What would you put in a Tick-Tock town?

[Theo R Cwithin]

There could be a Clockwork Rule, like Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, that determines how clockworks interact with the citizenry. Then as the infection slowly commandeers more and more clockworks, it can be something that is increasingly obvious.

The infection would be almost unnoticeable at first (the lamplighters are a half minute late each night), then a little noticeable (a clockwork constable strangely fails to save a child rundown by a carriage), and increasingly more obvious as clockworks start disobeying and eventually harming the citizens. In this way, the Rule provides a "baseline" for the PCs to measure against-- how far the infection has progressed, and how far it has to go.

As for where the infection comes from, I vote for "infernal spammers"

 

[jaerdaph]

Rather than Kroenen or the steampunk Cylon, I was thinking something a little more similar to the way lancet liver flukes take control over ants. But instead imagine a villager in place of the ant, and a mean little clockwork creature in place of the lancet fluke.

Say the clockwork parasite is small -- maybe the size of a large bug, like a cockroach. It crawls up the nose of a living (non-clockwork) victim, roots around it the brain a bit, and then takes control of the body. After a while, when the body starts getting too far gone to be useful, the clockwork parasite vacates its host, and looks for a new one.

To all outward appearances, it would seem an unusual and deadly plague, but with no obvious sign of the clockwork culprit... First the victims suffer chronic bloody noses, then terrible headaches and bouts of amnesia, finally they lose their appetites and waste away as they seemingly become leprous and die.

If there is only one of these parasites around, it becomes that much more mysterious (and gives a vital clue as to the culprit), since eventually someone is bound to notice that only one person at a time contracts the "illness".

I like it. Maybe the victims could start sprouting clockwork "enhancements" as well - sort of like a steampunk borg.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Clockwork Steam Dragon
Wall-E

 

[tuxgeo]

So I've decided that the next adventure in my game will take place in the Town of Geartooth, a largish village that has grown up around the estate of an entity known as the Clockwork Mage. The famed but generally reclusive wizard known for creating gimgaws and gadgets of every size and shape, including his or her servants.

The current Clockwork Mage is actually the fourth to bear that title, which became inherited from master to apprentice. Most folks don't know or don't care about that fact. During the last great war, the reclusive mage used his creations to shield refugees from the devastation to the West, an uncharacteristic act of charity due to his almost crippling shyness and his eccentricity. . . .

. . . I intend to have them encounter some of the cult known as the MoonChokers...essentially fanatical cultist ninjas, most likely there to try and silence the Clockwork Mage. . . .

Any ideas for things I could put in the town? I'm looking for interesting knick-knacks, which may have no other use than to catch the player's eyes...or things that might go haywire and have to be fought.

Not for inside the town so much, but for outside the town: let the Moonchokers represent agents of the rival town of SearPawl on the opposite side of the local geographic feature of your choice -- be it a river or a lake or a mountain range or an inland sea or a desert, etc.

Let the Moonchokers be working for the Calibergauge Sage, who is envious of the Clockwork Mage, and wants to gain the Mage's magic to enhance the Sage's firearms -- because the Sage still has to do everything by hand these days, not having access to the Mage's magic to make it "just work" without such elaborate and excruciating effort.

As a bonus feature, let the name "Moonchokers" actually be a mispronunciation of something entirely different, which the PCs will be able to figure out at a later time.

Also (and this is really abstruse; but you did say 'the fourth of that name'): "The name's the thing. No gadget would come alive for The Clockwork Westley." Have one of the Moonchokers keep saying, "My name in unimportant. You killed my inventiveness. Prepare to fry."

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

How about an infestation of Rust Monster hatchlings, running amok in the city's sewers and cellars as a twist on a classic "bug hunt"?

 

[Pbartender]

How about an infestation of Rust Monster hatchlings, running amok in the city's sewers and cellars as a twist on a classic "bug hunt"?

Okay. That's pretty cool.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

What happens to rejected apprentices to the CWM?

Edit: This is what happens when I don't read the entire post

 

[WizarDru]

How about an infestation of Rust Monster hatchlings, running amok in the city's sewers and cellars as a twist on a classic "bug hunt"?

This, I LIKE. A LOT. A bunch of hatchlings and one rust monster 'queen' that the players hunt or evade in search of a foozle. This must be worked into the plot.

 

[WizarDru]

Also (and this is really abstruse; but you did say 'the fourth of that name'): "The name's the thing. No gadget would come alive for The Clockwork Westley." Have one of the Moonchokers keep saying, "My name in unimportant. You killed my inventiveness. Prepare to fry."

Heh.

The Clockwork Mage and the Moonchokers are actually longstanding characters from one campaign to the next, so they're somewhat locked into position. The failed apprentice will be the first of his kind. While the players may be surprised by the new versions in this sequel campaign, they will know their history, to some degree.

Now that I think about it, I think the failed apprentice might not actually BE what he thinks he is. Perhaps he's an automaton that was a previous CWM's companion that went faulty and didn't realize that it wasn't actually alive OR that it was not an apprentice. Hmmmmm.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It occurs to me that the local arcanists in Tick-Tock-Topia might stock up on the spell Grease*.

I mean, between that, Mending, Repair and a few other spells, the locals probably don't cast much else.

They'd probably have a few unique spells as well.

* "Grease is the word It's got groove it's got meaning
Grease is the time, is the place is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling

Grease is the word
Grease is the word
Grease is the word..."