Subsystems: Play on Target Podcast Ep. 51

Having finally (for the most part) overcome this ear/sinus infection that eff’d up my balance and equilibrium, I’m playing catch up. A couple of weeks ago we dropped a new episode of Play on Target, considering “sub-systems” in games. We should have another ep up this week or next. So what constitutes a sub-system? We don’t offer a solid definition in the episode. In fact we cover and present several concepts under that header: unusual rules for handling a narrow set of actions; mechanics which don’t fit with the rest of the structures; or non-standard props or add-ons. They break things away from the normal flow- at least the normal flow I imagine when I think about the game.

Play on Target: Subsystems 

Play on Target Episode Roundup

1. Dice Games: Some games have an added dice manipulation dimension. Fireborn has players physically shifting dice between aspects. Weapons of the Gods allows players to move some dice into “The River” to be pulled into later rolls. Don’t Rest Your Head has an economy of different dice. Marvel Heroic (and other Cortex games) focuses on player choice and dice pool assembly. There’s an element of hand management to those. And the mechanic add something to the play. Building the pool feels significant in MHR. When you ask players to have dice pools ready without description, the game goes flat.
2. Let’s Have a War!  Mass Combats’ always been a weird ‘grail” system in games. There’s the theory that players want epic, earth-shaking wars with their characters in command. D&D comes out of Chainmail and many have wanted to revive that flavor. In the episode we mention mass combat “simulators”: Bushido, GURPS Horseclans & Conan, Legend of the Five Rings, countless d20 supplements. They all offer ways to quickly resolve big battles. Some went further, bringing full-fledged miniatures systems to the table. Consider TSR’s unwieldy Battlesystem, Rolemaster’s War Law, ICE’s Bladestorm, Deadlands’ Great Rail Wars, Fading Suns’ Noble Armada, Harn’s Battlelust. Few of these caught on and even the brightest burned out quickly.
3. Reverse Engineering: On the flip side, some miniatures games end up having a role-playing component. Mechwarrior’s the first of these. We played Battledroids (and then Battletech) with weirdly scaled Japanese models as soon as it came out. When Mechwarrior hit, one ADD GM jumped onto the bandwagon and ran a campaign. Yet though we played that for a dozen sessions and we never saw actual Mech combat. In fact we desperately avoided battle and solved all our missions with alternate approaches. The repair and infrastructures costs for our mechs were too damn high. We weren’t going to risk those. Heavy Gear, Iron Kingdoms, and Through the Breach in this category. These share a common problem: the need to keep sustain mechanics from the minis games in the rpg.
4. +5 Troops of Battling: While many games built new resolution approaches for mass combat, others shifted to make military sub-systems more symmetrical. Exalted 2e added mass combat rules which use the standard combat mechanics scaled up. Troops serve as equipment for the leader of an army. Legends of Anglerre also just shifts the scale to create the effect. Players can easily transition between these mechanics, since they effectively resolve the same way. That comes at the cost of uniqueness. The mechanics themselves don’t spotlight these events as out of the ordinary.
5. Roster Roster: Are games where players control a large number of characters RPGs with elaborate sub-systems or just board games? I think the answer’s RPG for something troupe like Ars Magica. But consider the pseudo-roleplay of games like Necromunda, Mordheim, Wreck Age, and Dead of Winter. In each, your characters can grow and develop. Besides DoW, all these offer continuity- the ability to play with the same evolving personalities over time. They can be GMless or run with a judge.
6. Who was Whisper? I mentioned L5R’s mass-combat a sub-system, but other early products from this line contain interesting sub-systems. You could argue that the player-facing rumor & history book of City of Lies offered parallel play. It served as a kind of CYOA logic puzzle. Players could work through that to develop hypothesis and guide at table play. On the other hand Tomb of Iuchiban had a concrete boardgame element. The final tomb uses a variable layout. The game includes room tiles to lay out and rearrange for the players as they move through.
7. One-Use Magic Ink Modules: I wonder if solo or GMless mechanics could be a sub-system. We’ve seen solo dungeons (Deathtrap Equalizer), magic-device modules (Blizzard Pass, Midnight on Dagger Alley), and full CYOA books (Warlock of Firetop Mountain). But a revised approach has been the strange CYOA, cross-reference, board game play of Tales of the Arabian Nights and Agents of SMERSH. The former’s interesting for its rich background and absolute devotion to randomness. It’s also competitive. Agents of SMERSH isn’t. Instead the group works together to uncover plots and defeat foes. Mind you, the plots are loosely tied, but I could imagine a more seeded version where early picks set the parameters for later ones.
8. Community Building: I really need to review Mutant: Year Zero. While it comes out of an older game line, it embraces the modern. You can buy reference cards for plots, mutations, and equipment. The game discusses using these as randomizers. That’s a tangible mechanic and the cards look good. But M:YZ also has a decent system covering community development. Players can take actions and make choices about their community’s direction. It’s more cooperative than Apocalypse World or even the more recent post-apocalyptic game Legacy.
9. Turn, Turn, Turn: I especially love the concept of seasonal actions. Old games had downtime tracking: thin rules for time between adventures. Think GURPS’ crazy career tables and study forms. But games like Ars Magica, Blood & Honor, and Reign have more explicit structures. The Great Pendragon Campaign and The Darkening of Mirkwood offer rich, multi-generational campaign sagas. Both assume a set timeline and history, with the players responding to that. I recently wrapped out L5R campaign which used a seasonal actionst. I found that sub-system takes careful planning. If you go for a mechanical version, you have to consider resource costs, balance, and time. I began with that approach., but later ditched it in favor of a narrative dialogue. I didn’t want to have to engage with heavy resource tracking and calculations. OOH If I’d seen Wrath of the Autarch before I started, things might have been different.
10. That’ll Be 500,000 GP: I also love the idea of Crafting systems more than I like the execution. Often you get high density to these mechanics (GURPS, Pathfinder). I’ve tried a couple of times to come up with ways to handle the Atelier series of jrpgs. Craftings more than half of the game. I’m still working that out. One of the best approaches I’ve seen recently has been Atomic Robo, though that’s called ‘brainstorming there’. DFAE has another take on it: open and easily adapted that works. I’m looking forward to the final version of that.

