Satine Phoenix is a Filipino American comic book illustrator, painter, cosplayer, model, actress, and of course, avid D&D player! She lives in Los Angeles, and she has been in charge of Geek & Sundry’s «Game Master Tips» and has been Community Manager of Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons and Dragons. Along R.K. Syrus, she created the comic «New Praetorians» and she is also the founder of CelebrityChariD20. Now, that’s what I call Good alignment all the way! Let’s see what she can tell us about herself, her experience with D&D and of course, Eberron!
Thank you, Satine, for giving this interview. Tell us a little about yourself. If you were a D&D character, what would your build be?
I am Vlahnya Um’Vairar – you can play her on Idlechampions.com. She is an Elf Bard/Wizard college of Whispers, Band Manager to Sirens & Magic Missile… who has a mean “witch slap”… which is essentially a mage hand that does damage. Although when I created her in 1992 she was a mage thief. She, like me, has changed over the years.
How did you learn about D&D?
The year was 1988 and I was putting around in my family’s basement deep in the depths and came upon a glorious cardboard box. Inside were games of different kinds. At the bottom was a box set. I slowly opened it and from within started something that would change my life: It was Dungeons and Dragons.
You have been through a tragic accident earlier in your life. How important can D&D become for someone living through something like that?
I didn’t know it at the time but D&D helped me build courage to hold on to reality while the childhood trauma took place and eventually be strong enough to fight the real life monsters. I’m writing a book about it currently about how D&D helped me through the trauma and to heal from its PTSD.
Do you remember when and how you found out about Eberron?
I’ll never forget! I was invited to a friends’ house to play a D&D game in 2008 and was told it’s a little bit different and with a different DM. It was Keith Baker and he offered up characters that were different than the ones I’d previously played. There were monsters and changelings and shifters. It blew my mind! I fell in love with the Kalashtar. Keith and I became fast friends and eventually stared CelebrityChariD20.com in 2010 at Meltdown Comics. The first livestreamed D&D games!
If a PC of yours could be turned into Eberron canon, who would that be?
Probably my shifter barbarian Salome, from the Jungles!
Tell us about Gilding Light. What is exactly a studio for collaborative art and how is it related to roleplaying games?
As an artist my storytelling goes beyond being a Dungeon Master. I’m an animator (3D, 2D, Stop Motion), comic book artist & writer & non fiction author. Gilding light is my acknowledgement that storytelling transcends media. Gilding Light is a fantasy based collaborative art studio that currently showcases D&D games but over the next few years will transcend into other media.
Do you have any secret plans for the near future you want to share with avid Eberron fans?
My «D&D in a Castle» players broke Eberron. There may be a re-history book out next year put together by myself and some of the players. Basically they went back in time and killed King Galifar. This book will show what happened if the Dragonmarked Houses took control of Khorvaire’s government. And I mean all of it!
That sounds amazing! Would you like to share some final thoughts?
Remember that everyone at your table has volunteered their precious free time to be there, just as you have. Cherish that time. Respect everyone else at the table, including yourself.
* The Sirens is an all Bard Band on tour through the Realms to find that light at the end of the tunnel. DungeonMastered by Satine, it includes Girasol, a fire genasi; Ghost, a half-sprite elf; Brig, a human rogue; Orisha, an aasimar cleric; Xaris, an eladrin ranger; and Fey Lore, a tiefling, as regular cast members (did we mention all of them are also bards?). Kyle Newman, Matthew Lilard, Eugene Simon, Patrick Rothfuss and Kurt Caceres have been featured as guest stars.
If you’re curious about Satine’s famous «disadvantage if your dice fall off the table» rule or when her book will be available, follow her on Twitter or Instagram as @satinephoenix
Really cool gal!