#MayRPGQ2018 How do you introduce yourself?

The music and merriment of the tavern stills, suddenly, as the door opens with a loud creak of its well-worn hinges. A man enters, clad in black, his face hooded and hidden. A raven perches on his shoulder, red eyed, considering everything and everyone around it with studied contempt. A second swoops past the man to roost amongst the rafters and settles, tucking itself into its fluffed up feathers and seeming to take a nap.

The man pushes back his hood to reveal tangled hair, a beard striped like the hide of a badger – glinting with beads – and a warrior's eyes that have seen many battles. No scars on the flesh, however. That is strange, until – you reflect – that a warrior who wins his battles is one who will be without scars.

The patrons move aside, the minstrel accidentally knocking his lute as he does so, making a clang almost more musical than his playing. The man arrives at your table and draws his axe from his back. It hums, deep and resonant, lightning playing across it's curved, 'T' shaped head and a petrichor scent seeming to waft from the slate-grey metal.

Next to the axe he tosses down a bag of coin. It looks and sounds heavy, a gleam of gold peeking out as the drawstring loosens.

The question hovers, unsaid, over the scarred wood of the table. Will you take up his quest?

Hi, for anyone new coming here because of this hashtag (I know I’m behind a bit) I’m James ‘Grim’ Desborough. Most people just call me Grim. The surname sounds like ‘Dez’, and the ‘burrough’ is like the ‘burrough’ of a city. Buh-Ruh. To it’s Dez-buh-ruh. I don’t know why people have an issue pronouncing it correctly, but they do!

I am an RPG, board game and card game designer with credits for work with Steve Jackson Games, Wizards of the Coast, Cubicle Seven Entertainment, Mongoose Publishing and more. These days I primarily work for myself, but I’m usually available for hire.

I also write stories (you can find more about those over on Tales of Grim) and I have a Youtube channel that is a grab-bag of things including gaming. I have a series there providing gaming advice, so go check that out.

As I answer these posts there’ll be teasers, with the full text available on my Patreon. You need only sign up for a dollar a month, or you can support me with one token a month on Minds.com. In both cases you’ll have access to bonus material as well as discounts on t-shirts, games and anything else I produce.