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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mythusmage" data-source="post: 2011549" data-attributes="member: 571">OGL Steampunk, Mongoose PublishingMGP 6604 ISBN 1-90477-84-9$39.95 U.S.First off, I’m not mechanics oriented. How well or ill OGL Steampunk’s mechanics work, how balanced it is, is for those better qualified than I. My focus is on the feel, the ambience.OGL Steampunk is a confused beast. Steampunk as a genre is the Victorian Age given a 1980s era punk gloss. It’s the 1880s as viewed through the eyes of those who came of age in the 1980s. OGL Steampunk is Steampunk as seen through the eyes of people who came of age in the 1990s.It is also the product of people to whom history is an interesting notion, but not something you really want to get into. For example, you can buy dynamite (an advance on TNT, invented in the late 1800s by Norwegian Alfred Nobel (same chap who established the Nobel Prizes)), but there are no tin cans. (Let me put it this way, the people of OGL Steampunk can make metal tubing, but nobody’s figured out how to cap the ends. And that’s what a tin can essentially is, a short metal tube with capped ends.) Which means no metal cartridges, and so no cartridge firearms.Even so the world of OGL Steampunk has reliable firearms. While matchlock weapons are available, so are flintlocks. And flintlocks are far superior to matchlocks.Now, there was a time when firearms and melee weapons shared equal time on the battle field, but by the time the flintlock came on the scene those days were long gone. I can understand the appeal of a battle axe or broadsword, but with flintlocks around relying on a sword becomes effectively suicidal.Then you have the matter of the races. Between the time the illustrations were done, and the manuscript was finalized two character races (Pixies and Orcs it would appear) were replaced by Gnomes.On the other hand, OGL Steampunk’s treatment of Furries (Hybrids) and sentient Constructs (Cogs) is good in my opinion. There is an element of tragedy to both, since both are the result of misguided research and meddling with things Man is not really ready to handle in the OGL Steampunk world.Joining Hybrids and Cogs are Ghosts and Vampires. People who partially return from the dead to finish some task. Unfortunately, they do tend to forget what they were supposed to do. They are revenants, not true undead, and so have abilities and features not found in their cousins. For instance a revenant Vampire suffers no ill effect from sunlight beyond losing his vampiric abilities. The impression I get from these two Character Races is that somebody at Mongoose is into White Wolf’s World of Darkness. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />When it comes to Player Characters OGL Steampunk has some nice touches. As with D&D® you have Character Classes, but from d20 Modern you get vocations/occupations (both terms are used). As with d20 Modern Occupations, OGL Steampunk Vocations provide additional skills and feats to those available to a PC from his Character Class, along with a number of talents. The game also provides a number of traits a character can pick up along the way. Some specific to a specific Race, others more generally available. All in all you get a deeper character with OGL Steampunk, and I think that a good thing.The game world itself is Victorian Britain as seen by folks who were exposed to the Victorian Age via overwrought BBC period dramas. With a good leavening of steampunk sensibility as interpreted by folks to whom steampunk came out of  of pre-history. This can be most readily seen in the illustrations. Art Deco/Anime with a heavy dose of comic book and a touch of organic machine.The world of OGL Steampunk is the Victorian Era as dystopia. It is a world informed and influenced by punk nihilism as understood by people for whom punk nihilism is a product of pre-history. (Notice a pattern here? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ) It is a world where progress is ruining things and making the good run away in a blind panic. It is, in short, anti-tech. A direct contradiction of real world Victorian sensibilities, where progress was seen as a good thing over all..That is the essential disconnect between the Victorian Age and the OGL Steampunk world. For the latter is a twisted mirror of the former with Furries and WODverse vampires added.Still and all, for all its imperfections, I recommend it. While the vision is flawed, it is a coherent vision. It is a consistent vision. A dark world, a tragic world, but one where heroes can make a difference if they but try. The important thing is to take it on its own merits. Forget the erroneous connections to the Victorian Age and treat with it as a world with its own history, its own ways. While it’s not a place I’d care to live in, it is a place you can adventure in, and that’s what matters in an RPG.Alan KelloggAugust 23rd, 2004</blockquote>

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