Steam-driven Science Fiction

[ultranos]

I have a special love for the Steampunk genre. The first one-shot LARP I ever wrote (that would be Flight of the Dauntless, for those keeping score at home) was total Victorian Steampunk: English aristocracy, airships, grimy engineers, a clock-work boy, and a werewolf priest. (Because, you know, Anglican werewolves totally make sense...let's forget that he was bitten by a coyote.) And I'm currently working on a tabletop campaign setting involving Steampunk and Lovecraftian horror. And if I could ever figure out how to do it, a Steampunk AU of Stargate could be fascinating.

(Someone remind me to get photos of the brass goggles some of The Usual Suspects machined last term. Yes, out of brass tubing, acrylic, and leather. They're heavy, but they look FANTASTIC.)

So, imagine my delight when Ars Technica had this article: The Memories of Our Future: Steampunk in Gaming. A look at what steampunk is and how it's appeared in video games, which for me is basically "two great tastes that go great together!" It also touches on why the genre has pretty much taken a backseat for so many decades, even though it's what sci-fi used to be (back in the days of Jules Verne. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was my favorite required reading in 7th grade).

Comments

[kihou.livejournal.com]

Totally a werecoyote.

[ultranos-fic.livejournal.com]

Did we actually ever use that phrase? I just remember "the vicar is a werewolf!"

What crack were we smoking?

[kihou.livejournal.com]

No, you didn't use that phrase in game, though coyote was the closest thing explicitly in my sheet to describing what I was. I believe my werewolf-form name badge described me as hairy and bestial, but specified neither wolf nor coyote. I still maintain I was a werecoyote, though.

[ultranos-fic.livejournal.com]

Oh right. This is another one of those "GM Sekrit Names for Things". Because you're right, we never did put the actual word "werewolf" in the game. And we did say you got bit by a coyote.

[auguris]

So, because emoing myself out about Universe Lost isn't enough personal torture, I'm also working on another huge project that I haven't bothered to tell anybody about. It was going to be high fantasy, but that didn't make a lot of sense. Then you said steampunk, and a couple of days later everything clicked into place. Of course, now I have to reread all the staples of the genre to make sure I'm doing it right. ALSO of course, my parents got rid of all those books at one point or another, so I have to go about finding them a different way.

IN CONCLUSION: This is all your fault. :P

[ultranos-fic.livejournal.com]

You do realize I feel no guilt whatsoever, right?