I have to thank Astrid for being so reachable and accepting these questions, so we can get a better insight into the book:

1.- What inspired you into writing a book based on ttRPGs?

I’m a huge fan of DND, and my obsession with it was a huge factor in my mental health journey. It only made sense for me to write about mental illness in a TTRPG setting!

2.- Which one is your favourite ttRPG system?

My favorite TTRPG is probably DND just because it’s the one I’m most familiar with. I do love Monster of the Week or anything under Powered by the Apocalypse along with Kids on Bikes/Kids on Brooms and Pathfinder.

3.- I observed a big exploration of mental health and trauma, and I wanted to ask you if all the characters of the main group are written trying to tie themselves to a specific mental health problem? Or how would you define them?

I definitely wrote Violet in mind with PTSD, depression, and anxiety all in mind. I have experience with all of those so it felt very natural because a lot of her experiences are also my experiences. Jackson also has ADHD, which I have, and it’ll be explored more in later books how that affects him. There’s other mental health stuff with the other characters down the line as well!

4.- This is more a jokey question, but if you would have to make a character sheet out of Violet (or whatever character you would like), which would be the stats?

I absolutely love this question! I would consider her maybe a wizard through most of the book who goes into warlock mode at the end (Spoilers!) Heavy in intelligence and wisdom, not so great in charisma or strength, but maybe some average constitution and dexterity! (Unsurprisingly, that’s how I build most of my characters I play lol)

5.- What we can expect of Astrid Knight in the future? Maybe a sequel for Perception Check?

There is already a sequel for Perception Check being written, titled Rules As Written. Hoping to release that next year! In the meantime, I have another book coming out called The Wayward and The Wanderer which I’m writing with my friends Blake R. Wolfe and Taylor R. Wallace, based on a DND campaign we all played!

In case you want to get a copy, here’s a link for it: https://www.amazon.com/Perception-Check-Mages-Velmyra-Saga-ebook/dp/B09VYB9ZJ5