Well, I was gonna run Cairn today, but plans changed because of migraines, so instead I'm gonna make a character, do a movie write-up, and then solve a serial murder.
The Game: Clockwork Dominion
The Publisher: Reliquary Game Studios
Degree of Familiarity: Not much. I played it once at GenCon some years back and really enjoyed it
Books Required: Just the one
Clockwork Dominion is...well. Like I said, I played it at GenCon, and it was well-run and worked nicely at the table (it must have, because I bought a copy and it's been on my "maybe I'll run this" list ever since). But I'd never read it, and so I grabbed it off the shelf for the project and started reading through it, and I have to say, there are some elements to the game I'm finding a little problematic.
Now, with that said, I haven't read all of the book. I've read enough to get the setting and to make a character, but the print is really small and the writing isn't keeping me hooked in (it's not bad, it's just a little dry). I really need to look through the GMing section to see if my concerns go all the way through.
But, it's like this. One of the central themes of the game is order vs. chaos. The forces of chaos are personified collectively as "the Pontus", and the idea is that chaos is rising all around us, threatening order and the "civilized" world. So far, so good. But the issue is that this game is set in an alternate Victorian era, and the British Empire is held up as the exemplar of order, keeping everything in its Creator-mandated place around the world. Out in Australia, for example, the Outback and the wilds of the continent are just full of Pontus-y shit, y'know, because the Empire hasn't established a foothold there.
Now, the book does make a point of saying that "order vs. chaos" isn't the same as "good vs. evil," but then the rest of the text really does hew to the "Empire good, Pontus bad" thing, and well, I have a hard time holding up the British Empire in the late 19th century as something to really aspire to, especially when it's framed as "everything and everyone needs to understand their divinely mandated place in the great Clockwork."
Anydangway, I hasten to add that this is not based on a deep reading of the book. So let's just make a character.
Gus gave me this song for inspiration: "Genius of Love," by Tom Tom Club:
(They actually gave me the longer version, but I wanted to link the official video because it's bananas.)
So, um, this song is from the perspective of a woman in jail waxing poetical about her boyfriend, and drugs are clearly involved. I think that my character is going to be a disgraced noble/black sheep/angsty poet/gay as hell type of fellow, a sort of Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron type of guy (oh, modern inspiration: Klaus from The Umbrella Academy). Where do I start?
Step One: Choose a Bloodline. He's a "pureblood" (that is, human, with no supernatural shit in there). That's easy enough. That means he gets 2 points of Purpose, a one-point bonus to Will, a one-point bonus to any two Skills I want (so that'll have to wait), and three Blessings: Protected (supernatural powers are less likely to affect me because I'm officially part of the Clockwork), Purposed (I refresh one point of Purpose at the start of a session), and Talent (I have a single mastery ability of one skill of my choosing, whatever that means).
Step Two: Pursuits. This is basically the overriding drive of the character. I think my rakish noble pretty clearly is all about Freedom. That gives me a point of Ether (another potential, like Purpose), and a point each into Grace and Will (not Will & Grace).
Step Three: Backgrounds. Circumstances of life, birth, etc. Where's "rich dude?" Ah, Gentry, here we go. That gives me another point of Purpose (bleah), and a bunch of skill dots (well, they're more like rectangles than dots). I get 2 Assets, too, whatever that means. My Class and Means both start at 3, but I'm gonna refrain from writing that in just yet in case I feel like fiddling with it later.
Step Four: Aptitudes. I get one in each Aptitude, an additional two in Will and one in Grace, and then five more rectangles. Let's see, what's my guy good at? Well, his Will is too high, for one thing, but there's nothing I can do about that. I think I'll leave Reason and Focus at 1, and bump Vigor up to 2. I throw a point into Grace, putting it up to 3, and then the other three points into Presence, bumping that to 4.
Step Five: Skills. I get two points from my bloodline, and then 12 more (in addition to the ones from my background, which I've already put in). So basically I just have 14 points to throw around. Oh, and then I have a mastery that I can take for any skill, whereas normally you only get a mastery when you put five dots (rectangles) in. Neat.