Play on Target: Subsystems 

Play on Target Episode Roundup

If you like RPG Gaming podcasts, I hope you'll check it out. We take a focused approach- tackling a single topic each episode. You can subscribe to the show on iTunes or follow the podcast's page at www.playontarget.com. 

Eloy Lasanta: Talking Supers, Design, and AMP: Year One

TALKING WITH ELOY LASANTA

A few weeks ago I posted my overview of Superhero RPGs released in 2014. Yesterday I spoke with Eloy Lasanta, author of AMP: Year One, an amazing game from that year. I wanted to ask him about how AMP fit with superhero rpgs in general, his comics influence, and the challenges he faced creating a game with a five-year plan. I had a great time with the interview, and I encourage everyone to check out his many, many projects!

AMP:Year One
AMP Adventures

AMP:Year Two

Infestation

Mermaid Adventures

Part-Time Gods

Part-Time Gods of Fate

Wu Xing: The Ninja Crusade

Apocalypse Prevention, Inc

Camp Myth

Third Eye Games

For those who like audio-only podcast versions, we've posted this on Play on Target as well. 

The Year in Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs 2014

STEAM TRAINSPOTTING

My first impression was that steampunk had begun to wane in 2014, at least in rpgs. But looking through the list, that's not true. We saw several completely new systems and settings arrive, as well as elements used as an accent elsewhere. It's also the year that brought us the nadir of genres which annoy my wife: Steampunk Cthulhu. If there's a theme here, it might be the way steampunk and Victorian trappings have been blended. They're an important visual and fictional motif in some of these games, but aren't necessarily central. That means some of my picks for this list may be arguable. 

But if it stayed strong in rpgs, it dropped off in other kinds of games. In videogames we got a reboot of Thief, Warmachine: Tactics, Skyborn, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, and a bunch of app games with loose themes. On the other hand in boardgaming we saw Deadlands: Reloaded, Dogs of War, Onward to Venus, Machina Arcana, Ars Alchima, and Steam Donkey. That's a far cry from previous years. Have the days of steampunk as a pasted-on theme gone away? We'll see. 

If you’re a podcaster or blogger and want to talk with me about these series, drop me a line. I got nominated for an ENnie last year, so that’s something…maybe. If you’re a designer for games I’ve mentioned on any of these lists and want to talk about your work and thoughts about the genre in general, I’d love to have a chance to do that.

HEY! I have a Patreon for these lists. If you like them, consider contributing or resharing to spread the word.

FEEDING THE BOILER

I focus mostly on core books here. I include Kickstarter projects if they actually released in 2014. I give pdf-only releases their own entry if they’re notable, of significant size, or come from a major publisher. I’ve consolidated a ton of material into several ”Miscellaneous” items at the end. I’m sure I missed some releases. If you spot them, leave me a note in the comments.

