"Are your characters based on any specific players you know?" you ask.
"No," I reply. "Well, maybe Carl is based a little bit on someone I know, but not really. The bit in The Village of Retired Adventurers where he suggests approaching at night is fairly reminiscent of him, but otherwise I don't think I'm good at writing characters that already exist in the real world. Real people are just too unpredictable."
"And their names? Where did they come from?"
"Just out of my head. I'm pretty sure I picked them at random. I know plenty of people named Mike and Melissa, not very many named Carl, but my use of these names is not intended to refer to any of those people."
"Is there anything else you want to say?"
"Actually there is. The latest installment - The Staff and the Book - contains a scene that I had a lot of trouble expressing properly. I think I ended up with something that conveyed the meaning fairly well while avoiding actually describing it."
"You're talking about the bit where Mike's 'other guy' takes over," you say.
"Yes. There's an implied attempted sexual assault there, driven by the cap and by Mikes failed Charisma save, and I wanted to convey the event without actually needing to describe what Mike's character does. I think I succeeded, but I'm still a little anxious about it."
"So what's next?"
"I don't know. I have been stalled on this story for about a month now. I need an inspiration to start on the next thing. I have a scene that I want to use, but I need to put it into the context of an episode, and I'm not sure how to do that yet."
