/d3c/ - Do Double Dubs Count Thread

>for Sheeple
>>Test Subject
>>Wage Slave

>for Sea Cucumber People
>>Wage Slave
>>Semen Demon

it really don't make sense for Sheeple to be semen demons

I like sheep girls

A Kek is a small, golden coin with Pepe's face engraved on one side, and a series of random numbers on the other.

I vaguely recall the last thread we got about sheep civ got pruned for no obvious reasons.

Bacon is the most common commodities, so it will cost not much keks.

There is several types of Bacon:
Bacon - most common type. Tasty and filling.
Fried Bacon - Bacon imbued with a Fire Element
Cured Bacon - Bacon imbued with a Air element.
Smoked Bacon - Imbuied with a Earth element
Boiled Bacon - Imbuied with a Water element. Most nastiest of all types.
Raw Bacon - specially for a berserkers
Salo - too much fat, much less meat, with high amount of energy
Primal Bacon - Bacon imbuied with high amount of magic.
Pepe Bacon - most rarest of all types of bacon, maked from a special type of frogs.

Yea, I remember because I was the OP on that one too

Does value of the coin depend on the number of repeating digits on the other side of the coin?

(Common pricing assumes coins with no repeating digits.)

The numbers are not true random, each number only exists once because of this Lizardmen-Illuminati conglomerate can track any transaction in the world.

Personally I think any race should be capable of any class.

This is mostly because I want to play a welsh semen demon, who got so damn tired of all the men running off after sheeple and anime girls she decided the only recourse was to out slut them.

Here is what I'm thinking

>Dicks Wearing Hats
Low level monsters. The goblins/kobolds of the setting

>Sentient Suitcases
Mimics. Sometimes harmless pranksters, sometimes killers.

>/pols/
Tribal monsters, they are proud and violent. They're usually led by a powerful /pol/ they call "Fuhrer". They're also rivals to Dindus.

>Dindus
Like /pol/s, they're semi intelligent tribal monsters, but unlike /pol/s they're not pure evil and may feel guilty for their actions. A Hue Dindo is a powerful Dindu that have developed a strong affinity with soccer. Its usually dressed in green and yellow.

>Morris Dancers
They're misterious but polite monsters. Usually in packs, they're music lover nomads that travel while dancing. They search for treasure, adventure and other small pleasures. If feeling threatened, they immediately attack, usually with sticks, swords or handkerchiefs, which they carry.

>Blonde Girls in Lion Costumes
They're strong, hungry beasts. Using their misleading appearance they may try to bait their prey. They share their love for junk food with NEETs, and sometimes are found in their caves. They hunt anime girls and put them in lion suits, transforming them into Blonde Girls in Lion Costumes.

>NEETs
Savage and pale, they only live their dark caves to get junk food. They come in two sizes: Lanky and Slob. They're like the trolls or ogres of the setting.

>Damn Straights
Hell demons. They're powerful, but just. They may try to get your soul, but don't rely on any tricks. It's a straight deal, through and through.

>Tuesdays
A cursed day. It's as if the world itself doesn't want you to live till wednesday. Dangerous unlikely coincidences may happen, so most people just hide and pray until the day is over.

>Dragon Dildos
Giant, intelligent and powerful monsters. The dragons of the setting, coming in different shapes, sizes and colors, which determine what type of squirt they shoot.

They are! That's just my idea for exemplifying each one.

Wow a meme-based rpg this is so interesting and original, I expect it to never lose novelty after a single session because it is just so deep and unique

Me too! I'm glad you posted in here, you sure gave these memesters a lesson!

I like this, but where does all the Bacon come from?

What if instead of cowboy culture, there was a pigboy culture? People who herd pigs are called pigboys, and pigboys can make millions of Keks herding pig herds from the savage, railroad-less frontiers to more civilized lands in need of bacon. Pigboys follow basically every cowboy stereotype and trope ever, only they herd pigs instead of cows, and use blades and magic instead of six shooters.

