Characters from a Spin-Off series available to Maximum Fun Network backers, set in a Steampunk inspired universe and DMed by Travis with Griffin, Clint and Justin playing.
The Party
Tom Collins
- Race: Half-ElfClass: Warlock (Great Old One; Pact of the Tome)
A half-elf bartender and "wizard" who totally went to wizard school and is certainly not a warlock. A milquetoast and shy man who's made a pact with an ancient and forgotten god on the fringes of reality. Played by Griffin.
- Ambiguously Evil: He's a good enough guy, but he did make a pact with a an old god and suggests committing an unnecessary murder during a stealth mission.
- Eldritch Abomination: Made a pact with The Great Old One to get his powers which occasionally commands him to collect people's spinal cords.
- It Gets Easier: After his first (accidental) murder, he's horrified and vomits over the floor. After his second, he's cheerful and nonchalant about it, and wonders out loud what he was bothered by before.
- Nervous Wreck: He's a very anxious boy.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: To Lenny, who can't stand him after whatever happened between them, despite Tom's attempts to bury the hatchet.
- Suspiciously Specific Denial: Out of fear of the social stigma that follows Warlocks, he claims, repeatedly, to merely be a wizard.
- Theme Naming: Names his bat Familiar "Chaser". Invoked by Griffin.Griffin: I'm going for a drink theme.
Lenny Manolito
- Race: HumanClass: Bard (College of Lore)
A sarcastic and crass human bard played by Clint. He used to work at Tom's bar before a falling out that neither of them seem willing to discuss. He uses a steam-powered key-tar called "The Fagenblaster."
- Casanova Wannabe: Attempted to put the moves on Troth at least once, as Justin pointed out it's a little odd to have a man hitting on his own son's Dungeons & Dragons character.
- Deadpan Snarker
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Was once a successful and popular musician (although Canis claims his later albums were terrible) until the incident with Tom left him playing on the street corner for Copper Coils.
- Noodle Incident: Whatever he did to get Tom to fire and blackball him among all the venue owners in the city has yet to be revealed, other than Tom telling him "You know what you did!"
- Spell My Name With An S: Is it "Manolito"? "Manalito"? "Manelito"? It's never made clear.
- Ungrateful Bastard: His past history with Tom causes him to be very hostile towards him, even after Tom saves his life.
Troth
- Race: TieflingClass: Monk (Way of the Open Hand)
Justin's Tiefling monk character. She was abandoned on the steps of a monastery as a baby and raised by the clergy as a monk. She's taken a vow of poverty and frequently volunteers to aid the destitute and needy, while also punching things really hard.
- Action Girl: "I've finally cracked the Adventure Zone secret and put a competent woman on our team!"
- Bare-Fisted Monk: She gets various bonuses and abilities provided she doesn't wear any armor or use weapons.
- Back for the Finale: Magnus summons her from the Bond Engine during the final battle of TAZ Balance.
- Good Is Not Soft: Good overall, but punches Lenny in the throat without a second thought after a crack about her tail.
- Forces a guard to reveal the location of his family while under Zone of Truth and threatens to kill them unless he allows the party entry into Maximum Security. Granted it was to save the Magistrate's son and the threat may very well have been empty.
- Heroic Build: During Her appearance in the finale of TAZ Balance, Griffin describes her as being more muscular than Magnus.
- Meaningful Name: Invoked due to her being a Tiefling. "Troth" is an archaic word that means "faith or loyalty when pledged in a solemn agreement or undertaking", something that Troth exemplifies. This extends to the version of her from the apocalyptic future version of TAZ Nights seen in the TAZ Balance continuity, choosing to stay and fight a doomed battle against The Hunger instead of fleeing those she swore she'd protect.
- Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Mention her tail one more time.
- No Sense of Humor
- No Social Skills: Struggles to fit in with people and is awkward overall.
- Only One Name: "Troth" is a virtue name she chose for herself.
- The Stoic: She's very deadpan.
- Time Abyss: The robot version of herself that appears in the apocalyptic future in The Stolen Century doesn't have her age stated, but considering that the Capital City has fallen into ruin it's probably been a few centuries at the least since TAZ (K)Nights.
- Warrior Monk: She is a monk and she can hit you very hard.
Beasts of the Ring
Canis
- Race: Elf
The former leader of the Beasts of the Ring, an underground Thieves' Guild dedicated to helping the people of Underton and standing against the corrupt Order of Myrkul and Circle of Istus. Is dead before the story begins, but remains behind to advise the party through a set of technomantic artifacts.
- Big Good: Served as this before, you know, dying.
- Posthumous Character: He's dead, with his soul possessing his former possessions.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Advises the heroes through his eyepiece and earpiece.
Terra
- Race: Elf
Canis's younger sister, who's serving as the interim leader of the Beasts of the Ring after his death.
- Didn't Think This Through: The main reason that she's not really cut out to be leader.
- Keet: Very excitable.
- Passing the Torch: The reason she puts the heroes through the Gauntlet is to test their worthiness to lead the Beasts... something they're a little bemused by, as neither has ever had anything to do with the Beasts before.
Magistrate Atreyus Kannon
- Race: HumanClass: Bard (College of Lore)
The elected representative of the people of the Capital City, who put into place harsh and regressive policies despite his campaign promises. The party is sent to kidnap him, but end up rescuing him when it's revealed that he's a member of the Beasts of the Ring who was extorted into putting those policies in place by the Knights of Tyr.
Played by Travis as an NPC in TAZ Nights 2017 Part 1, but is played by Lin-Manuel Miranda in Part 2.
- Badass Bureaucrat: Despite being a politician, he's also a skilled Bard who fights by rapping.
- Guest-Star Party Member: Joins the party in TAZ Nights 2017 Part 2.
- I Have Your Son: His son, Atreyu "B.B. Gun" Kannon, is held captive by the Knights of Tyr to pressure him into changing his policies.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Pretty much all fanart depicts him as Lin-Manuel Miranda as Hamilton.
- Shout-Out: His name is one to Atreyu from The Neverending Story.
Other factions
Circle of Istus
One of the two most powerful factions in the Capital City, the Circle are the worshipers of Istus, goddess of fate and order. They are led by the Mother of Fate.- Adaptational Villainy: In TAZ Balance, Istus and her worshippers are a benevolent force who help the heroes during The Eleventh Hour; here, they're one of the Big Bads.
- Corrupt Church: One of two, along with the Order of Myrkul.
- Precrime Arrest: Are working on developing this with the Knights of Tyr, using the priest's abilities to see a short distance into the future.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Istus is the goddess of fate, so their beliefs hinge on this pretty strongly.
Order of Myrkul
One of the two most powerful factions in the Capital City, the Order are worshipers of Mykrul, god of death. They are led by the undead Lord Thanos.- Corrupt Church: One of two, along with the Circle of Istus.
- Haunted Technology: They're at the forefront of "Technomancy", a branch of necromancy involving powering devices using the souls of deceased creatures. They're working with the Knights of Tyr to power human-sized robots with humanoid souls.
Knights of Tyr
A law keeping religious order worshiping Tyr, the god of law, who act as the police force in the Capital City. In theory, they hold the law above all else, believing morality is unneeded in law keeping. In practice, they are a corrupt order, serving the wills of the wealthy elite.- Lawful Stupid: Because they enforce the law without questioning whether or not the law is just, they easily become puppets for the corrupt aristocracy.
