By Ed Ostermeyer, Master Engineer (Grade 2)

Good day again to you, young Inventor.

Since our last meeting, your mind must be a-whirl with ideas and plans to make your undersea weapon of war a reality.

Let’s temper that reality by understanding that, though you may indeed be the One With The Idea, it will take more than you to give that idea form and substance.

With your machine shop set up in your chosen city or port, you will need to populate it with all manner of partners and employees.

Step 1: It’s Not Who You Know, It’s What They Know

Just a brief review of the different types of personnel that will need to join your project team:

Investors – men and women of means with whom you must share your Idea, convincing them to become partners in your project, opening to you both their minds and their bank accounts. It is their money that provides you the necessary construction materials and custom mechanisms to make your idea a reality

Mechanics – the technical wizards of the Age, mechanics are the ones who have not only the skills to repair a broken machine or mechanism, but also the engineering expertise to assemble complicated components into a functioning whole.

Journeymen – While not as skilled as a Mechanic, a Journeyman can render valuable assistance in the machine shop, and can also serve as part of your boat’s crew.  

Sailors – Wise in the ways of the sea, sailors are a steadying influence when situations become stressful, their nautical skills and physical strength bringing confidence to the rest of your boat’s crew.

In this chapter of the Vade Mecum, we will discuss the ways of the Investor and how they can help you put form and substance to your Idea.

Step 2: Who’s On First?.

First and foremost, you will need to seek out and recruit Investors in your project.

Your city location will tell you the number of Investors you may recruit, usually just one Investor per month.

Each Investor is different from every other Investor.

One Investor may contribute a large amount of cash at one time, and in one lump sum.

Another may give a smaller amount initially,  then faithfully contribute the same amount each year thereafter. Still others may make a large investment initially, then allow you to seek them out for more funding support annually.

As the saying goes, “In picking roses, one accepts the thorns with the blossoms.”

Make your mind up to it that, in your efforts towards funding, you will indeed meet with prospective Investors whose contributions come with strings attached.

One may tell you the size of his investment means he’s going to be the boat’s captain, and that is that.

Another may not want any mechanics to serve as crew members.

Step 3: “You Gotta Watch ‘Em.”

Still another aid to your efforts in finding Investors can be the Fortunes of War Gazetteer. A lucky result here may turn up an Investor who thinks your fishboat idea is a winner, and has the cash to back it up.

Having a goodly number of Investors on your team means more money and therefore more building material and the hiring of Mechanics and Journeymen to get your fishboat completed on time.

However, the thoughtful Inventor must always be mindful that, after they make their investment in your project, Investors become a liability for the project’s security and stability. Yes, they may and probably will contribute funds annually, but the rest of the time, Investors can be a confounded nuisance.

Your Fortunes of War Gazetteer has traps a-plenty for the unwary, party-hearty, loose-talking Investor. A bad outcome can involve the police and bail money (or bribes) from your already shrinking cash pile.

A worse outcome has agents of the Yankee Pinkertons or the Confederate Secret Service becoming interested in you, your people and your project.  

Step 4: What the Fortunes of War Gazetteer giveth …

Then there is the “Bad News from the Front” kind of Fortunes of War result.

It can make an Investor skittish enough to question his investment in your mechanical marvel. If so, he may decide to quit on you, and convince other project members to join his exodus. A real cad will also empty your machine shop safe of funds as an “investment recovery measure.”

Of course, the Fortunes of War Gazetteer can also “taketh away” your Investors in the traditional manner,  sending them to join the Choir Invisible via sickness, (“bad drains… cholera”) accident (“… in the wrong place at the wrong time”) or calamity (“… ‘twas th’ hurr’cane whut took ‘im, sorr.”)

Next time, we delve into the mysteries of the Industrial Age’s cutting-edge technology and the mechanical wizards who wield them.

Now go, young Inventor, and apply what you’ve learned here today.

(Note: All graphic images of Infernal Machine game materials used in The Inventor’s Vade Mecum are subjective and may change and appear different in their final form.  All images show sourcing unless otherwise noted.

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Previous Articles:

Infernal Machine: Dawn of Submarine Warfare — Setting the Stage

Infernal Machine: The Inventor’s Vade Mecum (Nautica ed.) – Part 1: Where Do I Start?