Erin

Summary

Erin is a player in this Dungeon World campaign who portrays the character Safia. Erin is Abdul's partner and parent to their baby Khalil. In Session 2, Erin participated remotely from Calgary while caring for Khalil, tethering internet off a phone to join the session and dealing with technical difficulties including having Abdul accidentally muted and connection issues due to the phone-based internet setup. In Session 3, Erin made significant revisions to Safia's character concept, lowering the character's age from 18 to 14 years old and reimagining the character as more sheltered and inexperienced with the real world, explaining that the original version was "too advantaged for being old and then having knowledge," leaving the character with nothing to learn from the other party members. Erin lives with Abdul and continues to experience connectivity issues across sessions. By Session 7, Erin and Abdul describe themselves as married, having received a coffee maker as a wedding gift. Erin has mentioned being in medical school during the airing of a show called Carnival, and also participates in another campaign called Spoutlore, which sometimes causes confusion between the two games' events.

Playing Style

Erin demonstrates a thoughtful, detail-oriented approach to gameplay that prioritizes character consistency and world-building. When investigating the ransacked apartment, Erin successfully rolled a 10 on Discern Realities, asking "What here is not what it appears to be?" to discover a hidden wall compartment. Erin actively engages with game mechanics, asking clarifying questions about moves and their applications.

Erin brings strong character voice to the table, establishing that Safia comes from a society where "pigs were like, understood as intelligent. Like, they had a place in society," which informs the character's ethical stance against pig rental. Erin also makes creative use of shapeshifting abilities, asking "Can I turn into a bat? Like, do my friends know that. That I'm a shapeshifter yet?" before transforming into bat form to investigate from above.

In out-of-character moments, Erin contributes to collaborative problem-solving, suggesting items like "a brooch" as potential pickpocketing targets and noting practical solutions such as "monster could probably go back and forth through the portcullis" due to Monster being a small cat. Erin compares the gameplay experience to other games, remarking "This game's Turning more into, like, Balderdash a little."

Erin carefully manages Safia's mechanical abilities and demonstrates understanding of game mechanics, tracking hold from shapeshifting and calculating combat modifiers accurately
Erin participates actively in out-of-character discussions and table banter, noting that these conversations help with character immersion: "Oh, no, you guys, this is helping me. Thank you so much. I really. I feel like I'm gonna really be able to get into my character"
Moral deliberation: Erin frequently vocalizes Safia's internal conflicts before making decisions, as seen in Session 8 when questioning "Maybe we're being a little bit colonial here by just barging in" while wrestling with whether to intervene in a confrontation with guards.
Tactical creativity: Erin engages with combat mechanics and suggests creative solutions, including proposing dust hats as diversions and considering specific combat actions like "stabbing at guards' calves."
Clarifying questions: Erin regularly asks questions about the fiction ("Did we do that?" and "Did I see the name?") to maintain clear understanding of the narrative situation.
Observational humor: Erin makes spontaneous quips and commentary, such as describing the group's research into Brad's websites as "Internet archaeologic digs" and offering observations on topics ranging from pig swimming abilities to sea pigs
Supportive table presence: Erin provides emotional support to other players, reassuring Vasso with "You are cool, Vaso. You're the coolest. You're the kindest"
Creative problem-solving: When collaborating on plans, Erin contributes innovative solutions like suggesting "a certain kind of piece of jewelry or a bit of armor that everyone would wear" to activate Brad's neck button concept simultaneously across all guards
Tactical creativity: Erin demonstrates willingness to leverage Safia's unique abilities for tactical advantage, such as proposing to use the character's small size to search guards for keys and suggesting coordinated "rat attacks" to frighten opponents.
Meta-observations: Erin makes keen observations about other players' tendencies, noting that both Abdul and Brad "like to do, like, extreme bordering on absurd things" and that Abdul's "gonna end up doing more bits because he's holding a mic like that."
Analytical deduction: Makes logical connections between evidence and game situations, such as deducing that burnt matches were kept as charcoal for drawing map markers
Physical roleplay: Portrays Safia's actions with gestural detail, including silent hand puppet acting to communicate information and demonstrating actions like dribbling crumbs
Tactical awareness: Monitors situations through character abilities and provides strategic assessments of enemy reliability and optimal timing for party actions
Character development tracking: Observes and vocalizes Safia's emotional growth, noting when the character is "starting to feel a bit braver"

History

Session 2

Erin joined Session 2 remotely from Calgary with significant real-world constraints. Erin mentioned traveling on an airplane with Khalil, noting "He was so fascinated. Yeah, he was. He was, like, excited. Slash scared, you know?" Erin also discussed receiving "two doses" of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, stating "they were both fine" with only a sore arm as a side effect.