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part One 1983-1996)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Two 1997-2003)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Three 2004-2006)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Four 2007-2008)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Five 2009)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Six 2010)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Seven 2011)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Eight 2012)

The Year in Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs 2013 (Part One: Äther, Dampf und Stahlgiganten to Owl Hoot Trail)

The Year in Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs 2013 (Part Two: Pure Steam to World of Steamfortress Victory)

History of Post-Apocalyptic RPGs

History of Horror RPGs

History of Superhero RPGs

1. Astraterra

This Finnish rpg appears steampunk in the loosest sense. Astraterra has a brightly colored sci-fi look. But the setting does offer a steam-powered society. That’s within a post-apocalyptic science fantasy where civilization has only just begun rediscovering this technology. Astraterra’s another one I missed on my Post-Apocalyptic list (too many games!). In it characters use once-lost teleporters to explore their strange and fallen ringworld. I place Astraterra on the list because the authors themselves describe it as steampunk. The game's aimed at younger players and has been modestly supported with a GM screen and character pack. A Kickstarter supported an English translation slated for 2015, but that has not yet released.

2. Brass Age

An Italian rpg focused on detective stories in Victorian England with a dash of steampunk. Players take the role of agents of the Diogenes Club from the Sherlock Holmes stories. The core game actually came out in 2013, so the core book belongs on that list. But 2014 saw the release of two supplements. Brass Age America is a large volume offering new mechanical and career options, as well as material on the United States in the setting. On the other hand, I Doni di Mabon has a lengthy set of adventures for Brass Age set in London.

3. City Hall

It took me a bit to piece together City Hall, which I first saw mentioned on GROG (Guide du Roliste Galactique). The game's based on a French manga called City Hall. In this world a strange phenomenon creates persons from written-word descriptions. The more detailed and skillful the description, the more vivid, powerful, and independent the creation. Fully realized fiction characters become real and dangerous. This changes history, resulting in a steam-powered world which tries to ban the written-word. There's a mix of authors and fictional characters in the stories. In the rpg players take the role of Nostromo Agents, dealing with and hunting down these simulacra. The art looks striking and they've done a nice job of tightly tying it to the manga. City Hall has been supported with a couple of supplements. It reminds me a little of the '06 game, Passages, where characters can enter into the worlds of novels.

4. Clockwork Dreams

A Savage Worlds setting book, offering Mechadia, a realm from the Suzerian setting. It gets its own entry because it seems intended to stand on its own. While it could fit within a Savage Suzerian campaign, the book approaches it as an independent setting with new character options, extensive rules for inventions & devices, a lengthy plot point campaign, and a series of smaller Savage Tales. We've seen some other steampunk Savage World lines, and this complements them nicely- adding a fantasy-hybrid version to the choices. The setting’s key conceit are fey who connect themselves to the dreams of invention. That interaction drives the creation of further steampunk developments. That's a cool idea and one worth adapting for other games. Clockwork Dreams looks solid and excellent, aside from the odd cover. There's a free 16-page primer availablefor the curious.

5. Eidolon: The Electrodyne Opera

Angelus Morningstar has produced some of the most amazing online work for Changeling the Lost. His Eidolon: The Electrodyne Opera is a project which he's been developing for some time. It shows. The result is a huge, strikingly illustrated, stand-alone rpg.

The introduction describes Eidolon as a “gaslamp fantasy setting, set in the year 1900.” That year’s just a touchstone for the reader’s thinking. The game takes place in a fantastic realm called Eidolon where powers human and inhuman struggle for mastery. The names of things, people, and places echo the real world, but this is clearly another realm. I can’t do justice to the dream-like quality here, a world set in clockwork with different firmaments and levels. It reminds me of Nobilis, Houses of the Blooded, and Changeling the Dreaming.

It also contradicts my usual grousing about info dumping rpg readers. I’ve complained before (on this very list in fact) about weighing the reader down with cosmology and history before making clear what the game’s about. Because there isn’t a game here. Instead this is a deep, rich, and seriously intense sourcebook for this setting.

It’s so rich, complicated, and elaborate I can’t even imagine where I’d begin if I wanted to run it. A system exists, provided for free if you buy the book. But fundamentally Eidolon’s so complex I don’t think anyone but the author could run the setting. Or perhaps they could, but with the soul stripped out or by putting in so much effort they’d be better off crafting their own personal world.

But this is still a solid product which does what it sets out to do: paint a world. Every page has interesting ideas. It’s worth picking up for any fan of the fantastic and for GMs who like to build wonder into their world. Eidolon’s a fun read, it hits on the kind of weird, uncanny, and fantastic I like. YRMV.

