I am in a major mood for some steampunk/gaslight fantasy/Victoriana fantasy lately.
I have been reading the below games. Some include the addition of fantasy races and some do not. I am a bit ambivalent to the inclusion or exclusion of fantasy races.
Any thoughts on the settings and/or game mechanics of these games?
Castle Falkenstein
Through the Breach
Girl Genius (GURPS)
OneDice Airship Pirates
Tephra
Westward
Space 1889 After
Ecryme
The Aether Throne
Of the games you listed I'm familiar with three of them.
Castle Falkenstein is fun but it doesn't really have legs. It's great for short adventures but gets a bit thin for long campaigns. I had a GM that would use it as a one shot palate cleanser between campaigns and almost every time it was a Holmes style mystery. The cards instead of dice is a fun gimmick.
I would describe Through the Breach as more of a realm hopping fantasy with horror and Victorian elements rather than Steam Punk. I'm far more familiar with the war game Malifaux that it's based on so I can't comment on the system. I like the setting; it would be a setting where Dishonored and Turok the Dinosaur Hunter would live comfortably. Even if you don't use their system, the material is rich for inspiring fantasy play.
Space 1999 has had several iterations and it's one of the oldest settings created for RPGs. After is a 5e adaptation so there's no surprises there; you're ether someone who likes 5e or not and the setting isn't changing that. I personally prefer the GDW d6 system for the game. The setting is very much the idea of a Jules Vern scifi solar system. While we know the science of today doesn't support it, the setting treats the idea with due seriousness and respect. If you like pre-WW1 pulp adventure and very early scifi then I say give it a go. If you do go for this, remember there are a lot of source books for the setting going all the way back to the 70's. Some of them take it serious while others are just gonzo and are a bit silly.
Quote from: BadApple on April 22, 2024, 03:16:52 AMOf the games you listed I'm familiar with three of them.
Castle Falkenstein is fun but it doesn't really have legs. It's great for short adventures but gets a bit thin for long campaigns. I had a GM that would use it as a one shot palate cleanser between campaigns and almost every time it was a Holmes style mystery. The cards instead of dice is a fun gimmick.
I would describe Through the Breach as more of a realm hopping fantasy with horror and Victorian elements rather than Steam Punk. I'm far more familiar with the war game Malifaux that it's based on so I can't comment on the system. I like the setting; it would be a setting where Dishonored and Turok the Dinosaur Hunter would live comfortably. Even if you don't use their system, the material is rich for inspiring fantasy play.
Space 1999 has had several iterations and it's one of the oldest settings created for RPGs. After is a 5e adaptation so there's no surprises there; you're ether someone who likes 5e or not and the setting isn't changing that. I personally prefer the GDW d6 system for the game. The setting is very much the idea of a Jules Vern scifi solar system. While we know the science of today doesn't support it, the setting treats the idea with due seriousness and respect. If you like pre-WW1 pulp adventure and very early scifi then I say give it a go. If you do go for this, remember there are a lot of source books for the setting going all the way back to the 70's. Some of them take it serious while others are just gonzo and are a bit silly.
One correction. Space 1899 After has a 5e conversion and there is also the Empyrean edition, which is its own rules system in which the devs describe as a best hits of the previous editions.
I played Castle Falkenstein back in the day. I remember it as being fun but not much more. I never tried to get a long campaign out of it. I think I ran 5 sessions between WoD campaigns which is what I mostly ran back then. I remember it had a card mechanic but not really how it worked. Gentlemen don't play dice or something. I have the GDW version of Space 1889 around somewhere but I haven't looked at it in ages.
I guess you could call Lady Blackbird a steampunk sort of game. It's a very odd sort of storygame though. It's one of those ones that is made to tell a particular story with particular characters and doesn't really do much else.
There's D20 Steampunk
Some excellent stuff for a Victorian OSR game can be found here: Victorian & Western OSR (http://theosrlibrary.blogspot.com/p/victorian-osr.html)
Also White Box Gothic Adventures in Shadow & Horror (https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/es/product/200487/White-Box-Gothic-Swords--Wizardry)
Cthulhu by Gaslight is one that was not bad.
Also there was Masque of the Red Death for 2e and 3e D&D. Victorian era Earth.
I have always been partial to Etherscope.
I bought _Victorious_ a while back just to support TLG.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/169398/Victorious-the-Role-Playing-Game
I can't say it's that good of a game, honestly. Amazing Adventures does Victorian pulp better if you like the SIEGE engine, and if you don't then there are a lot of other games you're better off playing. Then again, I am not even a fan of steampunk stuff, so whatever.
Mini-six Bare Bones is another option. Oh, and it's free.
