Space 1889

[klingsor]

If not Space 1889 then perhaps a Steampunk book? I was very disappointed with the D20 OGL one from Mongoose, but we now have a broader choice of systems - Traveller and Runequest spring to mind though of the two I think Runequest might be the better choice.

A generic book or a specific setting? I think I would prefer the former but the latter might sell better. Are there any potential licences out there to be snapped up? GURPS already has Girl Genius which would seem to be the pick of the litter. Howl's Moving Castle might be complicated because of the anime and in any case has magic and too many fluffy bits (it is good but not pure steampunk - it intersects with too many other sets).

Core requirements:
How to be a Victorian. Attitude, morality, ethics, class, what made them better than us (discuss).

Mad science for beginners. Thinking things up, making things, breaking things...

History - how to deviate from real history in a plausible manner for fun and profit. Perhaps a list of useful turning points?

Races. Uplifting animals, thinking machines and cyborgs but no elves or fantasy races.

Machines and gadgets. What was real, what could have been and how to make things. (note to Mongoose, caplocks are pre-steampunk and a musket is not at all the same thing as a rifle)

Magic. No - however spiritualism does deserve a place and has curious real would links with science and the invention of such things as the television.

Space, to the red planet by red duster.

What have I missed and have I upset anyone yet?

 

[Space Captain Toby]

You'd need to decide whether the laws of physics still apply, as well as literal magic. Having the Difference Engine work is a bit different to the Time Machine. Also, can you fly through space with a propellor?

 

[Armydillo978]

You'd need to decide whether the laws of physics still apply, as well as literal magic. Having the Difference Engine work is a bit different to the Time Machine. Also, can you fly through space with a propellor?

How about each planet has a bubble of air around it, an each ship going into space has a bubble of air around. The ships are piloted by Aetherjammers.

Just a thought.

 

[2kuhl4you]

I have all the original books and plenty of miniatures (Wargames Foundry British and Prussians, RAFM martians and colonials, and some scratchbuilt aerial ironclads). I would love to see a rules update.

 

[barasawa]

I really loved that game.

The Victorian sci-fi crossed with space opera is always fun. Kind of a Steam-Punk meets Buck Rogers.

 

[steffworthington]

Yeah, i'd buy it even though i have all the space:1889 stuff...
because the setting was awesome but the original rules were just pants.

 

[2kuhl4you]

I'd love to see you rework Space 1889. I've always enjoyed the game but like others have said, the rules aren't the best. I know Mongoose could turn that around.

 

[2kuhl4you]

Is Mongoose looking into Space 1889 at all? If so, I'll be one of the first to buy it

 

[darth_azabrush]

Too late Pinacle have got it.

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

Too late Pinacle have got it.

Dang! I just saw the announcement on the PEGINC site.

Traveller would have been a wonderful fit for S1889!

Not that SW isn't a fun system... but... :roll:

 

[klingsor]

Bu**er!
I hate their system. Time to have another look at it I suppose to see if it has improved.

It was a dog when it was Deadlands (where it was twinned with a sucky background and metaplot hell) and I have little improvement since - which is a great pity as some of their settings are really attractive - Solomon Kane, Sundered Skies and the new Flash Gordon style one.

I suppose they will add zombies.

Oh well, I can just use another system.

It could have been worse, it might have been done with Rolemaster!

 

[2kuhl4you]

I have used Savage Worlds for several different genres and it isn't too bad. Simple, easy to use and simple for new players to learn. It doesn't get in the way of the role-playing.

This is also why I love the Traveller system by Mongoose. The rules don't hamper play.

 

[klingsor]

My experience with Deadlands was quite the opposite, I found the system needlessly complicated and cumbersome even after the very minor changes made by the second edition. I am still looking for a good wild west RPG. So far the most played one has been Call of Cthulhu, originally with the changes made by a magazine article though most of these were fairly rapidly discarded, retaining only their characters and a tweaked version of their originally rather broken firearm list.

I must dig out Savage Worlds and give it a look though I doubt if I will like it more than Traveller though of course they are rather different fish.

Traveller for the Wild West? I don’t see any reason why it should not work though for some strange reason I find the idea hard to swallow. This one is interesting enough to deserve its own post, it certainly does not belong here.

 

[2kuhl4you]

I agree that first edition Deadlands was cumbersome. Savage Worlds clears up much of the problems and is generic. I still think that Space 1889 using Traveller would be much better. Traveller Wild West could be interesting...

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

[snip]I still think that Space 1889 using Traveller would be much better...[snip]

If only because its designer was a member of the Traveller design team, and both games used a similar set of stats, assumptions, tone, etc.

Well, if GDW hadn't gone under, Space 1889 would surely have been reissued under the TNE rules (and so would have been 2300AD).

 

[klingsor]

Traveller 1889?

Or Twilight 1889 for that matter - oddly enough the superb novel The Peshawar Lancers by S. M. Stirling is based on that premise - a mid-Victorian apocalypse.

I don't recall having been that taken by GDW's house system though we only used it as Mega-Traveller and quite briefly at that though the scenario (Across the Bright Face) certainly made an impression. I think that might have been the last time we played Traveller until the Mongoose one came along.

 

[Mikko Leho]

My experience with Deadlands was quite the opposite, I found the system needlessly complicated and cumbersome even after the very minor changes made by the second edition.

Comparing Savage Worlds to Deadlands 2e is like comparing AD&D 2e to D&D 3.5 or Shadowrun 2e to Shadowrun 4e. I am not saying you will necessary like the latest rules but your reference point is outdated. A sneak peak of Savage Worlds can be found here: http://www.peginc.com/Downloads/SWEX/TD06.pdf

 

[Mark A. Siefert]

Actually, I'm quite thrilled that SW is getting a license for Space 1889. (Speaking of which, I played Deadlands Reloaded at a local mini-con last weekend and had a GREAT time. I played a pre-genned Huckster from New Orleans, so I got to lay the faux-Cajun accent on really thick, mon enfants.)

That said it's not as if there could not be another license issued for a Traveller version.

 

[AdrianH]

It doesn't even need to be a licence, any more than Traveller requires a licence from Paramount. Mongoose could produce a supplement for Traveller for Victorian era science fiction which owes nothing to Space:1889. It would need different technology, different aliens, and different arrangement of colonies on other worlds. Basically, Victorian Traveller should have about as much in common with Space:1889 as regular Traveller has in common with Star Trek - both feature space travel, both deal with alternate technology, but the exact details are different.

 

[klingsor]

Well said. I should be happy as well, 1889 is coming back!

Better yet I have some of the Wargames Factory British infantry that are spot on for it, come to think of it there are some of the original figures as well somewhere. Oh dear, I might have another stab at building a flyer, like the nice ones they had at Salute but not as good. If you have not seen these then you are missing a treat. The URL is:

http://www.salute.co.uk/salutegames/cloudships/main.htm