Races
A setting that combines fantasy and steampunk allows for a great variety of races. There are certain ones that are "musts," and I'll sort through a few others we're going to include or exclude. Each will be accompanied by a brief outline of their situation and role in Steampunk City. This is by no means a comprehensive list - if you have an interesting idea for a race, or a race that better fills one of the mentioned roles, throw it up in a comment and we'll see what we can do!
- Humans - Humans are the natural "urban" race, and a staple of both fantasy and steampunk. They will form the largest section of the city's (and likely the world's) population, and be spread throughout every stratus of society from the highest to the lowest.
- Dwarves - Dwarves will fulfill a role similar to their fantasy staple - skilled, dependable, and tough. There will likely be a "dwarven quarter" in Steampunk City where the affluent can find master craftsmen, experts in various "traditional" dwarven fields, a fashionable drinking establishment, and a good few professional soldiers. The typical dwarf is fairly well-off compared to the average citizen of Steampunk City, due to the demand for their expertise and a strong cultural belief in taking care of one another. This causes a bit of tension between dwarves and nearly every other race in the city.
- Goblins - The running joke is that goblins are the second most populous race in Steampunk City, after rats. Possessed of a racial aptitude with the mechanical, they fall naturally into the role of tinkers or handymen. They are derided as thieves and vagrants (and rightly so), but they are also crafty, clannish, and have useful skills if one can deal with them without being swindled.
- Elves - A short time ago (two or three human generations), a yet-to-be-defined calamity befell Disposable Steampunk World's largest elven kingdom. In the time since, there has been a huge influx of elves into Steampunk City. Now, elves come in two varieties. First are the wealthy, fashionable, noble elves who comprised the ruling class of Fae Kingdom (are we noticing an issue with naming?) who blended in seamlessly with the aristocracy of Steampunk City. They are highly regarded by artists, scholars, and philosophers - the one fashionable accessory which never goes out of style is an Elven acquaintance. The second sort of elf in Steampunk City is the desperate refugee who fled Fae Kingdom with nothing. Unable to blend into Steampunk City's largely utilitarianist society, they are now among the poorest of the poor. The "gutter elf" scrapes out a miserable existence in elven ghettos, he may live in even worse conditions than the goblins.
- Halflings - Halflings in Steampunk City. One of the PC's is going to be one, so this is subject to discussion with him. I'm thinking though, that there is a small and tight-knit community of halflings which thrives in a warren in the catacombs beneath Steampunk City (where they are safe, due to an arrangement with the Rat Catchers' Union). They are generally considered to be charming and genial, an image they cultivate purposefully. The average halfling is a non-standard member of Steampunk City's professional class, working as a rat catcher, sewer worker, chimney sweep, or some other semi-skilled labor position.
- Grimlocks - Atypically (compared to most fantasy settings), there is a large population of Grimlocks in Steampunk City. They are little better than a slave labor force, most living out their entire lives as indentured servants drawn to the city by Big Mining Company (again with needing names) with a promise of safety and comfort. They mine emberstone in return for barely adequate food and lodging, and are hereditarily owned by the company until they are able to purchase their freedom. As the only "civilized" race immune to Eyeburn (an aggressive and fast-acting analog to blacklung), they fill an essential role.
- Half Elves and Half-Orcs - These races work fairly well as written in the traditional fantasy settings. Worth mentioning is that the social conditions make for a large population of half-elves spanning every niche from belle of the ball, to lowest of the low, to bastard embarrassment to an upper-class family.
- Humanoids - The vast tracts of wilderness surrounding Steampunk City are home to many different barbaric humanoid tribes. Dominant races include orcs, gnolls, bugbears and the noble but savage minotaurs.
- Gnomes - What about the gnomes? Everyone loves the gnomes. No, no, I love them too. I never intended to exclude them, I just thought of them as a race that blended into the city well. A race of individuals, much like humans, that would fill several roles and occupy a niche not substantially different than their usual one in a fantasy setting.
