From Dungeons to Outer
Space



To be truly successful, a video game must be incredibly immersive. As
massively multiplayer online game players, we often enter our worlds of
fantasy to escape the trappings of reality and jump into realms where
our personas are the heroes of the day. The epic stories that surround
us are our stories to experience, and it takes a highly talented writer
/ historian to craft a setting that remains reasonable even while
keeping on us on a particular path.



For NetDevil's Jumpgate Evolution, that task falls squarely on the
shoulders of Keith Baker, a tried-and-true veteran writer and designer
of roleplaying games who was made famous with his award-winning
Dungeons and Dragons setting, Eberron. Now working at NetDevil, Keith
is responsible for crafting the backstory behind the game's competing
nations. Ten Ton Hammer's Cody "Micajah" Bye tossed Keith a variety of
questions on the Solrain Commonwealth, and Keith's answers should give
players an interesting look into one of the game's three playable
nations!

Ten Ton
Hammer: To start, what kind of people live in the Solrain
Commonwealth? Are they mainly traders and enterprising citizens, or can
they be militaristic as well?



Keith Baker:
Following the Shift, the Solrain Commonwealth was rebuilt
by corporate powers, and today most of the people in the Commonwealth
are employed in some capacity by one of the Six Syndicates. However,
despite being a corporate culture, Solrain needs its soldiers and
explorers. So as a nation, Solrain is best known for its mercantile
might – but as a Solrain player, you can certainly follow a martial
path.

• Jumpgate
  Evolution Nation Interview: The Solrain Commonwealth