Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

[McManus]

Hey all,

 

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): How does a society with limited access to iron/steel, but access to industrialized magic, create a Victorian level of technology?

 

I am looking to create a kid friendly fantasy campaign setting that is somewhat early Victorian/steampunk in flavor. Basic premise is that this is an alternate earth that has a shared history with ours until about 1100CE where British, Irish, and Norse elves, faeries, other folkloric/mythical beings showed up in the world. There were thousands, maybe millions of them. They brought magic too.

 

Pretty quickly they began to breed with normal humans and the fey (humans with faerie blood) had magical abilities. After some wars the “Unsealie” faeries were banished to the east where they met up with the Mongol hordes. The Norse dwarfs went west with the Vikings to the Iron Lands (North America) and the British faeries helped Britain establish the Empire of the West (based off the Gallic/Western Roman/Holy Roman Empire).

 

Move forward to ~1850 and the three big polities are the Empire of the West (UK, Europe and its holdings around the world), the Iron Kingdom (North America), and the Great Horde/Golden Kahnate – (Most of Asia).

 

Basically I am trying for a British Empire/Great Game feel for the story, with other geographic areas available for other flavors. The Iron Kingdom is a big Viking Land with some Wild West feel. The Southern Empire (Brazil and neighbors) is a more traditional feudal fantasy area with lots of alchemy. The Malagay Republic is the home of Enlightened Democracy. The Great Horde is the home of freedom and individualistic achievement/lawless anarchy and despotism (depends on your point of view).

 

One of the main story elements is that the fey (except for the Iron Lords) are allergic/susceptible to iron and steel. Therefore they have to develop technology without it. This means bronze, brass, silver, and magic.

 

My questions for the group are –

 

What does the Western empire use for weapons for its armies? The Brits had the Enfield Rifled Musket in 1855. Could a musket (especially a rifled one) be made without iron? What about artillery?

 

What about steam engines? Can they be made without iron? What about railroad tracks? Telegraph lines? Other technologies of the time?

 

What would be worthwhile magical substitutions for these or other technologies that require iron? I see industrial magic as the creation of enchanted items in an assembly line fashion. The assembly line workers would have to be fey while the gadgets themselves are made for use by non-fey. What would an industrial magic economy look like? How can magic and science co-exist or interact?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[mayapuppies]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

I have absolutely no input other than, this sounds very cool.

[tancred]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Ditto Mayapuppies' comments; this sounds very cool.

 

I'd think guns and (especially) artillery would be extremely difficult to create without iron (although I do remember reading that there were brass cannons in the Napoleonic era).

 

For an interesting take on a society using magic as technology, check out Hell's Gate and Hell Hath No Fury, both by David Weber and Linda Evans.

These novels have a non-magic-using technological society (that has psionic powers instead) colliding with one that does use magic as technology. Some VERY cool ideas there.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Yeah, I read them, and will probably reread them soon. Like much of Weber's later stuff I wish he had a disciplined editor to help him cut some of the words. Two 600 page volumes and the main characters have still not finished their voyage to get to the main city.

 

But you are right. I will need to mine it for ideas.

[boomer]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

http://www.studiofoglio.com/index.php4

 

Girl Genius by the ever popular Foglios has great examples of SteamPunk (I actually think Kaja Foglio is credited with coining that phrase). There was Steel in Victorian times (swords were still in fashion) and since you are using the Fey Folk, you can have them create some kind of Magical alloys. The English used bolt action rifles with cartridge ammo back then. Rent a copy of Zulu or Zulu Dawn which are movies about the Battle of Roarkes Drift during the Victorian Era. Lot's of info to be found out there about the Victorian Military and their weapons. Yes, I will also put in my "sounds freaking cool" props to you.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Thanks. I am a big Foglio fan and Girl Geius is par tof the feel I am going for.

 

I guess i am wondering if there are other mundane alloys that are good enough to allow Victorian technologies. How about Aluminum Bronze? Or Red Brass (sometimes called gunmetal)? How about a magical way of processing titanium or beryllium to strengthen various bronzes to be as strong and as cheep as steel for those parts of a rifle or pistol that would require the strength. Same for cannons and other bigh guns. What about steam engines and railroad tracks.

 

I need a metallurgist or a earth elementalist!

[boomer]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Thanks. I am a big Foglio fan and Girl Geius is par tof the feel I am going for.

 

I guess i am wondering if there are other mundane alloys that are good enough to allow Victorian technologies. How about Aluminum Bronze? Or Red Brass (sometimes called gunmetal)? How about a magical way of processing titanium or beryllium to strengthen various bronzes to be as strong and as cheep as steel for those parts of a rifle or pistol that would require the strength. Same for cannons and other bigh guns. What about steam engines and railroad tracks.

 

I need a metallurgist or a earth elementalist!

