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Twixman
2014-02-03, 05:38 AM
Will be soon running a Steam Punk game. Have done a little research and such though if anyone has ever run, played or is really into Steam Punk input would be appreciated greatly.
I just want pointers on the themes of Steam Punk, such as corruption, Law v Chaos and such. What other themes are there? In the game what should be included, taken out or built upon to give it the feel of Steam Punk? And I want more help than "Top hats and cogs" :p
Thankyou very much in advance :smallsmile:

fusilier
2014-02-03, 05:52 AM
I start at a historical point, then work from there. Although it's not necessary, it's easy for me to ground myself in a historical reality, then modify that as I like to introduce the more fantastic elements. This probably means I lean more towards VSF (Victorian Science Fiction) than I do to Steampunk, but the difference between them is pretty blurry.

The problems that the Victorian world faced can be incorporated and expanded. Colonialism, technology, worker rights, nationalism, expansion (i.e. the US's westward expansion), exploration, etc., are all broad themes that can be drawn upon. The Mad Scientist bent on world domination is a classic, who might garner support from the victims of colonialism, and/or small principalities that feel threatened by the larger developing nations, etc.

I really like the GURPS Steampunk book, as it provides great background and ideas. (In general I like GURPS books for that reason).

Gavran
2014-02-03, 06:01 AM
Top hats, cogs and goggles. :3

inexorabletruth
2014-02-03, 06:01 AM
Will be soon running a Steam Punk game. Have done a little research and such though if anyone has ever run, played or is really into Steam Punk input would be appreciated greatly.
I just want pointers on the themes of Steam Punk, such as corruption, Law v Chaos and such. What other themes are there? In the game what should be included, taken out or built upon to give it the feel of Steam Punk? And I want more help than "Top hats and cogs" :p
Thankyou very much in advance :smallsmile:

Steam punk is really more of a fashion statement than a political statement. So.. themes like law vs chaos or corruption aren't part of the package. That's not to say you can't have these themes in a steampunk setting. It's just you're more likely to be discussing these themes over tea in a hydraulic laboratory with your goggles resting on your beakers which contain a new type of fuel for your new flying machine.

The emphasis is on science… particularly relating to hydraulic and steam power… sometimes diesel power (if you want to include diesel punk in with steam punk… which… why not). In a steam punk setting, people are still people. There will be good people and evil people. People who believe in law and order, and people who believe in freedom and self expression.

Just make sure the wardrobe is fancy, the airships are awesome, and science is the new magic. After that, it can be set in any post industrial timeline. It can even be set way in the future. I've seen brilliant steam-punk Star Trek cosplays and space ship designs. Like I said… it's really more of a dressing. Just the icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

Build whatever campaign you want and then just flavor it steampunk.

Epic case in point:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me4j15qsVY1rkxjgeo1_500.jpg

Actana
2014-02-03, 06:08 AM
At it's heart, I think steampunk is fairly optimistic and idealistic in its world view. Technology is making people's lives, if not better, then at least more awesome. Combine the technology of the modern era with the values and aesthetics of the Victorian era and see how they'd affect things.

However, it can also be subverted entirely, and taken in the direct opposite way. The progress of science comes at the great expense of the working man.

Regardless of the idealism/cynicism scale, steampunk is more about society and humans than the technology. Or that's the way I see it anyway. Like most "punk" genres, the emphasis is on the effects of the setting on human nature, but what effects there are depends on each individual's ideas.

One good way to think about it is to take the great ideas and political movements (which we can't discuss here) of the time you're roughly basing your setting on and see what you want to do with them, and what would happen to them in the emergence of steampunk science.

Edit: also this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA).