During the session, Erin participated in extended out-of-character conversations about package delivery, business degrees, and medical practices, including a discussion about leeches and blood thinners where Erin asked "Don't they exactly just produce a blood thinner?"

For in-character play, Erin roleplayed Safia's conversation with Mayor the pig, stating "I was just going to say that maybe I should stay here with the pigs, and maybe I can learn a little bit more from them" and later reporting "I can't. I just learned from the pigs that Guzman is a smuggler." When investigating Rex Tree, Erin directed Safia to "starts looking like, up. Like up as far as she can up the trunk" and discovered evidence by noting "look at these acorns on the ground, how they've been moved around."

Erin made the creative decision to have Safia shapeshift into a bat, saying "Hey, guys, I'm just gonna look over here for a minute. I want to shapeshift into a bat" and later "I'm just holding on to the roof like, okay. Way above the cat." When rolling with a wisdom of 2 and getting a 5, Erin calculated "so 7" for the result. Erin also asked Shawn "Can Safiya have night vision?" to clarify the character's abilities in bat form.

Near the end of the session, Erin coordinated real-world logistics, reminding the group "Coming home tomorrow. Abdul, don't forget."

Episode: "Session 3"

Erin arrived at the session and participated in pre-game conversation about royal jelly and coffee, offering to help Abdul with a dripping coffee cup. Before gameplay began, Erin announced significant revisions to Safia's character sheet, lowering the character's age from 18 to 14 years old and reimagining her as more sheltered and inexperienced. Erin explained the reasoning: "I just been finding, like, that it's, like, a little bit hard because she's kind of too advantaged for being old and then having knowledge. So I thought maybe if I made her younger, like, because I keep finding that she is just sort of like. Like she has nothing to learn from you guys, sort of." The revised Safia became someone who "lived in technology and is sheltered from the real world, needing the other characters to show her how to navigate it."

During gameplay, Erin guided Safia through several key moments of exploration and problem-solving. After rolling poorly on Discern Realities (a 3), Erin was allowed to reroll and achieved a partial success (9). Erin demonstrated attention to visual detail when describing Safia's Shapeshift transformation as "an Animorph style" change involving "a corkscrew twisting motion" where Safia "has to turn in a circle. And as she does, like, things change." When Safia wore the synesthesia mask and rolled a 12, Erin had the character discover both the fresh air trail and the Purple Sludge, warning the party about the toxic substance based on Safia's homeland knowledge.

During the end-of-session mechanics discussion, Erin actively engaged with the game's advancement systems, asking clarifying questions about how alignment fulfillment and bond resolution work. Erin resolved several of Safia's bonds, including the one with Vasso "since she showed him her shapeshifting abilities and taught him how to operate the tree," and agreed with Sucks that their mutual blackmail bond should be resolved "since everyone knows the secret now." Erin also noted that Safia had fulfilled alignment requirements by "eliminat[ing] the unnatural menace of the Sniff Lord by telling the party about the neck pressure point" and eliminating "those masky cult people."

Episode: "Session 4"

Erin continues to experience connectivity issues during this session, with Abdul asking "Erin, why did you log off again?" at one point. Erin receives one of Brad's Uber Eats popcorn deliveries mid-session, remarking "I just finished saying that I wanted popcorn."

During negotiations with Louise Guzman, Erin roleplays Safia's inexperience with bartering and trade: "she's kind of like not sure what to say too." Erin describes the character's impulsive response to the negotiation, noting that "Sapia, like, starts pulling out all her money, just handing it over." Erin provides detailed backstory context for Safia's traumatic reaction to Sucks's face-covering hood, explaining that "the people that used to come collect, the genetic mutants would wear these clothes like that."

Erin plays a pivotal role in establishing first contact with The Frozen Blob after Safia successfully uses Communion of Whispers for the first time in years. Erin collaborates with Shawn to define the mechanics of Safia's AI Implant, asking detailed questions about its programming: "can Safiya inquire of like, the source coding of this? Like, what, what programs it's running on?" Erin describes the interface as having "almost like a holographic screen in front of you" and translates the blob's intentions for the party: "It's basically getting the sense that this, this blob wants to avoid what it sees as surrounding." Erin attempts to send reassuring messages through the implant: "We are not Daedrics. Like, we just want to talk to you. Here's some more popcorn."

