I’m thinking some of their best & brightest might be working on weaponizing that ore...
D&D General Basic Steampunk Items
Greenfield
Adventurer
Classic items for the genre would be steam engines, steam ships and steam powered Zepelin. All classic and useful, but better suited to an operational base.
If we could communicate art on a game map it would have a lot of brass, of course.
Common weapons, such as swords and firearms, would be present. Armor, not so much. I'd limit firearms to mid 1900s, meaning breech loading and with mini-balls and rifling rather than smooth bore, but I'd make six-guns and repeating rifles an oddity, one of those vulgar types of things the "Colonists" in America seem to favor.
Other personal weapons can exist in the game, of course, but if someone wants to create a special rifle it should be ornate, complicated, and require regular tuning and adjustment. The same for anything out of the ordinary, such as a repeating crossbow, dagger-thrower or whatever form of "deathray" you might deign to allow.
The frock coat would replace the cape in most circumstances, though capes might be present as well.
The works of Mary Shelly and Jules Verne were rife with references to capturing or harnessing lightning, galvanic currents (electricity), and how they were generated: "By passing wires through a magnetic field I can produce more than enough power..." (paraphrased from the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.)
The one thing you should absolutely restrict (though not eliminate) is any actual science. Verne's reference to generating electricity ignored the fact that it takes power (torque) to move that wire through the magnetic field.
Radiation was little understood, and therefore very "magical", in story terms: It could be used to explain practically anything, most importantly things it can't actually do.
So think of the rich gentlemen of the Victorian age, in terms of trappings, the "Age of Brass and Steam" in all it's glory, complete with waxed mustache, goggles, and the occasional "Poof" that leaves faces and clothes covered in soot.
The problem with the setting, as an RPG setting, is that everyone wants to be the mad scientist. In Verne's books the mad scientists were mostly the "bad guys". Look at Master of the World as an example. Like Nemo, the main character wanted world peace, but still sought to impose it on others by means of force. Maybe misunderstood, rarely of actual evil nature, but never in a Player Character position.
If I had to do it I'd probably start with a concept like Call of Cthulu (sic) rather than D&D. PCs face monstrous opponents, but have to strive not to become monsters in their own right.
If we could communicate art on a game map it would have a lot of brass, of course.
Common weapons, such as swords and firearms, would be present. Armor, not so much. I'd limit firearms to mid 1900s, meaning breech loading and with mini-balls and rifling rather than smooth bore, but I'd make six-guns and repeating rifles an oddity, one of those vulgar types of things the "Colonists" in America seem to favor.
Other personal weapons can exist in the game, of course, but if someone wants to create a special rifle it should be ornate, complicated, and require regular tuning and adjustment. The same for anything out of the ordinary, such as a repeating crossbow, dagger-thrower or whatever form of "deathray" you might deign to allow.
The frock coat would replace the cape in most circumstances, though capes might be present as well.
The works of Mary Shelly and Jules Verne were rife with references to capturing or harnessing lightning, galvanic currents (electricity), and how they were generated: "By passing wires through a magnetic field I can produce more than enough power..." (paraphrased from the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.)
The one thing you should absolutely restrict (though not eliminate) is any actual science. Verne's reference to generating electricity ignored the fact that it takes power (torque) to move that wire through the magnetic field.
Radiation was little understood, and therefore very "magical", in story terms: It could be used to explain practically anything, most importantly things it can't actually do.
So think of the rich gentlemen of the Victorian age, in terms of trappings, the "Age of Brass and Steam" in all it's glory, complete with waxed mustache, goggles, and the occasional "Poof" that leaves faces and clothes covered in soot.
The problem with the setting, as an RPG setting, is that everyone wants to be the mad scientist. In Verne's books the mad scientists were mostly the "bad guys". Look at Master of the World as an example. Like Nemo, the main character wanted world peace, but still sought to impose it on others by means of force. Maybe misunderstood, rarely of actual evil nature, but never in a Player Character position.
