Possible playable species and subspecies 2 include
- Humans (variants depend on home culture/nation)
- Dwarves (Mountain/Alpīniste, Cave/Speliukt, Volcanic/minahuie, field/hobbit
- Kobolds (Hobgoblin, goblin, gremlins, knockers bogey each have aptitudes in art, science, domestic, industry, and in the case of bogeys, child care.)
- Ogres (Troll, Orc, Bugbear)
- Sprites - Small fast and mystical. (Mephits, pixies, brownies, and gelflings) 3
- Changlings - (Not Applicable)4
- Clanks - Clockwork robots and motivated by artificial souls made steam, magnets, and SCIENCE! 5 (Domestic, Idol/entertainment, industrial)
Here comes the major tilt. The world is actually a collection of islands floating in the aether, some of them as big as nations, and instead of travelling on the seas, ships float in the air on the aether.
I plan on using Savage Worlds Adventure Edition for a couple reasons. First of all the new version has great race building rules and a workable vehicle combat systems that does not bog down RP. Ship to ship combat rules in RPGs always seem to be an afterthought that turn it into a wargame. Finally it has a mass combat system baked right into the rules. This means that if the players want to become air pirates and eventually grow to the point when we deal with fleets and scores of soldier, we can do that.
First thing we need to do would be seeing what they want the flavor of steampunk people want to play. Possibilities include
- Put the PUNK back into steampunk! City rats in a dingy street level urban fantasy.
- Globe trotters Granted its not a globe but you can explore the exotic island nations that comprise the Worlds of Man and the curiosities therein in a this Vernesque/Wellsian fantasy
- Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon Take flight and explore the strange post of strange races beyond the lands of man, weither as an explorer, or a pirate or both.
- For the Empire! Steampunk as military/political thriller
1 If you think this sounds a lot like "Carnival Row" especially the "For The Empire" setting, I wholeheartedly admit it heavily influenced by the series. Its a great watch by the way and wholeheartedly recommend for those who love steampunk fantasy and well thought out worldbuilding. <i>
3 <i>Characters will start at 0XP novice rank but to give species and cultures more flavor I an giving each subrace a free edge or ability that is tailored your subrace. You are free to suggest your own.
3 Yes I also watched Dark Crystal.
4 I would love to include shapechanging tricksters in this game but they don't exist. Really. Honest. No lie. And the stories they have infiltrated our society is utter nonsense. Trust me on this.
5 Note SCIENCE! Is not to be confused with mere science. the correct pronunciation of this term is to yell out “SCI-ENCE” actutely stressing the first syllable while simultaneously pointing your right index finger in the upward direction.)