And kind of like a story so that I could keep her alive and not kill her a million times. Because, you know, The role plays I do with this friend are hilarious because we're like, Hmm, how can we very nearly kill this character over and over and over again? Something that I, I did was, Okay, well, he's about to die, right? This is a fatal injury. He is on death's door. She could take that injury on for herself, but then she would be the one on death's door and I don't want to kill her. So what if when she takes on an injury in that magical way, if it is a fatal injury, then her magic also keeps her alive. It just makes her heal from that injury. The way that the crew kind of accepted her as their own was that she would help heal them. And that was another thing that I think is really interesting about her character is she only thought that she was valuable or valued by the crew if she was useful and that's something she knew that she could do so she would be useful and Julian as protective father figure It's like, hey, I see you limping around. Did you take someone's broken ankle? She's like, yeah, and this guy's dislocated hand, and this guy's blah, blah, blah. And it was just, she took on so many. They knew that, all right, well, you're gonna heal. You're fine. You'll get better. But we have this stuff to do that you can't do, so why don't you do that for us? So she ended up hurting herself for the sake of her crew and for the sake of, like, being a part of the family. That was before they really started accepting her as a person and more like, oh, we can use that as a tool. You know? Yeah. First and foremost, that is what her magic looks like when she is doing helpful magic. She also has some, like, baneful magic. She does a lot of, like, telekinesis type magics, too. You know, if things are like too heavy for her to carry. She's like the smallest person on board. She'll just go and like a big beam will like get back into place or whatever. Yeah, very much is like kind of telekinesis, very much just like, oh, I'll let magic run my life kind of thing. But her main power that she does, especially on the helpful side of things is that sort of injury or health transference type of thing.

Star: 31:39

I want to go back to something you said, which is that she wants to be useful.

Savannah: 31:44

Yeah.

Star: 31:45

And I think that's an interesting character. I don't know if I'd call it a flaw or maybe just a conflict, but the idea that your worth is determined by your usefulness.

Savannah: 31:56

Truly, that is the biggest. And that's a part of her character that I made when I kind of discovered like what her magic looks like. I was like, oh, this is the real thing that she struggles with. The thing that she struggled with before was accepting her magic, but this is going to be her main struggle, is understanding that she's still valued as a member of the crew without needing to feel useful in order to feel valued. That is her main conflict, that's her main struggle, is the only reason that these people accept me and these people like, like me, or care about me, or will keep me around, is because I am of use. They wanted to throw me overboard, but as soon as they saw that my magic could help the crew, then that's when they started to accept me. That's when they started to bring me in and want me to be a member, a real, you know, member of the crew. And so I have to keep doing that. Even if it's to my own detriment, I have to keep doing that. Because if I'm not useful to them, then they won't accept me anymore. And that is a very big struggle, I think, that I at least deal with is like, oh, if I can't be like very helpful, if I don't have a thing that someone needs from me, then why would they talk to me? Or why would they be my friend? You know, that kind of thing. And so that's her main, that's her main issue, basically. So having to come to terms with that, and having Julian as that person to back her up and be like, Hey, that's a person. She's part of the crew. You can't just use that tool as a tool because it's hurting her. So unless you have a real reason for her to take it and not just because you don't want to deal with the paper cut that you got or the splinter that you have, don't ask her to do this because she'll say, yes, don't do that.

Star: 33:31

Does Kit have any flaws?

Savannah: 33:34

Her morality is one of them, big time. She really doesn't care about other people. Once she found, like, her crew, and that was her thing, she's like, alright, everybody else could not care less what happens to them. I'll hurt them, I'll steal from them, I'll swindle them, I'll do whatever I want. It doesn't matter. She is kind of a selfish person, and very selfless at the same time. She'll do stuff for, like, other people, but only if it's the people that have already been, like, that's, that's my family. She also has a temper. Like I said, I love characters who are so powerful and they don't realize it. And she is someone who, like, if she didn't have people to keep her in check, she would be the sea witch. Something that we wrote was that there was, like, now rumors on the sea. Kind of like how, you know, Blackbeard was such a famous pirate. She becomes a very famous sea witch. Because they're like, don't fuck with this ship because they have a secret weapon and she's terrifying. She has zero qualms about sinking a ship with just her mind, if she could, you know? If she figures out that she has the ability, she will do it. She very much needs to be kept on a leash. She doesn't have the moral or mental, like, ability to really lock it in herself. And be like, hey, maybe this is a super villainous thing to do.

Star: 34:49

Let's get in a little bit to the D&D part of it.

Savannah: 34:54

Yeah.

Star: 34:55

What race is she?

Savannah: 34:56

She is a human. Almost all of the characters that I've made specifically for D&D, I would not want to play human. I've got like gnomes and elves and werewolves and things like that, but I, I try to avoid doing human, but I made her before I started playing. So I was like, Oh no, she would absolutely just be a human and happened to get magic. Why do you avoid humans? I mean, why would I play a human in a world where elves and gnomes and tieflings exist? I get to play a human every day of my life, and that's fine, and I will accept being a human, but if I have the chance to be something other than human, I'll probably take it.