Twixman
2014-02-03, 06:33 AM
Oh yes. How could I forget the goggles :p
Okay. So it can be any kind of game, its just that you replace magic with tech and how it could affect peoples lives? Too easy. Thanks for all the help. Will keep it all in mind. Thankyou very much
Also, nice song

D20ragon
2014-02-03, 04:25 PM
Remember. You must do it in the name of SCIENCE!
:3

EccentricCircle
2014-02-03, 04:59 PM
I think the key to Steampunk is a mix of Invention and Exploration.

It's about new technology as a driving force for adventure. It's at it's best when the protagonists are in the vanguard of the technological revolution, creating new devices and machines to help them in their adventures.

Archaeology really took off during the 19th century, and for the first time travelling around the world on the grand tour became a thing which well off people could do. Whereas in earlier eras exploration was limited to a few sailors and pioneers now the age of the gentleman naturalist had dawned.
seeing the world was possible for anyone with vast amounts of money.

I quite like to juxtapose the new discoveries of Science(!) against the Lost technology of Precursor civilisations. That way you can explore the themes around what became of the older civilisation, and use that to highlight the flaws in the modern one.

See the link in my signature for my take on a steampunk setting (Albeit IN SPACE!!!!)

inexorabletruth
2014-02-03, 06:02 PM
Since we're doing Steam Punk themed music videos, I'd like to present three charming options:

Caravan Palace - Suzy (http://vimeo.com/50847715)
It kind of straddles the gap between steam and diesel punk. But most people can't even tell the difference between the two styles.

David Guetta ft. Nikki Minaj - Turn Me On (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVw7eJ0vGfM)
This is a much looser interpretation of Steam Punk + Art Deco (another steam-punk sub-genre) It's still beautiful to watch. It blurs the line between robot and android, but the clockwork element is still prevalent in the design.

Steam Powered Giraffe - Automatic Electronic Harmonics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQWY-JOhF2I)
It's not a steampunk discussion without SPG. :smallsmile: These guys actually represent the three most common types of Steampunk and their subgenres: Steampunk, Deisel Punk and Art Deco.

Friv
2014-02-03, 06:47 PM
I am going to both agree and argue with most of the above posters, and also say something that sounds totally obvious so bear with me a moment:

Steampunk is about Steam, and it is about Punk.

I mean, duh, right? But seriously, let me elaborate. Steampunk is a time-displaced elaboration and transformation of a lot of elements formerly seen in Cyberpunk. Much like cyberpunk, bad steampunk authors focus on the "Steam" side of things, and overlook the "Punk" half of the equation. So, I'm starting with punk.

Punk is about rebelling against a pervasive, conformist authority. In steampunk worlds, that is generally some expy of the Victorian British Empire - a massive, world-straddling colossus that claims moral and legal dominion over other cultures, and that punishes anyone who drifts from the majority severely. It is often a society that is cracking down on formerly more liberal ideas, while claiming that its own extremely conservative and puritan viewpoint is the morally natural one. History is expunged, literature is rewritten, and society is reshaped. Against this, small groups of individuals both from within the moral majority and without it, joined together by their anti-conformity, live on the fringes and struggle against being absorbed or crushed.

Steam is about the wonders and hope of the future. It's about looking at the technology of today and imagining that it will become something amazing tomorrow, about throwing aside the old and replacing it with the new. In Steampunk, this means that those rebels and iconoclausts actually have a chance. This isn't the crushing despair of cyberpunk, where the corporations rule with an iron fist. Dashing adventurers and socially-conscious thieves can succeed, thrive, and make the world a better place. There is danger, too - this hope isn't something guaranteed. It has to be fought for. In the real world, the Victorian era effectively lasted until everything came apart at the seams in the First World War (yes, there was technically an Edwardian period in between, but it was so short I don't really think of it as a global culture-modifier the way the Victorian period was). In a Steampunk world, heroes may be able to shake the empire's grip, establish change, and prevent a terrible future from coming to pass.

So, those are the themes that are most important for steampunk, IMHO. The war between conformity and individuality, with both sides fighting for their visions of the future and with both sides having a chance at success.