What kinds of are used in the setting? I think horses are too ordinary. Maybe oversized rabbits?

I think it's safe to assume regular animals still exist, just like plants and minerals do. It would be a chore to explain how things would work without them.
Also, I believe having some stuff be normal is a good thing, as it gives a break from all the memes and may make the weird stuff feel more interesting.

I would say get rid of cows and replace with pigs just because of how important bacon is.

l think cows can still exist, pigs are just way more abundant and important for everyday life.

I agree, but what if many animals didn't exist, changing the role of some of the remaining animals? What if pigboys rode riding cows? Or aquatic snails replaced goldfish?

What if selectively bred cows replaced horses in the setting?

Half of this bacon comes from Bacon Masters, duh. Most biggest share on bacon market belongs to a ancient pig farms and butcheries.

Maybe we could have bacon masters be more rare and know how to utilize bacon in ways others can't.

I think the dicks with hats should worship the dragon dildos as some sort of gods.

Aaaaand we remade kobolds. As dicks. Good job tg

/pol/ should be some kind of hivemind that is trying to add all sheeple to its collective conciousness

They are sheeple in a world of Welshman. That alone is reason enough for Semen Demon affinity. Also work hard as wage slave , Play hard as semen demon.

>Sea cucumber Semen Demons
That is so outlandish and fucked that Not even Slannesh has thought about it.

Mind flyer based /pol/?

How about both races were created by the God that gives the semen demons power.

As Fertility gods. The life goal of every Dick wearing a hat is to have sex with a Dragon Dildo. The thing is, Dragon Dildos don't like Dicks wearing hats that way, and 99% of Dicks that go on a Body Quest die horribly, the 1% that survive and actually succeed are worshiped as demigods, and rule over Dick civilization.

I feel like Sea Cucumber people should be kinda like . An advanced but relatively aloof and isolated society that, aside from the wandering Test Subject or other sort of adventurer and merchant, aren't often seen far from water because of their dislike for living above dry land. They would either get easily between their undersea cities and the rest of the land through magitech/Aperture Science submarines, or through a system of tunnels and elevators built into the continents.

What if giant squid were the apex ocean predator instead of sharks?

This should be canon.

We should add schoolgirl uniforms and calcium supplements as armor types.

It should be a race of special frogs the same the pepe bacon is made out of, they mint and control the keks

>Do Double Dubs Count?

I feel like Soccer Hooligan would be some sort of weird mix of bard, monk, and rogue.

I feel like they would need some sort of Persuasive ability specific to rabble rousing mobs together and causing barfights to break out.

They would also have an improvised weapon proficiency, being able to use bottles, bricks, barstools, and other such hooligan weapons along with an affinity for bareknuckle brawling.

Lastly they would need The ability to take advantage of a chaotic situation, like maybe some sort of bonus to attacks of opportunity. They would most likely use "dirty" fighting tactics, like biting, kicking, etc, more often and/or better than others.

They could also play a bard-like role, with football chants taking the place of songs/spells. Different chants could be specifically against certain monsters, allowing Hooligans to specialise against 'favourite enemies'.

>i wanna go home
>i wanna go home
>/pol/ is a shithole
>i wanna go home

>Cledwyn Smith
>Welsh Soccer Hooligan
>Traded his soul to a Damn Straight, so that way the UK would win the world cup, with the clauses that if he could create a 10,000% return on his deal then he would be released from his contract, his mum would be cured of cancer, and he'd get to kick that Bloomin' Straight in the 'nads when 'E bought 'is soul back

There should be an order of respectable skeleton football hooligans. Like, they are hooligans, but in a polite apologize-before-you-smash-someones-face-and-tear-him-a-new-asshole-with-a-broken-bottle kind of way

>this is a gentleman's sport you bloody thugs
>now cease and desist or I shall a educate you in the finer points of pugilism!

Can their team be the Spooky Scary Skeletons?

This is about what I was imagining while reading that.

That feels too common for them. They'ld probably be named something like the Spiffy, Spick and Span, Skellongtons.