I suggest this game as it's easy, it's flexible, and even includes a Victorian setting. However, this setting is about fighting supernatural creatures.
I heard that there is a lot of gaslight in WotC's current offerings.
There's Leagues of Adventure, too. I have it on my shelf but haven't done much reading through it. The buzz is good, though.
Quote from: Dropbear on May 07, 2024, 09:43:20 AMI have always been partial to Etherscope.
What is Etherscope like? I have heard of it but never actually seen it.
Quote from: GeekyBugle on April 22, 2024, 02:23:05 PMThere's D20 Steampunk
Some excellent stuff for a Victorian OSR game can be found here: Victorian & Western OSR (http://theosrlibrary.blogspot.com/p/victorian-osr.html)
Also White Box Gothic Adventures in Shadow & Horror (https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/es/product/200487/White-Box-Gothic-Swords--Wizardry)
thank you for those links, they look awesome
Quote from: Omega on May 22, 2024, 03:19:43 PMQuote from: Dropbear on May 07, 2024, 09:43:20 AMI have always been partial to Etherscope.
What is Etherscope like? I have heard of it but never actually seen it.
There was an old thread on it here (from 2007):
https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/any-love-for-etherscope/
In my head, I conflated this with the Necroscope RPG for the Masterbook system, based on the Brian Lumley books.
Quote from: jhkim on May 22, 2024, 03:59:29 PMQuote from: Omega on May 22, 2024, 03:19:43 PMQuote from: Dropbear on May 07, 2024, 09:43:20 AMI have always been partial to Etherscope.
What is Etherscope like? I have heard of it but never actually seen it.
There was an old thread on it here (from 2007):
https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/any-love-for-etherscope/
In my head, I conflated this with the Necroscope RPG for the Masterbook system, based on the Brian Lumley books.
Greetings!
*Laughing*! Hah! 2007? Damn, that's a long time ago!
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Quote from: Brad on May 07, 2024, 05:42:47 PMI bought _Victorious_ a while back just to support TLG.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/169398/Victorious-the-Role-Playing-Game
I can't say it's that good of a game, honestly. Amazing Adventures does Victorian pulp better if you like the SIEGE engine, and if you don't then there are a lot of other games you're better off playing. Then again, I am not even a fan of steampunk stuff, so whatever.
I have Victorious, and have been able to run it and play it with my Discord group and it included Mr Stewart for some of the game.
I would say it is great for what it is made for, AFTER you master the art of creating your character. It is made to be a Victorian Steampunk SUPER HERO game, with the focus on super hero. It took me a while to make good characters and there is an art to that part of the game. You can make a character that is so super focused on one thing that they suck at EVERYTHING else, or you can make a character the is 'good' at a lot of things but not truly GOOD at anything. There is a sweet spot, and you have to learn how to use the rules to get there.
Once you do, the game can be very versatile. We ran a btb Victorian era American based game, I ran a modern lower powered spy/hero (loosely based on the TV show Person of Interest), & a Poe level of horror, and someone else ran a high fantasy medieval game with it. All of them came out great AFTER everyone wrapped their minds around making a good useful character.
I also have and have played/ran Amazing Adventures. Again that is great for a class based Pulp adventure. With a little work it can be retrofitted back to Victorian from its focus of pulp time (pre-post WWII). It is a class based game so A LOT easier to make a character than Victorious but a lot less versatile.
I have the CoC Gaslight rules, and like the CoC rules. It should be easy enough to strip out the 'Lovecraft' horrors from the game to make it generic gaslight steam punk. Plus with some of the more recent Chaosium games/CoC supplements, you can add in some spells or other useful rules setting stuff (Rivers of London for magic Fey etc) However, the CoC characters can be very squishy compared to other games so you might have to use some pulp CoC etc to buff up the characters a bit.
I have and love the ole Masque of Red Death. I actually use it as the basis of the above mention Victorious Poe game.
I remember Space 1989 back in the day when I was in HS (way too many years ago) and enjoyed it back then. But, it was so long ago & I haven't played the newer versions of it so anything I say would be romantic rose colored glass memory not a realistic advice
Quote from: Reckall on May 07, 2024, 09:20:33 PMI heard that there is a lot of gaslight in WotC's current offerings.
Blink, blink, Haaaaaa !
Quote from: jhkim on May 22, 2024, 03:59:29 PMThere was an old thread on it here (from 2007):
https://www.therpgsite.com/pen-paper-roleplaying-games-rpgs-discussion/any-love-for-etherscope/
In my head, I conflated this with the Necroscope RPG for the Masterbook system, based on the Brian Lumley books.
Same.