Grinner
2014-02-04, 09:04 AM
Having read through this thread and having made a few comparisons of my own, I've had an idea which I'll post here.

So at my place of work, I see a lot of poor people. Many of them work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. Some are homeless. A significant portion I'm sure are on some kind of welfare. Here's the kicker though: I don't think I've ever seen one without a cell phone of some kind. Some are those cheap ones with reloadable minutes, but I'd say most are the expensive kind, smartphones, likely made in a Chinese sweatshop. Down the street, there's a place where you can get subs for a few dollars apiece, and the public transportation, by my estimation, costs less to use than the amount of gas it would take me to get back and forth.

My point here is that the poor and destitute of today enjoy a better standard of living than the poor and destitute of yesterday. Is it easy? No. Being poor and destitute is never easy, but the misery can be made more tolerable.

Still, there's a price to be paid, and this comes at the expense of your personal freedoms. Some people are offended by this price we pay. They want to smash this Machine we've built. They cannot tolerate the Machine, and the Machine will not tolerate them.

What will they do after they've broken the Machine? Will they go back to eating mud and living in caves? Will they rebuild the Machine? Can they find a happy medium?

Draw parallels between today and yesterday, and turn that into a game.

I hope that helps a bit.

Erasmas
2014-02-04, 10:51 AM
On a mostly-related sidenote... I will also be running a "steampunk lite" game that will be set in Victorian England and am looking for music to play in the background to help set the mood. While some of the things suggested here are definitely steampunk, I am really looking for something with less-obtrusive lyrics (to cut down on the amount of distraction it provides) and with a little less of a modern influence to it. Things like movie soundtracks, game soundtracks (I am thinking BioShock, maybe?), and ragtime (though a tad bit later on in history, I think it might lend itself well enough to my purposes).

So, since this seems to be a gathering place for players of that mindset already... I was wondering if you fellows wouldn't mind lending me a hand in the matter?

Grinner
2014-02-04, 01:22 PM
So, since this seems to be a gathering place for players of that mindset already... I was wondering if you fellows wouldn't mind lending me a hand in the matter?

Sure. One thing first...What do you actually have in mind? I've been combing through my library, and I've found a number of candidates. The problem is that they feel very specific to certain sorts of scenarios. For instance, "Hagatha's Home" from Psychonauts would be excellent for a carnival or circus, but I can't see it being of much use outside those circumstances.

Erasmas
2014-02-04, 02:06 PM
Well, without giving too much of it away (one of my players also frequents the Playground)... it will be very dark and investigative. It will take place in London (with some traveling abroad). I am pretty much a virgin in regards to the steampunk genre, though I know what it is and where it falls as a genre in and of itself. I am not familiar, however, with the particular sub-genres and whatnot. But the game that I am going to be running is going to be more akin to "Victorian Science Fiction", to borrow Fusilier's term, and with be much more adherent to history and literature of the time (as well as those that are similar enough to suit my needs for the story). There will be some magic in the way of voodoo, blessings/curses in line with Christianity and Satanism, and some alchemical liberties. Steam technology will be in its infancy - only engineers can use a very small selection of steam weapons and airships are even rarer than automobiles were in the actual 1880's, which is when the game it set. So, stuff with a noir flare that lends itself to mystery and intrigue would be an excellent touch.

Hopefully this helps. And thank you very much for the advice!

veti
2014-02-04, 05:30 PM
Steampunk is about Steam, and it is about Punk.

I mean, duh, right? But seriously, let me elaborate. Steampunk is a time-displaced elaboration and transformation of a lot of elements formerly seen in Cyberpunk. Much like cyberpunk, bad steampunk authors focus on the "Steam" side of things, and overlook the "Punk" half of the equation. So, I'm starting with punk.

This is what I wanted to post, but with a different slant.