Hey, so any of you guys thought about what kinda special gear the Aperture Science Test Subjects would take with them so far I can think of:
>Portal Gun (obviously) (basic version of Dark Cave any-surface Portals)
>Long fall boots
>Repulsion, Propulsion, and Conversion (?) Gels
>Portable turrets
>Pocket Potato A.I.
>Combustible lemon grenades

That's all I can think of off the cuff, anymother ideas?

I imagine that Test subjects would be a particularly mobile, nimble and acrobatics-based class.

You forgot the most important one.

> Jetpacks

Well I mean that's all and good for the portals test subject, but wasn't appature into a few other pies as well?

Well I do remeber they were into shower curtains, but considering their closest markets are in underwater sea-cucumber person cities, I don't think those would take off very well. And the Mantismen went crazy before they could be used as test subjects. Although...now that you mention it, we could use some more of the ideas from the alternate Earth Aperture's in "Perpetual Testing Initiative".

There's obviously a three-way Bacon trade-war between

> Pigboys with cheap, and plentiful bacon,

> Bacon Masters with expensive, rare, but awesome bacon,

> And the Great Pig Trade Houses, with a balance between the two.

Because I can think of dozens of Quest Hooks based on the Trade War.

Interesting, would there be a rivalry between,

> Riding cow breeders

> And Railroad builders?

Similar to the real-life feud between Railroad executives and horse breeders?

I support these motions. What kind of companies do the wage slaves work for? Just a factories? Call centers? What services and goods are available in this setting?

They literally do nothing. They keep track of how much money they lend to other sheeple businesses which lens money to other sheeple businesses and so on, forever.

They are trapped in an eternal cycle of make-work, drowning in their paperwork, forever.

Or, senpai forbid, customer service... I don't know, but I do have a few ideas about Sheeple society.

I was thinking that Sheeple settlements are called corporations, and are ruled by the wealthiest individuals, who rule with an iron fist and essentially control every aspect of life in the corporation. These rulers are called Managers. When a council of Managers rules a corporation, they are called a called a Corporatocracy, which is shorthand for Trade House. Most Managers are Anime Girls, or Respectable Skeletons, rarely, wealthy Welshman will become a Manager, and once a dozen blue moons, the extremely rare ambitious Sheeple will rise to the rank of Manager.
Thoughts?

>Sheeple
>Welsh
I see only one way this can end.

On some levels I like it, but at the same time on some level I think there should be distinct societies for all involved. Sheeple ruled by sheeple who are slightly less sheep.

This setting is getting slightly dark... That's not a bad thing at all! Let's keep going.

I like this idea. Are corporations their own independent autonomous city states, or are they united into nations, or some kind of mix? I think a Maya type city-ownership organization would be good, only instead of bloody battles, they fight wars of commerce with one another

Someone make a docs file

Could we get an archive of this thread too?

What about the Welsh? What kind of society do they have? Maybe it's literally Wales, just taken from our world, and put into this one? Or maybe every now and then, some weird village called AExhdasfekasdfwek or something will appear out of nowhere, and BAM, Welsh everywhere.

I kinda like the idea of the sheep corporations being a little like the guilds on ravnica. They are kinda like governments, all do different things, and your not necessarily born into them. You have to join, which may be hard. You sacrifice to get in and working up the ladder is a pain in the ass. Furthermore there would be coorperationless sheeple, who without a corporation to protect them and provide services would have to struggle to survive.

It's not literal wales, it's stereotypical wales. Easily 10 times more interesting and easier to play. And who gives a shit if we offend the welsh?

I'm Welsh, but I think this Thread is hilarious... Carry on.

Bump. I'm really shitty at art, but I might try to draw one thing soon

Odds are coorperationless sheeple would be easy picking for the welsh.