Star: 35:36

Does Kit have a goal that they're reaching for?

Savannah: 35:40

She did. I would love to explore if she ever develops long term goals, but I think once she really got, like, accepted by the crew on her ship, she kind of got what she wanted. And so now it's just like, my only long term goal is to stay here as long as possible. Now, if I were to throw her into a game, I would disrupt the hell out of that. I would take her off the ship, I would separate her from her crew, do something so that her long term goal would be like, I need to get back to my family. Yeah, her goals are always just, how do I protect the crew? How do I stay with the family forever? Because. These are the people that keep me around.

Star: 36:13

Right. Does she have any sort of vow or motto?

Savannah: 36:17

I'm not sure about motto. Her vow absolutely is, not even like specifically to the crew as a whole, but very much to Julian. Of like, you took me in, I am very much your daughter now, you are my father, and at the end of the day we are also both pirates. So let's keep living this pirate life together. How big is the crew? You know, we've changed it multiple times. We haven't really kept a consistent canon. Sometimes it's like a lot of people, sometimes it's just like a little handful. It really depends, I think, on the scene that we're writing, but also if something were to happen. I've definitely written some scenes where Kit went full, like, I call it dark witch, which is basically her just going like, blindsided, she doesn't see anybody or anything, she just wants to cause destruction. And when that happens, there's a few casualties. So if people, like, jump overboard, or if, you know, maybe they do get to a port and some crew leaves, some crew get on, it kind of has become kind of ever changing. We have a few crew members that are, that we know by name. Uh, specifically the first mate, his name is Luca, and he very much became like big brother to Kit. So he's, we've got him, and then I have, there's a separate ship that they also kind of like are allies with, and I know one of their crew members names, and his name is Alec. It really is kind of ever changing, depending on what we need for the scene when we're writing it.

Star: 37:40

I can imagine it'd be pretty insular to be with the same kind of tight knit crew all of the time, even if the crew changes a little bit, but you're talking about somebody who's really limited their circle. They have a specific group of people that they spend most of their time with. I can imagine that might be a little weird if she was interested in romance.

Savannah: 38:01

I mentioned that there was another ship, and Alec, who is the first mate of that ship, is actually her partner. That was actually one of the more recent developments that we put onto that story. Just because I personally am a complete sucker for romance and shipping and If I can put a ship into my story, I will because it's just fun for me. I love it. Alec is just a hilarious character because Alec and Kit are, they crack me up because they're very much enemies to lovers. So when that other crew becomes like their allies and they start spending more like in Funner. Kit kind of becomes friends with a few people from that other crew too, like, you know, when they are at port together or they have, like, a certain island that they kind of always kind of find their way back to on a semi regular basis, they will set up a camp, they'll, like, play games, they'll play cards, whatever, the crew that she's with. Kind of know, hey, let's not bring up the witch situation. They already think it's weird that we have a woman on the ship. And he starts seeing the odd shit. He starts seeing the odd, like, things like something floating or just weird little things that her crew has gotten so used to that he's like, what is going on? I already don't like her because she conned me out of something that, like, a bunch of money during this stupid card game. He already is just, like, salty. He does not like her. And when he does really find out that she's has magic and is a witch, he's like, absolutely not. I need to go and tell the captain who The reason that this other ship and Kit's crew are allies is because Julian is married to the other captain. So they have this island that they go to so that the two captains can have their, like, sweet romantic time. Whereas the two crews get to just hang out and chill with each other. And he's like, Oh, I'm going to tell the captains. Oh my gosh, this is horrible, blah, blah, blah. He runs and she for a minute tries to stop him. But then she's like, You know what? Yeah, tell him this will be funny. And of course, Julian is like, Tell me something interesting. Like, why did you interrupt us? Come back with like more important information and he's super bitter about it It's very upsetting and it just very much is like they really hate each other and then it turns into Everybody else likes this person. So I guess I have to be around them whatever and I'm like gonna be kind of salty and bitter about it Then the rest of the crew start noticing it and it's like, when are they gonna find out that they're, they're actually into each other? And eventually it turns into, I can't remember what it was, I think it was like a bet. They made some kind of bet, they were doing some kind of gambling thing, and the bet was they had to like, spend a night together. Just like, even if it's like, oh you gotta go on a date with me or something stupid like that. Cause it can't all be serious drama, gloom and doom, they've gotta throw some comedy in there. Yeah, they ended up having to do that. And it ended up being a really good time. It ended up being kind of funny. They have a really interesting, funny, just like, back and forth banter with each other. But they do end up, like, falling in love and being together.

Star: 41:04

Yeah, so long distance boyfriend.

Savannah: 41:07

Yeah, very much. But, you know, she gets to have her little time with him when they go meet on this, like, special island while the two captains are off doing their husband stuff.