As I see it, in "punk", "passion" comes before "articulation". You do what seems right, what feels right, without overthinking or overanalysing. (Like the engineering. The machines look cool, they look as if they should do something impressive, so the mere fact that they're, mechanically speaking, utterly ridiculous - just doesn't matter.)

You don't rebel against political repression in the hopes of ending the repression - you do it because you can. In so far as you're making a point at all, the point is made by the act itself - there is no political agenda beyond that.

If "society" goes out of its way to try to crack down on you, then that might change. But the default position is not to "fight the machine" - just to ignore it.

Beleriphon
2014-02-04, 09:38 PM
At it's heart, I think steampunk is fairly optimistic and idealistic in its world view. Technology is making people's lives, if not better, then at least more awesome. Combine the technology of the modern era with the values and aesthetics of the Victorian era and see how they'd affect things.

Optimism is the antithesis of the [noun]punk genres as far as themes go. You're describing Neo-Victorianism if played straight for that visual look. If subverted where all that awesome stuff with goggles actually kind of sucks for the people on the bottom that's a "punk" genre.

To use cyberpunk's definition via Wikipedia: "Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body."

All you have to do is replace the futuristic elements with appropriate technologies. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a good example. The look is there from what one would call steampunk, but the themes and stories have more in common with Neuromancer and cyberpunk in general.

The big focus needs to be on the punk portion. The steam aspect is just the trappings and window dressing. A fully realized punk setting needs to act against the man, not because you have an objective but simply because you have no other choice. Its part of the reason that in the steampunk works that are good the big focus in on how the protagonist(s) need to fight the man trying to keep them down.

The other thing that I think needs to be a focus if you're going for an exploration or Science! type thing is unintended consequences. An Ian Malcolm stand in needs to be there and he/she should probably be right at around a third of the of the time.

fusilier
2014-02-04, 11:05 PM
Well, without giving too much of it away (one of my players also frequents the Playground)... it will be very dark and investigative. It will take place in London (with some traveling abroad). I am pretty much a virgin in regards to the steampunk genre, though I know what it is and where it falls as a genre in and of itself. I am not familiar, however, with the particular sub-genres and whatnot. But the game that I am going to be running is going to be more akin to "Victorian Science Fiction", to borrow Fusilier's term, and with be much more adherent to history and literature of the time (as well as those that are similar enough to suit my needs for the story). There will be some magic in the way of voodoo, blessings/curses in line with Christianity and Satanism, and some alchemical liberties. Steam technology will be in its infancy - only engineers can use a very small selection of steam weapons and airships are even rarer than automobiles were in the actual 1880's, which is when the game it set. So, stuff with a noir flare that lends itself to mystery and intrigue would be an excellent touch.

Hopefully this helps. And thank you very much for the advice!

I actually came across the term VSF somewhat recently, but it turns out that it predates "Steampunk", and seems fairly common among wargaming groups.

For music, most of the accessible period music is often the popular lyrical kind. There is other period music, but it's a bit harder to come by, except for classical music which was popular:
http://www.rff.com/timeline_composers.htm

This CD has some good songs, some are sung, but many are done only as period instrumental. Such music exists, but I'm not sure how it's classified.
http://www.amazon.com/Union-Liberty-American-Civil-Music/dp/B000001QAA

EDIT-- The same group has a CD called: Grand Concert! Listening to some previews it may be a little closer what you were looking for. --EDIT

Erasmas
2014-02-05, 11:42 AM
Excellent, Fusilier, thank you!
I will have to check those out when I get home.
:smallbiggrin:

Benthesquid
2014-02-05, 06:49 PM
Look, the word Steampunk was derived from the word Cyberpunk, but only as a sort of tongue in cheek reference. The original Steampunk works (meaning the works that the term was specifically coined to describe) were by a group of three authors.

K.W. Jeter's Morlock Night has the titular creatures from the H.G. Wells's Time Machine capturing the Time Traveler and returning to Victorian London to wreck up the place. They're opposed by King Arthur and Merlin.

