Hey, if you are still answering questions I have always wondered how much the “minor” members of the 4th ring were “in” on the whole “bringing pestilence to the town” master plan that Ivor had. Obviously the abominations were A-OK with the rampant destruction, and people like Valeria and Richard didn’t know much about the plan, but I was really curious about Kevin Wainwright and Avie Cline.
Kevin always seemed like a societal outcast who was just happy to have a friend in Ivor, but I don’t recall there being a story where Kevin acknowledges that people are being abducted and turned into Blighted. You mentioned he would join up with the FMB, so I assume there wasn’t going to be a redemption arc for him, but I really would like to know more about the little guy and his motivations.
As for Avie, in the story “A Snake In Woman’s Clothing” we see that she was a treacherous character even before becoming Harrowed. However by the time Ivor’s plans come to fruition she is running around murdering people with magical snakes. Was this a case of her Manitou taking control of her to help ruin the town, or was Avie always a dark soul and since becoming undead she figured “ehh, might as well have some fun with my new clown friends”
Well, Slavin and Valeria were on the outside of that whole thing. They were simply hired to do a job (a job which interestingly enough had NOTHING at all to do with the Fourth Ring’s plans at all … something for which even Ivor was just hired help). Leon Cavallo was another one who was just a hireling, an ally that helped lend the circus a new level of authenticity. Eventually, he became a pawn as well, infected by Ivor as a smokescreen to keep people from asking the question about why the circus folk seemed immune to all that was going on.
Within the Fourth Ring, there was a mixture of other types as well. There were those who were a part of Ivor’s circus, which was messed up enough as it is, a group tied to Ivor’s past and his twisted interpretation of a family. Characters like McCadish fit into that mold. And there were others who were agents of the larger Fourth Ring, an evil cult of which Ivor and his circus only made up one part. Kevin and Tyx are good examples of that. And then there are those who were a bit of both … members of Ivor’s circus family and privy to their own goals, but also dedicated followers of the broader Fourth Ring and dedicated to their goals as well. The Popescus and perhaps Avie Cline fit into that arena.
There is another aspect of the Fourth Ring that we tried to follow in terms of differentiation. The plague was a creation of Ivor himself and it operated according to his design. Gomorra’s design was not the first incarnation of it, nor would it have been the last. As its source, however, Ivor also contained a cure for it, which would halt its progression and relieve all symptoms. However, it would not “undo” the damage already done. So most of the more “deformed” members of T4R actually carry Ivor’s plague within them (which earns them the Abomination keyword as well). But the degree to which their appearance and physiology may have changed is determined by the version of the disease that Ivor infected them with originally, as well as how far he allowed it to progress before “curing” it. So Funtime Freddy and Junior fall into those categories. This also explains one of the biggest questions that the playtesters and the design team had at the time, which was why Karl Odett (whose playtest name was “The Sum of All Fears” BTW) was an Abomination, given his name and artwork. Even though he looks more or less normal, he actually carries Ivor’s plague as well and even exerts some level of control and influence over it in others. He truly IS an abomination, and one that is more dangerous the more he is surrounded by them. But the nature of the disease and how Ivor manipulated and “cured” it actually allowed him to remain fairly normal looking, which made him the perfect choice to look after the Sanatorium on Ivor’s behalf.
Given the limited story space within the game, these are details that we could never explain fully, but ideas that we developed and operated by as much as possible to create a cohesive story, even in details that may have never been fully understood by the reader at the time.
Kevin was definitely a tragic figure who was animated purely by fear, who was close to and useful to Dark Powers not because of anything he did or wanted but because he was just unlucky. He no longer really had a personality of his own and latched onto powerful figures like Ivor to pattern himself after.
I don’t think we 100% hashed out WHY he was like this. I just know what my proposal for it was, since I often threw out way more and more detailed ideas than anyone needed, for things that didn’t need discussing until later. I said he was once a successful, respected, happy person until he glimpsed some thing that was so indescribably horrific it shattered him as a person (and caused the one eye he saw it with to go blind). He latched onto people like Ivor to give himself a personality because if he used his own, he would do nothing but scream in terror; he served the Reckoners and their minions not out of malice or hatred because those monsters seem like the only things that he might be able to put between himself and The Horror.
As far as I envisioned it and talked about it – same deal as above, except this was much less important – Avie was such a terrible person that the question of whether she or her manitou had dominion was academic, because both of them pretty much wanted the same things.
was that he ‘sees’ and travels into other dimensions (e.g. the Hunting Grounds) - hence his rolling gait and also his ability to ‘instantly appear’ at locations.
Note this was my own personal interpretation of the character and his abilities/backstory (as outlined above).
As you can guess, I’m kinda fond of (and see a kindred spirit in an oblique way) the lil’ guy
Kevin’s story, including backstory, was actually something that was continually unfolding. The main thing that we were sure of was that Kevin Wainwright was to be the thread that united the entirety of the Fourth Ring from beginning to end.
Also, I never ascribed to him any particularly special powers (like inter-dimensional travel) beyond those dark powers enjoyed by other “Hucksters” in T4R. His moving from place to place was always just Shadow Walk the way I treated it (which other members of the outfit did, even in story).
Thanks to both @Balder and @davido4015 for replying here, interesting insight in to the challenges of writing in a shared universe.