>Sheeple
>>Welsh
This seems like a bad mix

exactly

Deep in Chan Mountains, lies a terrible Neet Nests. When they gather they fight about "waifus" and brag about their exploits, often exaggerating to an absurd degrees. There two types of Neets: loud Slobs and quiet Lankies both dangerous when agitated, especially if Anime Girl nearby. They can detect their scent and follow her relentlessly, until she passed out from exhaustion. Other races are fine too, but most delicacy for a NEET is a Anime Girl, which they call on their primitive language "waifu".
However, NEETs are easily frightened and gullible, making a lone NEET an easy target for a Semen Demon.

Bumpin' in the night

So, what IS stereotypical Wales like? Aside from sheepfucking and weird-ass names?

Alright so let's try to unify the geography we have from both threads. We have:

>Sheeple lands, ruled by corporations characterized by huge gray skyscraping towers and a lack of decor. The ruling Sheeple live in a strict authoritarian state and are expected to fall in line, or be cast out.
>Sentient Suitcases are most numerous here, and are a threat for many Sheeple here

>Anime girl lands: ancestral home of the Anime girls, where some still live in their traditional tribal fashions and train their semen demons the traditional way

>Bripan: the Island Empire/Ctiy founded by the Do-Double-Dubs Count herself as the ultimate safe haven for the Anime girls. It has become one of the most Cosmopolitan city on the planet, home to Sheeple, Anime Girls, and respectable skeletons.
>In the Counts stead, It is ruled by a council of her most trusted, ancient and venerable respectable skeleton advisors, who eagerly await her return.
>The Sheeple are mostly lower-middle class citizens
>Because Bripan was originally founded by and for Anime girls, the maintain a higher status as the original citizens of that place.

>Near Bripan there is an Archipelago of smaller islands
>One of which is Whales, Home of the Welsh
>The Welsh live with mostly medieval technology, believing that such comforts are for "poncy wankers"
>Instead of militia or a standing army, every Welsh citizen, from farmer to nobleman, is able to fight as a soccer hooligan in times of need,
>They are mostly nuetral to the other nations and races, but enjoy amiable relations with the sheeple, who are more than happy to throw their outcasts and troublemakers onto them. Nobody knows why the Welsh are so uncharacteristically friendly, compassionate, and generous with the sheeple, but lt has been noted that of Late have started looking a lot more "Sheeple-like"
>The Sheeple cast out here quickly adapt to their surroundings, gaining th characteristic cheek, aggression, and crowd mentality of the Welsh,

(1/2)

man that Star Trek reboot is looking weird

Cont.

>The rest of the Archipelago's inhabitants is an eclectic mess of different governments and races, that is the Prime hub for trade between the Sea Cucumber people and the rest of the world.
>The most common method of transportation are the hardy island bulls, and the railroads.
>The Archipelago is also the Home to the ancient bacon masters.

>The sea Cucumber undersea cities are relatively unknown and mysterious due to their locations and environments not being suitable for surface dwellers,
>but they mostly on the same tech level as the rest of the world, except for a number of precious devices, wildly advanced for their time
>These devices were granted to them by the entity "Aperture Science"
> many Sea-Cucumber people become test subjects to aid it in it's search for knowledge, even if that search means putting themselves in way of great danger or harm

>On the mainlands, Near the Ancestral Homelands of the Anime Girls and the land of the Sheeple, are many unexplored and unmapped frontier lands, dotted by numerous settlements.
>These are home to The Pigboys, romantic loner figures who supply these lands with much needed bacon and protection
>nearby are also the Tribes of the zealous expansionist /Pol/acks and the Barbaric, Primitive Dindus
>Despite both tribes being similarly violent, destructive, and cruel, The Dindus and /Pol/acks have an ancient and bloody hatred for each other stemming from Religious, Ideological, Cultural Differences, and Often have bloody skirmishes over territory.
>There are also the Chan Mountains, dangerous and treacherous mountain range, where deadly ancient magical energies from it's formation still linger
>These magical areas vary in strength, from causing Minor phenomena, to being merged with the chaotic Meme realm itself.
>The only ones who can safely travel within are the /Pol/acks, who regularly make Pilgrimage for their God Kek,the NEETS, disgusting wretched creatures who dwell there, and Semen Demons