6. Gaslicht - Horror in den 1890ern

Cthulhu by Gaslight first appeared in '86, with a 3rd edition in 2012. But that’s always been the least supported of the CoC settings. That’s why this is a huge German hardcover edition released by Pegasus Spiele surprises me. It revises and expands on earlier versions, and adds three new adventures. I would have simply placed this under revisions, but it's such a striking product. It's also one that makes me wonder about the transition from Call of Cthulhu 6th to 7th edition. European editions of CoC products, especially German and French ones, have continually broken new ground for the rpg. They've created amazing and beautiful products. But will they follow Chaosium into the future and accept CoC 7th? What will that mean for their backlist? Might we see a splintering of systems as we have with BRP?

7. Jadepunk: Tales From Kausao City

A wuxia/steampunk hybrid using a smart adaptation of Fate Accelerated. Jadepunk most feels like Legend of Korra. It has that same mix of late 19th Century technology, magic, and martial arts. While the game centers on Kausao City, it offers quick but rich world-building: sketching out the nations and peoples. The city itself as a crossroads, bringing cultures together from across the world. Black jade, the rarest of the magical jades, comes from Kausao. Those jades power everything, and the colors have different properties. Craftsmen carefully work these into wondrous blades, guns, and engines. Jadepunk sets the players as revolutionaries within the city, fighting against corruption, tyranny, and banditry. It core book is playable on its own. Overall it's a smart and easy system, supported with several supplements. Highly recommended.

8. Kromore

I read a post suggesting the term "Fantasy Heartbreaker" has problems. Gamers use it too much and apply it to negate work. Some have suggested they're a actually form of subversive art. I don't know. Sometimes I start reading through a game and my stomach sinks. Maybe it’s the kitchen sink approach, the bizarre order of information, or the desperate rebuilding of the wheel.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I mention that here.

Kromore offers a new role-playing setting and system intended to cover multiple genres in a single world. Players can take the role of heroes from fantasy, sci-fi, medieval, modern, and- relevant to our interests- steampunk eras. Then they can "Explore a massive setting over Kromore's 10,000 year timeline." So in some ways that’s a non-generic, generic game; a strange mix of polar opposites. The core book's about 350 pages and oddly doesn't open what the game’s about. Instead it begins with lengthy 'what is an rpg,' storyteller advice, and example of combat sections. That strangeness continues in character creation. The game offers distinct profession picks for the 10K year history. (Sci-Priest, Ferrian Vanquisher, Knight Agent). Kromore mixes simple and complex approaches: small feat-like options, a tight skill list, a flow chart lifepath, S.A.S.F.A.F.F. (Falling Damage), Height & Bullet Degradation and so on.

I have to give the game credit: it has ambition. The 10,000 year history's covered in about a 100 pages, broken into several eras. Publisher RAEX Games have supported the line modestly, releasing a screen, module, and loot cards. Kromore came about through a Kickstarter that delivered in a timely fashion.Reviews for Kromore look mixed. I'm always a little cautious when I only see one glowing review on IPR, Amazon, or DriveThru. I'd recommend some Google hunting and checking the preview out. But if you're particularly looking for a steampunk game, that's only a small slice of the whole here.

9. OneDice

Cakebread & Walton released two linked steampunk products in 2014. The first, OneDice Steampunk, turned out to be the beginning of an extensive series of genre-book versions of their new OneDice system. As you can imagine, it requires only a d6 for each player. OneDice Steampunk offers the rules, thirty pages of setting & GM advice, plus three "skins" new worlds involving for Machine Worlds, Lost Worlds, and Gothic Horrors. The tightness of the skill-based system means that you don't need an additional core book (OneDice Universal). The book’s light, with slightly cartoony line art. But if you're just dabbling in steampunk and just want to get a game to the table, this might be it.

OneDice Abney Park's Airship Pirates takes the OneDice system and applies it to the publisher's licensed line. Previously done with Victoriana's Heresy engine, this stripped down version is still a hefty 172 pages. A little over half of that's given to the setting and sample adventures. So who might be the audience? Players of the previous version who want a light system or new gamers who didn't invest in the earlier line and sourcebooks.

Note that this is another game which could appear on both the Post-Apocalyptic and Steampunk lists.

10. The Ministry Initiative

Disclosure: I backed this Kickstarter. The Ministry Initiative offers a Fate-based adaptation of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris. They’re novels of steampunk agents defending the Victorian Empire. The Ministry Initiative has complete rules, adapting the Fate to the setting with a tailored skill list, new stunts, and vehicle mechanics. I've come to appreciate how well Fate works for adapted material. Licensed games can swing wildly between mechanics draped in a thin layer of setting and more sourcebook-y versions, where the game’s an afterthought. Like Atomic Robo, The Ministry Initiative, offers a complete product that feels like it grew up alongside the novels. The writing, presentation, and mechanics click with the setting. Keep in mind I've never read the novels, but I came away confident enough to run in this world. If you're hunting for a steampunk-flavored Fate game, you should check this out. If you're just a fan of the novels, you'll find this an excellent resource to adapt it to another system.

