Steampunk Help!

[Darthbelch]

Im a huge fan of the whole steampunk setting, and have been thinking of starting a campaign in this kind of world.

I'm going to start working on it right away, but Im also wondering on a few key things to the world.


- Gun rules
- Engineering [Anyone have a favorite class along this line? oor PrC? also some rules?]
- Mechs, [small to medium sized.]
-Anything else im not thinking of.

Thanks!

---Message Termination.

 

[Land Outcast]

Implants/grafts, vehicle rules, hacking rules (Modern d20 probably has rules for all these three)

 

[Land Outcast]

The d20 Modern/Future SRD: www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=d20/article/msrd

I'd recommend seeing the whole d20 future stuff (http://www.wizards.com/d20/files/msrd/Future.zip)

 

[Stormborn]

Depends on what you want to do with it.

Iron Kingdoms calls its self "Heavy Metal Fantasy" but has mechs, guns, cyborgzombies, and crazy machine worshiping priests. And it has minis for all of it. Personally, I find the setting wonderful and the mechanics more wonky than not and the Witchfire Trilogy that serves as an introduction to the setting to be a mech powered railroad.
Regardless, the minis are a must for steampunk games IMO.

Other DnD powered steampunk ideads include Eberron, Sharn in particular could easilly be a perfect steampunk setting. All the mechanics are there, you could even tweak a little of the flavor if you wanted to make it even more steampunkish. Numerous books like Steam and Steel EDIT: (That should be Sorcery and Steam I think) or even Chaositech could be added for even more gadgets.

GURPS Steampunk is THE RPG source book for "classic" steampunk, very useful if you intended to run a alt.history steampunk game in any system.

As has been previously mentioned, you can do a pretty good setting just with D20 Modern books, just changing the flavor of some of the future tech to make it fit a steampunk setting. If you go this way you might want to wait a little bit for Adamant's Imperial Age book on machines and the GM guide. If you want to add appropriate period flavored magic in the IA Magick book is already out and the author is brilliant (or so my wife tells me.)

Etherscope, however, is the perfect d20 based book and system for steampunk (or etherpunk as the case may be). No questions at all. Unless you are just dying to do straight homebrew buy this book and anything associated with it.

There are others, but as I dont have personal experiance with them I will leave them for others to suggest. I will say this however: dont reinvint the wheel. There is no need for you to do so. There are pleanty of steampunk sources out there w/o you coming up with a full homebrew system on your own. Spend your time coming up with setting/adventures/etc for your game.

 

[malladin]

As I co-created, designed and wrote it I'm obviously going to agree with Stormborns sentiments about Etherscope but seriously it does cover everything listed.

For pure ideas GURPS Steampunk is excellent.

For fantasy influenced Steampunk, Mongooses OGL Steampunk doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Nigel

 

[Masquerade]

Another vote for Etherscope. The core book really has everything you're looking for and more.

 

[Shades of Green]

I sometimes use the Legends and Lairs: Sorcery and Steam book, which is dedicated to D&D steampunk. While its introduction to the genre is great, and so are a few of its feats, its firearm overview and rules and many of its smaller setting hooks, I don't like its vehicle rules, some of its classes aren't very useful (its "Artificer" is not very useful in adventuring - he's more about crafting and inventing in a lab), and its skill additions (and gadgets as well) leave alot to be desired. I am thinking about selling this book and creating a few simple houserules for steamtech in my next setting, which is going to be lightly-steampunkish (think Thief I, not Thief II).

 

[green slime]

I have examined Iron Kingdoms (IK) (except Monsternomicon, which has been notoriously difficult to get hold of in Europe). I like the production value of the books. I do find that a lot of the crunch requires some forethought to lift from its expected setting (IK) to a home brew. Which is a slight (and I mean very slight) disappointment, as I was hoping that more of the introduced elements would be more "plug-n-play".