Gaffer (Tier 3, Ready)

[SteelEagle]

Type: World of Equestria

Name: Gaffer

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion

Species: Unicorn

Eye Color: Hazel

Coat/Tail: A Two-tone coat, dull orange across much of the body with white down the middle of the face to and around the horn and from the fetlocks down on the legs.

Mane: Wavy dark blonde mane.

Physique: Thin and wry, healthy but unsubstantial.

Residence: Canterlot

Occupation: Owner of Heroes And Ogres, Equestria's biggest comic and gaming store.

Cutie Mark: A purple eight sided die. He received it when, as a colt before he joined the Academy, he organized a successful campaign for Oubliettes and Ogres during a stressful time not only for himself, but for his friends as well. Escaping into a world of fantasy where for once they had real impact and agency on the world when many of them were experiencing their first great obstacles in life allowed them to take the changes with a braver heart and with a duller edge. By the end if the campaign they were over their problems and Gaffer had enabled them to get through it all without losing who they were to the rigors of life.

History:

Gaffer was born to a pair of 'starving artists', though their poisoned chalice was fantasy fiction writing. They had great imaginations and world building but neither one of them could write characters to save their lives which, ironically, was exactly what they needed to do to get by. He therefore spent much of his early life in anything other than wealth with his two older brothers and sister. Despite an upbringing that came with calamitous issues, Gaffer early on learned the value of finding the positive aspects of poor situations and learned to live for others instead of himself. His parents stumbled upon a winning formula when they levied their imaginations and world building to create Oubliettes and Ogres, a fantasy role playing game, leaving the characterization to the players.

The game was a hit and by the time Gaffer was an older colt, his parents had saved enough to pay for his tuition at a prestigious academy, Canterlot Academy, a luxury not afforded to his older siblings. In school he was an adept if unremarkable student, earning solid grades that matched his ability to soak up knowledge and learn quickly. His grades were good but he was anything but remarkable which formost may have caused problems. However, Gaffer had other activities and priorities occupying head space. Ever since the launch of his parent's game he had a love of it, both as a high-level playtester as well as first ever fanboy. Because of his obvious connections he became something of a geek god in school, running several groups and playing in several more. He befriended an eclectic group of nerds, geeks, jocks, band members, philosophers and the shy. Shining Armor, 8-bit, and Pointdexter became his core group and together they were not only the best of friends, but could be considered partially responsible for the modern state of Equestria: After all from their point of view, it was their actions that got Cadance interested in the love-struck Shining Armor. Of course this wasn't the truth, but since when did the truth get in the way of a good story?

After he graduated, Gaffer took some simple jobs besides helping write modules and playtest new releases of the game. The one that stuck to him was his work at a comic shop that specialized in rare and unique copies or even enchanted ones. While he found the unusual elements of his job to be...unusual...he also found himself hooked on that medium of storytelling. So enticed was he by the medium and so unnerved was he by the oddities that the store sold that Gaffer decided to open up his own shop. His parents promised to help him- if he got a degree from a university that would help him in business, so he levied his Canterlot Academy education to attend school at a relatively low-level university a few miles north of Trottingham. His parents never said it had to be glamorous.

One degree in business administration later, Gaffer got the funding to open Heroes and Ogres, a business that sold comics of the non-enchanted variety, tabletop games of all flavors, and collectibles of every nerd fantasy known to ponydom. As the semi-official storefront of Oubliettes and Ogres, H&O became one of the premiere stops for all things nerdy. More than a full decade after he opened it, Gaffer runs a thriving small business that stands at the spear-tip of all things silly, fun, and outrageously geek.

Character Summary:

Gaffer is as wonderful a chap to deal with as he is loyal to his friends. Even at the risk of embarrassment or danger, Gaffer will do what is necessary to make his friends' dreams come true. While this has had many success stories, what makes them more a core of who he is regards the fact that failure is taken as a defeat less and more of a learning experiencing. This pretty positive attitude extends to his interactions with customers, gamers, and in general anypony he meets: he is friendly, honest, and willing to lend a helping hoof where he can, when he can, as long as he can do so without jeopardizing others. In business he is fair and reliable, willing to cut a deal for good customers and work with you instead of against you.

He still loves gaming, even if he doesn't have nearly enough time for it now. His line of work still puts him front and center in the gaming world and he relishes every little morsel he can devour which, considering his position is plenty, still leaves him relatively little time to actually play. he still gets some games in when he can with some of his old groups, but long gone are the days when he had entire desk drawers of folders full of papers for his campaigns. But ask him for it and he will hoof it over because he is bit of a hoarder, much of his personal space taken over by his vast collections of collectibles, cards, comics, and gaming materials.

Outside of his business and gaming, he is a very easygoing fellow who is willing to try and dabble in just about anything anywhere, which has led to a long line of friends across the nation. He maintains long distance friendships contemptuous ease, a flurry of short stories being written to entertain and a caring ear where your problems can find home. Despite the ease of which he makes friends, he has found that he sadly is able to make enemies easier than some. his enthusiasm can come off dishonest at times and his passion projects can easily annoy. Combined with a certain degree of pride and stubbornness when it involves something close to him and you have an occasionally divisive fellow. He finds it easiest to cut off contact with those who treat him poorly, but perhaps his greatest weakness is a certain pettiness that can override good spirit. Wrong him and find yourself unable to rekindle his offer of friendship any time. Less of a hate and more of a dislike, but all petty.

Luckily, his good traits enable him to count a far greater number of friends than enemies. Whether he has some new friend knocking down his door, a regular customer chatting him up, a pen pal's mini-essay stuffing his mailbox, an old friend wanting to plan a night out on the town, a coltfriend trying to sway him from working late and also trying to snag him for that very same night out on the town, or just a gaggle of friendly customers nodding politely, Gaffer is something of a social butterfly inside of a social order not known for social graces. He manages to handle this with the very same skillset that makes campaigning as easy as helping a friend win the love of his life: He is a superb planner as well as adapter.

And life is certainly going according to plan. Sort of. He wished there was just two more hours in the day so he could get some gaming in...

[RarityDash]