Submitted by juliebean in rpg

i've been toying with the idea of designing a new steampunk tabletop rpg, because i feel like most existing takes on the genre focus way too much on the 'victorian england but with more gears' aesthetic, and not enough on the important themes of how technology impacts society.

basically, i want my game to lean much more heavily on the 'punk side of things, than its competitors, and have explicitly anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist themes, like all the best cyberpunk stories do. i feel like there is just so much potential for drawing parallels between the late 19th/early 20th centuries and nowadays, and no steampunk game i've seen seems interested in those sorts of things.

I was thinking of using the PbtA system for it, because it is simple, flexible, and expandable, and is kinda designed to bake the flavor of the setting into the rules, but i was wondering if anyone else had a different suggestion, also if anyone would be interested in playing such a game when/if i finish the rough draft.

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digby wrote

Blades in the Dark is somewhat steampunky, and its systems challenge and reward players for taking on factions higher in Tier (power, influence, wealth, etc) than themselves. It's an extension of the PbtA framework, so it might be a good place to start as you develop your own ideas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blades_in_the_Dark

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Yunlunuae wrote

I would absolutely be interested in playing it if it is finished. I don't know what PbtA stands for though.

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juliebean OP wrote

PbtA stands for "Powered by the Apocalypse". basically, games that use a system derived from that devised for Apocalypse World. examples include Dungeon World, The Veil, and Monsterhearts, among many others.

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