Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

A steampunk RPG
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by Foelhe »

I'm guessing there'll be a lot of globe-trotting in this game? Will the characters see most of this first-hand, or is it mostly background?
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Franka
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by Franka »

So, did you ever play Shadow Hearts?
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by Nightsnow »

I love shadow hearts, and its prequel (which I couldn't spell) and its sequel, I also liked the third game.

but i don't think that jack quite has shadow hearts rather morbid humor.
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by FenCayne »

OK, a few answers to the questions raised ... Thanks very much for your interest!

The setting won’t be post-apocalyptic in the sense of Fallout or Wasteland. The meteors, although widespread, were individually quite small. Devastating if you happened to be within a few miles of a strike, but for countries that weren’t ‘in the line of fire’, and which already had comparatively sophisticated infrastructure, no more than fodder for sensationalist news.

Most people outside Western Europe aren’t scrabbling around the ruins in order to survive. And even in Europe, the current state of the conflict is more akin to guerilla warfare than all-out conflict. Some European countries are ruled by dictators, and others, although democracies, have not chosen their leaders wisely …

To be honest, this is mostly background to account for the current state of affairs. For the characters under player command, the conflict in Europe is a long way away. And even the fate of the United States is not cause for much thought by most party members – although for one individual, it is a matter of great concern and he can make it one for everyone else …

So the 1830s-1840s were a period of great change in world history. Texas is basically a borderland being fought over aboriginal claimants, Spanish-speaking settlers from Mexico, and English-speaking, US revivalists from the east. The ‘Rump States’ over which the US government can wield effective control are bordered by modern-day Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio-Indiana, southern NY state, and Massachusetts. Chicago, although a significant city under British rule, is unrecognisable from the one in our timeline …

Slavery is a vexed subject, and although still tolerated in areas of the world where it was historically practiced (and economically important), is not discussed in polite society, except euphemistically. Also, because the British Empire has interests all over the world, it is not necessarily the Black-White issue that it is from the US historical perspective. Human subjugation can take many forms.

Obviously, politics will shape each character in the sense that they are the product of their culture and background, and they will have points of view and prejudices which create friction with their companions. However it’s my aim to avoid a lot of exposition in the game, but have the politics or background come out during (skipable) conversations and events during play.

The party is definitely multi-cultural. The PC sibling will spend some time with the party. There will be other siblings in the party, too. The PC can be male or female, but they have quite different characters, so playing each will yield a fresh experience. I will surprise exactly no one on this forum by announcing that there will be straight, lesbian, and gay relationship opportunities. While some (a majority) of party characters are bi, others are strictly straight, gay, or lesbian.

Airships … of course! How can we do steampunk without airships? Including one special airship … 8)

As for having Roger Steel's name in the title, well now, Roger Steel is an interesting character … :wink:
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by jack1974 »

Franka wrote:So, did you ever play Shadow Hearts?
No, I honestly played really a few JRPG. With my coder we always joke about this, since I come from a "western RPG background" while he played a lot of JRPG. So often our RPGs are a mix of western/eastern ruleset/battle systems :lol:
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by FenCayne »

MarSel wrote: How does technology differ in this timeline?
Where in the world is Roger Steel set?
Forgot to answer these. Technology is basically steam and electricity with a fair chunk of authorial licence to fill in the gaps (standard steampunk, in other words). I'm hoping the artist can mutate Victorian chic with some twist on 30s aesthetics (art deco, streamlining, etc.) and fashions, though.

As for where in the world, I think we'll leave that for another sneak preview :wink:
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Franka
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by Franka »

jack1974 wrote:
Franka wrote:So, did you ever play Shadow Hearts?
No, I honestly played really a few JRPG. With my coder we always joke about this, since I come from a "western RPG background" while he played a lot of JRPG. So often our RPGs are a mix of western/eastern ruleset/battle systems :lol:
Well, this game's world sounds fairly close to Shadow Hearts. Which could be a good thing, seeing how that series are some of my most favorite games ever, in part due to the setting.
Nightsnow wrote:I love shadow hearts, and its prequel (which I couldn't spell) and its sequel, I also liked the third game.
Koudelka. I'm impressed you enjoyed that one, it was not a very good game.
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by P_Tigras »

FenCayne wrote:OK, a few answers to the questions raised ... Thanks very much for your interest!

