It's been a long road for Fallout 76, initially launching with a host of issues, controversies, and lukewarm reception. Riddled with bugs and glitches, things became so bad that Bethesda put out an apology only weeks after launch to address the issues and how the studio was going to tackle them. However, considering that Fallout 76 is positioned as a live service game, things steadily began to improve.
Between the countless updates and bug fixes, things really began to take off once the highly anticipated Wastelanders update arrived. Addressing one of the biggest criticisms of the game, Wastelanders added in NPC characters as well as dialogue trees, helping the game feel more like the classic single-player games in the franchise. However, Bethesda continued to add content, eventually adopting a seasonal model, giving players even more things to unlock like cosmetics, resources, and more.
Instead of presenting the season in the standard style such as Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, or even Destiny 2, Bethesda mimicked the look and feel of Fallout 76 seasons in the style of board games with fictional Fallout universe characters like Captain Cosmos, Armor Ace, and the Power Patrol, and more recently K.D. Inkwell. Here's more on this latest fictional character who keeps popping up in Fallout 76.
Who Is K.D. Inkwell?
Season three of Fallout 76 introduced the Scribe of Avalon board game, which was around the fictional publication Atomic Chronicles of K.D. Inkwell, Volume 101 produced by Astoundingly Awesome Tales. Longtime Fallout fans will likely remember that company from Fallout 4 thanks to hidden magazines that gave players a unique bonus for reading them.
In Fallout 76, K.D. Inkwell is a fictional character part of Astoundingly Awesome Tales pulp science-fiction, fantasy, and adventure magazines. Inspired by Indiana Jones, she's an adventurer and historian with a slash over her right eye and face. However, she's also a senior time operative at a place called the Guild of Antiquities and uses a Chronotron to time travel to different eras on guild missions. She also carries an intricate and oversized fountain pen called the Atomic Quill, which could actually be earned by players along with her Chronotron backpack and outfit.
Fallout 76's Scribe of Avalon
First introduced in Season 3 for Fallout 76, the Scribe of Avalon board was based on a mission K.D. Inkwell was sent on to investigate the rapid appearance of technological advancements in the medieval city of Avalon. In order to track these achievements, Inkwell first goes to the 5th century to located a person named Cynnoc, who was known as the Scribe of Avalon, as well as Alistair who is a Knight of Avalon.
During this season, players could score all kinds of Inkwell items including a player icon of her at Rank 2, a Daring Adventures photo mode frame at rank 22, and K.D. Inkwell's Quill player icon at 34. However, the season also had some big-ticket items for players who continued the level grind including a unique baton that was made to look like K.D. Inkwell's quill at rank 42, the Chronotron backpack at rank 92, and a wearable outfit based on Inkwell at rank 98.
Escape from the 42nd Century Rewards
As part of the recent Steel Reign update, Season 5 brings back the intrepid explorer as part of the new Escape from the 42nd Century board. This time around, Inkwell is sent into the 42nd century to investigate the antagonistic group called the M.I.N.D. The 42nd Century is a dystopian future, where the M.I.N.D. have been assimilating mankind with dolphins to help advance the course of evolution. With the arrival of Inkwell and the Guild of Antiquities, the M.I.N.D. move to capture and assimilate the intruders.
As expected, this season also features plenty of Inkwell cosmetics and items players can unlock as they work through the seasonal pass. Rank 2 unlocks the K.D. Inkwell Escape player icon, backpack flair at rank 6, a 42nd-century player icon at rank 34, and plenty of M.I.N.D. content throughout. Some of the bigger items this season are related to K.D.'s companion Alistair as players can unlock the Valorous Alistair Outfit at rank 98, headwear at 96, and a special Chronotron backpack at rank 92.
Behind The Scenes of K.D. Inkwell
Even though K.D. Inkwell remains a fictional character limited to seasonal updates, Bethesda had some internal help to bring the character to life in these limited spots. Arkane Studios developer Sadie Boyd, who's currently working on the recently revealed vampire title Redfall, performed the internal pitch voice-over for K.D. Inkwell to help the design process for Escape from the 42nd Century. According to Boyd, internal VO helps the developers better plan and build out the story and mechanics. It also provides a rough template for the person coming in to record the professional version. Finally, Boyd also shared some interesting feedback she received about her performance being too sultry.
In terms of her appearance, the art of K.D. Inkwell was originally commissioned by artist Ástor Alexander. With two seasonal appearances now under her belt, it's possible Bethesda intends to keep this character around for future content, either in another upcoming Fallout 76 update or perhaps with cameos in future games through the fictional Hubris Comics or other Astoundingly Awesome Tales magazines.
Fallout 76 is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.