To create the sort of background I want for the campaign, it will be necessary to have a number of different factions pulling the characters in different directions, striving toward various goals, and generally creating drama in the setting. I'll list them in this post, and continue to update it as new ones arrive. As always, if you have a good idea, let me know and I'll include it.
- The Government of Steampunk City - The government consists of a mayor, elected by (and from) a council or senate, who are in turn elected by voting members of Steampunk City's populace. It is truly enormous, with endless bureaucracy and an army of minor functionaries serving the different departments and committees which govern Steampunk City. It is a government which is feels forced to commit or endorse acts which are morally questionable (or even abhorrent) in order to protect its populace. Corruption is rampant, though there are officials at every level who are honest and hard-working, genuinely trying to improve or defend the city they live in.
- The Revolution - The group of activists who see the dark side of the government and feel compelled to act (be that out of a sense of civic duty, pity for those trampled on, or a simple desire to seize power in the post-revolution regime). Members of the revolution range from lower class workers to dilettante aristocrats, and there is a heavy influence from the educated class - philosophers, academics, etc. They run an underground newspaper, spread anti-government propaganda, and occasionally protest violently. Perhaps their most visible symbol is the seemingly uncatchable, unkillable, ever-present not-Zoro who steps up from time to time to publicly face the agents of the government (possibly named The Blackthorn?).
- Big Mining Company - This company has set itself up to be absolutely essential to maintaining the current lifestyle of Steampunk City. They not only mine the vast majority of the city's emberstone, but also the raw materials for Disposable Steampunk World's analog for gunpowder. They will stop at nothing to maintain their place of power.
- Rat Catchers' Guild - Contracted to keep a handle on the vermin population of Steampunk City, the Rat Catchers' Guild serves a dual purpose - they work legitimately to control the pest levels in and beneath the city, but they are also control many of the city's organized criminal enterprises, from smuggling to thievery to racketeering to gambling and beyond. The Rat Catchers' Guild is an equal opportunity organization, though it is worth noting that there are heavy populations of goblins and halflings in the Guild. No one enters the the catacombs beneath the city without the Guild's permission - or more to the point, no one who does so ever leaves.
- Church of the Science God - There is a growing movement in Steampunk City (or maybe in Disposable Steampunk World as a whole) which is mingling science and religion - they either believe in science as a religious pursuit, or worship a god of science. They are at odds with the older religions, and often with one another, as they try to establish their identity as an organization, set doctrine, and find their niche in the religious community.
- Gnomish Mining Company - A smaller mining company headquartered in a clock tower roughly in the city center. The clock face is visible from nearly anywhere in the city, though no one outside their operation is admitted within the tower. They are experimenting with different solutions to the Eyeburn issue, including enviro-suits and clockwork miners.
- Fathers of Liberty - A terrorist organization which opposes the government of Steampunk City. The Fathers of Liberty, and their seemingly immortal figurehead The BlackThorn, have stood against the rulers of Steampunk City for over one hundred years. In that time, The BlackThorn has come to be considered a hero by some, a rogue by others. His (or her) methods are ever changing, his motives (and perhaps even his goals beyond striking at the government) are unclear, but he is a relentless opponent of Steampunk City's government.
1) I love the idea of Gutter Elves. It's a real opposite of the standard cliche that makes a bunch of sense. It would be fun to get into the psychology of what it must be like to go from hundreds of years of patient assumed existence to having to eck out a day by day survival. To really be on this rung, they have to in general be the elves who lack any marketable skills. Which means that they were the elves that spent a hundred years perfecting the art of grass growing instead of sword making. So it'd be funny to see the ones who's minds have to just... snap under the burden. A stark difference between humans and elves has always been human adaptability vs elven patience and stability (chaos vs law tie in). So would elves in this position become more human?
