{Empty Room Studios Publishing} Steampunk Musha: Victoriental Adventures (soon)

[imagel]http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2949/xxxxxtz8.jpg[/imagel]Steampunk Musha: Victoriantal Adventures
Imagine an island where tradition wars against technology. The last of the samurai have nowhere to turn, and yakuza thugs and street fighters now hold the respect of the cities. Shangti Cowboys have showed the island the power of firearms, and Mechanists have proven the triumph of machine over superstition. But the old ways linger. Kabukika, warriors of the theater and users of magic, hold onto their traditions, as do the Nikobo, who find that as the land travels farther from its traditions, its spirits grow restless...

Both humans and their gaijin cousins toil to rebuild from the last war, and the Clockwork Ronin, remnants of that era, struggle to find a home. Juunishi-po, a people born to resemble the forms of the zodiac, and keshou, distant relatives of goblins once kept as slaves, have learned to embrace the new technology and bring glory to their people. The Jinteki-Oni, half-men and half-demon, have come down from their mountain homes to learn the ways of men. Change has come quickly to the island, and these changes bring chaos, on which the demons of old still thrive.

This is the world of Rosuto-Shima, a setting that uses the Open Game License and compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. Introducing eight new races, a host of new feats, honor system and bloodlines, and a multitude of classes and prestige classes just for the setting, Steampunk Musha combines Asian flavor fantasy with Victorian technology to create a world of tradition, machines, and chaos. High fantasy and science fiction clash and combine in a conflict of old and new, father and son, clockwork and spiritual. The world is changing. How will you change it?

Steampunk Musha is created by Rick Hershey with additional design by Alana Joli Abbott. The OGL version of SM was created from numerous contributions from such writers as Troy Daniels, Mark Adams, Brian Spurling, and an assortment of fans and designers. Currently, the Steampunk Musha Player's Guide and the Steampunk Musha Game Master's Guide is being edited and compiled by fan-favorite writer Charles Rice.

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Steampunk Musha Player's Guide is now finished and will be going to layout [imager]http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5750/steampunkasianzg9dx4.jpg[/imager]soon. The SM Player's Guide covers all the information any player needs to create a character and start adventuring on the island of Rosuto-Shima. Here are a few of the highlights you'll find in this book for Steampunk Musha or any Oriental or Fantasy game.

RACES: This chapter introduces the several new races: Clockwork Ronin, Jinteki-Oni, Juunishi-p'o, Kappa, Keshou, Kijo, Sarpa, and Tanuki, as well as describing the culture of the humans indigenous to Rosuto-Shima.

Bloodlines: Characters in Rosuto-Shima are not just differentiated by their race, they must also pick a Bloodline. A Bloodline represents the social rank into which a character is born. Bloodlines Include; Gaijin, Outcast, Merchant, Artisan, Farmer, Monastic, Noble, Warrior

Reputation, Honor, Allegiances, Fate and Destiny, and 20 unique Ancestors to guide your character.[imagel]http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/7573/awabismallsw0.jpg[/imagel]

Classes: 11 classes each utilizing Ki abilities unique to their role, many offering multiple Career and Talent Specializations for the most unique customization. Classes Include: Courtier, Craftsman, Entertainer, Mystic, Ninja, Ronin, Samurai, Shangti Cowboy, Soldier, Thief, and Yamabushi.

Feats:Steampunk Musha features a number of new feats to better represent the culture, honor and combat abilities of the inhabitants of Rosuto-Shima. These feats are broken down into several categories for ease of reference: general (31), martial arts (72), mystic (14), racial(13) and Wushu (13). Each type of feat has its own section.

Skills:Several new skills just for Steampunk Musha, along with lots of new uses for old skills!