 

Can't help you on the metalurgy and I'm more of a Fire guy myself....You can create a magical process yourself. Give certain metals a failure rate based on the forgers PS or KS of the process. Certain "rare" metals get a penalty (-4 to roll because the Metalurgist just doesn't have the familiarity with that metal). Steam Locomotion was possible, just not practical (too expensive, or just wasn't mass produced yet). Jules Verne was great at picturing Victorian "Hi-Tech". Iron was a very reliable metal, ie Cast Iron. Cannons were made of it...yes they sometimes failed, but that's probably part of what you are going for. It sounds like you are really going to have a great campaign.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Bronze will work fine in cannons. There were still bronze guns in WWI, not that far behind the curve. Muskets/rifles are another matter. The same properties that give iron alloys superior tensile strength and hardness also give it enhanced resistance to chemical attack. the relatively low melting point of aluminum is also a concern, and I doubt beryllium is much better.

Magically obtained titanium should work just fine. But that's a pretty humungous magico-technical leap. Poul Anderson used "degaussed" iron in one of his steampunk fantasies. Why not just do the same?

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

If you're allowing magic, there's no reason magic couldn't be used to strengthen bronze into a firearm capable metal. If you don't want it to be exactly equivalent to iron/steel (convenient, yet somewhat boring), you can say that muskets of bronze have to be built heavier than iron ones, meaning that soldiers get loaded down with less equipment, but that there will be less recoil (lower STR min) due to the weight of the weapon.

 

Some soldiers may be outfitted with heavy leather suits, to handle hazardous iron bullets or artillery shells. They would be like WMD against other fey.

[The Monster]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Of course magic can be invoked to create novel alloys or altered materials.

 

One option that came to my mind is to use rockets, or a kind of gyrojet weapon instead of rifles or pistols. The weapon itself is little more than a tube, which can do just fine as bronze or even hardened wood, and the ammunition is very cleverly devised rockets. Accuracy might suffer, but you could have a wide variey of warheads on the rockets: explosives, gas, flares, etc.

 

Actual steam power might be a problem; I don't know that anything less than iron will hold the pressure for useful steam in any quantity. If you go for truly paved/macadam roads, however, the need for rails can be decreased if large, reliable transport can travel on those roads. With a nicely picturesque series of gears, it might be just plausible that muscle power could be used to much greater effect than an old-fashioned hitching rig. Imagine a large vehicle which is powered by oxen, not pulling it directly, but walking an on-board treadmill, which then turns a series of stepup gears which in turn propel the vehicle. Actually, a smaller boiler engine might also be used in a similar way: while steam technology might work the same way as historical, the technology of power trains would be much more the focus than boilers and higher pressures.

[LoresLost]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Odd thought, why not mystically enhanced ceramics to replace iron among your fay and semi fay folk. Modern material science is leaning toward carbon fiber reinforced ceramics for uses in high heat/ high stress applications. So magically aligned and prepared ceramics might actually replace iron and steel in steam engines and may be artillery pieces (Guns I am less sure about.)

[Tom Carman]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

If you're allowing magic, there's no reason magic couldn't be used to strengthen bronze into a firearm capable metal. If you don't want it to be exactly equivalent to iron/steel (convenient, yet somewhat boring), you can say that muskets of bronze have to be built heavier than iron ones, meaning that soldiers get loaded down with less equipment, but that there will be less recoil (lower STR min) due to the weight of the weapon.

 

Some soldiers may be outfitted with heavy leather suits, to handle hazardous iron bullets or artillery shells. They would be like WMD against other fey.

 

Have you read Aaron Allston's novels Doc Sidhe and Sidhe-Devil? In an alternate world with a lot of fey blood, iron and steel are toxic, especially to the pure-bloods. Guns are bronze with magically-reinforced barrels. A razor-sharp steel katana is a particularly dangerous melee weapon. Steel is used in constructing high-rise buildings, but needs special handling by the workers and special assembly methods to prevent rust leakage.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

What does the Western empire use for weapons for its armies? The Brits had the Enfield Rifled Musket in 1855. Could a musket (especially a rifled one) be made without iron? What about artillery? [/Quote]

Yes, metallurgically speaking, you could use other metals like Brass, but the Size and Weight change to make things comparable.

 

What about steam engines? Can they be made without iron? What about railroad tracks? Telegraph lines? Other technologies of the time? [/Quote]

Steam Engines could be made of Brass as well. If necessity required it, advances in ceramics could have easily replaced many Iron based technologies.

 

What would be worthwhile magical substitutions for these or other technologies that require iron? [/Quote]

Orichulum is one possibility. As is Adamant, and of coarse any excuse he GM requires.

 

I see industrial magic as the creation of enchanted items in an assembly line fashion. The assembly line workers would have to be fey while the gadgets themselves are made for use by non-fey. [/Quote]

See Arrrowsmith, Castle Falkenstein, and more... Limiting factors could include Energy Requirements, Training/Experience, and/or Specialization. Any number of factors could keep a cap. Even financial.

 

What would an industrial magic economy look like? [/Quote]

Cool

 

How can magic and science co-exist or interact? [/Quote]

Easily, Science is the Non Mages way of competing.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

QM

 

 

P.S.: Victorian Hero Resources

http://herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?p=599122#post599122

[Yansuf]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

One of the main story elements is that the fey (except for the Iron Lords) are allergic/susceptible to iron and steel. Therefore they have to develop technology without it. This means bronze, brass, silver, and magic.

