When you’ve been DM’ing for some time, you will have met one of those group whose characters puzzle you even before starting the game. How can such a band of misfits stick together and get involved in your game?
The Rat Queens are exactly that kind of group: each character has her lot of issues and causes havock wherever she goes.
- Hannah is a punk rock elven wizard hiding a family secret and having a complex relationship with her lover.
- Violet is heir to a dwarven clan who has rebelled against authority and shaven her beard before heading straight into adventure.
- Dee rejected her people’s faith to live an atheist life far from her homeland and clerical duties.
- Betty, the halfling thief, is fond of recreative drugs and has a hard time committing to a serious relation with her girlfriend.
From the first tome, the reader learns that though Palissade used to be threatened by nearby hordes of monsters, of which goblins, orcs, mushroom men and other creatures, the biggest danger now resides in the adventuring parties breaking loose at the local tavern and clashing with each other.
But what happens when they are handed new assignments to keep them busy and suddenly each party gets assassinated by mysterious figures?
The characters all have their back stories and skeletons in closets. As the story unfolds, things are set in motion, and the backgrounds are explored in more details as the Rat Queens and their friends fight against assassins and otherworldly threats.
Interestingly too, in the middle of the second tome, Rat Queens went through a change of illustrator, and Stepan Seijic took over from Roc Upchurch. The characters’ characteristics remain, but the drawing style changes.
More information on https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/rat-queens.