ReplyDelete2) One idea that I've always wanted to see injected more into DnD is racism. In the real world we get edgy around fellow human beings that look different to the point that there are riots, murders, and entire social subsets devoted to eradication and 'racial purity'. So I can only imagine what it would be like if there were actual honest to god other sentient species running around. These sorts of ideas become especially pronounced in a situation where you have refugees/immigrants pouring in en masse like the elves. This is already a culture that turns a blind eye to enforced generational slavery of a sentient race. So what happens when the Grimlocks yearn for freedom? It opens the doors for a lot of good morale questions (again with that Law vs Chaos idea of - this is the law, but is that right?) and could force the party to ask itself a lot of hard questions. Especially if the economy collapses without their servitude.
3) No gnomes? They always seem really natural in a scientific setting being the curious bastards that they are.
4) As far as the Blackthorn not-Zoro goes, I think it would be cool if he was more of a V figure (from V for Vendetta) wherein he is commonly seen as a terrorist as often as he is seen as a hero (whether he is one super badass guy/gal or a bunch of them who just put on an outfit). Especially since we are going for a more Law vs Chaos / Order vs Anarchy theme as opposed to good vs evil. People will automatically want to rally behind a moral symbol like the lone hero fighting the big evil government. So alternately his intentions might be noble but his methods anything but (assassinations, bombings, and the propaganda being lies as well as truth). Or, you could have the Blackthorn just not care or think what would happen after there is no government. The government is bad, it needs to go, and the fact that a lot of people will suffer after it is gone, or it could be replaced by something worse, is unimportant (like a tyrannical dictatorship).
5) Tying into point 4, you want to be careful to avoid the automatic feel that Order is bad, which seems like it might be the direction you are going for. There is a big evil business, a corrupt bureaucracy, and heroic anarchists. So if you want to make it less of a focus on good vs evil then I'd shoot for painting the Order sides as good in a lot of respects. The government takes care of it's people and is a good functioning democracy, even if it is convoluted and has stark flaws. The big mining company does a ton of good for the community (even if it is just to up public opinion). Maybe they see their slavery of the Grimlocks a lot like the antebellum southern plantation owners. They are taking a 'savage race' and civilizing them. Their slaves are 'happy and well treated' and way better off than they'd be in dank dark holes. They are the 'kind slavers' instead of the ruthless whip cracking sons of bitches that it's easy to hate, even if they are willing to crack the whip if they need to. I like the idea of Order vs Chaos instead of Good vs Evil but it means that a lot has to exist in a morally gray area.
6) How is Emberstone valuable? Is it somehow essential to the magic-technology?
Hey Steve, thanks for the input. You make a lot of very good points. This sort of insight is why I've been trying to catch you forever - I knew I needed you as part of the project. So.
ReplyDelete1) Yeah, I love the gutter elves so much that I only included the other ones to keep the contrast. It turns a big fantasy trope on its head, and I love seeing that. It will be interesting to see a society of elves who are essentially broken and miserable, and to explore what that's doing to the next generation of elves. THAT is the home run ball, to me. Where is elven culture headed, after all this?
2) Yeah, me too. I can certainly see why they don't touch on it in the published settings - it's a sensitive issue for obvious reasons, and that has a great chance of hurting their bottom line. But in a "homebrewed" setting like this, that's a theme we can explore a with a great deal more freedom. There are racial plot hooks scattered throughout this stuff; you hit on one that Dan and I had already discussed with the Grimlocks, but there are some equally (or nearly so) interesting ones out there with some of the other races - half-elves and halflings both spring to my mind.
3) They do seem like a natural fit. If someone's dying to play one, I'll certainly let them. I just couldn't think of an interesting way to address them, and so decided that there must not be a significant community of them in Steampunk City. If you have an idea for an interesting treatment of Gnomes, by all means let me know.
4)I definitely want Blackthorn, overall, to be a very morally gray character. The PC Blackthorn will likely be very much a good-guy, but the nature of the Blackthorn character will mean that the overall cause is not wholly informed by the PC's motivations alone. The wheels are turning in my tiny brain for an interesting plot addressing this, but I don't want to put it up here in case Luther reads it. Maybe I ought to find some way of discussing adventure ideas too. Hm.