Alright, I'm gonna try to take a crack at incorporating the title into the lore

>Long ago, before The Hourglass of time had been Filled, before the Gods filled over the Realm of Meme, There were the Anons.
>The Anons were entities of creative potential, with niether names or identity, but pure possibility itself.
>The Anons had drifted in Void for countless eons, creating and speculating on everything that may potentially exist and even that which may never exist, in attempts to stave off their never-ending collective boredom. They were without self, manifestations of creation combining together to form grand tapestries and visions of stuff that mortals can only dream of, and splitting apart to form new concepts and marvels.
>Eventually after countless eternities, The Anons, has saw fit to create a world, made with the input of all Anons themselves.
>But The Anons were too Numerous, their ideas too many, some even Contradictory to each other. It would have been impossible To incorporate all of user's ideas.
>So it was that the Great Runes were created, and allowed to each user.
>The Runes were extensions of the Anons' power, allowing the Anons to manifest their immaterial concepts into Reality.
>This was how our cosmos came to be.
>Some Runes were weak, making only a temporary instant change in the new, infant cosmos, while others were strong, creating the greatest foundations of reality.
>The most Powerful of these were the "Do Double-Dubs Runes" which had the power to reshape all reality at a whim.
>When all had been finished, the Anons looked upon their creations with glee, enraptured by the art of ideas they had spun
>Like all joint projects of Anons, many began to leave, in search of new sources of amusement, leaving their great Runes behind.
This newborn universe would have faded away like so many others, had it not been for a few Anons that stayed.
(cont.)

(Cont.)

>These few Lingering user, something in this Universe that the others had not: Potential.
>Unwilling to abandon it so quickly, The Anons decided that they would stay and nurture this spark of potential, in the hopes that it would grow into something greater.
>In their last Act of Creation, they Combined their essences, and wrapped themselves around the realm like a blanket, protecting it from the endless Uncaring void.
>This way the Anons could forever be with their beloved creations, always watching, and occaisonally pushing, as it grew to be greater.
>This Blanket would come to be known as the Realm of Meme, Cradle Of the Realm, and Fountain of Possibility.
>All life, from the greatest gods to the smallest worms, emerged from Meme and would one day go back to it.
>But the Great Runes of the Anons Remained, separated from their masters, ever wanting to act but with out any direction or guidance.
>The Great Runes grew unstable, changing their surrounds with no rhyme nor reason, wanting for a master, wanting to create.
>It was this Great Tantrum, that created the Chan Mountains, a link between Meme and Reality where the "could-be" meshed with the "was" to create a chaos like no-other.
>It was here that Mortals first found the Great Runes, and became bound by the soul to each other.
>The Great Runes were pockets of the greatest power, where even the most feeble could grant powers over all of existence itself.
>But the Runes were corrupted from their time alone, and the powers they granted were unstable and inconsistent, with few able maintain control
>These soul-bonded mortals would use their powers to shape the universe, until the day they died and there souls would go back to Meme, taking their Great Rune with them.
>The most famous of these blind was the Count her self, The only Mortal to ever find and bond with one of the Great "Do-Double-Dubs" runes.
(Cont.)

(cont.)