 

My questions for the group are –

 

What does the Western empire use for weapons for its armies? The Brits had the Enfield Rifled Musket in 1855. Could a musket (especially a rifled one) be made without iron? What about artillery?

 

What about steam engines? Can they be made without iron? What about railroad tracks? Telegraph lines? Other technologies of the time?

 

What would be worthwhile magical substitutions for these or other technologies that require iron? I see industrial magic as the creation of enchanted items in an assembly line fashion. The assembly line workers would have to be fey while the gadgets themselves are made for use by non-fey. What would an industrial magic economy look like? How can magic and science co-exist or interact?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Without using magic, bronze alloys can be made that are adequate for 19th century firearms. Iron and steel originally replaced bronze because they were cheaper.

I'm not sure of the required processing, but current copper-beryllium alloys have impressive strength, ductility, toughness and incredible hardness. While they are not as strong as the best steel available today, they are far stronger than the best steel available in 1900.

Various nickel based alloys can replace steel for most things, but are more expensive.

Current aluminum alloys are far stronger than steel that was available in 1900, but aluminum is hard to process without electricity. For use in firearms you would also have to pay close attention to cooling, since aluminum cannot take as much heat as steel or bronze.

Of course, with magic completely new alloys are possible.

[The Monster]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

A truly magical alternative would be to propel the bullets with something other than chemical explosives. Have a magical gunsight which allows the shooter to form a magical attraction between the next bullet and the chosen target - big adds on accuracy, but useless for indirect fire, and rather slow (but probably not slower than muzzle-loading rifles!). For indirect fire, one could teleport or TK explosives onto a certain point on a map, or have them guided by remote viewing through a flier. Then it doesn't really matter what metals are used for the gun, as long as they don't burn the user or short out the mana.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Thanks all.

 

I had not thought about the relative quality of Victorian v. modern steel when looking at sites/sources that talked about the tensile strength of various bronzes/brasses and other alloys.

 

Nor had I thought about the use of carbon fiber or ceramics for materials. Could also use cermets (ceramic/metal composites) such as tungsten carbide for blade edges or firing chambers.

 

GURPS Technomancer has a setting that deals with industrial enchantment in a modern era. Not the same but has some ideas I can mine.

 

Please keep the ideas coming.

[Supreme Serpent]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): How does a society with limited access to iron/steel, but access to industrialized magic, create a Victorian level of technology?

 

One of the main story elements is that the fey (except for the Iron Lords) are allergic/susceptible to iron and steel. Therefore they have to develop technology without it. This means bronze, brass, silver, and magic.

 

My questions for the group are –

 

What does the Western empire use for weapons for its armies? The Brits had the Enfield Rifled Musket in 1855. Could a musket (especially a rifled one) be made without iron? What about artillery?

 

What about steam engines? Can they be made without iron? What about railroad tracks? Telegraph lines? Other technologies of the time?

 

What would be worthwhile magical substitutions for these or other technologies that require iron? I see industrial magic as the creation of enchanted items in an assembly line fashion. The assembly line workers would have to be fey while the gadgets themselves are made for use by non-fey. What would an industrial magic economy look like? How can magic and science co-exist or interact?

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Snipped and bold added.

 

Couple of points - it's not that they would have limited access to iron and steel, just that it wouldn't get used as much for some applications/by some people.

 

If the gadgets are being made for use by non-fey, it sounds like there's lots of non-fey running around. If so, especially if the fey are still a minority, why not have the bulk of the army still use iron-based weapons except where superior alternatives are available? Let your regiment of humans use their iron/steel rifles, swords, and cannons, and have your fey magician unit attached to them use enchanted brass, etc. gear. Issue duplicate sets of medical instruments to medical staff (assuming that you don't just use magical healers) and train them in dealing with fey 'iron wounds' as well.

 

Plus, if iron has inherent anti-magical properties, I'd want my non-magical troops lugging a lot of it around anyways! Much easier countermeasure to enemy magic than trying to enchant/ward everything.

[BlackCobra]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Yes, it's D&D, but I would highly recommend taking a look at the Eberron Campaign world setting by Wizards. It's "traditional" D&D that feels like the 1920's. World War just ended, lots of Noir and spies, a "Dark Continent" full of adventure, and techno-magic. They have trains that run on "lightning rails", which basically small pylons that float the train along. They have airships that use bound elementals to propel them.

 

It may definitely give you some interesting ideas.

 

And using magic to create alloys is probably your best bet. But brass is definitely VERY Victorian SteamPunk.

 

I also second the Doc-Sidhe books by Aaron Allston. Good stuff!

 

Here's some inspirational websites (for visuals, anyway):

http://www.brassgoggles.co.uk/brassgoggles/

 

http://www.datamancer.net/steampunklaptop/steampunklaptop.htm

 

http://www.becausewecan.org/Office_interior_with_custom_desks

 

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/steampunk

 

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/steampunk

 

 

Oh! There's also GURPS Steampunk, no foolin'. It's probably out of print, but I think Steve Jackson Games sells almost all their back-catalog stuff as PDFs.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Snipped and bold added.