5) That is for certain. The city, whatever its flaws, provides its citizens with a level of protection that's not present anywhere else in Disposable World. That doesn't come across in this post very well - I may need to edit it to reflect that. In the campaign, I intend to emphasize it by showing the characters the conditions that sentient beings live in outside of Steampunk City, contrasted with the relative stability of life within the city's walls. As to the Grimlocks, I was actually discussing with Dan earlier about how the older generation of Grimlocks are actually grateful to Big Mining Company for bringing their tribe (or clan, or whatever) out of the wild and into civilization, as opposed to the younger generation who have only known the company's "oppression," and never the dangers of living in the wild lands.
6) Emberstone is Disposable World's analog for coal, so it makes EVERYTHING work. It powers the steam locomotive, it provides the gas for the gaslights, in Disposable World they even make gunpowder from it. So you have to have it. That justifies, in the mind of Big Mining Company, the eyes of the government, and the opinions of society as a whole, the treatment of the Grimlocks. Everything will fall apart if they stop mining the Emberstone.
7) Thanks again. I appreciate the back-and-forth. You know me, this is how I work. Hopefully it will help me run a wildly successful D&D game out here, and then come home and try it out on you guys there sooner or later.
1) I think you might be able to improve the Gutter Elves by making /all/ of the refugee/immigrant elves Gutter Elves. The higher class and aristocracy level elves could just be the ones who were already there, and they might hate/revile their poor refuse cousins just as much as everyone else. I do love the idea of exploring what happens to the elves long term, but sadly I think that would run out of the scope of the campaign. This also ties into one of the ideas I wanted to pose of making a goodly number of racial subclasses.
ReplyDelete2) Right on with you being on the same page. I think a good way to really hit on the topic would be to include sub-races who may or may not be mechanically different (although it will make for some work). Dark skinned humans from the south who most people regard as being pirates, Hill Dwarves vs Mountain Dwarves, and so on. If even the individual /races/ have racist tendencies among their own people (wealthy old money elves vs the Gutter Elves for example) then it makes racial lines even more stark. It likewise makes Half-Elves even more scandalous and akin to mixed races a few hundred years ago.
3) Okay, Gnome ideas!
a. Gnomes are the mass production/factory group as opposed to the Dwarven hand made craftsmanship. So they run the sweat shops and the child labor mills, but are a necessary staple of the economy. The factory, the meat packing plant, and the sweat shop were real staples of the Victorian Era that aren't touched on in most steampunk games. Stuff like 'The Jungle' or Dickens do a good job of portraying the way things were and more importantly accepted without question. It'd make another good example of the way order can be necessary but dark and distasteful while adding notes of realism with an industrial revolution society.
b. Gnomish populations originally start as a sub-class of Dwarven society and as more of an underground race similar to Svirneblin. They have a role as indentured servants on the surface, earning their passage, freedom, and a stipend from their dwarven masters after a period of several decades of dedicated service, going on to use the skills they learn to make their own way in the world. The practice has been going on for so long that the majority of both races does not even see a problem with it. This parallels the real world indentured servitude of Europeans coming to America and puts into contrast the differences with Grimlock generational servitude.
4) Oh he's a PC? Well that changes everything! =) And yes, some way to discuss plot arcs without nosy players getting access would rock.
5) An option to really get the point across that the City vs the Outside makes the city vastly preferable is to have the party start on the outside seeing just how nasty it is. Hurt them, make them cry, and make it so that when the get behind those big sturdy walls they don't want to leave again. Then the idea of governmental collapse really has some fear to it.
1) Well, part of the way around the elven lifespan is starting the campaign a couple of human generations after the elven calamity. So we can look into the effects of it a little bit, at least.
ReplyDelete2) Yeah, depending on the timeline for kicking the game off, I might take a look at doing that too. Even if I don't don't do mechanically different subraces, I'll definitely look into including the racial tension. That was part of the idea with the Gutter Elves vs Aristo Elves.
