Steampunk
- Thread starter Gellion
- Start date
s/LaSH
First Post
Steampunk, as it was explained to me, is application of technology to a period that doesn't have it, or technology it does have in ways it was never meant to be used. So Queen Victoria rides around on an atomic train, you have steam-powered butlers, that sort of thing. There's absolutely nothing magical about it, unless you consider cast-iron cybernetics to be magical.
It's just that Arcanum seemed to popularise magic and technology in the same setting...
It's just that Arcanum seemed to popularise magic and technology in the same setting...
Byrons_Ghost
First Post
I'm pretty sure the term "Steampunk" derived from the term "Cyberpunk". The similarity here, of course, is the term "punk" which refers the the gritty, street-level life that gives cyberpunk it's noir-type feel. Steampunk books like "Morlock Night" by KW Jeter or "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling kept the "punk" feel by playing up the class divides of Victorian society, and the poor conditions of the lower classes and minorities. I don't think that either novel had any kind of fantasy elements. Not surprisingly, Jeter, Gibson, and Sterling are all well-known cyberpunk authors.
Between the publication of these two books (1979 for Jeter, 1990 for Gibson & Sterling) there was a spate of fantasy authors doing a sort of "victorian scientific romance" genre that was lumped in with steampunk, for instance "The Anubis Gates" by Tim Powers and "Homonculus" by James Blaylock. These also used alternate histories, but got rid of the more "punk" aspects in favor of more Jules Verne and HG Wells-flavor stories. Anyhow, books like these would be the basis for Arcanum or Falkenstein-style games.
Incidentally, I'm reading through Falkenstein right now and Pondsmith never uses the term "steampunk" for it. But there's enough similarities in the origins of the genres (and of course, Pondsmith also wrote R Talsorin's Cyberpunk) that all of these sort of get thrown together now. Check out this FAQ here:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9094/STEAMFAQ.html
As if things weren't complicated enough, the writer of this FAQ (and a lot of other people) just append the term "-punk" to anything that deals with alternate historical or modern settings that have weird technology or magic. So we have Gothic-punk, Deiselpunk, etc etc. Blech...
Between the publication of these two books (1979 for Jeter, 1990 for Gibson & Sterling) there was a spate of fantasy authors doing a sort of "victorian scientific romance" genre that was lumped in with steampunk, for instance "The Anubis Gates" by Tim Powers and "Homonculus" by James Blaylock. These also used alternate histories, but got rid of the more "punk" aspects in favor of more Jules Verne and HG Wells-flavor stories. Anyhow, books like these would be the basis for Arcanum or Falkenstein-style games.
Incidentally, I'm reading through Falkenstein right now and Pondsmith never uses the term "steampunk" for it. But there's enough similarities in the origins of the genres (and of course, Pondsmith also wrote R Talsorin's Cyberpunk) that all of these sort of get thrown together now. Check out this FAQ here:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9094/STEAMFAQ.html
As if things weren't complicated enough, the writer of this FAQ (and a lot of other people) just append the term "-punk" to anything that deals with alternate historical or modern settings that have weird technology or magic. So we have Gothic-punk, Deiselpunk, etc etc. Blech...
Andrew D. Gable
First Post
I like it, given my hankering for all things Victorian (and what's a bit of Victorian fantasy now and again?), though like others I like a bit less magic. Carnifex, who does that book you're mentioning? Is that the Legends & Lairs one?
d4 said:
i don't like steampunk at all in fantasy settings.
if i want steampunk, i want a pure steampunk setting with no magic in it at all. therefore, the question of the two mixing is irrelevant.
Uhmmm as far as I know most steampunk *IS* fantasy. I think you meant in MAGICAL fantasy settings.
And the mixing is precisely HOW (and why) I like steampunk. I mean having cool steam technology (pneumatic arms, giant robots, etc.) is cool, but floating magic cities and stuff just up the ante...
It should come as no surprise that I like steampunk, since I've been working on a product integrating steam technology into d20 for quite a while now, which is finally shaping up and nearing completion. I don't generally use the term steampunk, because as noted elsewhere in the thread, it implies the sort of pessimistic, dystopian take on Victorian society seen in books like "The Difference Engine". My take, on the other hand, is more along the lines of envisioning how the rise of steam technology would mesh with a magical world and the normal elements of the heroic fantasy genre.
Steam-trains and Sorcery: A D20 System sourcebook giving rules for advancing a fantasy setting into the steam age. Designed to be fully compatible and balanced with core rules, and to work equally well whether it is the basis of a campaign or added to an existing one. It will include a full featured rule set on how to handle technology, both real-world and "mad", including how it combines or conflicts with magic, as well as new classes such as the Gadgeteer and Medic, new skills, feats, spells, prestige classes, and equipment related to the genre. It will also be packed with information on how to craft a setting using thse rules or update any fantasy setting into this era in a believable and interesting manner, and plenty of good ideas about plots, organizations, and role-playing options in such a setting.
For those who don't want magic and technology mixed, we also include information on using the book for lower-powered, non-magical campaigns.
After a long while of being the only one working on anything along these lines, it is interesting to see a couple of similar products appear as we are almost finished (Steam & Steel, and Sorcery & Steam, the one by FFG). Hopefully, this means that this is emerging as a sub-genre, and people interested in playing in such a setting will want to get all three books for the most options. Some healthy competition should be good for everyone.
Steam-trains and Sorcery: A D20 System sourcebook giving rules for advancing a fantasy setting into the steam age. Designed to be fully compatible and balanced with core rules, and to work equally well whether it is the basis of a campaign or added to an existing one. It will include a full featured rule set on how to handle technology, both real-world and "mad", including how it combines or conflicts with magic, as well as new classes such as the Gadgeteer and Medic, new skills, feats, spells, prestige classes, and equipment related to the genre. It will also be packed with information on how to craft a setting using thse rules or update any fantasy setting into this era in a believable and interesting manner, and plenty of good ideas about plots, organizations, and role-playing options in such a setting.
For those who don't want magic and technology mixed, we also include information on using the book for lower-powered, non-magical campaigns.
After a long while of being the only one working on anything along these lines, it is interesting to see a couple of similar products appear as we are almost finished (Steam & Steel, and Sorcery & Steam, the one by FFG). Hopefully, this means that this is emerging as a sub-genre, and people interested in playing in such a setting will want to get all three books for the most options. Some healthy competition should be good for everyone.
Psychotic Dreamer
First Post
I love Steampunk. I love Magitech. I love the two mixed. Think that sums up my feelings.
You can use it to create a world with steampunk, steam tech, magitech, or absically whatever level of steam technology and meshing with magic that the DM wants 
