Thomas Clint (or simply Tom) was part of Juniper Smith's Dungeons & Dragons group. According to Juniper, he's a great guy, very understanding and funny, but not much of a thinker.[1] The bumbling skin mage Everett[2] and Elhart Cloakshield[3] were some of his characters. He liked paraphrasing Monty Python and the Holy Grail's line "It's only a model" whenever Juniper described a big city in his games.[4]
Tom has an infamously weak stomach according to his friends, but he claims it's just a loss of appetite.[5] Tom's father died in a farm accident.[6]
“I think you guys are too smart for me.”
Biography[]
Tom once bemoaned the lack of famous or historical people that shared his name, but he was quickly proven wrong by Reimer, Juniper and Craig. Twenty Questions
Tom claimed to like Alvion when the party was approaching Barren Jewel, but Arthur realized he was actually thinking of Alvino, from the Scattered Asches campaign. Whys and Wherefores
Tom had trouble understanding why Count Gardner was poisoning them if the party had poison immunity, but that was a fact the Count was not actually aware of. Siege
In a campaign set in London, Tom, Reimer, Arthur and Craig planned to use a pair of linked portals to shine sunlight onto Dracula. Rocket Man
Tom, Arthur, Craig, and Reimer once struggled to stay in character when working out the loot they planned to get in return for defeating a cult. Weik Handum
While trying to solve a difficult puzzle with the rest of the group, Tom tried to convince Juniper to let him roll against his character's 22 INT to get the solution. Craig declared that - having seen his performance as a classmate - Juniper had no more than 15 INT, and should realistically be no match for Tom's gnome. In Which Juniper Stares At His Character Sheet
Tom asked if everything was okay after Reimer confronted Juniper over Arthur's death and his relationship with Tiff. By the time of Juniper's trip to Aerb, Tom and Reimer were the only people still playing D&D with him. Juniper guessed Tom only stayed because he was a great guy who thought the death of the group before they all went to college would have been a travesty. A Pleasant Interlude in Kansas
Tom didn't get Tiff's Keep Portland Weird reference. Keep Magic Weird
Tom thought that Arthur and Tiff's argument about letting Arthur's character do all the party's talking would be fun, which Reimer agreed with. Animus
Tom was curious about Parsmont's voting system and asked a villager about it, but he got his name wrong. In Mutual Congress
Tom thought killing baby Hitler would be Good or Chaotic Good. Moral Agency
Tom came up with the character of Everett by thinking of a character whose points didn't actually represent his level of skill. Juniper agreed with the concept as long as Tom narrated all of Everett's intended actions whenever Tom wanted something to happen. The Meeting of Minds
In Juniper's dream at the burger bar, Tom took care in adding things to his burger. He didn't know of the Women in Refrigerators trope or the Bechdel test, and needed them explained to him. Tom claimed the rest of the group was too smart for him. Deceptions
After Craig confronted Juniper over his relationship with Maddie, Tom asked if he was okay and if there was anything he could do. Maddie (Chapter)
Tom claimed 'diegetic' was Juniper's favorite word. Piece of Mind
References
- ↑ “Can I roll Intelligence to figure out our next move?” asked Tom. He was playing a gnomish wizard with 22 INT; 18 INT was supposed to be where intelligence maxed out for a human, though that sort of depended on edition. Tom was a great guy, very understanding and funny, but he wasn’t really a thinker, and certainly not on par with his character.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 36: "In Which Juniper Stares At His Character Sheet" - ↑ It hadn’t escaped my notice that Everett, the decrepit old man, shared a name with Everett, the bumbling skin mage based on Tom’s character and one of Uther’s seven Knights.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 114: "The Meeting of Minds" - ↑ “Tom, character name?” I asked.
“Elhart Cloakshield,” he replied in his most pompous voice, the one he reserved for elves and wanna-be elves. “Signature move: twirling his cloak and using it like a shield.”
—Worth the Candle Chapter 7: "Twenty Questions" - ↑ “It’s just a model,” said Tom, which he said after pretty much every description of a big city, and somehow it caught me off-guard every time and still managed to be funny.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 15: "Whys and Wherefores" - ↑ “Ah,” said Tom. “Got it. But can we not talk about rats when I’m eating?”
“Does Tom have a weak stomach?” asked Tiff.
“Famously weak,” I said with a sigh.
“Infamously weak,” said Arthur.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 120: "Deceptions" - ↑ Tom’s father had died in a farm accident.
—Worth the Candle Chapter 109: "The Veil of the World"