Frank Wright: Background
This is sort of a mix between Hermit and Sage. Mostly sage.
As a teen Frank played lots of role-playing games. Lots. No, really...lots. He was increadibly short on social skills but could tell a tale as a DM and play a fun character that he could not begin to compare to in real life. Weekends were cheap hot dogs or pizza, smoke filled rooms, and lots of dice rolling. Paydays meant new copies of Dragon or trying out a new game. Frank did a few things like martial arts, the SCA, and USPSA shooting just to give him better data on how to game.
Then she walked in to Frank's life. Not a gamer, sadly, but loving him enough to give him time to decide. Frank shelved the PHB, quit smoking, and got a real job. And pretty soon a wife. Life was good until a drunk driver crossed the lanes.
Frank found solace in game backgrounds. Insurance kept him fed and built up his bank account. He studied the games but never played; people were just too much to deal with. He wrote about lands and studied mythoi and magic. Like many he was aware of Drop Ins but didn't really know any. Another news report, another Little Ceasear's Hot and Ready with extra pepperoni. Frank was halfway to his car before he realized the reference to Sheelba was out of place. Sheelba was just a fictional character, right?
Frank dug in. Maps of Middle Earth, Narnia, Newhon, and Amber started filling his walls. What he found was disturbing; reports of magical creatures and events seemed to parallel things found in works of fiction. Even more disturbing, some of the game rules mirrored those things a bit more than random chance would suggest as "normal".
Frank dug in deeper. There were too many coincidences, and he began to find people who thought like he did. Some of them wanted to fight back against the Drop Ins; they even coined the term and used it in a derogatory sense. Frank was half prepared from years of gaming. He had money to travel to some of the more active sites and to meet Drop Ins face to face. Travel showed Frank that he could be just as much of a Drop In as someone coming from another plane or alternate planet.
This was his calling. He studied with others, shared knoweledge, and began contributing to Earther's understanding of magic and in your face mythological creatures. He pushed himself to learn there language and was surprised to find many of them spoke similarly. While he's not sure what it means, it means something. Frank wants to find out.
Skill Proficiencies: Arcana, Geography of the varied earths
Languages: (plus two; recommendations?)
Equipment: Small tablet PC and a lot of international friends and connections.
Specialty: Researcher
Feature: Frank knows a good bit and knows people who know a lot more. He is well travelled and gets along in a variety of cultures.
Personality Trait: Loves to help Drop Ins acclimate and find their niche.
Ideal: There's something to be figured out; he just doesn't "get it" yet.
Bond: Frank is often more comfortable with Drop Ins than Earthers.
Flaw: Frank will try to convert a Drop In if at all possible.