>The Count had been a great Hero, Trained by the greatest Welsh masters as a Soccer Hooligan, she had returned to her Homeland with A company of Welsh soccer Hooligans 100 strong to save her Anime Girls sisters from the dreaded horrors that came from Chan Mountain.
>She had ascended the treacherous cliffs, determined to kill every abomination she found, giving salavation to her people, or die trying.
>But the Salvation she sought came in a different form.
>The "Do-Double-Dubs" Rune had sensed within her something that the denizens of Chan mountain had lacked, something that resembled the part of itself that it had been separated from so long ago and sorely yearned for: Drive, Agency, Potential.
>With Power of the "Do-Double-Dubs", The Hero that would come to be known as "The Count" led her people on the Path to Salvation, where she would lead her People through the lands of the Dindus and the /Pol/acks.
>The Great Rune had connected her to Meme itself, making granting her the Power of the Anons.
>It was she, who created the First Respectable Skeletons from the Bones of here Fallen, and Who created the Island of Bripan out of thin air.
>Under her guidance the Anime girls Founded the The City of Londo-Kyo, with the Hero as their Ruler.
>The Hero would become the First Count of Bripan, and would lead a prosperous reign, aided by her bony advisors
>This Golden Age would Continue, up until the day she disappeared, without a trace.
>There were numerous theories made as to her fate.
>Many of her followers insist that she had been noticed by the Sempais, and had ascended to her Rightful place at their side.
>Others less faithful thought she had knew she would die soon, and just went off to go die with dignity.
>Her inner circle of Skeletons insisted that she was still alive, and await her return to this day.

These are Epic, maybe Adventurers are those who seek Runes? What if Enchanted Items are just regular items inscribed with lesser Runes, and a bit of magical power from a trained Artificer? What if an Artificer could tattoo a Rune onto someone, giving them magical powers?

I'd be inclined to think that Sheeple corporations are like Shadowrun megacorps. They aren't technically governments... but the 'governments' that exist in corporate territories are toothless and docile things.

As such, you get a situation where the technical ruler of an area is someone like the Mayor of Redmound, advised by the town council... but the most powerful individual in the area is the CEO of Memosoft, advised by the board of directors. It should be surprising to nobody that the Mayor and councilors are all Sheeple, while there are no Sheeple whatsoever among Memosoft's executives.

I thought about that, but I needed a reason to make having the Do-Double-Dubs be special, and wouldn't just result in it being copied and given to every Tom, Dick, and Harry.

That's why I wrote that that the runes would function like the Octavo from The Color Of Magic and The Light Fantastic, where once they were read they were stuck with you, except that instead of going to the nearest person when you died, they went with you.

Although have Runes not be one and done does sound compelling. It is nicer to have Magic be endless in some way. Have you got any ideas of making the Runes renewable but not replicable without just ripping off Terry Prattchet's models for spells, because I am at a loss with this.

I dunno, i feel like going that far with the "Sheeple can't think for themselves" thing would make them a rather lame species for the sake of Grimdark.

If they couldn't run and govern themselves effectively, even for a short time, then they wouldn't have survived to become one of the five main races.

Having Sheeple oppressing Sheeple makes more sense. It would show that Sheeple, while gullible, slow-witted, and a little dull, are not complete incompetents and that their societies always end up the same way because they choose and/or are predisposed to live that.
way.

Well I don't know terry pratchets system but how bout this. Each rune describes a magical effect or force, by learning more runes yoy get more options. Depending on how you mix and match them you get different effects. There are theoretically nigh infinite combinations of different runes in different orders, but any given wizard will only know so many runes. More runes you know more versitility yoy have.

How about having it be that only one Iteration of a rune can exist at a time, where either recording it, or saying it with the intention of teaching it to another sapient being who is open to learning it erases it from your mind after the transfer.

And for runes and death, you could just have it be that when the Rune gets back to Meme, it escapes back into reality through The connection at Chan Mountain. That explain both why Chan Mountain is still magical after people have been taking all of the Runes, and why adventurers would go to Chan Mountain at all.

What if the proportion of Runes had to be exact? If you were etching a Rune, and were half a centimeter off, the Rune would be completely inert and the magic power you invested into it would be completely wasted. Magical energy comes from the soul, which means it might take days to regain the power spent on a Lesser Rune, and weeks for a Moderate Rune, and Months, or Years to regain the power spent on a Greater Rune. Artificing would require almost perfect memory, an extremely steady hand, and weeks of time spent checking over every part of the Rune. This would explain why enchanted objects are so rare and expensive, and why Artificers aren't an adventuring class.

Why not combine all of these?

