Snippets of Creativity

[GorinichSerpant]

Something could be genetically perfect for a particular purpose (at least as much as a machine could be perfect to do something) but in general? No not really.

[Gritmonger]

Something could be genetically perfect for a particular purpose (at least as much as a machine could be perfect to do something) but in general? No not really.

Right. And as it gets more purpose-built, it loses flexibility. Cheetah is a Big Cat, but has lost a lot of the durability that used to go with that moniker, as well as the completely retractable claws. Built for speed, it is no longer the linebacker that most big cats are.

As you get closer to "perfection" you also get closer to "obsolete with a slight shift of environment"

[Mr.Cobalt]

Right. And as it gets more purpose-built, it loses flexibility. Cheetah is a Big Cat, but has lost a lot of the durability that used to go with that moniker, as well as the completely retractable claws. Built for speed, it is no longer the linebacker that most big cats are.

As you get closer to "perfection" you also get closer to "obsolete with a slight shift of environment"

And now I'm seeing these "genetically perfect" humans speciating into more distinct sub-categories built toward a particular stat or environment (strength, speed, durability, perception, etc) and then using cybernetic exoskeletons to make up the losses from their overspecializations.

[BootStrapTommy]

And now I'm seeing these "genetically perfect" humans speciating into more distinct sub-categories built toward a particular stat or environment (strength, speed, durability, perception, etc) and then using cybernetic exoskeletons to make up the losses from their overspecializations.

Which is more or less the direction I was implying.

Anyone read the most recent iteration of the Aphrodite IX comics? Basically centuries post-WWIII, humanity is split between the cyborgs and the bioengineers, and now they fight for what unradiated, liveable land that's left.

Aphrodite IX is a WWIII-era bioengineered cyborg assassin (the best of both worlds). The comic often illustrates how IX's dual-nature give her advantages where the members of one of the other two groups might fail.

I read the first few comics only a few days before first seeing the "humans are space orcs" thing I posted earlier. So my campaign idea (galaxy illustrated in my earlier post) was that the party were alien savagers, who head to Earth to loot the ruins, only to discover a cryogenically frozen human, who is doesn't remember the war. And the crew is scared witless by them, since humans are interstellar boogeymen.

[Gritmonger]

So she's a duck?

I always fall back on this example when discussing what constitutes specialists versus generalists - and the duck is one of the kings of the generalists. It can't fly particularly well, it certainly can't walk very well, and it swims pretty darn good. Albatross and arctic terns out-distance it, hawks out-speed it, anything that's a quadruped can probably out run it along with ostriches, and penguins out-swim it.

But it's a survivor, and a generalist. The duck has three avenues of retreat from predators - and any two might apply at any one time. It can run to the middle of the lake or fly versus cats and coyotes, it can take to land or fly versus crocodiles, and it can dive or run through the underbrush or forest versus hawks.

This is an underappreciated property - it's the cockroach, after all, which is the predicted survivor of a nuclear holocaust. Sure, other bugs might surpass it for a while, right up until the next holocaust.

Several hundred million years, baby.

[Mr.Cobalt]

So she's a duck?

I always fall back on this example when discussing what constitutes specialists versus generalists - and the duck is one of the kings of the generalists. It can't fly particularly well, it certainly can't walk very well, and it swims pretty darn good. Albatross and arctic terns out-distance it, hawks out-speed it, anything that's a quadruped can probably out run it along with ostriches, and penguins out-swim it.

But it's a survivor, and a generalist. The duck has three avenues of retreat from predators - and any two might apply at any one time. It can run to the middle of the lake or fly versus cats and coyotes, it can take to land or fly versus crocodiles, and it can dive or run through the underbrush or forest versus hawks.

This is an underappreciated property - it's the cockroach, after all, which is the predicted survivor of a nuclear holocaust. Sure, other bugs might surpass it for a while, right up until the next holocaust.

Several hundred million years, baby.

The more we talk about this the more I want to see this "speciated humans" thing actually be used in an RPG besides Shadowrun (if that counts). Of course, run-of-the-mill humans would still exist, just the more specialized versions would come about from adapting to other worlds and/or selective breeding/genetic engineering.

[BootStrapTommy]

I wouldn't say she's a duck.

More like a hawk which is also an ostrich which is also a penguin.

It is kind of implied that she's just better at everything, in addition to being good at everything. Hence "best of both worlds", not just "both worlds".