 

Couple of points - it's not that they would have limited access to iron and steel, just that it wouldn't get used as much for some applications/by some people.

 

If the gadgets are being made for use by non-fey, it sounds like there's lots of non-fey running around. If so, especially if the fey are still a minority, why not have the bulk of the army still use iron-based weapons except where superior alternatives are available?

 

I thought about that. In the Western Empire, which is the main setting for the stories the fey are often the Aristocracy and the upper classes. While there are poor fey, they are often the illegitimate descendants of some aristocratic fey.

 

In the military the officers are often, if not always fey. And the High Command is always fey. Therefor they don't want the average trooper having ready access to iron weapons/tools. Not the least because their officers would have a strong allergic reaction to just being in proximity to their troops.

 

This isn't to say there are not all human special ops groups that use iron, but they are not the norm.

 

The Iron Kingdom is just the opposite. They use iron as much as it is used in our world's history. The dwarf blood in their mages is not allergic to iron, but they are limited in the sorts of magic they can do (mostly earth and fire elemental types, and the much slower rune magics). Luckily for the Empire the Iron Lords are isolationist rather than expansionist.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Hey all,

 

 

In the venerable tradition of the Hero Boards I wanted to put forward some of the details of my new campaign world. I would love to get feed back on things it would be cool to add or things that might need rethinking. One thing to recall is that I am creating this for a game I am using to intro my boys (ages 8 and 10) to gaming, so I want to make it somewhat simple and familiar. At the same time I like more detail in my world to give me hooks for plots I am interested in writing.

 

EORTH BACKGROUND

 

General

 

Eorth is an alternate world that split from ours some 1000 years ago. Despite the split the events in one world influence the other. The Napoleonic Wars in our world, for instance, were reflected by the usurper Bonaparte who almost managed to overthrow the Empire from within. Even the names of major players are often the same, or at least similar. There is time lag between the two worlds and events do not always take place at the same time.

 

The main split between the worlds happened 1000 years ago when the faerie realm manifested within the human realm on Eorth. Hundreds of thousands of faeries appeared world wide. The vast majority manifested in the British Isles and Scandinavia. Smaller numbers of related mythical beings manifested in other parts of the world. It is thought that all these mythical/folkloric beings came from the same realm.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Eorth History

 

On the first day of the new millennium the world changed forever. The curtain between the faerie world and the human world was rent asunder. The center of this rent was in the British Isles. Smaller rents occurred in others places, with the largest secondary rent being in Scandinavia.

 

The political differences that the Faeries brought with them to this world climaxed in the Faerie Wars of the 12th Century. The Seelie and Unseelie Courts, along with their human allies, battled across Europe, ending with the Unseelie Court being banished to the Far East, the Dwarves and their allies entering voluntarily exile to the New World, and the Seelie Court intermarrying into the noble houses of Europe.

 

The Unseelie Court and their allies fled to the Far East where they settled in and around the Khitan Empire. Little is know of their actions there until the rise of Temujin in 1190. It is thought that they separated, with each faerie lord allying himself with some local ruler or taking over some tribe and used them as pieces in their internecine struggles. It is known that some of the Unseelie allied themselves with this strong human leader and helped spur him to power. It is thought that Temujin may have been fey. It is certain that many of his descendants were. By the time of Temujin’s, then known as Genghis Khan, death in 1228 the Unseelie had once again put aside most of their internal divisions and put their strength behind the growing Mongol Empire. Buy 1280 Kublai Khan, the fey descendant of Genghis Khan, had conquered most of Asia, the Middle East, and Russia. The Empire stopped expanding after Kublai’s death in 1297, but while it fractured it did not give up many of its holdings.

 

The Mongol Empire was really a loose confederation of many different Hordes and Khanates. The Unseelie Court’s internal struggles increased the tendencies for these groups to break apart. Over the centuries one leader or another would arise and unify some portion of the loose Empire. Timur (Tamerlane) who united a large portion of Central Asia under his control in the late 14th century and Ivan who united a large part of Russia in the far west of the Golden Khanate in the late 15th century were perhaps the most famous of these.

 

After the Faerie Wars England, with the highest concentration of faerie and fey in the world, began to expand it power. By 1200 England, Scotland, Cornwall, and Wales were joined as Kingdom of Great Britain. During the next two hundred years Britain conquered Ireland and France. By 1540 the British Empire had taken the title of Holy Roman Empire after King Henry’s defeat of Emperor Charles and Pope Clement. During this time British, Nordic, and Spanish colonies were vying for domination of the New World. Each had indigenous allies. The advantage the Iron Lords had gave them something of an advantage, but since many of the colonist were true humans the Iron Lord’s iron weapons were less dangerous in the New World than in Europe.

 

At the end of the Thirty Years War, the 1648 Peace of Westphaelia brought most of the major European countries under the imperial patronage of the British Crown. Each of the sovereignties kept their own crowns, but these in turn swore loyalty (and in some cases fealty) to the Holy Roman Emperor, who was also the King of Great Britain. France and Ireland were once again granted sovereign status separate from Britain but under the Empire. The Empire became the Empire of the Western World. New World holdings were consolidated under the Empire.