3) I put a little gnome love up there while you weren't watching, but I like the addition of the gnomish sweat shops. It fits with a couple of other ideas I had in mind - that might need to be included.
4) Yes, yes, and yes. We'll have to look into that, even if it's just via gmail.
5) I definitely want to take them on a painful trek through the wilds. I don't know about starting there, it seems like the two characters whose backgrounds I have received (at least in part) both tend more toward the city as a starting point. I can't wait to see the other two, and get an idea of where this is going.
Have you thought about creating a custom race of some type? An insectoid species seems like it could offer some interesting options as far as your main theme. These guys could be law and order to the extreme with a communal, hive-like social structure. You could do some neat things with bug-like abilities through feats or even HD based stuff, or organic architecture/technology.
ReplyDeleteOh, Man. I actually hadn't thought about a custom race at all; that's a frickin' awesome idea. I love everything about your bug race idea, they DO add a lot to an urban setting like this, and they'd fit the theme perfect. There is, however, a book that we've discussed which I worry about paralleling too closely (especially if we go through with Project Mayhem). That book contains a bug like species, an enormous and awesome city, and a dark fantasy/steampunk setting. You really ought to get around to reading it sometime. So I'm not saying no to bug men, just... Let's think hard about it.
ReplyDeleteWell dang it... I JUST got to the part with the Khepri. :P
ReplyDeleteOkay, what about a crystalline race? A humanoid species that are basically a colony of living crystal? You can keep the communal aspects, the bizarre construction and technology, all that neat stuff. My bug idea originated from my musings on law vs. chaos, and I thought that a race that descended from Formian outsiders would be cool, but that can be adjusted to fit a different overall theme to avoid stepping on buggly toes.
ReplyDeleteThe crystal dudes could have a communal consciousness through transmission of sound or refracted light rather than pheremones or what have you.
I dig the crystal dudes. Dan and I discussed them via telephone for quite a while, and they have a lot going for them. I think my favorite thing is this: with these guys, SOMEONE always feels uncomfortable. In communities of crystal dudes they communicate largely through sound transmission or light refraction which acts as a sort of low-level telepathy, and being near that but excluded from it gives outsiders the willies. When they're out on their own, away from their communities, they're cut off from that sort of communication and that lack makes the crystal dude uncomfortable. It seems like that could be played upon to interesting effect. One thing - they need a name in the worst way, before I start calling them crystal dudes.
ReplyDeleteEdits: Added the Gnomish Mining Company and the Fathers of Liberty.
ReplyDeleteAs for crystal dude name... Kruossi? Inspired by one possible ancient Greek root of the word crystal.
ReplyDeleteA couple quick thoughts; as far as a insectoid race goes, we could piggy-back off of the Thri-Kreen of the Dark Sun Setting (I have the books if we want to reference them). They are a communal, hive-oriented species.
ReplyDeleteAlso (perhaps this reveals part of my bias), what are we thinking of with regard to the more macro society/culture. I am thinking from what has been laid out thus far that the game will be centered on Steampunk City, but is there a broader society that the City is part of? I know a fair amount about urban patterns and there was a movement in Victorian England toward "Garden Cities" which were pretty much self-contained environments separated from others by agricultural land and wilderness (as much as there was wilderness in Victorian England). Anyway, that is just a quick thought....
I don't know... On the one hand, the concept of garden cities seems so idyllic compared to what we have so far. On the other hand, it has listed right in the diagram ALL of the following: epileptic farms, home for waifs, home for inebriates, and insane asylum. All on the one little map! Now, doesn't that fit the theme?
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question though, there has to be a broader structure. Steampunk City is the seat of government for a powerful city-state, but it is nowhere near self-sufficient. For example, it has to rely on the outlying areas for food. I imagine it also supports several mining outposts and the like. Maybe the next blog post will detail what's outside the walls of Steampunk City.