[Mr.Cobalt]

I wouldn't say she's a duck.

More like a hawk which is also an ostrich which is also a penguin.

It is kind of implied that she's just better at everything, in addition to be good at everything. Hence "best of both worlds", not just "both worlds".

So, a fit adult human in a room full of toddlers?

[BootStrapTommy]

So, a fit adult human in a room full of toddlers?

Eh, these toddlers could all whoop even the most fit adult humans.

[GorinichSerpant]

Eh, these toddlers could all whoop even the most fit adult humans.

As in, is the difference between her and the people around her the same as the difference between fit adults and toddlers?

I may have misunderstood what Mr.Cobolt said, but I'd I'm interested in it's answer anyway.

[Mr.Cobalt]

Eh, these toddlers could all whoop even the most fit adult humans.

I meant in terms of relative averages- she hasn't physically specialized in any particular field, but her averages are still well above those of baseline humans?

[BootStrapTommy]

Yes, we'll go with that.

[Gritmonger]

I wouldn't say she's a duck.

More like a hawk which is also an ostrich which is also a penguin.

It is kind of implied that she's just better at everything, in addition to being good at everything. Hence "best of both worlds", not just "both worlds".

Oh boy.

Nature doesn't quite work that way, though...

A flying creature needs to be light, and relatively low-mass - which an ostrich is not.

A swimming creature needs to have streamlined reduced appendages, which an ostrich does not have...

A running creature needs to be durable and capable of supporting a larger muscle mass, as well as having a relatively large limb to body mass ratio - which a penguin certainly doesn't have...


Which is why I never can buy the "I'm the best at everything" trope - because fundamentally, only a Sue or Stu can do that, because it isn't really realistic...

[jqavins]

Oh boy.

Nature doesn't quite work that way, though...

A flying creature needs to be light, and relatively low-mass - which an ostrich is not.

A swimming creature needs to have streamlined reduced appendages, which an ostrich does not have...

A running creature needs to be durable and capable of supporting a larger muscle mass, as well as having a relatively large limb to body mass ratio - which a penguin certainly doesn't have...


Which is why I never can buy the "I'm the best at everything" trope - because fundamentally, only a Sue or Stu can do that, because it isn't really realistic...

Well, of course nature doesn't work that way. But we're talking about fantasy. And using an imperfect avian analog for fantastical visions of not-exactly-humans. As a wise alec - er, I mean a wise man once said, "Don't pick at the metaphor; it leaves a nasty scab."

Can someone please come up with a new snippet now? How about a tavern which by a subtle and mysterious magic always contains 1d6+6 oddly mixed groups sitting together at tables, so that it is the literal setting for every "... walk into a bar" joke ever told.

EDIT: All the drinks cost one SP, but you can get five CP change when you leave if you don't break the tankard.

[Gritmonger]

Well, of course nature doesn't work that way. But we're talking about fantasy. And using an imperfect avian analog for fantastical visions of not-exactly-humans. As a wise alec - er, I mean a wise man once said, "Don't pick at the metaphor; it leaves a nasty scab."

...when nature or science is used to justify fantasy element x... it gets into bad territory... and bad narrative territory. A "Story" about somebody who is unbeatable isn't very interesting when all is said and done because challenges are either ludicrously out of scale or hinge on bizarre circumstances that are made more so by somehow the person is still able to overcome them.

[BootStrapTommy]

...when nature or science is used to justify fantasy element x... it gets into bad territory... and bad narrative territory. A "Story" about somebody who is unbeatable isn't very interesting when all is said and done because challenges are either ludicrously out of scale or hinge on bizarre circumstances that are made more so by somehow the person is still able to overcome them.

Aphrodite IX's flaw is that she is a programmable hunter assassin whose free will can be overridden at will by her handler.

And while she befriends (and falls in love with one of) the bioengeneers, the cyborgs capture and manipulate her handler.

Plus, she still has to overcome her human nature, which sucks.

[RFLS]

The Sun has gone out.

Ordinarily in an emergency we'd send word to the Duke, and he might send word to the King, and an army would gather, and march to the problem...but we don't have time for that. The Sun has gone out, and it's getting cold. In the endless night, frost giants and werewolves prowl, undead rise from their crypts, and worse than that, things are coming out of the mountains.

