CLOK BBS

I came to CLOK for the gaslamp fantasy, and I picked Grummer not only because of the steam/clockwork tech but because of their love of learning, freedom, and independence. My original rough idea was a Grummer researcher coming to Shadgar on sabbatical, for field work, for adventure, or the like, but having learned about the Quarantine, that's no longer feasible. Still, I'd like to play a character from Grum, especially if that means he can work towards there being steam/clockwork tech in the game. To that end, and after stumbling across more of the game lore, I have a character concept idea but I'd like feedback. I'm especially worried about violating some aspect of game canon I'm not aware of yet.

Short version: A Peacekeeper who volunteers for a suicide mission to reconnoiter the Lost Lands and support Grummer research into a plague cure since he's already nether-tainted and therefore doomed.

Long version: Grum has a problem. A big one. While the Great Wall has been effective for the past hundred years, it is only a matter of time before the quarantine fails and that time draws ever closer now that they've started receiving shipments of goods from the Lost Lands. Someone or something contaminated is eventually going to get through and, since Grum is bordering the Lost Lands and not steeped in healing magic, it stands that Grum would be most likely spot for a plague outbreak. Then there is the nether problem. Also, it has been so long since there's been an official presence on the other side of the wall that they don't even know what it is like over there, which is a pretty big hole in their much-valued knowledge. The solution is to send people over the wall to reconnoiter the Lost Lands and research a plague cure, but who could they send? Who would volunteer for a one-way trip?

My character is a Peacekeeper, so he's more rugged than the usual scholars from the College, and he either served on the border of Tol Rhum and was involved in a border skirmish or dealt with a sudden outbreak of sorcery in one of the towns. The end result was that he has minor nether taint; the PC standard that justifies our refusal to stay dead. He's already doomed, his soul is damned and he's something of a social pariah, so he volunteers for the mission into Lost Lands. After all, who better to go on a suicide mission than the guy who could catch the plague, die from it, and come back to life then write a report on the experience?

It isn't an entirely altruistic mission. This also gives him the opportunity to outperform the College researchers and prove himself their equal, instead of just being another second-rate person in the meritocracy who didn't quite make the cut. Would they have finally given him the education he wanted so that he'd be able to conduct the research once on the other side of the wall? Maybe he just wants his name to go down in history as the person who made the research possible and thereby redeem his reputation.

I also think such a character lends itself towards introducing or creating the level of steam/clockwork tech that it seems the Devs want (judging by some of the posts I've seen on this board). If Grum were to establish a research post following successful reconnaissance, the researchers would bring their tools with them and likely peddle steam/clockwork tech for other supplies. There may be a few weapons, which the Peacekeepers would have if anyone were to have them, but there'd be far more civilian applications ranging from steam-powered centrifuges for the samples to a really elaborate heirloom clock that someone brought to remind them from home. A side business in manufacturing clocks, wind-up toys, and other trinkets means they get to eat fresh food instead of field rations. From there the technology spreads, though the best stuff would still be imported from Grum.

And there's a good justification for it: Trying to come up with a cure for the plague is a big deal. Plus, it is feasible. The first smallpox vaccine was created in 1798, but smallpox inoculation as a preventative technique was in practice in China since at least 1549 where healthy people would inhale powered smallpox scabs to catch a mild case of the disease and build immunity. Not that such a thing would necessarily end the quarantine, but it would explain why Grum is sending people and supplies into the Lost Lands.

Anyways, I'm starting to get ahead of myself. What are your thoughts on the overall concept? What needs to change to make it compatible with CLOK's lore?

EDIT: And then I read something about how the default minor taint thing will be retconned away eventually, so I guess I don't have to worry about that part. Maybe it's just a normal suicide mission or he's already been outed as one of those reckless people who won't stay dead.

I love this backstory! Great work with the detail.

Well, one slight issue: The plague is no longer an issue, and hasn't been in quite some time. In fact, the quarantine wall might be removed today if it weren't for the fact that by the time people from the other side of the wall started visiting, the Resen had already broken out and started to spread. Now, the Resen is such an issue, that the quarantine is still needed to keep the rest of the continent from becoming infested. At least, that's what we believe. We aren't certain whether the Resen is contained in the Lost Lands, or if it exists elsewhere as well. Of course, take this all with a grain of salt, as I could be mistaken on any of the things I just said.

Then we have the clockwork/steampunk side of things. AFAIK, yes, the devs do want a bit more, but they don't want it to be a huge part of CLOK. They may have wanted it to be a bigger focus at one point in time, but as CLOK has griwn and developed, as have the players who play it and the characters they play, it has slowly evolved into something different. Also, the Grummer caravan has stopped by before to sell their wares, although that was before my time.

One last thing: you mentioned something about a College. Are you refering to the Elemancer College in the Lost Lands? If so, they study things completely opposite from what Grum studies. Grum focuses more on the mechanical, and doesn't care much for magic, whereas the College soley studies magic and its uses.

I'm not saying this is a bad backstory. In fact, I like the thought put into it, and I like that you attempted to research the lore before just jumping in. I'm just trying to point out some things that may or may not be issues. I'm sure Rias could tell you for sure whether this looks right or not. I'm sure he can point out where I'm wrong as well. lol

I do not know a lot about epidemiology, but I did study pandemics a bit. Even though the plague itself is "over" it does not mean there cannot be people who contract it or fear over another outbreak. Or even how the plague may be manifesting itself or reinventing itself beyond the Wall. To me it makes sense that a smart, prosperous and somewhat logic-based nation would want to do everything it could to prevent possible transmission of plague.