During the end-of-session alignment check, Erin tracks experience points carefully, observing that Safia hasn't been rolling failures: "I didn't get any other experience points this whole time. I'm not a failure." Erin also participates in out-of-character discussions, questioning Brad about transcription motives and contributing to speculative conversations about the relationship between magic and science.

Episode: "Session 5"

During the pre-session conversation, Erin thanks the group for delivered popcorn and smoothies, participating in social chat about the group's food ordering dynamics and noting that "Brad's looking after everyone." Erin shares an anecdote about giving someone named Piccolil a lemon without telling them what it was, which they enjoyed eating.

In gameplay, Erin takes on managing provisions during the perilous journey, positioning Safia to "hang out with Goober, who's obviously the provisions." Erin demonstrates Safia's scientific approach by having the character test Goober's responses to different stimuli—picking flowers to see if pleasant smells help Goober feel relaxed, then following up with a fuzzy peach. Erin makes creative connections between Goober and science fiction concepts, comparing it to "the food doosers from Star Trek-like replicators" and describing it as "kind of just a gobbler, like Pac Man." When exploring Safia's relationship with the malfunctioning implant, Erin has the character wonder if Vasso might have a similar issue with his connection to his god, roleplaying Safia asking, "How do you hear your God?"

During the Gordian encounter, Erin makes the strategic choice to have Safia deliberately get splattered with the creature's goo for identification purposes, explaining the character "just wants to know what this stuff is" and wondering if contact might allow her to "search her AI what the heck this is." This leads to a successful Spout Lore roll. Erin participates in out-of-character discussion about the taste of the Gordian's fluids, suggesting "lavender loaf" as a possibility and having Safia "lick her wrist" to test it. Erin establishes important character background, explaining that "one of Safia's parents was like, like a medical examiner, like, autopsy, coroner kind of person," which informs the character's evidence-gathering behavior of always collecting samples in "little containers."

Erin experiences significant technical difficulties during this session, losing audio connection during Cat's attack and having to listen through speakers rather than headphones while Abdul helps troubleshoot. Despite these issues, Erin continues contributing to world-building speculation, suggesting that "maybe this field was like a place where fairy tale characters go to like become killed" because the Gordian "looks so much like Cinderella's" carriage. Erin demonstrates collaborative support for other players' actions, offering to have Safia help Cat climb to the top of the cart for a better shooting position, and expressing Safia's concern for Sucks when injured by "starting to rush towards" him.

Episode: "Session 6"

Erin begins the session with casual conversation about summer weather and air conditioning, making jokes about Abdul's "inspirational posters" and "vision board" setup for the game. Throughout the session, Erin briefly steps away to retrieve a food delivery, demonstrating the practical juggling of real-life logistics during remote play.

During the chaotic demonstration scene where party members become entangled, Erin has Safia emerge from the pig cart with dry commentary: "oh, I didn't know we were doing charades." Erin roleplays Safia's technological quirks by having the character search fragmented internet files for the word "japery," contributing to the table's comedic rhythm. When the mysterious traveler approaches, Erin demonstrates Safia's extreme paranoia by keeping the character hidden under the cart and attempting to restrain Sucks from approaching. Erin explains this behavior as stemming from Safia's wasteland experiences where "you can't trust anyone," and briefly considers having Safia transform into a rat for stealth before recognizing the mechanical limitations.

Erin discovers Goober's configuration files through Safia's implant and shares this revelation with the group: "You guys, I think Goober can take different forms." This leads Erin to propose camping so the party can experiment with Goober's various forms, describing configurations including a chariot, a hovering blanket "like Aladdin style," one that "looks like a Hershey's Kiss," and jewelry forms. During the Nick Silver encounter, Erin successfully rolls a 10 on Discern Realities and asks strategic questions that reveal Nick's staff is not what it appears. When combat erupts, Erin positions Safia cautiously, "running behind, partly aghast," and attempts to hack Nick's staff using communion of whispers, asking technical questions about the staff's interaction protocols with Goober. After the confrontation concludes, Erin has Safia address the party's tactical problems: "Look, guys, I think we have a problem. Which is Both of you keep rushing off and attacking people."