We need the greatest heroes of the kingdom to head into the dwarven ruins and find the secret of Burning Gold. (You thought the dwarves loved gold because it was shiny? No, it's because they knew how to set it ablaze, to provide light and warmth in the deep places of the earth). Then we need those selfsame heroes to take all the gold they can carry, to light their way through the Shieldwall Mountains to the edge of the World, and to find the place from which the Sun rises. Once there, those mighty warriors and subtle wizards could surely find a way to release Her, or heal Her, or persuade Her to take up her shining shield again.

Unfortunately, the great heroes of the kingdom aren't here. So we're sending you.

Relevant XKCD.

[Slayerofundead]

A Orc seeks to become a famous poet,but people only laugh at him. The Orc becomes angry and with the magic of words builds an army of shadows. Then he builds a stage an makes all who he conquered hear is poeitc words if any one shows they do not like it they are killed.

[Mr.Cobalt]

I don't know if this fits here or not, but here's a scene from a dream I had that I can't remember the context from:

In the center of a dark chamber rests an altar topped with a bowl of strange oils and incense. Six statues, each depicting a man or woman clad in adventuring gear and posed dramatically (implied to represent the PC's) are arranged in a ten-foot circle around this altar. Long scrips of ancient parchment covered in strange arcane runes trail from the altar to the statues, with one end dipped in the oil and wrapping around the altar and the other end loosely wrapped around the statue itself and disappearing somewhere in the statue's back. Somewhere outside this circle, a gaunt figure hooded in a black cloak intones arcane syllables in a hoarse voice, causing the oils in the altar to burst into strangely-colored flames and ignite the ends of the scrolls. As the fire slowly travels down the parchment, the runes hum and glow with power before they are consumed by the flames. The hooded figure grins, then turns and vanishes into the shadows. It will take a few days, maybe a few weeks, for the fire to completely consume the scrolls, but for now his work here is done.

[Jendekit]

Across the kingdom, villages and cities are being attacked. Not by any living army, but by those that live within the Realm of Nightmares. Something is pulling them into the material, but it isn't doing so completely. Sword and spell pass through them, even the magic of Ghost Touch is ineffective. Every night they appear, and every morning they vanish. On some occasions, they disappear for a while in the middle of the night before returning.

The mages of the kingdom conclude that a terrible ritual must be responsible. The truth: a half-elven maid in the royal castle is unknowingly responsible. When she sleeps, her power pulls the nightmare creatures from their home. She has no knowledge of her power, and should she become aware of it, she will conclude that she has no choice but to be evil.

"I conjure the things that haunt everyone's nightmares, being good was never an option."

[Slayerofundead]

What if you are members of the first humans to emerge from a cave your people call the Earth woam. Think I'm going to use this for the world I'm building

[johnbragg]

1. All magic weapons are created equal, but at the same time, all magic weapons are different.
2. There is effectively no magic item resale economy, because there aren't enough buyers and there isn't enough liquidity. (Ask any collector, or anyone who joined a multi-level marketing group and got stuck with unsaleable product.)
3. But magic items, being precious artifacts with legendary histories, can be exchanged as gifts to create and seal alliances. (If human fighter Dragnar brings the Ice Axe of Ethelred, Third Dwarfking of Iron Hill back to Iron HIll, the dwarves will hook him up with some sweet armor, and maybe forge him a sword down the road. Conversely, if word gets out that Dragnar the human is carrying around the Ice Axe of Ethelred, Third DwarfKing of Iron Hill, the dwarves of Iron Hill will not look kindly upon him. Especially if Dragnar uses the Greatsword of Ulric the ORcslayer in melee.)

How this could work, mechanically:
When a magic weapon is forged, enchanted and created, it is done in connection with some hero of legend. For example, a high level PC. A magic weapon cannot be created on demand, even if the crafter has the right feats and skills and the materials are present. Without the spirit of a legendary hero, all you can produce is a masterwork weapon that is also a beautiful work of art.

IOW, you can't just whip up a +1 sword because Duke Doofus gave you a bag of gold and you have the right spells and feats. No bulging-biceps badass hero, no magic weapon. Or if you prefer, no skinny weasel swashbuckler wanted in a dozen cities, no magic rapier.).

In the hands of the original hero, the weapon is a +5 weapon, or a +5 equivalent, with powers at the hero's option.

In the hands of anyone else, the weapon performs differently depending on the wielder's affinities to the weapon's original Master.
Pick two Affinities--include alignment, race, bloodline or loyalty or something similar--and one Signature--a feat or skill identified with the original hero.

