(l-r) Ludovicus (Human-Cleric-War Domain), Marius (Human-Monk-Way of the Open Hand), Kinopio (Halfling-Rogue-Arcane Trickster), Pessica Sieni Aranel (Eladrin-Wizard/Druid-Circle of Spores)
IN THE REALMS
Yo, you in for a treat so hang onto your seat
Get ready for adventure and remarkable feats
Marius and Ludovicus thought they had it all figured out. The elder of the brothers (technically Marius II) was a local hero, a blue-collar champion of Sembia’s fighting pits where he earned his reputation when he went ten rounds with a monstrous ape. Timid Ludovicus performed exorcisms and cleansed cursed tenements and mansions. But when the Sons of Marius fell through one of the magical “thin places” beneath the city of Selgaunt, they found themselves in the Feywild and completely out of their depth.
Taken in by the halfling retainer Kinopio, they agreed to rescue an Eladrin Princess by the name of Pessica Sieni Aranel from the clutches of an evil dragon. The brothers were surprised to find their fighting skills and cityscape acrobatics translated just as well to the fantastic faerie wilds as they did to the Sembian alleyways.
Pessica’s wizarding skills at Transmutation and her druidic devotion to the Circle of the Spores give the party a wealth of mystical options. Kinopio’s speed is unmatched, and he always has something new in his arsenal. Ludovicus, a full-fledged cleric and ghost-hunter, might quail at danger – but bravery is the mastery of fear, not its absence. And Marius has outjumped, outrun, and outfought every opponent put before him.
Now they’re playing with power.
SOURCE MATERIAL & CAMPAIGN IDEAS
What can I say? I’m hooked on the brothers.
Recently my partner and I purchased a Nintendo Switch and with it, Mario Odyssey – one of the best games I have ever played and the inspiration for this Pop Culture Party (I also plan to do a Motley Crew version of them).
My other inspiration is the youtube channel of Tulok the Barbarian, who has been engaged in a somewhat similar enterprise, though with a much faster output (and a much larger group of followers).
Get to Class
I followed Tulok’s version of Mario as a Pugilist Monk, even if I eschewed his choice of halfling for race. The outfit was inspired by Roman elements.
Similarly, his video on Luigi was the source of everyone’s green brother as a Cleric of Kelemvor (or E. Gadd). A Paladin would also work, and the Oath of the Watcher is all about guarding the world against outside forces.
Kinopio is self-evident, save for his name – which I found out was Toad’s Japanese name and a portmanteau of Kinoko (Japanese for mushroom) and Pinochio.
Peach’s new name comes from an approximation of the “Persica”, the Finnish word for mushroom (“Sieni”) and the Quenya word for Princess (Aranel). Tulok hasn’t done a video for her yet, but to my mind a multi-class Druid/Wizard made the most sense. Circle of Spores was a natural fit, but Transmutation follows part of the plot of Super Mario 3, plus my grand theory of the Mario canon: that evolution is the crux of the Mushroom Kingdom’s culture.* Goombas are the neanderthals, while Toads long to be more human-like still. The Princess, who in some of her first game art appearances looks more like a Mushroom, has transformed herself into a human shape. Part of Bowser’s evil strategy is to offer strange bio-engineering to his minions (wings on turtles and goombas), a pale imitation of the true metamorphosis that Peach withholds.
*Admittedly, this article helped flesh out my theory – but I had it too!
Campaign Notes
Setting a campaign in the Feywild, while featuring intensely “working class” adventurers like the Sons of Marius makes for a really interesting setting. WoTC recently released a Feywild campaign (Wild Beyond the Witchlight) and materials that will help flesh things out.
Background courtesy of bvigek on Deviantart
The Pop Culture Party Series follows a similar line to my Motley Crew series. Only while that nerdly rotogravure imagined sci-fi motley crews in Firefly’s ‘Verse, this will imagine various casts of adventure media as D&D characters.
HyperboreanComics 