New plotter! Please reply via discord or PM. See posts below for the characters and their plot lines.
 
I like both lighter, comical threads and darker grittier story lines. If you are uncomfortable with anything, please let me know. Here are my own limits/grey areas:

• Language: Anything goes
  
• Sex: Open to NSFW, but only when I feel it is necessary to understand the development of a relationship. Otherwise, I prefer to fade to black. For references to non-consensual sex, please check with me first.
  
• Violence: Ok with most things. Check with me for: violence against minors, maiming, torture.
  

BENJAMIN WARD

51 * Fisherman * Widower * Father

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...ile&uid=22

Personality: Stubborn, rigid in his views, judgmental, pessimistic, protective and kind to those he perceives as vulnerable

Main motivations and struggles: Ben has lost four children, two of them young adults (one drowned, the other hanged for murder). He feels guilty for having failed to save them. His main motivation now is to provide for his children, which is a challenge because of poor catches and his ailing health. One of his biggest fears is that he should die without being able to give his children economic security for the future. Another is losing another child.

Possible connections:

• Fellow fisherfolk
  
• Ben attends the local Methodist church and is very devout, so anyone who attends there might know him/wish they didn’t know him.
  
• If your character is poor, they might live on the same yard.
  
• Ben can often be seen standing about at the harbour, talking to fellow fishermen, smoking a pipe while taking a break, so he might be a bit of a familiar face to people in town. Your character and Ben may have made a chat in the past.
  
• Ben is keen to earn what little extra he can, so he might give your character a boat ride or ferry them across the harbour when the bridge is open for some coin. He also sometimes goes fishing or gathering wood in areas that are off limits/private, so he might get in trouble with the law/your character.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

ROSE WILLABY

19 * Baker’s wife * Recently wed

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...ile&uid=14

Personality: Sociable, hard-working, stubborn, judgmental, direct, gossipy, insecure

Main motivations and struggles: Rose has spent the past three years in domestic service (first two years in York, where she was homesick, grieving for her brother, and finally sacked for a bit of scandal, and then one year in Whitby under an employer who made no secret of the fact that he despised her). To escape her miserable little life, she married the first man to pay attention to her. Recently wed, Rose is eager to please her husband and rather afraid to disappoint him and lose his love. The fact that she is a terrible cook doesn't help. She finds settling into her new life challenging and looks for ways to put off pregnancy without her husband noticing. Rose carries with her the 'family shame' of having a brother who was hanged for murder.

Possible connections:

• Rose really needs more friends. They might be old friends: people from the fishing community (she's a fisherman's daughter), old school friends, etc. Or new ones.
  
• She helps out in her husband’s shop sometimes; might do deliveries as well.
  
• She served as a maid in York for two years (moved back to Whitby and took up a position there about one year ago, after being involved in a bit of scandal in York), so if your character is from York they may have met there. Perhaps they knew the family she was serving, if they were middle class, or perhaps a relative served there as well, if working class, etc.
  
• Rose attends the Methodist church, so she may know people there. She may have gotten on your character’s bad side by her sharing a piece of gossip or being unkind over something she disapproves of.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

ANNE WARD

15 * Fisherman’s daughter * Part-time maid

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...ile&uid=82



Personality: Shy, sensitive, sub-assertive, compassionate, loyal, extremely protective of her family



Main motivations and struggles: Anne was very close with her older sister Alice, who is now miserably married. She's very eager to find a way to 'save' her sister, and this has driven her to accept a part time job as a maid - although she doesn't know yet how the money will help her sister. She just really misses her. To add to that, she is now the oldest of the children at home and the only girl and she feels overwhelmed with all the responsibilities that now rest on her shoulders. She is regularly ill. 



Possible connections:

• Fellow fisherfolk
  
• If your character is poor they might live in the same yard or area.
  
• Anne left school four years ago, but she might still be in touch with her former classmates.
  
• Anne attends the services and Sunday school/Girls mission of the local Methodist church, so she might know your character from there.
  
• She could do with some friends
  
• Anne gets picked on by other kids for being shy, somewhat sturdier than other girls, and for her siblings (one sister got pregnant out of wedlock recently; one brother killed someone and was hanged for it), so if your character is around her age and has a mean streak, they might be enemies.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

ALICE APPLETON

17 * Farmer's wife * New mother

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...ile&uid=84

Personality: Intelligent, quiet, imaginative, insecure, passive(-aggressive), stubborn

Main motivations and struggles: Alice is weak and sickly at the moment, while she is recovering from giving birth. She struggles to adapt to her new life and misses her sister. However, at this point, she has given up hope and ambition and now devotes herself to making everybody around her miserable.

Possible connections:

• At the moment, Alice is mostly at home, hidden in her room and convalescing after giving birth, so she's not a very active character right now, but old friends and neighbours might visit her and she will pay trips to Whitby at some point.
  
