This is 'real' swordswoman Stephanie. In the Spectrum files, Jim has written his sister Stephanie in as one of the characters in his books and stories. In realtity, it was the other way around. When Muskateer came up with the notion of giving Spectrum a sister, he named her Stephanie after the D&D character!

There are certain characters that I have the habit of re-using over and over in my D&D games. A female human fighter named Stephanie is one of them. Stephanie is probably about my favorite name for a girl and if I ever had a daughter that is what I would name her. Typically in just about any computer D&D game I've played among the first characters I play through the game is Stephanie. This ranges all the way from the Pool of Radiance on the old C-64 to Baldur's Gate II.

The very first Stephanie dates back to our very first D&D game, which I will label as Victor 1. Sadly no pictures of this particular Stephanie exist as this dates back to '81-82. She was a competent fighter and ended up marrying my own PC from that era, some guy named James Sculley. (Ed. - Originally known just as Skull) They had a couple of kids and settled down, a girl Renee and a son Justin. Jim served as the Magist for Victor the First, Muskateer's PC who founded the Kingdom of Cynalon.

Eventually, all the Victor 1 characters retired and had kids, which led to the second game: Victor 2. Stephanie and Jim were background characters as most of the action focused on their kids. Renee was older and really didn't figure into things. The campaign started out with Justin traveling with the children of Victor the First: Victor the 2nd and Veronica. Eventually, Justin married Ronnie, Victor the 2nd married Ariel, they had kids, and before you know it there was the 3rd game featuring Victor the 3rd!

The Victor 3 game was slightly different as if featured some of the children of the previous generation, but not all of them. They ended up stranded in another world and separated. By the time Victor 3 found his siblings, some of them had changed considerably. A new Stephanie, called Stefandia this time out, showed up as well. There is art for her and she will be covered in another exhibit. You can check out Stefandia's exhibit right here.

The picture is for the modern incarnation of Stephanie. This one debuted in 'The Frontier', a MB game I ran on Q-Link for several years, before the platform's demise. She's a physically powerful woman but lacks any real education. Stephanie started out as a supporting character in the game and after a few years actually assumed leadership of the group. (Being an online game, players came and went with great frequency.)

Along the way, Stephanie grew and matured as a character. She fell in love and got married. Her husband, Finrod an elven multi-class character, taught her how to read and write. Sadly, Finrod was killed and Steph was on her own once more.

Much like Q-Link itself, the Frontier eventually closed. Some portions of the game continued past that with Borderlands and some stuff I ran live with Muskateer. Stephanie does exist in the same time frame of Kharyna and Jylsera, although Stephanie has not met the later as of yet.

Now you know the true story behind Stephanie Sculley! Also, the excerpt from the end of Jim's first novel, featured in Spectrum #19, uses characters from the Frontier game. Validar is a Muskateer PC, while Stephanie, Argent, and Schar were all characters of mine. Much like Stephanie, Argent is my prototypical Invoker, while Schar is a Priestess. In games like Icewind Dale, my group usually has all three of these ladies in them. Finrod, as mentioned above, eventually married Stephanie, while Perrel married Schar. Both Finrod and Perrel were played by other players online. And lastly, those familair with D&D probably recognize the excerpts from Jim's book to be taken from Modual X1 - "Island of Dread".

Here's the current 2nd Edition D&D version of Stephanie from the Frontier: 9th level Fighter; Chaotic Good; STR 22, DEX 16, CON 18, INT 9, WIS 8, CHR 12., HP: 120. Master Specialization with Longsword. Basic Equipment: Frost Brand Longsword, Full Plate +3, Medium Shield +3, Boots of Levitation, Broach of Shielding, Ring of Water Walking, Ring of Chameleon Power, and a Girdle of Fire Giant Strength. (Natural STR is 18/01.)