"Cogs" from Emmanuel Huybrechts. Licensed under Creative Commons.
I’ve been posting on Twitter over the few weeks the names of fantasy steampunk gear under the hashtag #steampunkgear. Things like “Dr. Stanley’s Eicosapentine Oil of Mysteries” or “Armstrong’s Pneumatic Difference Hammer” — no description or game crunch, just a title. It’s a creative exercise more than anything else, and I’ve found Twitter to be a great medium to jot down ideas for things (albeit publicly) where you don’t have to worry about remembering where you jotted them down.
The gear I’ve come up with thus far has largely been inspired from research into actual inventors from the 19th century. Trying to come up with fictional gear they may have created in some alternate, fantasy universe has been fun and -sometimes- a challenge. It’s also a great way for myself and #steampunk aficionados (which I am not) to discover some of the real-world inventors from which many of the steampunk tropes are based on. Perhaps you may not know the reference too – so then it becomes sort of a guessing game. Take the two examples above: can you name the inventors and what they invented? (first one to answer this question in a comment below will get a free ebook or PDF from me)
Sound fun? I think so.
What I would like to see is a Pathfinder RPG supplement to come out of this creative exercise at some point. Such a supplement would provide gamers with both a) cool steampunk gear to drop into their games, and b) a fun way to tie in real-world names and icons of history into your game. Basically, a whole pile of wickedly awesome items that go well beyond your “Longsword +1″ or your “Goggles of Telescopy”.
How about these?
- Dewar’s Chamber of Unknowable Terror
- Dr. Stanley’s Eicosapentine Oil of Mysteries
- Dr. Ordinaries’ Speculative Elixir of Ghostly Perceptions
- Cognailed Jackboots of the Artificer
- Maskelyne’s Rose Goggles of Clairvoyance
- Watt’s Aether Condensation Chronometer
- Komstock’s Collapsible Gyrocompass (from @Vonclockverk)
- Dr. Moreau’s Fumigator of Amazing Animatronic Transformation
- Dieuaide’s Incredible Counterbalanced Rotowagon
- Armstrong’s Pneumatic Difference Hammer
- Muybridge’s Superluminal Ghost Projector
- Babbage’s Cog Lock of Incongruent Thought
- Aether Gas Rifle
- Daguerre’s Soul Scope
- Armstrong’s Hypercontraptor Cannon
- O’Sullivan’s Mysterious Heels of Hell
Are you game? If your interested in contributing some #steampunkgear of your own, or developing the actual mechanics for the gear for Pathfinder – drop me a line, leave a comment, or call me out @nevermetpress on Twitter.
Invariably such a project would need an artist or two as well – if that’s you, let me know.
That’s it for now. Keep an eye out this week for another awesome story coming to Stories in the Ether, and if you missed it – on Halloween we saw some great 4E D&D Zombies from the Grumpy Celt and some gruesomely delicious art by Paul Hagwood.
Revenant Conjugator.
This device allows one to consult with the recently deceased. A fine marble base, with a brass cornered mahogany box house all the necessary components. Four brass ended rubber hoses permit the dispersion of herbal compounds into the lungs of the living hosts. A glass sphere holds the egyptian pile powered spirit enducer coil. On the back reside 4 egyptian piles, and their connecting elemetal display dials.
i don’t read instructions too well.
Colunteer: Medium ranked officers who have been volunteered into a specialized experiment. Their brains were transplanted into communication equipment. Able to communicate with the dead – and especially strongly – with each other. They have had their rank promoted, and are considered great strategists, and superbly helpful to airship captains, and ground troups. Their new bodies, a box with a roll top lid, makes them light enough for any soldier to carry, and easy enough to operate by any scout. Brass horns and a leather bellows allows for a voice, another horn serves as a listening vector. Some are outfitted with cabled eyes, and survey a whole ship, or field surveillance. They no longer need to eat, as the holding gel regenerates from the energy of the crystal heart, which powers the colunteer humours. Colunteer are tuned to each other, working as a brotherhood, and can, with external help, tune into the recently dead, to collect information, field plans, and troup movements. Loyal to the queen and empire, they are a living treasure, and highly prized officers.
Since this post -A few more have been added to the mix by me and other (noted by their twitter ID)
17. Durand’s Indestructible Flask
18. Dr. Archbald’s Mechanical Arachnid Mount (@MBlackclaw)
19. “The Trevithick Railcrusher” t.co/TA2TAUgf
20. “Trevithick’s Flying Pennydragon” t.co/oyoVSeBv
21. The Davy Arc-Strike Lamp
22. Fraunhofer’s Magnificent Seeleglühen (Soulglowing) Tonic
23. Reverend Stern’s Steam Powered Stenographer (@MBlackclaw)
24. Faraday’s Magnetic Capacitance Rod
25. Sturgeon’s Marvelous Magnetomagic Match Matchmaker. 26. Wheatstone’s Enchanted Orchestralphone,
27. McCormick’s Harvester of Extraordinary Ghostly Peculiarities
28. Dr. Babbage’s Incalculable Pneumatic Babblephone
Here is my Google Doc with a growing list of #steampunkgear from Twitter. Enjoy!
I’ll update it as the inspiration and tweets come in