 

The Empire did not long remain at peace. In 1650 public dissatisfaction with the Crown’s preoccupation with Europe, among other causes, led to a civil war that ended with the regicide of King Charles and his son. After a period of chaos Oliver Cromwell used the Army set up a Protectorate and was declared Lord Protector. This lasted only a few years before the Royal line was restored. During this time the Empire’s hold on the other European houses was weakened. This lead to the War of the Grand Alliance at the end of the 17th century. By the end this war The Empire was more firmly restored and in control of most of Europe and the New World.

 

At this time, in the Great Horde – the western term for the peoples of the Mongol Empire – were seeing a resurgence in expansionism. The Unseelie elements with in the Great Horde had reestablished their control over the various humans. The Mughals of the Central Asian steppes, descendants of the Timurid Empire, started to expand into South Asia and India. By 1627 the Muhgal Emperor was well established on the throne of India and by 1690 had control over most of the Ottoman Empire. With in the bounds of the Golden Khanate the Unseelie faerie and fey maintained a much more strict caste system between themselves and true humans, with the humans on the bottom. While little of the original Faerie culture remained, the basic evil of the Unseelie was a strong current permeating the cultures within the Khanate.

 

The 17th century saw the beginnings of the Age of Reason that lead to the Enlightenment. This philosophical revolution also led to the political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. The great Imperial Merchant Companies saw their beginnings in this time as well. In the 1770s the first of the great revolutions occurred when The Iron Kingdom won its independence from the Empire. The Southern Empire followed soon thereafter. This was also the age when the British managed to wrest control of India and parts of Southeast Asia from the Khanate. Persia, with some help from the Empire, also gained their independence from the Khanate.

 

In the 1790s the French revolted, killing their king and forming a republic. Republican feeling was running high in London and the Empire chose to regard this as a matter internal to the French, as long as they did not repudiate the allegiance to the Empire. But in 1804 Napoléon Bonaparte declared independence from the Empire, crowning himself the first French Emperor. He managed to sweep across most of Europe. It was not until the Battle of Waterloo that he was finally, and permanently defeated the European War ended and the Empire restored.

 

This brings us to the current time (flex time between 1835-1885). The Empire, under Queen Victoria’s firm hand, is playing the Great Game with the Khanate and the Persians to gain control over Central Asia. The Khanate is moving all across the world trying to reassert itself as a world power outside its borders.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Major Powers of the World

 

 

The Empire of the Western World – The largest of the world’s empires. Often referred to simply as the Empire or the Western Empire. A federation made up of many constituent parts some more closely tied to the Imperial Crown than others. The Empire has a central parliament that includes representatives from all the vassal states. The Imperial bureaucracy governs the Crown holdings and provinces while other states are self-governing.

 

The Empire is the world leader in magic, most technology, agriculture, commerce, manufacturing, enchanting, and military might. Culture and language varies across the Empire, but British culture and English language is the standard to which all others are compared. The great merchant companies have great influence over vast parts of the Empire and compete with each other and with other trade interests for access to markets and resources. The Empire is joined by the Twelve Great Gates. These are magical portals between the most important or strategic of the Imperial holdings. The Great Gates connect London to Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Vienna, Rome, Ottawa, Nassau, Cairo, Cape Town, Calcutta, Brunei, and Sydney. They are two-way and permanent, but passage through a Gate costs almost as much as a traditional voyage between them would.

 

Power in the Empire is based on birth, wealth, and achievement. The aristocracy is almost entirely fey, but there are many fey outside the aristocracy as well. The Empire has a very class conscious society, but it is not completely closed. Successful merchants, scientists, military men, and others may find themselves raised to the gentry or even the peerage if their accomplishments find favor with the Crown.

 

There is always unrest in the Empire. The military always has work putting down rebellions or piracy, as well as protecting Imperial interests beyond the borders. There are still parts of the world that are unexplored and unexploited. It is a great time to be British.

 

 

Component parts –

 

United Kingdom of Great Britain - Home Kingdom of the Imperial Crown

 

Imperial Vassal States – People born in these areas are considered Imperial Citizens

• Kingdoms & Principalities – semi-autonomous sovereignties within the Empire - King, Prince, Grand Duke - Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, other European holdings
  
• Dominions – subordinate sovereignties that were formerly Colonies – Governor General – Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and Newfoundland
  
• Provinces – Large areas directly under Crown control – Viceroy - India, Pakistan, Ceylon, Bangladesh, and Burma
  
• Crown Colonies – self-governing overseas territories not held directly held by the Crown – Governor – the Caribbean islands, Ethiopia, Rhodesia, Malaysia, many others
  
• Crown Dependencies – direct holdings of the British Crown – Chief Minister – the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), the Isle of Man, Gibraltar, Malta, Hainan .
  

