Game Design and Project Resources: The Workshops Quarter > Guns, Swords, and Steam

GS&S: Intro and FAQs

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Jubal:


This will include basic info and frequently asked questions.

GENERAL INFORMATION

What is all this about, then?
Guns, Swords, and Steam is a setting I've been working on for a long time. Its primary manifestation is twofold; in an episodic story I've been writing about it, and as a set of tabletop dice-based RPG rules designed around the world. The basic theme is clockpunk, steampunk and gothic inspired; it's a world of vampires, steam tanks, and hardy footsoldiers slogging it out. There are plenty of twists, though; other magical creatures are included, and a magic system primarily based around illusions and mind tricks is also worth watching out for.

THE BACKGROUND

How does magic work in GS&S?
Essentially magic comes in two linked forms, illusion and summoning. Magic can't directly manipulate the physical world; it's essentially a form of communicating with the "astral" - a sort of secondary universe that brushes up close to our own and supplies a lot of the necessaries for conciousness. Summoning basically opens/finds a hole between the universes big enough for some raw conciousness to get through and imbue physical forms with a thinking mind for a time. Illusion uses the astral universe as a shortcut straight into someone else's (or lots of other people's) head or heads, allowing the manipulation of their thought processes.

Will there be technology X...?
- Airships?
> Certainly not common or in frequent use, but probable yes to occasional and somewhat dysfunctional ones being constructed.
- Cyborgs/Robots?
> Confirmed no.
- Hovercrafts?
> Probable no, though I can't say I've looked in every inventor's workshop to check!
- Rifles?
> Confirmed yes, though muskets are still far more common and rifles are hard to produce.
- Spaceships?
> Confirmed no.
- Steampunk body modifications?
> Maybe relatively low-tech ones, I can imagine some barber-surgeons might get fairly experimental at times - it'd certainly be a risky and unusual process.
- Steam-guns?
> Confirmed yes, but they're not nearly as efficient as a modern machine gun and are not seen on most battlefields - tactics still look more like those of the early C18th than the first world war.
- Steam tanks?
> Confirmed yes - they look very much like Da Vinci's tank design, and are known as "Trammechs".
- Submarines?
> Confirmed yes, but they're rare pieces of cutting edge technology. And may or may not run on pedal power.

comrade_general:

--- Quote from: Jubal on June 17, 2012, 01:00:01 PM ---mind tricks
--- End quote ---
Jedi mind tricks?

Phoenixguard09:
Check out some of the back issues CG. Jub's been writing a story in more-or-less monthly installments.

http://s1.zetaboards.com/A_Call_to_Arms/index/

Look forward to seeing some more GS&S stuff Jubal. :)

Jubal:
I'll migrate all the episodes over to here I think and have a big locked thread of 'em all, since CtA is effectively dormant. And I need to get round to posting the rules.

CG: Actually, they can do things pretty similar to Jedi mind tricks, yes.  :P

Cuddly Khan:
So, how common is this magic stuff exactly and how magical is it?

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