Spells:Instead of gaining spells of various levels, spellcasters in Steampunk Musha receive spell points as they advance in level that may be spent on spells of any level. Depending on the situation the spellcaster could cast many lower level spells or expend all of his energy on one powerful spell.
All spellcasting in this system is spontaneous and casters never need to prepare their spells in advance. Over 50 new spells unique to SM and detailed Spell lists for all magic-users.
[imager]http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/6964/steampunkkappabu4sc8.jpg[/imager]

Equipment:Complete guide to swords, guns, armor, steamtech, and all the helpful items one needs to adventure across Rosuto-Shima.

Steamwork and Clockwork Equipment:This section covers the steam and clockwork equipment that has brought so much change and turmoil to the lands of Rosuto-Shima.
You'll find rules for applying Steamwork and Clockwork body modifications along with the system for Kyouran, a measure of the damage done to a character’s spiritual essence and psyche through increasing amounts of intrusive grafts of metal to flesh.

To see Exclusive Previews of Art and Content, visit our Forums at The Tangled Muse

[imagel]http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/8205/kijosmallpx1.jpg[/imagel]Hey Folks,

All this week we'll be showing previews of the different races of Steampunk Musha over at the Tangled Muse forums. This is your chance to see some of the artwork and descriptions of the variety of races that roam Rosuto-Shima.
Check in this week and feel free to ask any questions.

first up:

KIJO

In the early days of Rosuto-Shima, when the Prince of Heaven was within a hand's-spread generations from the first Emperor, the kijo wandered peacefully among their human neighbors, causing no more fear than any other neighbor. Despite their fearsome appearance (ape-like bodies with very little hair, and large tusks and ram horns protruding from their heads) all knew them to be peaceful nomads, who traveled in solitude to better appreciate the nature of Rosuto-Shima. Considered wandering scholars, and sometimes thought of as priests of nature, countryside villages welcomed the kijo with generous hospitality, hoping to earn the blessings of these large and peaceful creatures. . .READ MORE!!!

[imagel]http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2786/keshousmallbp3.jpg[/imagel]Keshou

Though most closely related to goblins, Keshou barely resemble their foreign relatives; they stand upright to a height of around four feet and are built extremely broadly across the chest and face. Their thick limbs and stocky build make them heavier than a human of their height would appear. Many Keshou men wear their black or silver hair back in a top-knot and most sport mustaches or short beards or goatees. Keshou women tend to grow their hair very long, keeping it tied back in tight braids. Their skin ranges from most commonly, a gold complexion, to a sun burnt red color. They have sharp, piercing eyes, usually an emerald green or a blue-grey, which slant in an almond shape. . .READ MORE!!!

Is this based off the modern d20 rules or 3.5?

Voadam said:

Is this based off the modern d20 rules or 3.5?

Click to expand...

It's D&D 3.5, but modified in some fairly significant ways.

It's an alternative player's handbook, meaning you won't be using any of the classes from the PHB.

The classes in the book are:

1. Courtier (noble horse archer of the court and servant of the Emperor)
2. Craftsman (master weapon and armorsmith, the only class with the ability to enchant weapons, a fair warrior in his own right, with the ability to call Kami into his weapons to temporarily enchant them)
3. Entertainer (whether a dancer, geisha or kabuki actor, this class can raise the spirits of his comrades while also offering some unusual combat options)
4. Mystic (scholar and spellcaster, both divine and arcane)
5. Ninja (stealth specialist, spy and assassin, with the mystic abilities of the Nine Signs at his beck and call, a "legendary historical" version of the class)
6. Ronin (masterless warrior, seeking redemption, fame or coin)
7. Samurai (warrior of honor and virtue)
8. Shangti Cowboy (a Ronin who has adopted the weapons of the west, a champion of the common folk who serves as a lawman, a bounty hunter or a hired gun)
9. Soldier (the common footsoldier who supported the Samurai in larger battles, a master of the Bow or Spear)
10. Thief (both the common thug working the fairs and gambling halls through the sophisticated Yakuza are covered by this class)
11. Yamabushi (these rugged, monastic mountain men are renowned for their mastery of the mountains as well as their skill at the unarmed and armed martial arts, specializing in use of either the empty hand, spear or staff)


The setting also features its own selection of races, and uses Honor points in place of alignment. Your bloodline (your social status) will determine your base Honor, which might mean some classes won't be available to you from 1st level.

