[D&D] Eggren Level 11

Eggren is a dragonborn rogue/warlock who is kinda a dumbass but has narrowly escaped death a few times and continues to grow into a more thoughtful and caring.

To get ACTUALLY emotional though, Eggren is a very important character to me.

He is part of an ongoing campaign with some friends of mine who I am very close with. Eggren was my second real attempt at making a D&D character to play in a campaign, and initially on making him I had been anxious due to my previous experience being overwhelming, I wanted to play a character who didn't have to be front and center in the talking position (my first D&D character was a bard, which I felt quickly under prepared to play as) lo and behold though, as I played him more he became just a blabber mouth who I needed to reign in because I got so excited to talk I would actively talk over other people which–I don't do too often and try not to!

I gave him the usual tragic backstory with a bunch of NPCs who I hoped would be used by the DM at some point throughout the game, but there's been one character in Eggren's backstory who was the most pivotal in Eggren's development I feel.

Eggren's backstory was formed out of some of the base key background suggestions from the PHB, he's an urchin so I decided he'd be an orphan. However, as I fleshed out his story, I felt instead I would have Eggren be adopted by his blood-related uncle, Mystan. The dynamic between them was a bit estranged, but Mystan looked out for Eggren and was the one to introduce him to pickpocketing and lying to get by. Though of course, as a result of things, Mystan dies and leaves Eggren in a bad place to join a troupe of bad people and does a really bad thing (kills a nobleman on accident).

When I made Eggren, it'd be roughly 2 months (or a little less then) since my grandfather passed away. There was a lot of emotional turmoil that my family went through, it practically destroyed our relationships with my aunt and her family. His passing even soured the idea of New Years for me cause he died on New Years day.

It wasn't easy for us, my mother took it terribly hard and that caused strain on both of my parents. It just sucked and it even still sucks to this day with this being one of the first family deaths in my lifetime to happen with someone I've known since the day I was born.

Mystan was kinda my way to work out those feelings of grief through Eggren, not that it came up too often for Mystan to be brought up or angsted over, but it was something in my mind to process and consider. There's still a lot of family on my grandfather's side who are out there who I am estranged from and wish that I could connect with. A big problem actually is a language barrier (and most are from/within Mexico). So I've always imagined that Eggren has more family out somewhere in the world, but he just doesn't know them because he was never told about them or introduced to them.

Eggren also has a place in my heart permanently for the fact that he almost died twice in the campaign. Thankfully, we have a set of rules where instead of permadeath, we introduce the concept of taking some ongoing penalty for the rest of the game. First time was something that I was wholly not in control of being able to avoid or even fix without the DM's handwave over the situation (he lost an eye so took disadvantage on ranged attacks, has now since been restored due to him getting a replacement magic eye that also comes with a lot of fun homebrew magics) the second time, and the scariest for me actually, was one that I totally provoked.

It was a stressful two weeks to wait for the outcome of him, I had to get reassurance from the DM because the actual thought of losing him made me so worried and upset. I joked a lot that I finally am ready to roll up a replacement character, but I'm really not and probably never will be for him and this campaign. He has too much left unsaid and has to see this journey through to the end. I love him so much and find whenever I get into his character I really embody him. Some of the wildest, most hilarious shit comes out of my mouth as this character, I don't know how I even do it.

I'm proud of the progress he's made, the progress my art has made, and how much I've grown even if it doesn't feel like much. I've healed a lot and am grateful to my friends for being kind and patient with me through all these years.