[D20 Past] The 1800's.

[Ymdar]

After reading Jules Verne books like Captain Nemo at work I'm getting these funny campaign ideas with steam and electricity powered machines in a campaign that should be started between 1800 and 1865. I don't have many details on hand though so if some of you have ideas (and information) of the people the places, organisations, of this era please post. I'd also like occasional steampunk adventure ideas and things such as that. Generally I'm curious how people lived in that era. Small things are also worth posting like bits of information on gaslamps and such. If anyone has good links don't fear to post it!
A limitation though: No product advertisements please because I won't buy it!

 

[Committed Hero]

A limitation though: No product advertisements please because I won't buy it!

Frankly, all the information I would find useful is in commercial products.

 

[Peterson]

Ymdar,

Some worthwhile links to get you started:

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa111100a.htm

http://www.sffworld.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-9052.html

http://www.cherryh.com/www/list.htm


Of course, don't forget about people like Tesla, Da Vinci (his stuff is used as a basis in a lot of "Verne-style" inventions in my opinion), Edison, and H.G. Wells. I realize that the timelines don't quite match up, but it still makes interesting ideas/inventions.

Of course, I rather liked the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (movie, haven't encountered anything else) for ideas too.

Jack the Ripper, Dr. Jekyell and Mr. Hyde, the "Wild West", etc.


Hope you enjoy - and it sounds like a great idea.

Peterson

 

[Tonguez]

Albeit that the period from 1800 was when the company was in decline I think it would be fascinating to have the PCs be part of the British East India Company. Their heyday was a century earlier when the company ruled india from 1757 - 1857 maintaining its own forts and military, levying taxes and acting as a virtual nation.

The company influence extended across Burma, Singapore and Hong Kong and China and it was involved in wars with the French (including the Napoleonic wars - it was the company that held him prisoner on St Helena), Dutch (east Indies) and American colonies (including the British American War of 1812). The company even employed Captain Kidd to combat piracy.

An interesting possibility could be the First Opium War in China 1839 to 1842. It was caused by the British East India Company that was importing opium from India into China causing many addicts to appear in the trading ports. When the Chinese outlawed the importation of opium the britsh rioted destroying a temple and killing a chinese man, the fallout eventually lead the the British seizing Hong Kong to use a operations base

Another interest link if you want to involve espionage is the ' Great Game ' which saw Britain (via British India) and Russia vie for dominance in Central Asia (Afghanistan) from the early 1800's to the 1900's - Rudyard Kiplings 'Kim' covers this era
another key incident connected to the Great Game was the Crimean War 1854 - 1856

Anyway 19th century (per Wikipedia)

 

[TheAuldGrump]

After reading Jules Verne books like Captain Nemo at work I'm getting these funny campaign ideas with steam and electricity powered machines in a campaign that should be started between 1800 and 1865. I don't have many details on hand though so if some of you have ideas (and information) of the people the places, organisations, of this era please post. I'd also like occasional steampunk adventure ideas and things such as that. Generally I'm curious how people lived in that era. Small things are also worth posting like bits of information on gaslamps and such. If anyone has good links don't fear to post it!
A limitation though: No product advertisements please because I won't buy it!

Take a look at what is playing on PBS - they sometimes have some very interesting shows, a few years ago they ran Century House, where people tried to live in the manner of folks in 1900.

And of course the public library is your friend - such wonderful books as What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew and London's Underworld (here is a free e-text version), and Everyday Life in Victorian Times by E. R. Chamberlin (sorry, no link), can be invaluable.

Likely to be in the children's section is The Encyclopedia of the Victorian World: A Reader's Companion to the People, Places, Events,and Everyday Life of the Victorian Era

They may also have some writers guides, which are probably good for an RPG as well - for example The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England: From 1811-1901

Hope that these help

The Auld Grump

 

[Ymdar]

Thanks Guys. Here are 2 links I've found myself:
First
Victorian London

If I can get some free time I shall post the campaign setting too.

 

[takyris]

And of course the public library is your friend - such wonderful books as What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew and London's Underworld (here is a free e-text version), and Everyday Life in Victorian Times by E. R. Chamberlin (sorry, no link), can be invaluable.

I have the "What Jane Austen Ate" and "Everyday Live" books -- got 'em for a Victorian murder mystery novel I was working on. Very good stuff.

Can't speak for the rest, but those were worth the money for me.

 

[JimAde]

You might find this interesting:

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/guide19/index.html

 

[ragboy]

I've found this site useful for getting year-specific information...This is for 1800, but you can put any year into the URL (bolded)



http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=1800&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1

 

[The_Universe]

Technologically, 1860 has a lot more in common with the twentieth century than it does with the 19th. Much of what defines the industrial age is already in place, and electricity is just around the corner...

I know that the 19th century is often treated as a monolothic unit with a set of social and cultural and technological assumptions, but it's really a century of transition from the early modern era to the industrial era...