If the two Affinities match, and the Signature matches, then it's a +5 equivalent weapon, with a new Master and the legend continues.

If two of the three match, +4 equivalent. If the wielder does not have the Signature feat, then he does now. (Count as +1 bonus equivalent)

If one of the three matches, +3 equivalent

No matches, +2 equivalent.

If the new wielder is somehow diametrically opposed to the weapon's Affinity, (alignment more than two steps away, racial friction, tribal or national rivalry, etc), subtract one from the total bonus.

So the Greenhilt sword, post-Roy, would have Affinities Lawful Good and either Greenhilt bloodline or maybe Fighter class or Int 13+, and Signature feat Horace Greenhilt's Mage Slayer. But in the hands of Thog, it acts as just a +1 greatsword.

[Mr.Cobalt]

There exists a plane where objects and the physical forces on the material plane are represented visually as clockwork machinery, with each object or being possessing a series of mechanisms representing the physical forces affecting them at any time, or their capacity to interact with their surroundings in various ways.

These mechanical counterparts are a two-way reflection of their "real" equivalents- any force or change applied to the machinery will be reflected in its counterpart in the real world, and force acting upon or action taken by the real version is played out in great detail by the interactions of the gears and bevels of the clockwork version.

Aside from these mechanical effigies, the only life on this plane are mysterious beings known commonly as "Fixers", whose job it is to maintain this machinery and ensure everything works as it should on this plane (sometimes called "the Works") and by extension ours.

What some call "magic" in this world is actually the act of influencing the state of the real world by interacting with its mechanical equivalent in the Works, which is commonly done in one of two ways:

-Sabotage: Saboteurs learn to make brief jaunts to the Works with the intent of destruction- specifically, breaking the mechanisms reflecting something's ability to exert or be affected by a certain force. For example, one could render an object weightless by destroying it's mechanism for gravity; snapping the rods and pulleys that pull the subject groundward whenever something else lifts it up. Alternatively, one could inflict considerable harm upon someone else by damaging their effigy's mechanisms directly. Breaking the cogs and gears in their legs, for example, renders the real version inexplicably paralyzed without any visible damage to their organic body.

This and more esoteric effects- including but not limited to annihilation, alteration or destruction of memory, or spontaneous immolation are all theoretically possible with Sabotage, if only the Saboteur is willing and able to study the Works enough to understand what mechanisms produce what effects and what exactly happens when said mechanisms are tampered with.

Sabotage is not without its risks to the user, however. The Fixers that patrol and maintain the Works are always on the lookout for breakage in the machinery, and don't take too kindly to damage caused by outsiders. Not only are the effects of Sabotage invariably temporary as the damage that causes it is inevitably undone by the Fixers, but it also bears considerable risk to the Saboteur as the irate Fixers punish anyone caught damaging the Works with Backlash- negative alterations to the offender's own Works which can range from crippling to excruciating to lethal, and at worst may even be permanent.

Thus, high-level Saboteurs must learn to be swift and indirect- jaunting to the Works just long enough to cause their intended damage and leave without being identified by the Fixers (often creating the illusion that they are producing these inexplicable effects with nothing but strong gesturing), as well as learning what mechanisms to destroy to produce their intended damage as a secondary effect- since effects of Sabotage are never permanent, it is best used as a sort of "debuff" as opposed to a direct means to an end.


-Modification: Where Sabotage, influencing the world through the strategic destruction of Works, is considered the dangerous but relatively easy "black magic", Modification or "Modding" for short, the art of altering the Works via adding or replacing parts without destroying them, is considered the difficult but safer "white magic". While Saboteurs tend only to learn just enough about the Works to know what happens when you break what, often through trial and error, "Modders" or "Mechanics" learn to gain an understanding of the Works in their functional state as representatives of the natural laws of physics- what force, action, or capacity do these mechanisms represent, and what part does each and every cog and spring play in carrying out its role? If a Modder can gain sufficient understanding both of the natural laws affecting or capabilities of any given thing, and the Mechanisms that represent them, they may then learn how to add or replace parts to said Mechanism to produce corresponding effects in the real world equivalent.

For example, if one could isolate the Mechanism representing one's ability to move ones arms, then determine which cog or other such component determines how strong the muscles of their arms are (we'll say a cog representing force exerted, for example), they then could replace said cog with a smaller or larger version to increase or decrease the amount of force they can exert at their current level of strength. One need not necessarily bring components from the real world to the Works to perform such modifications; once a Mechanic becomes aware of what exact materials one needs to make the changes they desire, they usually find they had the requisite materials on hand all along (noone's sure where exactly these parts come from- half the time Modders don't notice that they spontaneously produce cogs, bolts, and gear shafts as needed until after they've already used them).