Well, let's see, here. Burglary is used for sleight of hand, and I kinda feel like my guy would have some skill there, so I'll put one point in. Command, too, seems relevant, but not more than one. I'll put one into Fencing (he learned how, he just never practices). Ooh, Guile. Here we go. Let's throw four in there. Seven more.
Intuition seems good, two there. One in Mysteries (can't spend so much time tripping balls without seeing some weird shit). Parley, there's what I want. Three points, and I'll take the Silver Tongue mastery for it.
One point left, and I think it had better go into Streetwise. Oh, wait, no, Temptation. Shit, I wish I'd seen that sooner. Ah, well.
Step Six: Assets & Liabilities. I get two Assets for free, I know that much. I can also take up to two liabilities to take additional assets. Let's have a look! Ooh, there's an asset called Skilled that bumps a skill up by two dots, perfect.
The Liabilities are pretty harsh, actually. I'll take Bad Reputation and call it a day. That gives me a Reputation (doy), which means I need to look up those rules. Oh, it's a later step of chargen, groovy. I'll pick my other two Assets, then.
I like Dangerous Friends. My guy has other gentry who are better regarded than he is, and who are willing to lean on people (socially) a little to make sure they overlook his reputation, at least a little. And then I'll take Favored; he's kind of got the Devil's luck.
Step Seven: Affinities. I have two different Affinities, one of which is rated 2 and the other 1. They have to be tied to a duty, goal, relationship, or behavior. Well, I definitely want one related to being a sensualist and rake. Let's call it "All manner of vice", rank 2.
And then I feel like a relationship is in order, but I've only got one point left. I'll say that the other Affinity is Jack Hannigan, my special friend. He and Jack wound up getting detained by the police one night for indecent behavior, and it took some bribery and some pressure to get them off (as it were). Since then, their families haven't really let them speak or even write, but he misses Jack sometimes.
Step Eight: Reputations. Reputations can usually be positive or negative depending on the situation, but I have an exclusively negative one because of the Liability. I'll call it "Prefers the Company of Men" and leave it at that. And then I get three points to make a couple other Reputations, but there's only two slots on the sheet, grr. Well, we'll say "Incurable Rake" as a 2 and "Loyal and honest friend" at 1 (see, that's that high Will).
Step Nine: Wealth & Accoutrements. This isn't so much the shopping step as me picking shit that fit into my character's Means, but I think I'm good. He doesn't typically carry a weapon (maybe a sword cane, since it's in genre and he can fence a little), but does often carry drugs - laudanum, opium, cocaine, whatever you've got. He favors dark clothing, but it's always perfectly tailored and fit (at least at the beginning of the evening, though he does get rumpled sometimes).
Step Ten: Finishing Touches. Derived traits! My Physical Defense is Vigor + a relevant Skill, usually Athletics (though mine is 0; he does have a point of Fencing, though). Guard is half Focus rounded down, so...1, I guess? Social Defense is Will + Composure or another relevant Skill.
And then description and personality! Well, let's start with name. Edmond William Apsley, youngest son of the wealthy Apsley family, was assumed to have been going through a wild phase when he and his "friend" Jack Hannigan were arrested. Now his family gives him a wide berth, but they won't openly disown him, since the scandal seems to have been contained (it really has not). Edmond, for his part, doesn't much care what people know and isn't ashamed of who he is, but he does love his family, his father in particular, and that curbs his most brazen impulses as far as his carnal appetites go.
He gives in to his appetites for chemicals, however, and the morning typically finds him incoherent. He's got a much higher tolerance than people think, though, and so folks tend to talk in front of him, figuring he won't remember it anyway. In fairness, they're not always wrong.
Edmond is 20. Like all the Apsley men, he's got black hair (which he keeps long) and blue eyes, long fingers and a slight build. I think I'd cast Timothée Chalamet.