11. Through the Breach

Through the Breach is the long awaited RPG set in the Malifaux universe. My experience with Malifaux remains limited to trying to assemble one of their plastic figures, discovering the back cover illo had been flipped, and trying to pry it apart. Tiny pieces, fat fingers. Grumble, grumble. Anyway, the first book for this The Fated Alamanac (sic), landed the year before. But 2014 saw the release of the The Fate Master's Almanac and The Fatemaster's Kit (again, sic).* This line came out of a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign ($250K).

So what's the deal with Malifaux in general and Through the Breach in particular?

Malifaux appears to be a Gothic Horror Steampunk Western Dimensional Rift world. Maybe like a cross between Deadlands and Warmachine? Malifaux refers to both a weird decaying city and a parallel dimension. Magical workings in the 18th Century resulted in a breach leading to this new, apparently empty, realm. Soon explorers, prospectors, and settlers went through, beginning a trade in "Soulstone" and magical power. Then the breach collapsed, reopening a century later. The game takes place a few years after that with our world encountering the transformed survivors. Several factions battle for control of Malifaux including sorcerers, magical engineers, necromancers, monsters, and a weird orientalist hybrid Asian faction. It's a bit of a kitchen sink setting with wizardry, non-humans, gunsligners, steam-mecha, and wushu.

Through the Breach's system parallels the miniatures game's mechanics (much as Iron Kingdoms does to Warmachine). But apparently both games use playing cards rather than dice, an interesting twist. Character creation actually begins with a tarot-like spread. There's a great article on that process here. Through the Breach doesn't look quick, but I have a hard time judging the rule density from the review. But overall this seems fairly crunchy. Maybe it isn’t that complex once you get the system, but it derives from a miniatures system. That means TtB models actions and events with granularity. If that's your bag and the setting concepts grabs you, consider checking it out.

*Note that they cleaned up these cover typos.

12. Victoriana

Victoriana stands as one of the evergreen games of this genre, having gone through three distinct editions. The latest from Cubicle 7 had some support, but that seems to have dropped off. While the second edition had a host of striking sourcebooks, this one only saw two in 2014 (and none in 2015). The first, Liber Magica, presents a sourcebook for magic in the setting (something we never saw for 2e). It contains spells, rituals, and background for five forms of magic, notes on item creation, and the history & personalities associated with five magical societies. Liber Magica is mechanics-rich, but also offers a ton of interesting setting ideas and concepts. That makes it useful for GM looking to model or add depth to mystical arts in a Victorian setting.

The other release, The Concert in Flames, has a weak title. That obscures the volume’s role as the Europe sourcebook for Victoriana. Its 160 pages splits even between setting material and module. The first half details the history and locales of continental Europe. There's a nice focus on the urban centers of various nations. The second half presents a five-part adventure set on the continent. Again the writing and presentation make this a useful resource for GMs of Victoriana or similar games.

13. Wyrd

I don't know if I can do justice to this setting’s crazy complexity. As I mentioned elsewhere I'd first assumed that this was the Malifaux RPG, since that comes from Wyrd Miniatures. But no, this is a completely different thing. It can best be described as a kitchen-sink fantasy setting. Unlike Kromore above, this puts it all in at once. Lovecraftian elements, steam machines, battle armor, British mythos, multiple new races, strange names for everything. Reading the rules requires slogging through a massive history. It feels like an extended campaign world run by a GM in love with their backstory. Wyrd also uses its own unique mechanics, the Elderune Multidice System. There's a free pdf version of the setting and system book. That's worth reading (and looking at the character sheet) if you're interested in the genre or elaborate setting designs.

14. Miscellaneous: Revisions

Games and supplements which received significant revisions.

• Cogs, Cakes & Swordsticks Collected Edition brings together the original corebook, Atlantis: City in the Clouds, and new material including sample characters.
• Edara: A Steampunk Renaissance Revised is a fantasy steampunk game. It has Renaissance elements, with a struggle between science and faith. This edition’s revisions appear to be moderate: fixing the text, correcting errata, and making the presentation full color
• Thunderscape: The World of Aden first appeared in in '96. This significantly reworks and modernizes that for Pathfinder. It's a more Post-Apocalyptic setting (and hence appears on that list as well). But it appears here for its Warmachine-esque elements. See The Iron Guard Field Guide: A Guide to Golemoids and Thunder Scouts.
• The Widening Gyre: A Savage Steampunk Setting was a striking setting written for Hero system. The rich background presented a full developed alternate history running from the mid-19th century through WW1. That included supernatural elements in addition to the technological changes. This version for Savage Worlds is worth checking out.