 

Autonomous Vassal States – People born in these areas, unless born of Citizen families, are not considered Imperial Citizens

 

• Princely States – Large states treaty bound to the Empire, but nominally autonomous – Raja, Nawab, Emir/Amir, Khedive, Sultan, Resident-General, Chief Resident, Resident - Hyderabad, Mysore, Jammu and Kashmir, Baroda, Egypt, Saudi-Arabia
  
• Protectorates - a political entity that formally agrees by treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with the Empire. Internal government established by Crown - Lord High Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, Commissioner, Agent – Greece, Ionian Islands, British Residency of the Persian Gulf States, Maldives, Uganda, and many African states
  
• Protected States - a political entity that formally agrees by treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with the Empire. Britain controls only defense and external relations - Chief Resident, Resident, Envoy, Agent - Greece, Cyprus, Rumania, Palestine, Jordan
  

 

 

The Great Horde/Golden Khanate – This is the second largest polity on Eorth. It is an even looser federation of individual sovereignties than the Empire. Some of the states within the Khanate, such as the Pricipality of the Russias and the Empire of the Great Khan, are huge. Others, such as the Ilkhanate (present day Afghanistan) or the Crimean Khanate, are smaller. And some Hordes or Khans control no more than a single valley or town. The basic technology level of the Khanate is much lower than that of the Empire. The Khanate, with a few rare exceptions, is still almost medieval. The Enlightenment did not come to the Khanate. Moscovy and Cathay are the two most advanced parts of the Khanate, almost up to European standards. The rest of the lands under the Horde are poor, with the population worked hard just to provide the food for survival. Any excess is taxed by the rulers. This is mostly because the Mongol rulers of the Khanate, shaped by a millennium of Unseelie philosophy, do not encourage free or progressive thinking. Any individual that can fight his way to the top is allowed to keep what power he can build. But, there is little rule of law to help him or her maintain his power, only the rule of the sword and spell. The Mongols claim this is the ultimate in personal freedom and individualistic achievement. Most outsiders see it as lawlessness approaching anarchy.

 

 

The Iron Kingdom – This is the third of the world’s Great Powers. The many various North American colonies that now make up the Kingdom fought for their independence from the Western Empire starting in 1776. Eventually the war ended with Canada, Newfoundland, and Greenland staying in the Empire and the southern colonies gaining their independence. The Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. The King is elected by the Althing, the Kingdom’s Parliment. He serves for life, unless impeached. The real head of government is the President of the Alting. The Alting is made up of two houses – the Storting and the Odelsting. The Iron Kingdom is an odd cultural mix of Norse, native (skraeling), British, French, German, and Spanish ancestries. African and Asian cultures have played a part as well. Africans were brought to the new world as slaves, while Chinese came as laborers and merchants. The Kingdom accepts immigrants from all over the world and is something of a melting pot. The percentage of fey in the population is significantly lower than in the Empire. And many of the fey are dwarf breeds, enabling them to work with iron. Thus the Kingdom has a technological advantage over the rest of the world. The Iron Lords, dwarf breed fey, are perhaps the best engineers and enchanters in the world, as well as some of the hardest soldiers. The Kingdom has a level of industrialization that matches the home countries in the Empire and exceeds all others in the world. Traditionally the Kingdom has been isolationist, trying to stay out of the rest of the world’s business. This is in part because they are still trying to conquer their own continent. But this is changing as they need more resources to support their industrializations and markets for the products produced.

 

 

The Southern Empire – Officially called The United Empire of Greater Brazil, this feudal confederation is the world’s foremost producer of alchemical resources and creations. The diverse ecology of the Amazon basin provides ingredients that can be found nowhere else. The Rulers of the Empire are of Spanish, Portuguese, and French decent. Many of the royalists from these countries fled to Brazil after the War of the Grand Alliance in the 1690s. Originally part of the Western Empire it gained its freedom during the European War. The northern-most provinces, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, then fought for their own independence.

 

 

The Persian Caliphate – With some help from the Empire, the Persians overthrew they Muhgal yoke in 1787 and established a nation founded on Islamic law. It is a relatively weak nation and relies on British help to keep its freedom. It is a small player in the Great Game, usually allied with the Empire.

 

 

The Empire of Japan – The third largest rent in the curtain between the worlds occurred in the islands of Japan. Faerie creatures very different from European faeries were cast into the world of man. Called kami and oni these creatures have not interbred with the people of Japan but work in cooperation with them to protect the islands. The Mongols tried to invade Japan several times during the 13th and 14th century. The kami called forth great storms and sank the invasion fleets. Due to internal politics the Japanese Shoguns closed the islands in the early 1600s to all outsiders for more than 200 years. The country was only recently forced to open its borders by a strong intervention of the Iron Lord Perry. Since its opening the Japanese Empire turned surprisingly expansionist. Already they have taken the southern Korean peninsula and several near by islands under their control. This is beginning to be a concern for the Western Empire. But as long as they Japanese are taking territory from the Horde, the Western Empire will not resist.

