Steampunk Tabletop RPG?

[Major_Blackhart]

So, I'm curious. I've gotten a bit of a taste for steampunk lately, and I'm wondering if there's a good rpg system out there based on a good, not shit but interesting and good steampunk world.

 

[Telengard]

No. But there's been a lot of attempts, including a number of Kickstarters, so YMMV. Still, most of it is anime-steampunk.

The best so far is still FASA's Crimson Skies, and it's not even an RPG, but a strat. A distant second is the World-War-y Gear Krieg, if you can stand the Silhouette system and mechs (still have this book, if you want to know about it). And third is Deadlands, which is so thinly Steampunk that it might as well not even be called Steampunk. The rest is much more obviously Steampunk than the above, but also much more obviously shit.

 

[Xathrodox86]

You can try Wolsung if you like that kind of stuff. It's a polish steam-punk RPG. Mind you, I'm not sure if it was translated to other languages.

 

[Scroo]

I read something about a D20 steampunk thing 2 years ago but it obviously died too. I fear there's really not much aside the mentioned Wolsung but personally I do not like overblown cinematic action.

 

[JamesDixon]

There's Iron Kingdoms that uses the War Machine world as a basis. It's a d6 system and published by Privateer Press.

 

[L'ennui]

You could always use a generic system and apply steam punk bullshit to it. If you're not going for realism, Savage Worlds or FATE. If you are, GURPS (it probably even has a steampunkish source book somewhere).

 

[ghostdog]

https://vk.com/doc-30402523_54076741?dl=635ef8cf1fc7bb843d

 

[udm]

Cakebread and Walton's got a few Steampunk/Victorian-era games using a d100 system.

I read through SteamCraft but not too fond of the rules. Too rules-light for my liking.

I also own Cogs, Cakes and Swordsticks but haven't read it. I think it came in one of the Bundles of Holding.

 

[Havoc]

Technically, Vampire: Victorian Age could be translated to Steampunk, easily.

 

[Andhaira]

There's Iron Kingdoms that uses the War Machine world as a basis. It's a d6 system and published by Privateer Press.

Major_Blackhart Yes, this one. It is good, the rulebook is gorgeous (full color) and the character generation is similar to WFRP and WFRP40K with a career based system. The game also features mechs (called Steamjacks) which players can use if they meet the requirements.

My main complaint thus far, and the reason I have not yet played it, is that spells are mostly limited to combat use. I prefer magic that can be used outside of combat as well aka for utility purposes.

 

[conan_edw]

What about now?

 

[FritzedProcess]

What about now?

You might want to give Victoriana a try. The latest edition (3rd) doesn't go as much into politics or Dickensian misery as the second, and the setting is the early Victorian period (a metagame decision they made to lower the rate of fire from firearms, I'm sure), with some changes to the religions part of the setting to avoid offending some groups. The third edition has some mechanical improvements, but overall I like the 2nd better.

 

[conan_edw]

Great maybe I will take a look. I don't know a lot about the various pnp games but is there a one that's a D&D/Shadowrun/Pathfinder/Warhammer-famous? Since I usually play them in gameshops

 

[FritzedProcess]

Great maybe I will take a look. I don't know a lot about the various pnp games but is there a one that's a D&D/Shadowrun/Pathfinder/Warhammer-famous? Since I usually play them in gameshops

When it comes to Steampunk, you are SOL. Most fans of the genre prefer LARP to tabletop, and the most well-known PnP games of the genre would be Castle Falkenstein and Victoriana... and the former has been out of print for the best part of 20 years, IIRC.

Maybe there's an official Savage Worlds setting available, or something like that, but I wouldn't know.

 

[conan_edw]

Thanks!

 

[udm]

Blades in the Dark, although it's closer to Thief/Dishonored than Arcanum.

Great maybe I will take a look. I don't know a lot about the various pnp games but is there a one that's a D&D/Shadowrun/Pathfinder/Warhammer-famous? Since I usually play them in gameshops

When it comes to Steampunk, you are SOL. Most fans of the genre prefer LARP to tabletop, and the most well-known PnP games of the genre would be Castle Falkenstein and Victoriana... and the former has been out of print for the best part of 20 years, IIRC.

Maybe there's an official Savage Worlds setting available, or something like that, but I wouldn't know.

That reminds me, there's Space 1889 (Savage Worlds version here, non-SW here)

 

[nikolokolus]

I've heard some good things about Castle Falkenstein. Anybody have any experience with it? Mike Pondsmith's name attached has me intrigued, but the PDF ain't cheap at DriveThru ($20 last time I checked).

 

[FritzedProcess]

I've heard some good things about Castle Falkenstein. Anybody have any experience with it? Mike Pondsmith's name attached has me intrigued, but the PDF ain't cheap at DriveThru ($20 last time I checked).

I never got around to playing it (I was too busy with Cyberpunk 2020 and Kult back then), but a friend of mine owned the corebook and had good things to say about the setting. Not so sure about the system, though, and I can't help you there, sorry.

If you want to get the PDF, I'd wait for a sale - R. Talsorian Games' PDFs aren't all that great (they are pretty much scans of the old manuals, with the possible exception of Cyberpunk V3, which is post-2000).

 

[Silva]

Blades in the Dark is a spiritual adaptation of Dishonored to tabletop where you play a crew of criminals in a polluted and corrupted city. It's awesome.

 

[nikolokolus]

I've heard some good things about Castle Falkenstein. Anybody have any experience with it? Mike Pondsmith's name attached has me intrigued, but the PDF ain't cheap at DriveThru ($20 last time I checked).

I never got around to playing it (I was too busy with Cyberpunk 2020 and Kult back then), but a friend of mine owned the corebook and had good things to say about the setting. Not so sure about the system, though, and I can't help you there, sorry.

If you want to get the PDF, I'd wait for a sale - R. Talsorian Games' PDFs aren't all that great (they are pretty much scans of the old manuals, with the possible exception of Cyberpunk V3, which is post-2000).

Found a dead-tree version on Amazon for $18, ($2 cheaper than the PDF on Drive Thru). Just skimming so far, but the fluff is really good and the mechanics seem easy enough to replace if you don't like them. Feels like reading a piece of fiction more than a dry game manual, I can see why it was so well received when it first came out.