15. Miscellaneous: Other RPGs

Smaller smaller or pdf only games.

• Aonir Roolipeli has a user summary on RPG Geek I cannot hope to top. "Aonir is a fantasy RPG created and published by Teemu Suontaka in 2014 as part of his master's thesis on degree of business economics used as a case example of getting from idea to product. In Aonir a fantasy world is invaded by alien tzerads, which causes steampunk technology development and appearance of mutated, green skinned orc race."
• The Great Game in the middle of the 19th Century, the discovery of ancient megaliths releases Aetheric Energy across the world. Strikingly the rpg focuses on the struggle for these sources in Afghanistan. While publisher released this preliminary version to elicit feedback, they have not yet published anything further.
• Romance in the Air is part of Evil Hat's excellent monthly series of new settings for Fate Core and Accelerated. It offers a drama set in an alternate fin de siècle Europe. Romance in the Air blends genre elements into the story of a great floating manor travelling across Europe. If you want a structure to explore social and romantic elements of this genre, pick this up. Highly recommended.
• Steam & Fog comes from Italy. It presents a gothic-horror alt-history of the 19th Century. The Google-translate of the publisher's page suggests it focuses on some of the ethical themes of steampunk (?): cosmic nihilism, responsibility for actions, and class discrimination. The core rules detail Paris in the period.
• Steam & Spectacles: The Steampunk Q•RPG Game is a 2 page steampunk rpg for the Q*RPG. It goes for $3 on RPGNow.

16. Miscellaneous: Modules

Modules for existing Steampunk/Victoriana rpgs or related adventures for generic systems.

• Aethersaur Island offers a new steampunk pocket world for Lords of Gossamer & Shadow.
• Bitter Medicine is the first module for Iron Kingdoms. Privateer seems to be smartly going digital only for these. This one's set in Cygnar, mixing train robberies & a deadly plague.
• Crypta Hereticarum and Diaspora came out for the Zeitgeist setting. The latter is the 8th in an ongoing adventure path.
• Wolsung: Steampulp Fantasy still hasn't gotten much traction in its English translation. The Day Urda Sank, a mini-campaign, remains the only other release in the line.
• Pelgrane released two released series pitches for DramaSystem. Hold the Chain presents life in a flying dystopian steampunk city. Iron Tsar falls a little on the margins and might be more dieselpunk. In an alternate 1920's engineers from the magical Imperial Russian Court battle zombies overwhelming the country.
• Kronocalypse Prelude: We've Got a T. Rex is part of a series of independent adventures involving time-travel and different tech levels. Written for Savage Worlds, this one has steampunk heroes trying to stop a prehistoric incursion at a technological fair.
• The Machine King is a rediscovered Call of Cthulhu scenario from the 1990's. It has industrial technology run amok in a gaslit London.
• The Naked Painting offers a generic steampunk agent chase-adventure using Basic Role-Play.
• Spur ins Dunkel an adventure for the latest edition of the German Private Eye rpg. This one takes the investigators from London to Vienna.
• The second and third parts of the Wake the Dead adventures for Steamcraft landed. These link up but could probably be run independently.
• A World Gone Mad serves as a teaser for the still unreleased Victorious steampunk rpg. It's written generically and so could be easily adapted to other games.

17. Miscellaneous: Sourcebooks

Supplements expanding existing lines.

• The City of Faymouth a fantasy-steampunk sandbox setting for Fate Core. DramaScape released a companion poster map of the city.
• Compendium der Curiositäten covers the capital of the Finsterland setting. It assembles website articles and new material for this German RPG into a 212 page volume.
• Die Venus is a massive resource covering Venus in the Space 1889 setting. It’s unclear if we'll see a translation of this German-language edition.
• Monsternomicon a revised and reworked version of Privateer's classic Iron Kingdoms bestiary. Keyed for use with the original IK as well as the more recent IK Unleashed, it has great monsters and is worth picking up.
• Steam Powered: Devices of the Mechanical Age offers a set of general "steam-powered" rules for use with Pathfinder. Mostly covers items and vehicles.
• Steamscapes: Gunslinger's Guide focuses on character options for this Savage Worlds setting. This nicely complements the previous year's Steamscapes:North America.
• Weird Science Compendium offers a short guide to strange devices in the marginally steampunk Leagues of Adventure setting for Ubiquity.
• EN publishing released a few important items for the Zeitgeist setting, including the expanded editions of the Zeitgeist Campaign Guide and Player's Guide (for both 4e and Pathfinder). As well Seas of Zeitgeist offered naval rules.