Timothy Powers has The Anubis Gates which have time travel back to the Victorian era when magic worked better, evil magic clowns on stilts, and body stealing werewolves.

James P. Blaylock has Homunculus, which I haven't read, but which I understand has space aliens and dirigibles.

So look, as far as it's origins, Steampunk wasn't ever really about the punk. Hold on, here's a quote (which is, AFAIK, the original source of the term).


Personally, I think Victorian fantasies are going to be the next big thing, as long as we can come up with a fitting collective term for Powers, Blaylock and myself. Something based on the appropriate technology of that era; like ‘steam-punks’, perhaps.


There you go. Steampunk is Victorian fantasies.

Edited because while Morlock Knight also sounds like a cool book, it is not the one K.W. Jeter wrote.

Grinner
2014-02-05, 06:58 PM
K.W. Jeter's Morlock Knight has the titular creatures from the H.G. Wells's Time Machine capturing the Time Traveler and returning to Victorian London to wreck up the place. They're opposed by King Arthur and Merlin.

Timothy Powers has The Anubis Gates which have time travel back to the Victorian era when magic worked better, evil magic clowns on stilts, and body stealing werewolves.

James P. Blaylock has Homunculus, which I haven't read, but which I understand has space aliens and dirigibles.

I must read these. :smalleek:


There you go. Steampunk is Victorian fantasies.

I still like my idea better. :smalltongue:

Death to the author! (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeathOfTheAuthor)

Mutazoia
2014-02-11, 10:50 PM
Since we're doing Steam Punk themed music videos, I'd like to present three charming options:

Caravan Palace - Suzy (http://vimeo.com/50847715)
It kind of straddles the gap between steam and diesel punk. But most people can't even tell the difference between the two styles.

David Guetta ft. Nikki Minaj - Turn Me On (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVw7eJ0vGfM)
This is a much looser interpretation of Steam Punk + Art Deco (another steam-punk sub-genre) It's still beautiful to watch. It blurs the line between robot and android, but the clockwork element is still prevalent in the design.

Steam Powered Giraffe - Automatic Electronic Harmonics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQWY-JOhF2I)
It's not a steampunk discussion without SPG. :smallsmile: These guys actually represent the three most common types of Steampunk and their subgenres: Steampunk, Deisel Punk and Art Deco.

Ok...I'll play:

Try this one :) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA)

inexorabletruth
2014-02-12, 02:42 AM
Ok...I'll play:

Try this one :) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA)

Lol. That's the song that inspired my post! :smalltongue: We seem to have come full circle.

Concrete
2014-02-12, 08:04 AM
If you have not read: "The Difference Engine" by Gibson, do it at your earliest convenience.

Industrialism is full of good inspiration. There are Luddites, there are Workers Unions, early revulotionaries, all of which can be good, bad or ambiguous. You can have all the fandcy airships in the world, they are just bags of hot air without the right groups at the wheel.

Mutazoia
2014-02-12, 09:44 AM
Lol. That's the song that inspired my post! :smalltongue: We seem to have come full circle.

Ok...how about this one :) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZNaUD2xmu8)

or maybe this? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eELH0ivexKA)


If you have not read: "The Difference Engine" by Gibson, do it at your earliest convenience.

Industrialism is full of good inspiration. There are Luddites, there are Workers Unions, early revulotionaries, all of which can be good, bad or ambiguous. You can have all the fandcy airships in the world, they are just bags of hot air without the right groups at the wheel.

Yup.

Steampunk was born from the idea of "what if the things we enjoy today, were actually created during the age of steam."

(Massive) Analog computers, steam powered cars (those actually existed btw), all of the 20th centuries creations, all developed before their time, using Victorian era technology.... and Victorian era style.

Part of the appeal of Steampunk is definitely the style. Not just fashion, but in everything. In the Victorian era, very little was mass produced, everything was a work of art. The rule of form over function still held sway....