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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5329792" data-attributes="member: 2067">I'll grossly over-simplify it to three big points.<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Technology: There is ubiquitous "retrofuture" tech, often with a particular aesthetic: leather and brass and bronze and soot and goggles and browns and reds and golds. The tech isn't necessarily "steam-powered," per se, but it borrows a look from steam engines and other tech from the mid-to-late 1800's. The idea is that if someone in that era imagined the future, it would look like this. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Dystopia: The folks in power are not good (though they may be well-intentioned). The "heroism" lies in those that resist the current paradigm. They work outside of the system, in the interest of dismantling the current, corrupted, leadership. They also have access to that aforementioned technology, so it's usually DIY, self-customized, and very representative of the individual when they use it (in contrast to the dehumanizing use of the major agents in control). The heroes are not restoring a good order as much as they are destroying a bad order.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol"> Victorian Fantasy: The archetypes and themes in steampunk are out of Jules Verne and HG Wells and Mary Shelly and similar period-workers. Both primordial science fiction, and regular-type fiction as well. It's run through the above wringer to a certain degree: the technology and the dystopia are prominent. So Frankenstein's central idea about humans playing God is writ large and techy: People regularly reanimate corpses of the rich and wealthy, giving them virtual immortality, while the poor laboring classes struggle to even live day-to-day. Moby Dick in Steampunk becomes about vengeance against a monster, but the monster is perhaps used as a scare tactic against the local rabble to keep them afraid of what might happen if they step out of line (into the wilderness of the oceans...or the sky...or outer space...). The protagonists are scientists, artists, bohemians, and explorers -- and they are looking to change the world they are a part of, with the tech that they are the masters (and inventors) of.</li> </ol>Also, classic Five Man Steampunk Band:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The Explorer (The Hero/The Paladin/The Human/Luke): Reckless and headstrong, boldly and optimistically journeying to the future, with a certain combination of bravery and naiveté. Possibly well-connected and wealthy, possibly not, but always idealistic, these characters usually undergo a sort of Buddha-ing in steampunk stories, where they come up against the harsh reality of their world, understanding those outside of their hopeful idealism. They might not lose their idealism, but they do find themselves more tarnished and realistic about it, after some loss. Darker stories play this heavier (Anikin or Luke?). They play the Red Oni role. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The Soldier(The Antihero/The Thief/The Dark Elf/Han): The soldier is not an idealist. Practical and functional, they know how to make the team work. They have an interest in the Explorer's goals, but they serve as a heroic foil or a lancer, or a Blue Oni, a character counterpart to the explorer's reckless idealism. The soldier is jaded, experienced, and a little fearful. They have some knowledge of danger and adventure, and it has burned them. They know some people do have it out for you, and they can identify the dangerous types -- though they might also be TOO mistrustful, too suspicious. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The Inventor (The Smart One/The Wizard/The Elf/R2D2): Smart and informed, likely university-affiliated, definitely experienced though not always tested. The Inventor has the know-how to accomplish the Explorer's goals (he's a navigator, he has the phlebotnium engine, he has university funding to go study the omnivorous hippogriffs in the ninth moon of saturn, whatever). They probably loose their abilities/resources/etc. at some point, and are faced with a problem in coping without them (or using their native intelligence in an awkward way, such as after being stranded).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The Captain (The Big One/The Fighter/The Dwarf/Obi-Wan): Usually cut from the "gruff wilderness man" style, but given a mode of transport, such as an airship, or a steam train, or whatnot. Lives on the thing, and takes travelers aboard, and goes unexplored places where others fear to tread. Might be an Ahab. Might have once been an Explorer, only to loose that idealism. Ripe for being the Obi-Wan and biting it in the third act.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"> The Orphan (The Team Mom/The Cleric/The Halfling/Leia): Someone fairly inexperienced who keeps the team focused on the Greater Meaning of Things. Doughty and resilient, if sometimes inept or inexperienced, the sympathetic noble has a clear vision, and a real desire to see the ends accomplished. Usually, this keys to revolution: they are part of the corrupt system, and they want to change it, through whatever Adventure is in the mix. They might have some semi-magical powers, some unexplained resources, and are the most likely to be "paper tigers," with great power that doesn't come to bear until the last moment.</li> </ul>That's a big over-simplification, fixated on archetype, for what would be a "steampunk" melieu. More or less, that's what I'd be looking for in something "steampunk."Ever seen MicMacs (or most things Jean Pierre Jeunet)? Go for that, and you can't hit far from the mark. <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=":)" /></blockquote>

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