#steampunk rpgs

[definitelybeholderrpgideas]

In a steampunk setting, make a steam powered Beholder-like construct.

The construct moves and reacts extremely slowly and, due to the steampunk nature of the construct, its eyes can only shoot cold water, hot water, steam, and fire. And since these components are being removed from the central generator, the Construct takes a speed deduction every time it uses one until someone "refills" it. If the speed reductions reduce it to Zero, it dies.

As a bonus, however, the construct's bite does extra damage and the construct has much more health due to its metal nature.

[turner-d-century-blog]

RPGPundit Reviews: Victoriana (3rd Edition Core Rulebook)

[turner-d-century-blog]

The Art of Victorian Science Fiction and Technology for Gamers

[turner-d-century-blog]

Interview with Steampunk Game Designer, Liz Spain

This week we are talking with Liz Spain, creator of steampunk game, Incredible Expeditions: Quest for Atlantis, where players lead a steampunk expedition to explore fantastic places and face otherw...

[turner-d-century-blog]

In Her Majesty’s Name is a set of skirmish wargames rules set in the late Victorian period, but not the one our current history remembers.

This is the 1895 envisaged by Jules Verne, H.G Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, H Rider-Haggard and Rudyard Kipling.

[turner-d-century-blog]

Just when you think that Pelgrane Press has made an awfully big bang with its re-energising of the d20 System and Dungeons & Dragons-style gaming in the form of 13th Age, it slips out another Class and Level d20 System RPG. One that is much smaller and one that is much more oddly named. Owl Hoot Trail promises to be “Rules-Light, Western-Heavy, and Full of Fantasy”. What Owl Hoot Trail is, is a stripped down d20 System RPG that takes as its setting the Wild West and adds many of the traditional elements of Dungeons & Dragons – Dwarves Hill Folk, Elves Shee, Halflings Half’ins, Humans, and Orcs, as well as Vampire Lords, Dragons, Harpies, Owlbears, and more. This is a Wild West in which the Shee live way out West, and in which Gunslingers, Marshals, Ruffians, and Scoundrels ride the range and mosey on up to the bar alongside Gadgeteers with their amazing inventions, Mentalists who command great magics, Preachers who bring both the word and the power of the Almighty, and Shaman entreat the spirits for their aid. The frontier is a wild place, but out on the Owl Hoot Trail, the heroes have a chance to tame it!

[turner-d-century-blog]

[turner-d-century-blog]

This list continues tracing the development of Victoriana and Steampunk rpgs. There's an odd gap between this list and the previous one. We don't see multiple games in either genre appear until 2001; we have several dead years. I suspect several reasons account for that, but these are simply hypotheses. First, we had three visible game lines which put these elements at the forefront: Deadlands, Space 1889, and Castle Falkenstein. Publishers may have felt the market had already served- especially since only the first of these had done well and sustained itself. Second, we saw a shift in game publishing- with many smaller companies collapsing in the 1990's and others focusing on core products. Problems with TSR meant problems with the industry as a whole. That could be tied to changes in the hobby industry- the expansion and collapse of the collectible comic market affected many game stores. That also shifted distribution and put additional pressures on publishers. Third, two serious competitors pinched the rpg market. On the one hand, CCGs continued to grow and draw attention and money away. Several publishers threw cash after ill-advised card games, rather than developing new rpg products. On the other, we finally saw accessible and excellent computer games, especially MMORPGs. Those stole share from games. Fourth, more specifically to these genres, we didn't have a large volume of source media until the end of this period. We obviously had Verne, Wells, and Gothic & Victorian authors, but steampunk was only beginning to develop 'classics' and go in new directions. RPGs more often follow rather than lead pop culture ideas- and need a larger supply of innovative approaches and junk versions to lift from. It is worth considering what steampunk sources were available before or during this period, essentially up through 2003.