 

The Malagasy Republic – Founded in 1800 by a group of French revolutionaries and anti-monarchy factions of the Hova (Commoner) class of the Merena people of Madagascar allied with Portuguese merchants and the Bantu sharecroppers of Mocambique. This unlikely partnership took advantage of the chaos of the European War at the turn of the century to declare independence. They set up a democratic state based on the ideals of Thomas Paine and, more recently, Karl Marx. The republic is an experiment in social change and new social systems. Numerous groups within the Western Empire support the Republic continued existence. Some appreciate the fact that the Republics growing Navy is working hard to eradicate piracy and slaving in the region. Others support the idea of seeing how these social ideals play out and look upon the republic as a test bed for ideas that the Empire may one day want to incorporate. Other factions look upon it as a dangerous precedent for anti-imperialism and would rather see it brought back under Crown control as soon possible.

 

 

Nusantara – Often called the South Seas Federation or the Spice Islands, this island nation was founded when the Western Empire took control of the Dutch East India Company’s holdings after it went bankrupt in 1800. The territories controlled by the Company were split between the Crown Colonies of British Malaya, Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore and the independent nation of Nusantara. Nusantara is perhaps the most diverse small nation on Eorth. The population includes Eurasian, Chinese, Indian, European, Arab, Turk, Afghan, Malay, and Javanese peoples. The islands themselves often have strange magical resources that make them both valuable and strong enough to withstand outside forces. Volcanoes and lagoons may be home to elemental aspected mana pools. Many Faeries that were disgusted by the excesses of the Faerie Wars chose to find a home as far from any of the warring factions as possible. A large number of them ended up in the Islands. Some of these Faerie remain and many of the regions people are fey, the highest percentage found outside the Empire. The culture of the Islands is relaxed, accepting, and open to trade and commerce, but since the days of Dutch and Imperial colonialism, the people have learned to protect themselves.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Eorth Races

 

 

Humans -

True humans are the natural sentient inhabitants of Eorth. They come in many varieties based in part on where they live. Physically and culturally they are similar to Earth humans.

 

Fey are humans with faerie blood. They may or may not have Magery. All fey have some magical abilities. Most fey fall well within the bounds of true human appearance. There are rare fey that take more of the appearance of their faerie ancestors. Size is the most common difference. Little People are brownie and goblin fey breeds that are three feet tall or shorter. Half-giants can stand up to 9 feet tall and with tremendous strength. These sorts of fey are not often welcome in normal human and fey society.

 

Half-men - Humans that have been magiced to incorporate animal characteristics. These are the products of permanent enchantments that breed true. Examples include centaurs, mermen, birdmen, minotaurs, and nagas. In general half-men are not welcome in human society and form their own communities.

 

 

Faeries -

Five main categories of faeries came into the human world.

 

Elves - also called daoine sídhe, alfar, or ælfe - Human sized, or taller, these are the most powerful of the faerie races and the royalty of the faerie world. They bred most easily with human folk and are the origin of most of the fey blood in the modern world. True elves have almost completely disappeared from the Empire, though it is rumored that some may be found in the unsettled places of the world.

 

Dwarves - also called dvergar, svartálfar, dökkálfar, dwarrows, or duergar - short, stocky humanoid creatures who generally prefer to live underground and/or in mountainous areas They are famed miners and smiths and do not share the common faerie detestation of iron. Most of them followed the vikings to the new world though some remain in secluded underground places kept secret from the rest of the world. The Iron Lords are interbred with dwarves.

 

Brownies - nisse, tomte, leprechauns, sprites - The smallest of the faeries. They can range from almost a foot high to only an inch or so. They are often either helpful crafters or carefree nature lovers. They were able to interbreed with humans through magical means. Brownies are the origin of much of the low caste fey blood in the Empire. Some true Brownies still can be found though they most often hide from "big people" in order to avoid exploitation.

 

Goblins - kobolds, lutins, gnomes, vetter - This is a catchall for faerie creatures larger (and in general less helpful) than brownies, but smaller (and generally less powerful) than dwarves. Goblins are mischievous by nature, with many going all the way to true evil in their actions. They were able to interbreed with people, often with the use of magic to make up for size differences. Many of the fey in the Great Horde are goblin breeds.

 

Giants - also ogres, jotun, fomori - huge beings with tremendous strength from the faerie world. Most of the giants were banished with the Unseelie Court. Some jotun traveled with the dwarves to the new world and a few stayed in the Western Empire and bred into the fey population.

 

Devolved Races

Some of the faeries bred with animals or were cursed and the curses bred true. There are numerous variations on these devolved races, with each individual or small group being very different from the others of their general race.

 

Trolls -Cannibalistic offshoots of the Giants. These humanoid creatures stand 9-12 feet tall and have a basic cunning, if not great intelligence. They are known to appear in any climate or terrain. They adapt themselves magically to fit their habitat. Left to their own devices they will almost always attack humans. But they can be controlled by magical means, or trained if captured while young. They can learn to use simple weapons, but cast no magic and cannot understand technology.

 

Hobgoblins - Goblins that have been magically bred with trolls. Smaller and weaker than trolls, they have more native intelligence and can use simple technology and magic. Often used as soldiers by the Unseelie Court.