• Fisherfolk (she's originally a fishing girl), old neighbours, old school friends
  
• If your character is a doctor, he might treat Alice. She is sickly
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

TOBIAS APPLETON

31 * Farmer * Husband * New father

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...le&uid=123

Personality: Quiet, hardworking, practical, conscientious, direct

Main motivations and struggles: Tobias is not a very ambitious man. He just wants the farm to run well and desires to lead a quiet life. He did really want a family, but his new marriage is not a happy one, and he's beginning to regret it. Tobias is charitable and often wants to help people, but this gets him into trouble sometimes.

Possible connections:

• Though Tobias lives some way out of Whitby, he comes to town regularly for markets, visits to the bank, and other business, so he'll know quite a few people there.
  
• The farm can always use extra hands, so if you don't know what to do with your character, we can arrange for them to work for Tobias.
  
• He might do business with other farms and agricultural business.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

TRISTAN WELLS

31 * Doctor * Alienist * Bachelor

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...le&uid=186

Personality: Observant, compassionate, intelligent, discreet, patronising

Main motivations and struggles: Tristan has not been in Whitby for long and though he gave up his old job at the asylum for more economic stability and a calmer life, he kind of misses the sense of meaning it gave him. He doesn't know many people in Whitby yet and feels a bit lost and lonely. He also struggles to get enough patients. In his private time, Tristan does a lot of study. He especially studies medical literature on sexual diversity and aspires to write an (anonymous) defense for the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

Possible connections:

• Tristan lived in the Leeds area and worked at an asylum, so if there are characters from that area, or they have family members in the asylum, we could say they've met before.
  
• Tristan could do with some friends.
  
• He attended a boarding school in York and then studied at the University of Edinburgh, so he might know people from there.
  
• He runs a small doctor's practice, so any character with health issues could meet him that way.
  
• He also offers consultations about mental health, to patients and to relatives, so if your character has issues, or their relatives want to see them locked up in an asylum to take all their money, Tristan's your man.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

GABRIEL RICHARDS

33 * Roman Catholic priest

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...ile&uid=60

Personality: Emphatic, conscientious, perceptive, disciplined, idealistic, self-critical

Main motivations and struggles: Gabriel is going through an existential crisis. He's just returned from a long retreat and wants to feel the same passion for his work as before, but he finds it hard to do so. He tries to compensate by working harder and practicing self-denial. It is inefficient in suppressing his doubt and confusion. It doesn't help that he is no longer the head priest and constantly has to report to a superior and has little autonomy. However, his concern for people in (spiritual) need can still stir him into action.

Possible connections:

• If your character is catholic there is plenty of opportunity for them to meet in a religious setting.
  
• Gabriel studied at the university of Edinburgh for a while before joining the seminary, so he might know people from there.
  
• Anyone who is concerned about improving the living conditions of the poor will find an ally in Gabe.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

HARRY LONGBOTTOM

50 * Handyman * Husband * Father

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...ile&uid=27

Personality: Impulsive, extraverted, loud, defensive, stubborn, frustrated, fickle

Main motivations and struggles: Harry's daily struggles mostly consist of keeping his wife in check, making sure she doesn't drink all the money, and making sure the children are fed - neither of which he always succeeds in. When he doesn't, he seeks escape in the drink as well, and in women (though its usually not more than gaping at them and trying to flirt, because they run away from him). He's eager to earn money wherever he can, and so he's willing to cheat his customers or pick up the odd jobs, and encourages his children to work, beg or steal as well.

Possible connections:

• Harry spends a lot of the time in the pub, and if he's drunk, he might come talk to your character whether they like it or not.
  
• Harry runs a workshop where he repairs things (though he might do a poor job at it to save time and money) so if your character needs something fixed (and are gullible), Harry's shop is the place to go.
  
• Harry is eager to earn a little extra, since his shop is not very successful (surprise!), so if your character has a small job, Harry might apply.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
  

NOAH LONGBOTTOM

17 * Farmhand * Accidental father

Profile: https://bywitandwhitby.rpginitiative.com...le&uid=122

Personality: Impulsive, angry, anxious, sensitive, loyal, protective

Main motivations and struggles: Noah is not very ambitious or intrinsically motivated to do anything, but he is very protective of his little brother and this can be a motivating force. He also feels guilty for getting a girl pregnant and then abandoning her and wants to find a way to help her. These concerns have recently made him accept some help and find a job. His impulsive nature, and continuing loyalty towards his family (even though he hates his parents) is prone to get him in trouble, however.

Possible connections:

• As a farmhand, Noah might be sent on many errands that make him engage with other characters and their businesses.
  
• Noah has many enemies. He may have had an argument or fight with your character in the past, tried to steal something from them, or they may dislike his parents, for example.
  
• We can probably work out something else/a more concrete relationship. I’d love to hear your suggestions.