What exactly one is capable of producing via Modding is limited only by their own imagination, their understanding of the physical laws, and most importantly their understanding of the Works. One could theoretically use Modding to give themselves the ability to fire lightning bolts from their fingertips at will provided they can understand the Mechanism required for producing electric current and how best to incorporate it into one's own Works in a manner that ensures it goes off only when desired. Not impossible, but would certainly require years of study and practice in the Works before producing anything that remotely creates the desired effect.

By now you're probably wondering what those Fixers think of Modding, given their harsh dislike of other people damaging the Works. The short answer: they surprisingly don't mind so long as nothing is actually being broken. In fact, one of the primary appeals of Modding is that it is not only generally risk-free (provided you don't annoy any Fixers with your presence), but that its effects often last longer than those caused by Sabotage. At best, the effects of Modding are permanent up until someone removes or destroys the extra components (which, in the case of a high-level Modder's work, the Fixers may then restore under the mistaken belief that those Works were supposed to be there all along); at worst, a Fixer may notice a burgeoning Modder's shoddy handiwork, write it off as a quaint inefficiency, then proceed to "repair" the Mechanism to its normal state, reverting its effects without any further consequence.

In a horrifying twist, unscrupulous Modders of sufficient skill level may take advantage of the former situation by creating a negative effect Mechanism to one's Works as a sort of "curse", making it look enough like a natural part of the Works that the Fixers not only undo all efforts to remove or destroy it, but also inflict Backlash upon anyone who tries!

[Mlmiii]

In the colder areas of the world's oceans, one can occasionally find Ice elementals living on both top and bottom of an ice floe, using gravity to stick them to the top side and their own buoyancy to stick them to the bottom. Sometimes the natives of those regions (although more often a tribe of were(polar)bears) are the ones living on the tops of these floes, offering some small magical favors in exchange for the elementals moving the floe around according to the mortals' whims, giving that tribe a mobile island fortress, of sorts.

[BootStrapTommy]

No bulging-biceps badass hero, no magic weapon. Or if you prefer, no skinny weasel swashbuckler wanted in a dozen cities, no magic rapier.

Why, exactly, couldn't the PCs be this?

[Mr.Cobalt]

Why, exactly, couldn't the PCs be this?

I was under the impression that it could be, just that forging new magic weapons only worked for particularly exemplary individuals, and their powers depended upon the traits of their wielder and/or grew in level with them.

[Sacrieur]

Kung-fu stoic orcs. Highly disciplined and authoritarian style. Very clean and pristine. Practice seppuku.

[johnbragg]

Why, exactly, couldn't the PCs be this?

Assuming your PC is a big badass bulging-bicep hero, or a legendary quickblade, etc, then you can and presumably will.

[Mr.Cobalt]

There exists a plane where objects and the physical forces on the material plane are represented visually as clockwork machinery, with each object or being possessing a series of mechanisms representing the physical forces affecting them at any time, or their capacity to interact with their surroundings in various ways.

These mechanical counterparts are a two-way reflection of their "real" equivalents- any force or change applied to the machinery will be reflected in its counterpart in the real world, and force acting upon or action taken by the real version is played out in great detail by the interactions of the gears and bevels of the clockwork version.

Aside from these mechanical effigies, the only life on this plane are mysterious beings known commonly as "Fixers", whose job it is to maintain this machinery and ensure everything works as it should on this plane (sometimes called "the Works") and by extension ours.

What some call "magic" in this world is actually the act of influencing the state of the real world by interacting with its mechanical equivalent in the Works, which is commonly done in one of two ways:

-Sabotage: Saboteurs learn to make brief jaunts to the Works with the intent of destruction- specifically, breaking the mechanisms reflecting something's ability to exert or be affected by a certain force. For example, one could render an object weightless by destroying it's mechanism for gravity; snapping the rods and pulleys that pull the subject groundward whenever something else lifts it up. Alternatively, one could inflict considerable harm upon someone else by damaging their effigy's mechanisms directly. Breaking the cogs and gears in their legs, for example, renders the real version inexplicably paralyzed without any visible damage to their organic body.

