gullwhacker | Campaign Notes: Steampunk Game

All right. I'm going to post here some of what is planned for that game. My apologies to anyone who has me friended and isn't playing; you can skip, or make idle commentary about chemists gone horribly wrong...

Wait, that's for Omen.

Okay. Still trying to find the best name for the campaign; I may name it after the city in which it takes place. Will get to the city in a moment. The world is, as evidenced by what I keep calling the game, a steampunk setting. We've got pseudo-Victorian setups; general sense of things seems to be 19th century or so, gas lights in places, crowded road-paths, et cetera. A class system exists, in a sense; there's an aristocracy, a middle class, a working class below that. At least in most places; there are likely exceptions out in the world, but the party won't see too much of the world.

The country in which the campaign takes place is a monarchy. Ruled by a queen, tends to appoint regents for various areas. Said regents make sure all is well, and run things. Not much of a social net, we're a few centuries early for that. For what it's worth, though, there is gender equality; as mentioned, it's a queen running the show, and females tend to have about as much right to speak up as males do. Though bigots will always find a way to appear. The players may have to crack a few heads.

Where things get interesting is technology. Electricity, not so much. Steam power, yes. Mad scientists, doubly yes. Zeppelins exist, and are a common form of transport. Trains are used to carry passengers and goods. Manual labor, particularly things like mining, are handled by Armors - clanking steam-powered machines. And of course, you have the odd biological experiments. At least the royalty is happy about those winged cats.

The city in which the campaign takes place isn't the capital for the region, but is notable as a hub for trade. Name is tentative, currently Brighid Valley. As implied, it's located on/in a deep river valley; the slopes are steep but passable, and the city stretches down the banks, stopping far enough above the water that most floods don't pose a problem. Of course, pumps reach straight down to the water. One tends to live in the city according to one's class; the lower class workers of the city live near the bottom, middle class further up, aristocrats in the towering structures at the top of the valley, and farmers on the outskirts of town.

This community covers both sides of the valley; depending on one's level, means of crossing the river will vary. At the lower levels, antiquated cable cars are used, holdovers from a time passed. Although faster than walking, their precarious swaying deters all but the desperate. Around the middle of the city, a large and impressive bridge spans the wide river; the only one of its kind for quite some distance, trains cross it hourly to ferry supplies throughout the nation. I need to name that bridge. Train tracks and pedestrian paths are present, so those who would take the bridge have a number of options.

Finally, if you're an aristocrat, you just take an airship across. Even if you don't have one of your own, purchasing a ticket is simple enough. Most lower class people don't feel like wasting the money, or the time to get up to the airship docks in the first place.

What will the party be doing? The Queen's Guard is efficient at dealing with trouble of all sorts. However, their numbers are few, and they tend to handle upper-class business. The rest of the city gets the Schutze (name tentative), a police force with enthusiasm on their side. Unfortunately. They don't have the ability to solve all problems, but they try. They pay bounties, or hire 'independent contractors' to investigate/deal with crimes. Or instead of crimes, just the weird noises coming from that ominous house. Likelihood of an outside force being asked for help increases if someone would complain about stuff getting blown up.

Yes. The Schutze has the subtlety of an oldschool D&D party. Scared yet?

And that's what I can think up at the moment. Any questions?