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part One 1983-1996)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Two 1997-2003)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Three 2004-2006)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Four 2007-2008)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Five 2009)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Six 2010)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Seven 2011)

History of Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs (Part Eight 2012)

The Year in Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs 2013 (Part One: Äther, Dampf und Stahlgiganten to Owl Hoot Trail)

The Year in Steampunk & Victoriana RPGs 2013 (Part Two: Pure Steam to World of Steamfortress Victory)

History of Post-Apocalyptic RPGs

History of Horror RPGs

History of Superhero RPGs

Counterfeiting Setting: Fading Suns

THE STARS MY DERIVATION
In writing another post, I came across a new game: Wyrd. At first I thought it was connected with Wyrd Miniatures, but no- their Malifaux setting has its own off-name rpg (Through the Breach). Wyrd's blurb didn’t help, describing a kitchen-sink fantasy campaign with a new homebuilt system. So I checked out the extensive preview pdf on RPGNow. It…is something. It opens with a vast and convoluted history presented in multiple fonts. You're 50+ pages in before it offers any sense of what the game is. Info-Dump: The RPG. 

Don’t get me wrong- I love a rich world. I love my rich world. But sometimes these products, clearly evolved out of house campaigns, boggle me with their presentation. Leaving aside that they don't open with what's new about the game, they assume text density equals awesome. It doesn’t. It just makes me roll my eyes. And that happens even when I theoretically love the setting. When I try to read Iron Kingdoms, I drown in the material; inevitably I get lost. It's like someone's used a program to compress all of Tolkien's secondary materials into several dozen pages.

When I read this stuff I’m thinking of how I actually bring this to the table; how do I convey it to the players? If a setting makes that difficult, opaque, or confusing I’m going to skip it.

So if I like the concept of a dense setting- Earthdawn, Ars Magica, Iron Kingdoms, Weapons of the Gods, Shadowrun- what do I do?

I build a collaborative, counterfeit version.

And as you can see from the post title, I’m going to try that with Fading Suns.

This process are how I imagine I'd do this. I'd combine that with the discussion of game/genre elements I talked about with PUG'BUTTAH. But how do I start? Maybe with art? I could hold up the book cover. Or more usefully, I could pull together a Pinterest board. Assuming we have a spark, we establish limited facts and ask collaborative questions. 

12 FACTS ABOUT FADING SUNS

1. It’s a far, far future space setting with an ancient lost Earth.
2. Empires have risen and fallen. Relics, technology, and structures of previous ages remain.
3. Everyone uses ageless, ornate Star Gates to travel between systems. These require psyker interfaces and keys to activate.
4. A grand and elaborate Stellar Church exists. It has many distinct orders, with different precepts and powers. Some have pseudo-magical powers.
5. The Church prohibits 'think machines,' free psykers, and advanced ancient tech. The public generally shares an unease about these things.
6. A feudal structure controls most of the worlds. It's made up of an Imperial House plus five Noble families of massive influence.
7. There are multiple Guilds as well. They represent the third power group beside the Nobles and the Church.
8. Humanity has encountered Aliens. The less powerful aliens have been treated badly. If they have numbers, they’re treated warily. The most important are Space Elves and Star Gorillas.
9. Everything has a general Techno-Medieval or Techno-Gothic look and feel. That extends to behavior and hierarchies.
10. Each Noble House a distinct identity/theme. They each have several family lines.
11. Old lost systems and places exist beyond the known worlds, through forgotten Gate codes
12. Some tech is tolerated. Some is black market. Same for psykers.

Take those as base premises. That’s all the canon we need or want. Everything else we’ll make up. So what do we need to figure out as a group?

10 QUESTIONS ABOUT FADING SUNS

1. What are the names of the five Noble Houses?
2. What are they like and what are they known for?
3. What kinds of Guilds are there?
4. What’s a weird thing about each of those?
5. What are some of the Church orders?
6. What do clerics from those do and believe?
7. What’s going on with the Imperial Household?
8. How are psykers handled?
9. What kinds of aliens are there?
10. What are the three biggest threats out there?

After that we figure out the tone and what the characters actually do as I spoke about with Pug'buttah. All of this should fit on two pages, if that. Like a back of the book blurb. Everything else should emerge from play.

I have other game settings I like and want to establish. Which would work? Changeling the Lost, Mutant City Blues, Ars Magica, Ashen Stars, Iron Kingdoms, Mage the Sorcerers Crusade, Shadowrun, Night's Black Agents?

Dresden Files Accelerated: Confession and Conversion

TESTING PLAY

Recently I got to playtest the new Dresden Files Accelerated aka DFAE.

And that’s made me kind of fall in love with the Dresdenverse. Kind of.