Were there any plans/background elements for Pancho Castillo or Maria Kingsford? They’ve both been parts of decks I’ve enjoyed using so it was great to see them playing a big part in the end to the Ivor Hawley plague story arc.
Similar question for Clyde Owens as I enjoyed using his card in misguided turn 1 blitz decks. There was slightly the opposite case here - he got a bit of story time at the start and then drifted away.
Pancho was one of our voice characters, so he got a fair amount of attention and development all the way through. I think with him, it’s a lot of “what-you-see-is-what-you-get”. If I’d had my way, he would have continued to play a significant role in the story going forward. But that’s neither here nor there now.
Here is the backstory that we had on the books early on for Clyde Owens … Clyde is a Brit and arguably the toughest of the Law Dogs. He claims he served in Scotland Yard before getting booted out for excessive violence. The truth of the matter is that he got drunk and punched a superior. Dave utilizes the lumbering man as his enforcer, but his tendency toward drinking and fighting have made it impossible for Dave to justify deputizing him.
I had envisioned a greater role for him in the story going forward, so he would have come out a bit more in significant ways.
Maria Kingsford was originally named “Wizard on the Run,” and I don’t know who originally requested her. Once we got a hold of her, I envisioned her as a Tempest, which is a special character type in Deadlands with an innate ability to cast a single hex, in her case, Black Lightning. It led to destruction where she came from and caused a preacher to hunt her down and try to kill her because of the demons inside her. However, she stood up for herself and learned that if she channels that power through a pistol, she can control it a bit. She’s still a dangerous powderkeg of a woman, but she found a place within Sloane’s Gang. To be honest, we never had much planned for her (we had far more in mind for Alice Stowe), but after we came up with that backstory for her, she became just too cool of a character to ignore. That’s why I wanted to find some way to bring her into the limelight a bit at the end. Besides, her backstory paints her without the bloodthirstiness and immorality that some of the others in the Gang exhibit. So it was also a natural fit to have her take a stand with Pancho and the others against Ivor.
As ever, thanks for going above and beyond in your reply.
Maria is a good example of art, flavour and feel of a character forcing themselves in to a story, it’s great when something like this happens (a few cases of it L5R too from what I remember). Soul Blasting high value dudes with Maria is one of my favourite things to do. I liked her teaming up with Pancho and this definitely felt “right” (consistent?) as a non-story team member: they were on the lighter end of the Sloane gang spectrum.
Interesting to know that more was planned for Alice Stowe too, who was a cool high value character who saw a decent amount of play.
It’s slightly parochial, but delighted to learn that Clyde is British.
He was among the slightly darker, more flawed Law Dogs too which I liked, together with him being a bounty hunter/enforcer but not a deputy, which this message helps flesh out.
Pancho Castillo is another character I took a shine to.
Again, MY ‘personal vision’ of Pancho was “Dan Fielding as portrayed by a young Antonio Banderas” (and not too far removed from how he actually turned out - story team has different nuances on the same characters, but in the end those help round out characters)
And yes, y’all may be hearing more about Señor Castillo’s escapades and feats of derring-do in the not to distant future
Funny you should mention “x as portrayed by y” as I’ve always found that a great shorthand to building a character. I think there was an old L5R module (Mirror, Mirror? or maybe Fortunes Lost?) that even described one sample Unicorn (?) PC as “a Rokugani Antonio Banderas” (he’s clearly a popular choice!), and the image stuck with me. You guys then did a good job fleshing characters out beyond these simple but evocative images.
Pleased that we might be seeing more of Pancho soon as one of the iconic experienced dudes that saw a lot of play in decks.
She (Sky is a she) is a long-time doyenne of the Maze since Classic. So story team member Jon Del Arroz managed to honor her with a card. She is a Morgan Gadgets player, so the overall theme and mechanic. I for one and grateful for her ongoing efforts to support and promote Doomtown throughout the central california and bay area.
Interestingly enough … there was a thought that perhaps Shaman could find a secondary home with some of the more altruistic members of MCC, as led by Jon Longstride. We never really fleshed that out, and it may have come later, rather than sooner. But the idea was there.
So the discussion about Erik Samson’s ultimate fate in the Boot Hill list got me thinking again and I realized that there was a cool thing that the story team decided to do that never really saw light (at least I don’t think it did).
Perhaps you realized it, maybe you didn’t, but we tried to work within a theme for the Blessed members of the Law Dogs starting with The Light Shineth. We tried to name all of them after actual Biblical judges (get it? Law Dogs? The Bible? “Biblical judges?” eh?)
The first was Sister Mary Gideon, who was named after Gideon. And the account of Gideon in the Bible tells how he was able to defeat a larger army with fewer men, something that we tried to reflect in her ability.
Then we have Deborah West, who was named after Deborah, the only female judge.
Erik Samson was named after Samson, the long-haired strong man who sacrificed himself to defeat the invaders and save his people.
The trickier ones are Riorden O’Lithen, the Irish Catholic priest, and Father Tolarios, the Mexican priest who helps keep the Law Dogs hidden in the early days of Crane’s reign. O’Lithen’s last name is a jumble of the judge Othniel, and Father Tolarios is named for the judge Tola.
There are some exceptions. Andrew Burton and Ebenezer Springfield were earlier cards that didn’t get the judgy treatment. And Erin Knight was a tribute card requested by a team member, so we didn’t get much say in her name.
(and not too far removed from how he actually turned out - story team has different nuances on the same characters, but in the end those help round out characters)