Friendship is Dragons/Characters

In attention to some different takes on the familiar cast of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic, Friendship Is Dragons has the players themselves naturally playing a role, along with the GM.

Twilight Sparkle
""Here we are, as different as people and characters can be, and we're getting along. I can't explain it. It's like magic.""

A Lawful Good Wizard and the young apprentice of Princess Celestia. Her special talent is literally Magic, and Spike is her Familiar. While her personal studies have kept her from interacting much with other ponies, a fateful trip to Ponyville changes all that.

This is her player's first campaign. While she's familiar with the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons, putting them into practice -- and dealing with the social aspects of the game -- is new for her, and she's learning as she goes.


 * Genre Savvy: To a limited degree; she's familiar with story cliches and the concept of Railroading. There's plenty she misses or misunderstands due to inexperience, though.
 * Meta Gamer: Accidentally does this when meeting Rarity, as she acts suspicious in-character due to OOC knowledge.
 * The Munchkin: She doesn't fully realize that this practice is frowned upon when it's overdone, and when the GM confirms that the Sixth Element is Magic, she grins very smugly.
 * The Newbie: Though she's studied the way the game works before trying it out.
 * Socially Awkward Heroine: Both she and her player are learning the finer points as they go.
 * Superpower Lottery: Specifically designed this way by her player, who wanted to circumvent the usual limitations on magical ability.

Applejack
""Hey, it's free food and good company. What's to complain about?""

A Lawful Good Ranger and the head of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack is a practical and level-headed pony who knows how to exploit all her talents to their fullest extent. She knows Ponyville and all its citizens inside and out, how to read ponies, and how to use that knowledge to her advantage.

Her player is one of the most experienced members of the group. Thoughtful and pragmatic, she's extremely Genre Savvy and quick to pick up on nuances, subtleties and cues.


 * Brutal Honesty: Twi's player even uses this to justify assigning her the Element of Honesty; AJ's player comments that most people find the same traits she's praising annoying.
 * The Clan: Created by her player along with Sweet Apple Acres for the benefits they provide.
 * Genre Savvy: Extremely so.
 * Meta Gamer: Thanks to Applejack's familiarity with how things work in Ponyville, her player is able to justify this to a certain degree.
 * Required Secondary Powers: Many of her talents as an apple farmer also benefit her character class.
 * The Roleplayer: Played with in that all the effort she put into fleshing out her Backstory has helped build the game world and given her practical advantages.
 * The Munchkin: Stemming from how she manipulates the system to her character's benefit.
 * Team Mom: She's patient with the new players, using her insight to defuse situations and help guide everyone along. This also enables her to prevent problems with the justification that she's familiar enough with her fellow Ponyville citizens to know when they're about to do something stupid.

Rainbow Dash
""Dear Princess Whatever: Today I learned you don't ALWAYS need to slay the dragon...""

A Chaotic Evil Barbarian, Rainbow Dash thirsts for the thrill of battle and all its glories! Being stuck in a boring town like Ponyville brings her no end of frustration, something she tends to take out on those around her.

Out of all the players, hers has the gravest doubts about the setting, and she shares them. Frequently. She's gamed with Applejack and Rarity's players before.


 * The Berserker
 * Brutal Honesty: Does not censor herself at all, telling it exactly how she feels it is.
 * Even Evil Has True Companions: Her alignment doesn't prevent her from being loyal to the party.
 * Heroic Comedic Sociopath
 * Hidden Heart of Gold: Though she downplays it, she does try to help out 'the Druid' in understated fashion.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Her player explictedly calls her a "super-tough barbarian racer!"
 * It's All About Me
 * The Nicknamer: Rather than bothering to learn the others' names, Dash calls them by their character classes.
 * The Real Man
 * Token Evil Teammate
 * The Unfettered: Chose her alignment so that Dash can do whatever she darn well pleases, including evil actions.

Rarity
""If being your friend means I have to dodge a few questions down the road, then so be it.""

Though she presents herself as a dressmaker and fashionista, Rarity is actually an Evil (later Unaligned) Rogue -- or, put more accurately, a "social rogue". Far from your stereotypical thief, she's focused on the cutthroat world of high society, making her mark and passing herself off as a member of the elite.