Episode: "Session 7"

Erin begins the session with out-of-character conversation about coffee, offering to make some for Abdul and discussing their coffee maker, which they received as a wedding gift but only began using regularly after moving farther from coffee shops. Erin describes a recent Saturday visit to Starbucks to get complicated drinks for Khalil, noting the "energizing feeling of successful social transactions."

During gameplay, Erin takes the lead on strategic planning for infiltrating New Smoke, proposing multiple creative approaches including drugging guards with pies, selling pies to people in line to gather intelligence about alternative entrances, and using Safia's shapeshifting for reconnaissance. Erin makes the decision to have Safia scout ahead in pigeon form, successfully rolling a 10 on the Shapeshift move to gain three hold, then another 10 on Discern Realities to learn details about the settlement's layout. Erin describes Safia's transformation as "kind of a little bit embarrassing" and private, having the character turn away "like changing clothes" before shifting form.

When the Pine Cone Man begins dragging Sucks Benedict away, Erin makes the decisive choice to attack, asking "Okay, so I'm just gonna attack him?" before rolling. Erin demonstrates understanding of combat mechanics, rolling a 9 (reduced to 8 with Safia's strength modifier) and dealing 4 damage. After the combat, Erin has Safia attempt to de-escalate by pushing Sucks Benedict back into his chair and apologizing. Throughout the session, Erin reflects on character development out of character, describing Safia as having "a really on, off relationship with this pine cone guy so far" and comparing the character to "one of those rescue dogs that is really nice, and then all of a sudden they'll bite you."

Episode: "Session 8"

Erin opened the session by requesting a recap from Brad, demonstrating collaborative engagement with the group's narrative continuity. Throughout the session, Erin contributed substantially to out-of-character conversation, discussing dietary topics including explaining that hummus is not keto-friendly due to chickpea carbs while tzatziki and guacamole are acceptable alternatives. Erin mentioned that if the group had known Abdul was sick, they would have sent pickle soup instead of ice cream, and noted that Starbucks had stopped serving cheese sticks during the pandemic but had since resumed. Erin also experienced physical discomfort during recording, noting "My headphones really hurt my ear."

In gameplay, Erin navigated Safia's shopping at the market, describing how the character "got a whole bunch of those things, but then she walked by a stall that was selling, like, staffs" and had Safia negotiate by requesting "If you can throw some weed in, it's a deal." The session's central roleplay challenge came when Vasso confronted guards engaged in bullying. Erin vocalized Safia's moral uncertainty extensively, stating "She's feeling really torn" and questioning "Maybe we're being a little bit colonial here by just barging in and, you know how things should work." Despite this hesitation and describing Safia as "feeling a bit caught up," Erin ultimately chose action, stating "So she comes. She comes over to aid. She's gonna try to de-escalate the situation." Erin also engaged with tactical planning by suggesting creative solutions like using dust hats as diversions and considering combat options such as "stabbing at guards' calves."

Episode: "Session 9"

Throughout the session, Erin participated actively in both out-of-character conversations and in-character strategic planning. She engaged with discussions about household management, mentioning her garage reorganization and plans to post unwanted items on Buy Nothing Vancouver, expressing conscientiousness about recycling and reuse. However, she became concerned about safety after hearing about a pregnant woman being stabbed during a Facebook Marketplace transaction, stating "Well now, Dana, now what am I going to do with my stuff? Because now I'm too freaked out to post it."

Erin connected with Dayna over shared interests, expressing approval when she learned Dayna had watched Bridgerton twice in a row: "When Abdel told me that you watched Bridgerton twice in a row, I was like, I like Dana." The two discussed attractive characters from the show, with Erin noting the eldest brother "was the symbol of the decided" patriarchy. She also mentioned finishing a book Brad had recommended, describing it as "a good depiction of the blasted wasteland" and noting the contrast of reading about grime while "in all these beautiful places" during her holidays.

During gameplay, Erin made meta-commentary on Dayna's gardening approach, responding to plant-cutting decisions with "Life takes death, Dana" and "There's a sacrifice is required." She drove strategic discussion by asking Greta about what leverage the antagonists held over others, helping the group understand the political situation in New Smoke. When the party planned their approach to the guards' house (which she humorously called "the out bathroom, as Khalil would call it"), Erin advocated for stealth and reconnaissance, proposing using Safia's shapeshifting to infiltrate as a rat and maintaining tactical awareness even while embracing the comedic potential.

