D&D General D&D is now Steampunk (poll)

[Paul Farquhar]

You seem to be having trouble with the notion of "steampunk aesthetic." If you aren't looking at current D&D and noticing a steampunk vibe to a lot of the art, then I guess we're seeing different things.

No, it that you haven’t a clue what Victorian looks like.

Or is this like a gatekeeping thing,

No, it’s a using the right name for something thing.

 

[The Soloist]

No. The default D&D setting is mostly War of the Roses (1455-1487) with magic, faeries, monsters, dragons & black powder guns (and ray guns in some old modules). It's a unique collage, with some elasticity.

 

[Mecheon]

Several monsters were inspired by some cheap plastic toys from Japan (and tell me the Hook Horror doesn't bear a striking resemblance to Gigan, I dare you). You can encounter creatures from every real world myth and legend, from Leprechauns to Kobolds, to Rakshasa. The game has airships, space ships (magical or technological, Clarke's Third Law notwithstanding), and in the Planeswalker's Guide of 2e, there was a Wizard Kit for a guy who floats around on a balloon! Planescape has people communicating in Victorian gutterspeak, and you can even play a clockwork Rogue Modron, a part-fiend, part-celestial, or part-genie!

Don't forget Spelljammer included Aura Battler- oh, sorry, 'Spirit Warriors' (with one of them that's flat out the villain from an OVA) and Gamera, while OA decided to flat out just have stats for Mothra, Orga and uh. The Gargantuas, for some reason

And before all of that, in the earliest editions, it flat out had "Barsoom encounter type" areas, no playing silly with it, just flat out "Yup, that's for Mars stuff"

D&D's a hodgepodge that takes elements from everywhere. Its not medieval, its not steampunk, its basically its own thing at this point

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I didn’t realize those were the entirety of steampunk aesthetic. My bad.

Edit: also, from the current DMG. No steampunk aesthetic there, at all (though sadly, we can't see how the airship passengers are dressed to confirm whether there are any top hats or bustles):

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Though there is this one from the current PHB:

Not to mention these guys:

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And these:

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Whilst I don't think D&D as whole has become steampunk, and it lacks many significant aspects of the genre (such as prevalent use of steam tech,) these pictures certainly read very steampunky to me.

D&D has never had coherent aesthetics, though I feel that recently we the presentation has crept more towards the Victorian or even modern. (Look that guy in suit with a tie in the last picture!)

Whilst I have no issue with this for specific settings (seems apropos for Eberron for example,) I am not huge fan of it becoming the dominant aesthetic, and what I really dislike are settings which are just completely incoherent hodgepodge of clashing aesthetics.

And don't get me wrong, one can absolutely do anachronisms and have coherent aesthetic, but it needs to be a thoughtful an intentional melange. A lot of the stuff however does not come across as this, it comes across as cluelessness.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

D&D has never had coherent aesthetics, though I feel that recently we the presentation has crept more towards the Victorian or even modern. (Look that guy in suit with a tie in the last picture!)

That's one of the things that makes it not steampunk. That outfit is early 20th century, not late 19th (he has no hat!). That's typical of Eberron (and always was if you ignored WAR and read the text). Beyond Eberron there are other even more modern fashion touches in the art, but modern isn't steampunk, any more than horned helmets and no pants are medieval.

Consider the wheelchair. That is a modern wheelchair. A Victorian wheelchair would look like this:

To make it steampunk, you would add a miniature steam engine to the back of the Victorian wheelchair.

 

[SkidAce]

As a semi-tangent;

There should be steam engines. I mean, summon a fire elemental (even a minor one) bind it into a furnace, add water.

 

[TiQuinn]

As a semi-tangent;

There should be steam engines. I mean, summon a fire elemental (even a minor one) bind it into a furnace, add water.

I actually would prefer that more in D&D than some of the bland Magic Crystal battery imagery.

 

[Clint_L]

No, it that you haven’t a clue what Victorian looks like.

Lol

I literally live in Victoria, BC. Victoriana is our whole sub theme. I teach Victorian literature. You’ll have to try harder.

No, it’s a using the right name for something thing.

That’s not even an argument. The fact is that steampunk aesthetic is not authentic Victorian, it is its own thing. It is loosely inspired by Victorian and Edwardian culture with a whole lot of other pop culture influences going on as well.

Whether or not something is authentically Victorian has nothing to do with whether or not something has a steampunk aesthetic. Steampunk is a pop culture creation from the late 20th century. It is nothing but an aesthetic.

 

[Charlaquin]

Soul Caliber is my favorite Fighting Game. I particularly enjoyed Siegfried/Nightmare and Cervantes.

I got real good at Soul Caliber 2 in like… 2003 or 2004. Never before or since will I dedicate that much time and energy to a fighting game.

 

[Charlaquin]

No, it that you haven’t a clue what Victorian looks like.

No, it’s a using the right name for something thing.

To be fair, most folks can’t tell their Victorian from their Edwardian from their turn of the century American, etc. It’s all just “post-industrial old-timey.” And most folks treat “steampunk” as meaning scifi/fantasy with a post-industrial old-timey aesthetic.