I've wanted to include this character in my 31 Days / 31 Characters posts since the very first year I participated but for one reason or another I never got around to him. A recent chat with the PC's player, my long time friend Nelson Marty, gave me what I needed to finally do this entry.
Nelson and I have been friends since I was in middle school, though he was in high school at the time. He is a few years older than I am. Later I would end up going to that same high school (The High School of Art and Design) and that began many, many years of us gaming together. Nelson's name has appeared on this site quite a number of times, mostly relating to Star Trek, Star Wars, and Superheroes, he began in the hobby just as I did, with Basic Dungeons and Dragons.
Art by Me using Midjourney and Photostudio.
Character: Jake Topaz
AKA: Jake Blue Star
Player: Nelson Marty
System: Dungeons & Dragons, Basic 1st Edition, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition
Nature: Medium Length Campaign
Gamemaster: Various, including Nelson himself.
Circa: 1977-78 to 1980
Origins: Jake Topaz was Nelson Marty's first Player Character but actually began life as an NPC in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign he ran sometime in 1977 or 1978. This would have been Basic Dungeons and Dragons and Jake appeared to be Human but was in fact an Elf stats-wise. Later, Nelson played him as a PC when a friend he regularly GMed for wanted to try his hand at GMing.
When Advanced Dungeons and Dragons came along and his friends switched over to those rules (as a great many of us did), Nelson updated Jake and expanded on his background to flesh out his family. This lead to Nelson retiring Jake Topaz and has, over the decades, played his brothers, grandsons, and distant descendants.
It all started with a Grey Elf in a Mask...
Art by Me using Midjourney and Photostudio.
Backstory: Born Jake Blue Star, he is one of three sons of a Male Gray Elf and Female Human. Jake has largely Human features except for his clearly pointed ears and deep purple hair. His younger brother appears completely Human and goes by the name Silver Star. He became a Paladin when he grew to adulthood. The youngest of the three siblings was Azure Star and was Half-Elven in both appearance and physicality. He eventually became a Fighter/Magic-User and had a great many adventures in the Northern Lands (this is the brother from a campaign I ran).
The Star Family Emblem
Originally worn by Silver Star the Paladin, Nelson retroactively said that Jake wore it too
but sometimes hid it beneath his chestplate. Later, when he gained renown as a hero
he added it to the front of his armor.
When the trio were still quite young their mother died protecting her husband and children from an attack on their mixed Species village. The nearby elves felt honor bound to take in the children and help raise them. Jake stayed as long as he was able but an insatible desire to see the lands and peoples beyond his home gnawed at him. He eventually left and went out on his own, making his way as a sellsword and an adventurer for hire. Unfortunately he learned that many Human locals did not like Elves overmuch and so he hid his ears beneath a leather mask and took on a new name, Jake Topaz.
Overview: I was never in a game with Jake Topaz and Nelson himself confesses that he didn't play the character as much [or as long] as he did Jake's brothers and many of the subsequent members of the Star Family lineage. Jake is nonetheless worth mentioning for more than just being first. It was Topaz that began many of the 'Character Traditions' that Nelson's Fantasy PCs would embrace for decades to come.
Among these are the idea that many of the characters that followed Topaz and his siblings are of the same family, however extended. Sometimes the connection to the bloodline is thin at best but it is certainly there. Oddly, this is implied to be true in some fashion even if the characters exist on different worlds and in completely different games. Though (purposely) never defined or clarified, Nelson absolutely intended to convey that there is some link between his collection of PCs. This creates a dynamic we've likened to Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion.
On a practical level this approach helps Nelson as the player, thinking of these individuals as related gives an instant and easy to pocess buy-in. See, there is an automatic investment in your 'new' character if they're a relative of one or more of your 'old' characters (I've seen this myself in my Winghorn Guard/Aerth campaigns). An emotional connection is made more directly between the player and their PC under these conditions.
There is a tendency for Nel's Elvish Fantasy characters (and even some of the Humans) to wear Masks. It's his thing. I don't know why. Now when I say that I don't mean his characters wear them for no reason. There is always a narrative point to why the PC is wearing a Mask but it is funny to think there is a long history of Masked Adventurers like the Dread Pirate Roberts of The Princess Bride.
Art by Nelson Marty. Most likely from 1984 or 89.
The Highlights: Not sure there highlights to speak of here beyond what has been mentioned above. Nelson didn't recall any particular adventure or event of note involving Topaz. While that's unfortunate, it also isn't unexpected. We are talking about a good 40+ years ago here.
Game Info:
The character sheet for Jake Topaz is long gone. While there is a slim possibility that it or a copy of it is stashed in one of Nelson's many archived sketchbooks he has in storage, there was nothing available for this post (time of posting).
The initial version was a Fighter; even though he was an Elf by species he was written up as a Human Fighter stat-wise. Can you see why Nelson and I became friends and played a $#^%-ton of games together? Right from the get-go he and his group were changing things up to make D&D more interesting and flexible that it was.
He was converted into an Elven Fighter for the switch to 1st Edition AD&D and managed to get to 6th or 7th level I believe. .
Notes: Nelson remembers Jake Topaz's primary magical weapon, a variant of the classic D&D magic sword 'Frostbrand'. A long sword in this incarnation, it had the traditional powers of the item as described in the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide-1st Edition, with the addition of a 'Cone of Cold' it could project from the blade once per day.
While he didn't bring it up, I recall Topaz having a companion animal, a black wolf or dog (or wolf-dog) as confirmed by the image above.
Legacy:
Art by Nelson Marty
In many ways the through line of this entry is 'Legacy'. Topaz is most memorable at this point for being the first in a long history of characters connected by family and certain traditions.
Versions of Topaz and his brothers exist as NPCs in my Fantasy setting of Aerth/The Winghorn Guard.
It's been a very long time since I've gamed with Nelson and according to the man himself he hasn't played at all since the late 90s. That's a shame. Nelson always put the Action and Adventure into action-adventure gaming. He could always be counted on to have his PC swing on a chandelier or leap onto a moving horse. He kept these moving, always striving to push the narrative forward.
Another custom started by an Elf in Mask named Jake (Blue Star) Topaz.
The oldest image of Jake Topaz that Nelson could find.
It dates back to the early-to-mid 80s
Art by Nelson Marty
AD
Barking Alien
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