Dungeons of Dredmor (and Dragons), Part 2

After talking a lot about the Dungeoneer with his Pet Mimic, I could not imagine what other sorts of ridiculous characters would come out of this relationship.  It did not take long until my good friend Dominic came up with even more ridiculous ideas.  I suspect the next character he provided was inspired, in part, by the ever popular sequence from UHF: Conan the Librarian.

When we really began talking about it, I had spent a significant amount of time reading about the Berserker character class featured in Heroes of the Feywild.  The idea of the calm, collected librarian who eventually loses his cool and rages against errant teenagers and book graffiti artists was too entertaining and ridiculous an idea to pass up.  With a little talk and a little inspiration from Phil Foglio, Grom of the Reference Desk, Lord of Circulation and Shelving was born.

Grom, from a long line of noble librarians

Be wary of the Shush of the Five Tribes

When Dominic gave me Grom's character sheet, I was surprised to see how similar to my previous Berserker, Anakin Skywalker, Grom was.  Other than a few power and feat selections, the biggest difference was that Grom was also a Scholar (character theme), which gave him a slightly different set of abilities.  Comically, one of Grom's abilities has an ability based of his Intelligence modifier, which Grom is sadly lacking in.
Despite being very similar to Anakin, there is something very different about Grom.  A new player who chooses to play Anakin versus a new player who chooses to play Grom are undoubtedly going to have a very different experience.  Honestly, making the same mechanical character in two very different presentations does emphasize the point I tried to make when I first set out making these novelty character cards.  Although the rules provide a framework, it's what you bring to the table in the role-playing department that makes the game the fun that it is.  My biggest concern has been that, as a Dungeons & Dragons: Encounters DM, I rarely get an opportunity to play these characters myself.

Which is too bad...