 

Ghouls - Originally Elves and half-elves that were cursed by eating the flesh of humans. They and their descendants are cursed to always hunger for more. It is said that this curse can be passed along, like a disease, with the bite of a ghoul. They can pass for human at a glance, but more detailed examination will show the differences. Ghouls have magics of their own that enable them to hide and feed. Occasionally more intelligent ghouls will band together and form a society of sorts. These are sometimes confused with the vampires of legend. Ghoul bands are most common in the Horde lands where the Unseelie allow them to exist for the Dark Court's own purposes.

 

Pixies - Brownies that have succumb entirely to the call of Nature. In many cases they have interbred with either insects (butterflies or bees being the most common) or with other animals. Occasionally they even bond with trees or other plants. They have their own magic and can be dangerous to humans that come across them in the wilderness.

 

Boggarts - Troublesome Brownies that killed with their tricks magics were cursed to become boggarts and boggles. Mostly magical spirits that carry on their troublesome tricks. These can be dangerous to the uninformed or the uninitiated. They prefer to live in proximity to people. People prefer for them to not. This often causes conflicts. True boggarts cannot be killed by any regular means, but there are several ceremonial ways to drive them from an area.

 

Gnolls - Goblins that interbred with wolves (or occasionally other animals). These hirsute humanoid hunters travel in packs. They have developed a primitive technology and can used basic magics. They are very rare in the civilized parts of the Empire, but can occasionally be found in the back reaches. In the East they are more common. It is said the Unseelie Court occasionally breeds them deliberately and sees them as cannon fodder and dog soldiers.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Magical Creatures

 

There are a number of magical creatures to be found on Eorth. There were a fey faerie animals that came to the human world when the Curtain fell. These spread with the faeries around the world. In some cases they interbred with natural animals and created new breeds. Other new animals have been created by mages experimenting or through bizarre spell failures.

 

Chimera - The most common magical creatures are chimera, combinations of two or more natural creatures. In many cases these breed true. Or the create other new chimera when they breed with natural animals. Common chimera include the pegasus, gryphon, and hippogryph. There are many others.

 

Faerie Animals - these often resemble their normal counterparts, but are significantly more intelligent. In many cases they have human or greater intelligence. They also often have magical capabilities. These range from simple single knacks to complex spellcasting, depending on the individual rather than the breed.

 

Dragons - There were no dragons in either the faerie or the human world. Some 800 years ago thaumaturges started experimenting to try and create them. Eventually many succeeded. There are several types of dragons and dragon like creatures. They come in different sizes and have different capabilities and powers. Some are intelligent while others are not. Some have magic. Some can fly. Many, though not all, have bred true and now there are dragons all over the world. The Great Dragons, as the large, flying, intelligent, magic using ones are called are rare. Wyverns, wyrms, and sea serpents are much more common.

 

Demons - the generic term for any creature created by magical disaster. These are often dangerous but are seldom last long enough (or are eorthly enough) to breed. In many cases they share some level of intelligence from the mage or mages that inadvertently created them. Some mages try to conjure these creatures. Those deliberately conjured are the most dangerous.

[McManus]

Re: Steampunk/Victorian fantasy setting questions

 

Mages in the Empire

 

Approximately 1 in 5 British people have some level of fey blood. For 1-5 fey this gives them basic spell casting, for 1-50 intermediate spell casting, and 1-5000 have the ability to cast advanced spells if they know them. The rest have inherent magical abilities of one sort or another or can instinctively cast a single spell. In Europe the fey blood is 1 in 20. In most of the rest of the world it is 1-100 or less.

 

Most mages (people with at least basic spell casting ability) learn no more than a dozen simple spells. If they work in a factory they will know their factory spells pretty well. If they work on a farm they will have basic farm spells. Professionals will have spells that can help them in their daily jobs.

 

There are people that make most of their living with magic. They usually specialize on one broad area. Examples include -

 

Alchemists - while magery is not a requirement for alchemy, most people who delve deeply into the field use spells to help them manage their experiments. Alchemical formulae and charms are an important part of the industrial revolution . Apothecaries and chemists are considered subsets of Alchemists

 

Battlemages - specialists in using magic for killing people and breaking things, and all the support necessary to do that in an organized fashion. Differ from soldiers in that they usually disdain the more mundane weapons and ways.

 

Confabulators - magical entertainers that use illusion and sound spells to put on shows.

 

Enchanters - these are the high level thaumaturges and the backbone of the enchanting industry. They differ from fabricators in that they are specialists in magic theory and manipulation rather than the practical applications of magic and technology. The two share a similar relationship to physicists and engineers.

 

Fabricators - specialists in making/breaking, conjuration, and low level enchantment. These can be the basic craftsmen - tinkers, cobblers, coopers, tailors, and wrights. Others are more advanced mechanics and engineers. They are the driving force behind the Industrial Revolution.

 

Physickers - magical healing specialists. They may or may not also have mundane medical knowledge. There is a stereotype of them as quacks or old wives. Modern Doctors that use medical magics are trying to turn the stereotype around.

 

Seekers - specialists in knowledge and finding spells. Often double as clerks and scribes for the many illiterate of the age.

 

Warders - specialists in protection, warding, and meta-magics. They are the security specialists and police.