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[poll] Opinion on Steampunk settings

Started by Numinous, March 04, 2006, 10:48:13 PM

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What do you think of Steampunk settings?

I'd make a setting like that, and play in one too
11 (47.8%)
I wouldn't build one, but I'd play in one
8 (34.8%)
Yuck!  Definitely not fantasy
4 (17.4%)

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Soup Nazi

#15
March 22, 2006, 08:13:46 AM
QuoteSo if a typical fantasy setting (say, Greyhawk) all of a sudden has an invention of guns, pistols, rifles, and cannons, does it become steampunk, or are firearms not considered high-tech enough to warrant the title?
Not really.

*Steampunk is a subgenre of speculative fiction which came into prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. It concerns works set in the past, or a world resembling the past, in which modern technological paradigms occurred earlier in history, but were accomplished via the science already present in that time period.* -Thanks Wiki-

Think of steam punk as a setting where the ideas of inventors like Leonardo da Vinci were embraced and actually played a huge role in Europe during the 14th and 15th centuries. Imagine his tanks were actually used on the battlefields, and his submarines became common.

With steam punk you take an idea with some precedent, embrace it, and expand upon it. Eberron is very close to steam punk in the sense that it takes magic to a whole new level. Everbright lanterns are common in every major settelment. Magewrites opperate shops in every city. The airships and lightning rails are magical advancements without precedent in a the world of D&D. The technology was there all along, but it was never taken to this level in any previous D&D setting.

The Automail of Full Metal Alchemist is also very conceptually steam punk. Mechanical limbs in an early 20th century setting based largely upon post WWI Germany. It's a genre that really hasn't yet come unto its own, but it has great potential.

-Nasty-

The spoon is mightier than the sword

Xathan

#16
March 22, 2006, 09:48:12 AM
One of the problems with steampunk is it is still in it's infancy, despite however old it might actually be: With Fantasy, you can point to it and say "That's Fantasy." with Science Fiction, you can point to it and go
"That's Science Fiction." With Steampunk, the best you can do is point to it and go "uhhhhhhhh..." It isn't even defined as being a subsection of Fantasy or Sci-Fi, just a subsection of Speculative Fiction.

Of course, that is also the advantage of Steampunk - it isn't so clearly defined that people will rabidly jump on your back and say "This isn't steampunk!!!!1!11one" And the feel Steampunk has - the gritty feel that I love so much, is one thing that seems to be a constant.
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Xeviat

#17
March 22, 2006, 04:23:45 PM
If I remember correctly, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Dark Fantasy (or Horror) are all lumped together as Speculative Fiction. Either that or "Speculative Fiction" is a word for "Science Fiction" for those without the guts to admit that they're nerds.

One or the other. Maybe something else.

PS: That was said mostly in jest; class was canceled today so I'm quite happy.
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