The setting won’t be post-apocalyptic in the sense of Fallout or Wasteland. The meteors, although widespread, were individually quite small. Devastating if you happened to be within a few miles of a strike, but for countries that weren’t ‘in the line of fire’, and which already had comparatively sophisticated infrastructure, no more than fodder for sensationalist news.
Given that Western/Central Europe was not only the center of both industrial and scientific development in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but pretty much ruled the world, I'm hard-pressed to think of any countries outside of Europe and the US that had "comparatively sophisticated infrastructure" during that period. Most of the other great civilizations like China were in decline during that period, although Japan did start to ascend rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th century, first defeating Qing China in 1903, and then the Russ ian empire in 1905. Eventually it grew powerful enough to threaten all of Asia as WWII approached. Yet curiously, you haven't mentioned imperial Japan at all.
Most people outside Western Europe aren’t scrabbling around the ruins in order to survive. And even in Europe, the current state of the conflict is more akin to guerilla warfare than all-out conflict. Some European countries are ruled by dictators, and others, although democracies, have not chosen their leaders wisely …
In the real world, most countries outside of Western/Central Europe and the US are sill living in agrarian or subsistence societies well into the 20th century. So while you haven't been explicit, it does kind of sound like you're not only beating the US and Western Europe (aside from the Brits) down, but also that you might be raising other parts of the world up, not just imperial Russia. Although it's possible that I may have have misinterpreted the implications of some of your words.
To be honest, this is mostly background to account for the current state of affairs. For the characters under player command, the conflict in Europe is a long way away. And even the fate of the United States is not cause for much thought by most party members – although for one individual, it is a matter of great concern and he can make it one for everyone else …

So the 1830s-1840s were a period of great change in world history. Texas is basically a borderland being fought over aboriginal claimants, Spanish-speaking settlers from Mexico, and English-speaking, US revivalists from the east. The ‘Rump States’ over which the US government can wield effective control are bordered by modern-day Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio-Indiana, southern NY state, and Massachusetts. Chicago, although a significant city under British rule, is unrecognisable from the one in our timeline …
It sounds like your alternate world diverged well before the 1830's as Kentucky became a state in 1792, Tenessee in 1796, and Ohio in 1803. Jefferson purchased large swatches of territory from France in the Louisiana Purchase of 1805, Louisiana became a state in 1812, and the US took Fort Niagara from the Brits in the War of 1812, repulsed invasions of Michigan, Illionois and New York, and forced the Brits into a somewhat constraining treaty, the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. While the War of 1812 was only a very marginal victory for the US (DC was burned and Canada was still unconquered), the war was sufficiently costly to both the US and the Brits that both nations avoided war with each other in North America from that point forward. Indiana joined in 1816, Mississippi in 1817, Illinois in 1818, Alabama in 1819, Maine in 1820 and Missouri in 1821. Oh, and by 1820, New Orleans was the US's 5th largest city, and with over 6 million souls, the US was the most populous power in the new world. So it seems like either history diverged well before the 1830's, or the US lost some "new" wars with the Brits and Indians some time after that point, since your US seems smaller than the US of 1800, let alone the US of 1820 or 1830.
Slavery is a vexed subject, and although still tolerated in areas of the world where it was historically practiced (and economically important), is not discussed in polite society, except euphemistically. Also, because the British Empire has interests all over the world, it is not necessarily the Black-White issue that it is from the US historical perspective. Human subjugation can take many forms.

Obviously, politics will shape each character in the sense that they are the product of their culture and background, and they will have points of view and prejudices which create friction with their companions. However it’s my aim to avoid a lot of exposition in the game, but have the politics or background come out during (skipable) conversations and events during play.

The party is definitely multi-cultural. The PC sibling will spend some time with the party. There will be other siblings in the party, too. The PC can be male or female, but they have quite different characters, so playing each will yield a fresh experience. I will surprise exactly no one on this forum by announcing that there will be straight, lesbian, and gay relationship opportunities. While some (a majority) of party characters are bi, others are strictly straight, gay, or lesbian.

Airships … of course! How can we do steampunk without airships? Including one special airship … 8)
My thoughts exactly. Can't have steampunk without airships.
As for having Roger Steel's name in the title, well now, Roger Steel is an interesting character … :wink:
Yep, this sounds like material for a separate preview.
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by Anima_ »

jack1974 wrote:
Franka wrote:So, did you ever play Shadow Hearts?
No, I honestly played really a few JRPG. With my coder we always joke about this, since I come from a "western RPG background" while he played a lot of JRPG. So often our RPGs are a mix of western/eastern ruleset/battle systems :lol:
Yep, I played Shadow Hearts 2 and 3. Though I really didn't like 3, they went to far with the characters and the setting didn't interest me that much. And I do know western RPGs, just nothing that came after Kotor II. :wink:
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Re: Sneak Preview #25 - The World of Roger Steel ...

Post by P_Tigras »

BTW, why is the word Russian triggering a filter? That's Russ ian without the space between "Russ" and "ian".
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