Actually that sounds cool, that would make Runes renewable without making the Do-Double-Dubs destroy the setting. Since the Count runs off with the knowledge of the combo, then people could still enjoy Runes without giving everyone the "I Win" combo.

And it's not like every one would spend their time experimenting till they find the right one, since there exist other magics and technologies that provide a more direct benefit immediately. So even if there are people spending their entire life trying combos, it's unlikely that they'll ever find them.

That's a pretty good idea thanks user.

Also
>Well I don't know terry pratchets system
If you haven't read his books, I recommend that you do starting with the Color of Magic. They're fantastic and have influenced a lot of Veeky Forums related writing and humor.

It's not that Sheeple can't *think* for themselves. It's just that they have a group-centric mentality, and tend to act in ways that benefit the group, rather than themselves. Left to their own devices, that made for a super-comfy sort of pastoral agrarian society.

It's only in more recent times that foreign cultures, immigration, and new technologies have upended their traditional societies. The previous generation was lured in by smooth-talking Anime Girls, and started to see their corporations as their 'in-group' instead of their towns... and as a new generation was raised to believe this, the "Wage Slave" class proliferated.

Thinking about the timescale of things, Wage Slaves are the second-newest of the classes; with only Test Subjects being newer. Bacon Masters and Semen Demons have existed since time immemorial, and Soccer Hooligans have been around since the invention of the ball (which is to say, nearly as long). What's new is the modern economic structure that gives rise to 'wage' slavery (as opposed to good-old-fashioned slavery, involving literal whips and chains).

That said, an important point arises. What exactly are Wage Slaves doing in adventuring groups? You'd think they'd have, y'know, actual jobs that prevent them from wandering about the world going on adventures.

I guess they are like hirelings, but pcs. ....yeah. or people sent out by the corporations themselves yo represent corporate interests.

Well is mutually exclusive to the other two, but those two could work. Making the combinations matter and the runes be weak by themselves is better then just "one and done" and difficult artificing seems like another cool limiting factor.

What if pc wage slaves were future artifacers. Think about it. Companies want artifacers cause that shit is a license to print money, but it can't just be handed down you gotta go get it. So they take an employee they think could become their next sweatshop artifacers doomed to spend day in and day out carving runes for the company and they send them out with some actual adventures so they can go learn runes, cause that's the only way.

This is all incredibly silly.

I approve.

That's an interesting idea. Basically, then, Wage Slave PCs get an amendment to their employment contracts, which amount to getting paid a retainer fee and a stipend for starting equipment instead of an ongoing salary, and then get approximate freedom of the world. In exchange, they sign a non-compete clause which basically means that if they do actually succeed in learning a cool set of runes, their only legal way to profit off that knowledge is by returning to their corporation as an artificer. It's well-paid work in comfy conditions, but it's less than you could make if you were an independent artificer selling stuff on your own. But the big corporations like the price points they've colluded to fix, and have control over the magic item market, and may actually send actual assassins after wannabe indeps, so those interested in the work generally accept the traditional offer.

I think of it kinda like when your company pays for you to further your education. It generally goes with a binding contract for z years of work. Non competition works as well.

I can see that happening too. Some of the easier runes, that can be used to make low-level magic items, may predictably appear in easy-to-access areas. Particular corporations may have those areas mapped and guarded, making them into mini-dungeons that are *just* interesting enough to let runes respawn there.

As such, the corporations regularly sponsor groups of wage slaves on 'team-building' dungeon crawls. They provide all the needed equipment, supplies, and directions, and leave it to the group to figure out how to follow the step-by-step instructions. Cue a bunch of business types in suits venturing into a dungeon with clubs and briefcases, as they perform such adventuring tasks as climbing ropes, checking for traps, jumping over pits, and beating off dicks with hats. Great fun, for the otherwise sedentary sort of wage slave, but you only get to go on that kind of trip if you're already committed to a binding contract.

OP's pic is as creepy as fuck... I'm almost scared to ask, but...

> Sauce?

What exactly is soccer, in this setting?