And I believe "the College" in this case would be "The College of Esoteric and Mundane Knowledge Encompassing All Epidemiological Things" which is the main school broken down into different subsets within Grum.

http://wiki.contrarium.net/index.php/Grummer

No worries, Drayla. I posted this precisely because I wanted it critiqued in light of the collective knowledge of the playerbase. I've been trying to piece things together from the wiki and the board but I know that such things can be incomplete or out of date.

One thing I read somewhere is that while the plague isn't actively ravaging the West anymore, the East is still worried about the possibility of carriers: people who are immune to the plague so they don't display symptoms but still carry it and can infect the East. Though it probably doesn't take much to change the mission from "cure the plague" to "investigate the Resen." In either case, there's some scary stuff on the other side of the wall and Grum doesn't want to be caught unawares when it eventually gets over. Maybe what's going on is that some extra crazy Tinker has decided to launch an expedition into the Lost Lands (or was exiled) so my character is part of the reconnaissance team.

I've read a few posts from Rias, one as recently as September, about the level of technology from CLOK so I'm trying to think at that level: No steampunk anachronisms (crazy guns, power suits, mechs, fully automated whatzits, etc) but "rather things like orreries, primitive single-purpose automata, large clock towers, pocketwatches, stuff like that." While there's been a caravan to sell a few things, I'd love to one day see an actual machinery skill or something that could be used to produce the "civilian" applications that Rias said he likes to imagine the world working on. I see things like watches, wind-up toys, music boxes, and maybe a few steam-powered devices like a lathe.

But again, I'm getting ahead of myself. I just got here and don't want to start proposing changes to the game. I'm just trying to figure out a workable character concept and backstory that might, in the future, allow me to explore other things I'm interested in.

The College I'm referring to is The College of Esoteric and Mundane Knowledge Encompassing All Epistemological Things in Grum. The best and brightest go there where they join the Schools of Mundane Knowledge or the Esoteric Schools, with the most prestigious being the School of Gearwork, Steam, and Human Power. People who fall short of joining the College but are possess more aptitude than required for the vocational schools often join the Peacekeepers, as determined by a series of standardized aptitude tests. So my character would be someone who fell just short of getting into the College then joined the Peacekeepers and either seized an opportunity to go to the College anyways and/or prove himself just as good as the College researchers.

Anyways, thanks for the feedback. That's what I'm looking for and it helps me refine the concept.

EDIT: I'm not just looking for a concept with future potential. I'm looking for one that allows me to play with the aspects of CLOK that initially drew me in. I knew I wanted to be a Grummer as soon as I read the entry for it so I want to play a true and proper Grummer. If we're only playing people who have been stuck behind a wall for a hundred years, then we'd be like most immigrants and lose much of what identifies us with our culture after a generation or two. That'd make my character Grummer-Lite instead of actual Grummer. I think it'll be fun to run around, explore the Lost Lands, do my part to research all of the crazy stuff going on, report back to Grum, and the like even without there being a research post later. But the character needs a motivation to come here and do all of that stuff and I need to figure out his history sooner rather than later so that I can properly RP with people. Just the other day someone asked me if I had any experience with clockwork and that is what prompted me to hash out this concept because I really didn't know what I was able to say.

One more issue. Minor nether taint is being done away with as far as I know. A nether taint (in any form) also does not classify one as damned or evil in any way. It's simply a consequence of exposure for some...

Acarin wrote:One more issue. Minor nether taint is being done away with as far as I know. A nether taint (in any form) also does not classify one as damned or evil in any way. It's simply a consequence of exposure for some...

Yeah, I saw that the nether taint explanation is going away, so I'm not quite sure what the reasoning is going to be. The wiki says that minor taint means "that the soul is damned - when it is time to pass on, the taint resists, dooming the soul to wander our mortal world for eternity." Is that no longer the case?

The idea of Nether taint equating to evil is largely a point of view/perspective argument.

However, considering Nether taint and Sorcery (at least prior to the upcoming removal of Nether Taint) tend to promote behavior that most would consider evil, playing a character that sees the use of Nether (whether active or passive) as an evil act is pretty valid.

The Church believes that nether is a substance, with no inherent evil about it. The Church's stance is that nothing is in and of itself "evil", just as nothing is in and of itself "good". Those terms are instead used to describe motives behind actions. There is also no church-wide ban on the wielding or acceptance of nether. They do, however, forbid members of certain positions and any officers to use it, such as Templar and Monks, as the nether will hinder or outright prevent their ability to effectively channel their inner light. Not only that, but it is the Church's observation that nether often inspires certain tendencies in people that use it, such as a drive to attain further knowledge or power without regards to the cost. The latter is the issue, not the former - attaining knowledge and power can be used for good means as well as evil. Doing so at the cost of others and one's own standards and morals is the issue.

This is the stance I tend take on the situation.

I'm not using "damned" in the "evil" sense but the "doomed" sense. That there are nether-tained souls wandering around the wilds isn't an issue of moral philosophy.