Star: 41:17

Tell me what Kit looks like.

Savannah: 41:18

Most of my characters are very short, uh, because I'm short. So why not? I love doing small characters. She's actually probably taller than me, more like average height. So she's like 5'4 ish, maybe 5'3 But she's got really long, kind of bushy, reddish brown hair. She somehow always maintains having a red lip. Specifically, she loves doing like a blood red lip. For her, it feels like a very threatening, imposing, but feminine presence. Who doesn't love a bold red lip? She's not really super like skinny or anything just a very like kind of average thin build like very like athletic because she, she has to be. She's very strong. She dresses like one of the guys on the crew just very, you know, pants, good billowy shirt and some like accents to tie around herself, but Specifically, she loves wearing the jewelry that she cons and gets from other people. So if she were to win in gambling against one of her crewmates for like a really cool necklace, she would wear that necklace for the rest of whenever. She loves wearing the stuff that she wins, especially as like a way to brag.

Star: 42:28

Does she have a voice?

Savannah: 42:30

I've thought about this. I know that she's got an Irish accent, but she's a bit more, a bit more bold, a bit more crass about it when she talks, and she's very casual and cavalier when she speaks, so it's very much just like, eh, it's whatever. Everything's good. It's, that's her kind of attitude. She's very, very optimistic and very just like, yeah, now that I don't have to like pretend and be scared anymore, that's her, and she has the Irish accent, which I try and practice as best as I can.

Star: 42:55

Kit, what's your dream vacation?

Savannah: 42:58

I don't really think I need a vacation. I get my dream vacation every time I go and see the island. I get to see my boys, my captain gets to see his man, and why would I need a vacation when I've already got the life I want?

Star: 43:09

Tell me about the island.

Savannah: 43:11

It's a sight to see, all right. Once you get used to the wildlife, there's no other humans around there. The only structure you see are the ones that we've built ourselves. It's like a place out of time. There's the beach, there's the woods. You get to see almost a little bit of everything.

Star: 43:25

Savannah, thank you so much for sharing Kit with me today and with my listeners.

Savannah: 43:30

It was so much fun. I love being able to share Kit. I have not had a chance to share her since I stopped doing cosplay content on TikTok, and I will, I will always love her and hold her close to my heart. I talk to Finn about her all the time, but I'm very much like, hey, let's, let's show her to the world a little bit. Is there anything that you'd like to share with my listeners? I would like to plug Finn's account really quick, actually, because shout out to this incredible artist, Candle Bandit or Candle. Bandit on Instagram and TikTok. Please go and love them and love their art because absolutely incredible. So talented. And then if you want to find me anywhere, you can find me at the DIY Witch on Instagram and threads. And on TikTok, but I mostly post Instagram and threads, I'm very active there. But I also run a character creation podcast, where I get to make new characters all the time, uh, called Not Quite Novelists. That one you can find at Not Quite Novelists on YouTube and Instagram, and hopefully soon will also be able to be posted on everywhere that you can listen to podcasts as well.

Star: 44:33

Awesome. I'm going to do something a little different this episode, and instead of recommending a podcast, I'm going to recommend that you cast your vote in the Creator Recognition in TTRPG Awards, or CRIT Awards. The CRIT Awards celebrate and recognize the contributions and achievements of our community in a way that is inclusive, diverse, and represents our values. Several of my former and future guests are nominated, and I'm going to make a quick plug for their projects, while also recognizing that the talent on this list is substantial, and your vote is supporting an incredible creator, no matter who you vote for. For best Twitch channel, I'm recommending RollD5. They're currently playing Covenant Crucible, a game system created by former guest Stephen Kelly. Featuring another former guest, Aetherius Bordeaux. For Best Game Master Indie, I'm recommending Will Malkus, who you'll be hearing on the podcast later this year. For Best Player Indie, I'm recommending Juicy Garland, also soon to be featured on the podcast. For best legacy podcast, I'm recommending AARPG. Nathan has been such an incredible teacher, helping me improve my sound quality. It's also a great podcast and I've recommended it in the past. For best podcast host, I'm recommending Grant Nordeen. A former guest from Game Master Monday. You can cast your vote at critawards. org and you have until July 7th, so get on it. I started a newsletter. If you'd like to get a behind the scenes peek at the podcast, follow my other projects like my current all woman actual play, and be notified when a new episode drops, you can find the sign up form in the show notes or on my website. Please share the podcast with a friend word of mouth is the best way to find new listeners. Your recommendations help me immensely. Thank you to all my listeners spreading the word. I'm so grateful. You can find me on Tick Tock at Star Mama C or on threads. com. Blue Sky, Instagram and Facebook. Ask characters without stories. You can also listen on YouTube at characters without stories or follow the link in the description. My submissions are currently full. All announce on the podcast when I'll be accepting more submissions. So keep your ears open. Thanks for listening. And may all your characters find their stories.