This will include basic info and frequently asked questions.
GENERAL INFORMATIONWhat 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 BACKGROUNDHow 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.