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Spacehamster
2015-01-26, 02:13 AM
Hello playground

Is there any tabletop rpg similar to the old PC rpg Arcanum: of steamworks and magic obscura?

Corsair
2015-01-26, 02:40 PM
I'd also be interested if there is. For those who don't know, Arcanum was a CRPG from the early 2000s that was set in a world that was sort of like if standard D&D went into a Victorian-style Industrial Revolution with all that comes with that, with the additional caveat that since Magic screwed with the laws of physics Magic and Technology were violently opposed to one another, with stuff like Mages getting violently sick near trains and clocks starting to skip or run backwards when powerful magic presences were nearby.

Looking at it, you could probably represent it pretty well with D&D, but I'm not sure how one would go about implementing the Magic/Technology rivalry. I'm no game designer, but I would probably have a setup of Auras - powerful tech has an aura that causes Caster Levels to drop the closer they get, while Mages have an aura that have a chance to cause Technological devices to critically fail, getting stronger by proximity and strength of the Mage or Magic field.

Orderic
2015-01-26, 03:40 PM
While it does not have the opposition of magic and technology, the Dragonmech Setting for D&D contains quite a lot of steam technology.

Also, mechs. Steampowered mechs.

the_david
2015-01-26, 05:30 PM
It's kinda hard to decide what would work best, and it depends on what parts of Arcanum you want to use.

Let's see, spellcasters get to choose from 16 schools of magic to cast spells. Technologists learn schematics to make stuff from a number of disciplines. Spells drain your energy, while technology is either single use (alchemy, explosives, battery charges) or permanent until destroyed (balanced sword). You can buy magical items, but you can't create them. There are secret schematics hidden in the game, but there aren't any secret spells. To learn a new schematic or spell you need the previous one in the right school/discipline and a minimum in the right ability.
Some skills are also technological in nature, but there are no magical skills.

By learning new spells or schematics/technological skills your magical/technological aptitude changes. If you're leaning more into magic, technological stuff starts to malfunction. (Like spellfailure chance, except for guns and such.) If you're leaning more into tech, your spells become weaker. (You lose effective caster levels.)
Walking into a big magic shop raises your caster level temporarily, while increasing your tech failure chance. Walking up to the big locomotive will lower your caster level and decrease your tech failure chance.

Elves and Half-Elves are more inclined towards magic, while Dwarves are inclined towards technology. Some backgrounds give the same effect. (It stacks)

If you want to use this with D&D, you'll have to figure out some way to make inventors.


So much for how it works. I've once had an idea for a campaign where technology and magic were opposing forces. As people started using magic more and more, technology would become weaker as magic was breaking the laws of physics.

Or something like that. Just one of my bad ideas when I was reading through D20 modern.