For example, if your Bloodline is Warrior, that means your minimum starting Honor will allow you to take levels in the Samurai class from level 1.

If your Bloodline is farmer, you might have to adventure, perform good (and heroic) deeds and raise your honor before you can move from the Ashigaru (soldier) class to the Samurai class.

If anyone has any other questions, I'll be checking in here from time to time as well, as needed.

Hope this helps.

Chuck

Some of the class layout sounds vaguely like LoS. Any relation/inheritance?

Psion said:

Some of the class layout sounds vaguely like LoS. Any relation/inheritance?

Click to expand...

Lots of OGC from Legends of the Samurai here. I didn't see any need to reinvent the wheel.

The Entertainer, Mystic and Shangti Cowboy are new, the races are new and there's a new Bloodline as well (Gaijin).

So if you want more LoS, I think this would be a great buy. The new classes are 100% compatible with the LoS stuff.

[imagel]http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/731/clockworksmallzq4.jpg[/imagel]LoS was one of the reasons I wanted Chuck to work on Steampunk Musha, and a lot of the mechanics are familiar to those that have played Legends of the Samurai as mentioned.

The Prestige Classes we have complete will all be a lot more in the setting of Steampunk Musha, as we found that a lot of the roles are very cool- but tend to be very specific as far as function. They will be released after the GM guide.


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And the next race preview!

Clockwork Ronin


The Clockwork Ronin is a living, breathing, and thinking assembly of gears, springs, and metal. But without being inhabited by the spirit of a bushi, or a warrior, summoned by the Clockwork Ronin creators, the body of the Ronin would be only a machine, incapable of acting on its own. The bushi spirit remembers its old skills, enabling the Clockwork Ronin to perform feats thought capable only in history and legend. However, the bushi spirit is unable to remember his ancestors, his hometown, or his family. Deprived of his own identity, the Clockwork Ronin strives either to develop a new life for himself or seeks out the past of the bushi spirit, hoping to regain memories of his former life. . .READ MORE!!!

[imager]http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7236/kappasmallqm7.jpg[/imager]Kappa

For hundreds of years, long before the first gaijin traveled to Rosuto-Shima, some say before men were given the earth by the gods, the kappa inhabited the waters of the island. With the hard shell of a tortoise and the beaked face of a sea turtle, the kappa has elongated limbs that allow it to walk either on all fours or stand upright.

Scholars have postulated that the kappa is directly related to a turtle, while others say they are quite clearly descended from oni. What the kappa themselves think about their origins has never come up for discussion among the humans of Rosuto-Shima, if only because, for many years, they did not believe that the kappa could communicate. Understanding them to be mere animals, kappa hunters learned tricks necessarily to capture and kill a kappa, and the meat was once thought of as a delicacy on the island. The kappa, outraged at being treated as a mere food source, retaliated in the best ways they could: stealing crops, kidnapping children, raping women, and treating humans as a food source to them as well. . .READ MORE!!!

[imagel]http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/961/steampunkwesterncharactyw9.jpg[/imagel]
I dropped the ball on posting all the races, but will return to them as soon as my schedule eases up a bit.
In the meantime, I wanted to post a sketch of one of the many classes. Each class has two images showing different styles of dress/design, along with depicting a human and another SM race in each. So, you get two depictions of each class to help get the "feel" of the setting across. Anyway, posted to the left is the human version of the Shangti Cowboy class. Try and tell me that's not cool. Expect to see more as we move closer to the release of the SM player's guide.

And for those who want to know exactly where we are with this, Alana is currently going over everything and making sure all the setting details and flavor of SM is good to go, along with polishing up the religions and adding a comprehensive introduction to playing Steampunk Musha and an outline of what exactly is going on in Rosuto-Shima. I expect it to go to layout next month and be ready for release soon after.

As always, feel free to stop by the TANGLED MUSE FORUMS and ask questions.