Rounding out the trio of experienced gamers, Rarity's player is primarily focused on the roleplaying aspects of the game. Because of this, she sees a lot of potential in the setting; while she's quick to point out flaws, it's more for the sake of improving the game by ironing those out.


 * Character Development: After the Mare in the Moon arc, she shifts from Evil to Unaligned. Her own player seems bemused by this change.
 * Classy Cat Burglar
 * Foil: While just as savvy as AJ's player, she's extremely devoted to staying in character and avoiding metagaming. This isn't to say she doesn't look for advantages; she just relies on in-character knowledge, whereas the other justifies her metagaming by claiming it's reasonable for AJ to have picked up on these things.
 * Genre Savvy: Much like Applejack.
 * Gold Digger: Her ultimate goal is to marry into the wealth and status she strives to pass herself off as already a part of.
 * Hidden Depths
 * Large Ham: Her overdramatic reaction to Twilight pointing out.
 * Master of Disguise
 * The Roleplayer: Creating a fascinating and complex character is her player's passion.

Pinkie Pie
""You don't need plans to have a fun game! You just need the right people!""

An Unaligned Bard who serves as Ponyville's Primo Party Planner. Quirky and unpredictable, to say the least.

Her player is a bit of a mystery. None of the others really know whether or not she's actually gamed before; if she has, it wasn't with Applejack, Dash and Rarity's group. However, she's got a knack for improvising.


 * Bard-of-All-Trades: Her player's choice of words when describing how she leveled her up before the second arc.
 * Crazy Prepared: When coming up with a Glib Limerick, she has at least eight stanzas ready to go, apparently right off the cuff.
 * Genre Savvy: She knows that you Never Split the Party, EVER!
 * The Loonie
 * Spoony Bard

Fluttershy
""Sometimes the challenge, um, you know... makes the victory better. That's... kind of the point, isn't it?""

A Good-aligned Druid, Fluttershy is shy and softspoken, far better at dealing with animals than other ponies. Still, she strives to be helpful despite all her awkwardness, wishing only to do whatever she can for everyone who needs it.

Like Twilight's player, hers has never played any tabletop games before. Though not familiar with the rules, she's enamored with the setting and tries to do her best.


 * Foil: Whereas Twilight's player knows the rules of D & D but struggles with all other dynamics of the game, Fluttershy's player is unfamiliar with the mechanics but more attuned to the social and roleplaying aspects.
 * Literal-Minded: Responds to Twilight asking what her character's like by rattling off her stats.
 * The Newbie: One who has to have game mechanics explained to her at times. Given that she's a druid, her putting the most skill points into charisma instead of intelligence should be an indication that she's new to gaming.
 * Shrinking Violet
 * The Quiet One

The Game Master
Designed the campaign world and is testing it out for the first time with this group.


 * Ambiguous Gender
 * Railroader: Would really, really prefer that they not stray Off the Rails in their very first session, when he's trying to lay a plot down.
 * Rocks Fall Everybody Dies: While generally not a Killer GM, he did not take Twilight's sudden insight on very well, making Nightmare Moon threaten a Total Party Kill now that she knew they actually posed a threat.
 * Schrodinger's Gun
 * Schrodinger's Suggestion Box
 * Throw It In: Likes to include things the players suggest, whether or not they meant to give him ideas.

Spike
Twilight's Familiar and personal assistant, as well as the GM's primary NPC voice for obvious reasons.


 * Familiar
 * Mister Exposition
 * Precocious Crush: As in Canon, has a huge crush on Rarity. Twilight's initial reaction to this is to pretend That Didn't Happen.

Princess Celestia
Twilight Sparkle's mentor, ruler of Equestria, and Physical Goddess.


 * Brutal Honesty: When called out by Twilight, she opts to tell her flat-out that.

Nightmare Moon
The first major villain the party faces, who was intended to serve as a major threat for the entire campaign.


 * Evil Gloating
 * Final Boss Preview: Was meant to be this, along with a Hopeless Boss Fight.
 * Long Lost Sibling: Announced in the campaign opening; pity nobody was really paying that much attention...