Let’s me set the stage though. A scan of the blog shows I dig Fate. That wasn’t always the case. When I first read the Fate rules I did not get it at all. I began with Diaspora. It’s awesome and I love the planetary system-building material in. But I couldn’t grok the mechanics. I got it mechanically, but not how that actually played. Next I tried Spirit of the Century. Nope; still lost. Then I went to Strands of Fate. There it started to clock, despite SoF's weirdly reversed and overelaborate iteration. I had the basics but had trouble when I ran it for Sherri. Finally Legends of Angelerre and then Fate Core cleared that up. I saw how it worked. The realized system did many things I’d already incorporated into our homebrew, Action Cards. But it also brought the awesomeness of Aspects...which I then adapted.

So like Fate. And over time I’ve come to appreciate Fate Accelerated. At first I didn’t, but Sherri kept advocating for it.  My eyes opened when I ran a couple of sessions of Changeling the Lost FAE which went smooth as silk. The system simultaneously got out of the way and supported the play mechanically. I like FAE because it’s close to another RPG system I dig: PbtA. They intersect, coming at the same  base play space and system, albeit from different directions. PbtA focuses on the emulation first and avoids speaking mechanics. FAE presents the mechanics so clearly that they’re almost invisible. It names the +1 Hold and +2 Forward as Aspects, narrows to narrative stats, and offers cost to succeed resolution. I’m not saying they’re the same, but they smoothly transition.

OK, so that’s my main bias out of the way. Here’s the other one.

I don’t like The Dresden Files.

YOU'RE AN IDIOT LOWELL

I have to seriously qualify that. My exposure prior to getting the DFAE playtest doc included only the first two Dresden novels and a half-dozen episodes of the TV show (two of which regurgitated those books). It didn’t grab me. But I picked up the Dresden Files RPG books anyway. I had a hard time getting through those. I loved the city-building mechanics; that was and is awesome. But as a relative Dresdenverse newbie, the rest lost me. I could see where a setting enthusiast would enjoy it. But felt overwhelmed, especially by the magic system. I never got further than partway through the first book. And I went at it a couple of times.

So I went into DFAE with trepidation, drawn by the enthusiasm of a couple of the players.

And DFAE made me love the Dresdenverse. Maybe not for reading, but definitely for gaming. The way the playtest rules presented the material grabbed me. It broke things up into playable chunks, with background emerging from the character archetypes. Each added new colors to the picture. As importantly, they suggested new questions and ideas. And I got to come up with answers. The material, unlike some rpg writing, opened the world up to me rather than closing down to a single interpretation.

13th Age takes explicitly takes this approach. In their new GM Resource Book, they say “Instead of telling a single story and filling in the details, we aim to make GMs and players feel excited about having tweaked or improved ideas to make them their own. What might seem like incomplete design in other games or game worlds is the product of deliberate exclusion in 13th Age design.” The DFAE material does that. Because it left that room I became excited considering what I could use or transform within the setting. So we got my PC, who owes a little bit to Unknown Armies. He fits within the context. For my plot I introduced a new lost Court of the Fae, destroyed and written out from the records. I introduced a Knight of the Autumn Court and it fit fine within the context of the material. Sherri rethought the role of the Winter Knight and that worked too. 

DFAE allows entry into the world while reducing (but not eliminating) the barrier of canon. So my Dresdenverse will vary. Just like my Glorantha and Rokugan may vary. It sent me back to the second Dresden Files RPG volume with new eyes and an appreciation for the material, now that I had a road map.

What Else Did I Like about the DFAE Playtest materials?

Keep in mind this is based off an early version so things may change.

• I dig the way it handles character templates, called Mantles here. The system makes each archetype feel unique. You get a solid combination of pre-built and self-selected material. The two Magical Practitioners we created felt distinct. As I said above, I like how each mantle opens up another corner of the setting. I also appreciate how the abstractions of the system allows great range in character types.
• Damage works here. The unique stresses for each mantle add depth. In particular I like how the simplified system handles Consequences. When I run, that’s a rough spot in game flow. If players want to take a consequence to reduce damage, they need to name it. More often than not, this screeches things to a halt. Despite having done this many times, they’re remain uncertain what fits with what level of conseuqnce. As well, they try to come up with something that won’t cripple them later. They forget I can get them regardless of what they come up with. Because I’m terrible.
• The Magic system works for me. I worried about that, given how much the DFRPG mechanics put me off. Here they’re much more open and flexible. The ritual magic system reminds me a little of Atomic Robo’s Brainstorming, but even easier to use.

There’s more, but those are the highlights. Bottom line: as a Fate-fan, this deepened my appreciation for what the system can do. As a Dresdenverse denier, this got me excited about the setting. I’m looking forward to the final version next year.