Steampunk Fantasy

[Wraith Form]

I'm going to blatantly pimp this story hour (it's not mine):

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=140875

It shows how one inventive DM mutated some standard d20 stuff (including a Dungeon Mag adventure) directly into Victorian/Edwardian London. It's a great read. No crunch, just a wonderful sense of setting and quasi-history.

 

[Ethernaut]

Gotta go with Henry on this one -- Castle Falkenstein was probably the single best rpg for getting across a Victorian steampunk feel that I ever ran across.

Agreed. Castle Falkenstein is one of my favorite RPG settings... ever. And it has a wonderfully simply rules system that may be too simple in some cases, if your group likes crunchiness. I like it just fine. Note that I ran a Castle Falkenstein mini-campaign and did find that the magic system can explode if your not careful. And I'm not sure how I feel about their system of using playing cards as randomizers. But the setting... can't be beat.

Highly recommended supplents: Comme Il Faut, Sixguns & Sorcery, and The Book of Sigils.
Comme Il Faut is particularly excellent and generally very useful for any Victorian game.

GURPS Castle Falkenstein is an excellent adaptation to a crunchy rules system. They even did an excellent Ottoman Empire supplement that covered both Gurps and standard versions of the game.

Other Steampunk recommendations: GURPS Steampunk, Space 1889 (though I'm not partial to the rules), and Deadlands.

Oh, and I use Risus for my Edwardian/Steampunk/Western game: Silverlode 1908.

 

[Wombat]

D'OH! I almost forgot to mention a really good one..

Forgotten Futures

http://www.forgottenfutures.com/

Most of the components are free (!), though you can send away for a convenient CD as well, the latter having extra material. It is a bit "late period" (being more Edwardian than Victorian), but it wouldn't take much work to bend it back a bit

 

[IcyCool]

Sounds interesting. I am going for something a bit different. I am looking at a Renissance style campaign with some fantastic elements like zepplins, (limited) firearms, and maybe limited mechanical tech; kinda like a quasi-Warcraft.

Is any of these sourcebooks a good source for this type of campaign?

I'll chime in with a recommendation for Iron Kingdoms.

 

[Desdichado]

Agreed. Castle Falkenstein is one of my favorite RPG settings... ever. And it has a wonderfully simply rules system that may be too simple in some cases, if your group likes crunchiness. I like it just fine. Note that I ran a Castle Falkenstein mini-campaign and did find that the magic system can explode if your not careful. And I'm not sure how I feel about their system of using playing cards as randomizers. But the setting... can't be beat.

Is there anything steampunk about Castle Falkenstein, though? I'm not very familiar with it, but my understanding is that it's notably short on the "-punk."

 

[mythusmage]

Is there anything steampunk about Castle Falkenstein, though? I'm not very familiar with it, but my understanding is that it's notably short on the "-punk."

It gives you a good feel for the fiction of the time. Overdone heroics, overdone heroes and villains, plot holes large enough to send a cruise ship through, sideways. Remind you of anything (thrillers) being done today?

 

[ssampier]

I'll chime in with a recommendation for Iron Kingdoms.

Thanks for the suggestion. I think for the meantime, I'm going to pickup the PDF E.N Toolbook - Mechamancy: The Clockwork Magic. I think it's a bit closer on the blend of technology and fantasy I was hoping for.

I'll have to check out Iron Kingdoms next time I'm in a town with a good FLGS to make sure it's more "my speed"*.

*example: I like Eberron's flavor, but I don't like flying ships or trains. My "flying ships" would be small zepplins that aren't very manuverable and usually fly a short distance before crashing into the ground (with a dwarf expert nearby shouting, "Oh the humanity!").