If I had to do it I'd probably start with a concept like Call of Cthulu (sic) rather than D&D. PCs face monstrous opponents, but have to strive not to become monsters in their own right.
Don’t leave out ALL the science! Besides Shelley and Verne, H.G. Wells is just as important, if not moreso. And Wells started out in life as a teacher of science, educated at the Normal School of Science in South Kensington, London, now the Imperial Institute of Science and Technology.
And depending on how big a window of time you want your steampunk setting to cover, youstart hitting inventors like Bell, Babbage, Marconi, Edison and- a personal fave- Tesla.
Because of Wells & Tesla, I came up with:
His Tesla-inspired weaponry included an electrical death ray and mechanical resonance mines.
Also for that same setting:
And depending on how big a window of time you want your steampunk setting to cover, youstart hitting inventors like Bell, Babbage, Marconi, Edison and- a personal fave- Tesla.
Because of Wells & Tesla, I came up with:
His Tesla-inspired weaponry included an electrical death ray and mechanical resonance mines.
Also for that same setting:
MarkB
Legend
Steam/clockwork automata of various kinds, from familiars to mounts, perhaps including smart critters using Babbage-style mechanical 'brains'.
Steam locomotives using unusual means of propulsion - legs like those of dinosaurs or insects, tank-style treads but with more articulation to handle rough terrain, maybe hovercraft using excess steam to inflate their skirt.
Steam locomotives using unusual means of propulsion - legs like those of dinosaurs or insects, tank-style treads but with more articulation to handle rough terrain, maybe hovercraft using excess steam to inflate their skirt.
aco175
Legend
The incredible move- Wild Wild West staring Will Smith has a lot of this type of things in it. He still cannot believe that he gave up Matrix for this movie. The movie aside it does have some cool steampunk items.
I typically think early Dr Who. They have the robot dog and wavy TV that is all black and white where you can spy on the front door. Maybe a radio even if you want.
I typically think early Dr Who. They have the robot dog and wavy TV that is all black and white where you can spy on the front door. Maybe a radio even if you want.
MarkB
Legend
Also late Doctor Who. The image I posted above was from Dishonored 2, but I was originally going to post an image of the clockwork robots from Girl in the Fireplace.
Steampunk Wings of Flying:
Celebrim
Legend
Yes, but that is stuff that seems less likely to work while under the effects of an anti-magic aura, rather than more likely to work. Honestly, with those 'wings' on your back you're less likely to find yourself flying than you would be if you just flapped your arms.
In an anti-magic field, NONE of this stuff works.
Celebrim
Legend
In an anti-magic field, NONE of this stuff works.
The first pressurized diving suit dates to 1710. The diving bell to earlier than that. Bellows still work in an anti-magic field. A scuba has nothing in it that was unknown technology in the Victorian era, it was simply a matter of figuring out the details of what was an inherently dangerous technology, and in fact the first primitive but practical device dates to 1878. So while none of "this stuff" works, it's perfectly plausible to have a steampunk "helm of underwater breathing" that is basically a scuba tank and breather using 19th century materials and construction techniques, which duplicates the success of say the 1950's device but invents it 100 years earlier. No magic required.
Likewise, assuming the chemistry of black powder has an analogue (which isn't a guaranteed, see the Amber series), then a black powder revolver works just fine in an anti-magic field.
Your pictured steam punk "Goggles of Minute Seeing" are poorly designed for any purpose but aesthetics, but the magnifying lens dates to Ancient Egypt and the concept of a loupe was practical by the early 19th century as optical knowledge improved even if it wasn't invented until 1876. Had someone sufficient reason and a persistent desire to investigate such things, it could have been invented 2000 years earlier. So, you could have a steampunk "Goggles of Minute Seeing", no magic required.
Steampunk consists of two things - things that could have been invented before their time using only mid-19th century knowledge and which would work without magic and things that are just magical devices reskinned. The former is to me at least more interesting than the later.
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