This and more esoteric effects- including but not limited to annihilation, alteration or destruction of memory, or spontaneous immolation are all theoretically possible with Sabotage, if only the Saboteur is willing and able to study the Works enough to understand what mechanisms produce what effects and what exactly happens when said mechanisms are tampered with.

Sabotage is not without its risks to the user, however. The Fixers that patrol and maintain the Works are always on the lookout for breakage in the machinery, and don't take too kindly to damage caused by outsiders. Not only are the effects of Sabotage invariably temporary as the damage that causes it is inevitably undone by the Fixers, but it also bears considerable risk to the Saboteur as the irate Fixers punish anyone caught damaging the Works with Backlash- negative alterations to the offender's own Works which can range from crippling to excruciating to lethal, and at worst may even be permanent.

Thus, high-level Saboteurs must learn to be swift and indirect- jaunting to the Works just long enough to cause their intended damage and leave without being identified by the Fixers (often creating the illusion that they are producing these inexplicable effects with nothing but strong gesturing), as well as learning what mechanisms to destroy to produce their intended damage as a secondary effect- since effects of Sabotage are never permanent, it is best used as a sort of "debuff" as opposed to a direct means to an end.


-Modification: Where Sabotage, influencing the world through the strategic destruction of Works, is considered the dangerous but relatively easy "black magic", Modification or "Modding" for short, the art of altering the Works via adding or replacing parts without destroying them, is considered the difficult but safer "white magic". While Saboteurs tend only to learn just enough about the Works to know what happens when you break what, often through trial and error, "Modders" or "Mechanics" learn to gain an understanding of the Works in their functional state as representatives of the natural laws of physics- what force, action, or capacity do these mechanisms represent, and what part does each and every cog and spring play in carrying out its role? If a Modder can gain sufficient understanding both of the natural laws affecting or capabilities of any given thing, and the Mechanisms that represent them, they may then learn how to add or replace parts to said Mechanism to produce corresponding effects in the real world equivalent.

For example, if one could isolate the Mechanism representing one's ability to move ones arms, then determine which cog or other such component determines how strong the muscles of their arms are (we'll say a cog representing force exerted, for example), they then could replace said cog with a smaller or larger version to increase or decrease the amount of force they can exert at their current level of strength. One need not necessarily bring components from the real world to the Works to perform such modifications; once a Mechanic becomes aware of what exact materials one needs to make the changes they desire, they usually find they had the requisite materials on hand all along (noone's sure where exactly these parts come from- half the time Modders don't notice that they spontaneously produce cogs, bolts, and gear shafts as needed until after they've already used them).

What exactly one is capable of producing via Modding is limited only by their own imagination, their understanding of the physical laws, and most importantly their understanding of the Works. One could theoretically use Modding to give themselves the ability to fire lightning bolts from their fingertips at will provided they can understand the Mechanism required for producing electric current and how best to incorporate it into one's own Works in a manner that ensures it goes off only when desired. Not impossible, but would certainly require years of study and practice in the Works before producing anything that remotely creates the desired effect.

By now you're probably wondering what those Fixers think of Modding, given their harsh dislike of other people damaging the Works. The short answer: they surprisingly don't mind so long as nothing is actually being broken. In fact, one of the primary appeals of Modding is that it is not only generally risk-free (provided you don't annoy any Fixers with your presence), but that its effects often last longer than those caused by Sabotage. At best, the effects of Modding are permanent up until someone removes or destroys the extra components (which, in the case of a high-level Modder's work, the Fixers may then restore under the mistaken belief that those Works were supposed to be there all along); at worst, a Fixer may notice a burgeoning Modder's shoddy handiwork, write it off as a quaint inefficiency, then proceed to "repair" the Mechanism to its normal state, reverting its effects without any further consequence.

In a horrifying twist, unscrupulous Modders of sufficient skill level may take advantage of the former situation by creating a negative effect Mechanism to one's Works as a sort of "curse", making it look enough like a natural part of the Works that the Fixers not only undo all efforts to remove or destroy it, but also inflict Backlash upon anyone who tries!

And now I just realized that since this is all clockwork one could theoretically observe the Works in action as/before they manipulate a given Effigy as a sort of divination...

[Laserlight]

Why, exactly, couldn't the PCs be this?

I think he was attempting to say "UNLESS you are an iron-thewed hero or daring rogue, renowned in story and song and possibly Wanted posters across the land, then you don't get a magic item. If you're an Anonymous Peasant, even with a wagonload of gold? No magic for you!"