Erin demonstrated delayed-reaction humor, noting "I just got that joke" about Perel's prosthetic tree. For her end-of-session alignment move, she chose "Safia Neutral. Eliminate an unnatural menace," then joked "I eliminated like my internal menace in the chamber pot. That Was kind of the biggest move I made this whole game, so to speak."

Episode: "Session 10"

Erin participates in the pre-session setup, contributing to beer selection and food coordination while noting how the microphone arrangement mixing "the inside and the outside" looks amusing enough to photograph. During the extended out-of-character discussion, Erin observes the group is "recording our hangout for prosperity" given pandemic concerns about future gathering opportunities. Erin engages with a business book Abdul received, observing it was "really written by a bro" and commenting on the lack of acknowledgment of women. Erin contributes to the conversation about workplace culture and pranking, expressing concern that air horn chair pranks "kind of hurt everyone," and mentions limited office work experience, referencing working "over for Parks Canada" and living "in like an outhouse."

Erin contributes to the age gap discussion by pointing out that "your prefrontal cortex doesn't finish developing until you're 24." When Abdul claims they started dating when he was 23, Erin corrects this, stating "No, but we didn't start dating till you were 25." Erin expresses admiration for Dayna's extensive family knowledge and reflects on the passage of time while listening to earlier seasons, observing "I even think that now when I listen to. To spo. Like the first season, it's like, wow, you guys were so young."

During the gameplay portion, Erin actively participates in the prison rescue sequence. When Monster and another character open the door to let allies in, Erin proposes using Safia's small size tactically, asking "Can Safia, like, run up and down their clothes and see if there's keys somewhere?" After successfully obtaining the keys, Erin describes Safia as having "safely stowed them beyond reach of humans" in "like a hollow in the rain." Erin proposes leveraging Safia's frightening potential, suggesting Safia "just kind of wants to attack these guys and freak them out" by combining with Cat's sudden appearance, asking "have you ever seen rat attacks?" and describing the strategy as starting with "the rat attack."

Between gameplay moments, Erin proposes an alternative RPG format where "each player is three players" and asks "Like where you consult. Like what would sucks do here?" referencing the absent Sucks. Erin also suggests an arrangement of "two teenage boys and a bear." Erin expresses clear enthusiasm for actual gameplay, stating "I want to play in real life" when the group discusses whether to begin the session.

Episode: "Session 11"

In Session 11's infiltration mission, Erin demonstrated analytical problem-solving by deducing that burnt matches found on a guard were kept as charcoal for drawing map markers, connecting physical evidence to the X markers on the party's map. Shawn confirmed this insight as correct. Erin kept the party focused on objectives by asking clarifying questions about their mission to locate the Mayor of New Smoke, checking "Do we know where the mayor is or. We're trying to find."

Throughout the session, Erin actively portrayed Safia's actions with physical detail, including "dribbling some little crumbs from her pocket" to interact with creatures and performing silent hand puppet acting to communicate intelligence to Kat and Vasso. Erin engaged in out-of-character table talk, revealing that "Abdul really only has one accent that he does" and participating in discussions about Star Wars references. When planning Sucks's disguise, Erin expressed skepticism about the strategy, stating "I don't think this is the. Really, the greatest plan we ever had," but noted through Safia being "pretty impressed with this team's precision" when the execution succeeded.

Erin demonstrated tactical awareness by monitoring the situation through Safia's ear cuff device and providing strategic assessments. When the Thunderhog Leader made claims about knowing the mayor's location, Erin evaluated: "I think he's all bluster because he's telling everybody that tomorrow's the day, but it seems like he's no closer to knowing what he needs." Erin suggested optimal timing for actions, noting "It's probably a good time to go there. They're distracted," and proposed that Safia could "potentially shapeshift and go into the main hall" as an infiltration option.

Erin also tracked Safia's character development, observing that she is "starting to feel a bit braver" and noting her growing empathy despite finding Sucks annoying. Erin balanced mechanical engagement—asking about using Safia's rat communication ability and explaining her careful approach to avoid detection through the communication network—with interpreting audio intelligence for the party and urgently warning "Guys, we got to go get sucked out of there. He's been spotted" when danger emerged.