[PK]

Originally Posted by wabishtar

90% copied and pasted from GURPS Steampunk and Steam-Tech, just with the stats changed to the current system, something nearly any fan could have done on their own

That is an inaccurate and, I have to say, unfair statement.

First, the majority (nowhere near a mere 10%) of the vehicles in this book are completely new; see more on this below.

Second, it's one of the mandates of Phil's Steampunk series (of which this is a sister product) to show how to use material from the Third Edition books as inspiration for Fourth Edition campaigns. (Also, several of the things which appear in both products are literary classics; I'd hope we can all agree that any book on steampunk vehicles would be incomplete without Verne's Nautilus.) So not only am I not trying to gloss over the existence of a few updated classics, I consider it a selling point.

Third, nothing here was "converted" from one system to another. Even when a vehicle was drawn from a Third Edition book, Phil crafted it from the ground up using Fourth Edition stats. You say, "something nearly any fan could have done on their own," but I disagree with that completely; consider the number of people demanding David's Vehicle Design system because they don't want to deal with the hassle of turning real-world values into Fourth Edition statistics. By definition, the Vehicles series is for people who want the work done for them.

there's almost nothing new in here, to the point where it seems genuinely unethical for SJGames to represent it the way they are

I'm confused as to how anything we've said or done is disingenuous. The Table of Contents lists every single vehicle in the book, and (without consciously intending it) my announcement post here even mentions a mix of old and new vehicles. Please explain how this was misrepresented, or explain what other breach of ethics you're referring to.

As to the collection itself, here's the actual breakdown of completely new vehicles versus those that had appeared in previous products. However, even in the latter case, the only actual overlap is in inspiration and concept alone, along with perhaps a few words from the description.

(I made this list by hand just now, since, as stated, this wasn't something that was even on anyone's radar as a potential issue. So if there are any errors, let me know and I'll gladly edit it.)

Completely New

1. Stephenson's Rocket
2. The Mallard
3. Hansom Cab
4. Trevithick Steam Carriage (different from Steampunk's general Steam Carriage)
5. L’Obéissante
6. Steam Tricycle
7. Stanley Steamer
8. Steam Wagon
9. The Steam Man of the Prairies
10. The Steam House (different from Steam-Tech's general Steam Elephant)
11. Small Steam Launch
12. Steam Yacht
13. Torpedo Ram
14. Pre-Dreadnought Battleship
15. B-Class Submarine
16. Le Géant
17. Santos Dumont No. 9
18. Adventurers’ Dirigible
19. P-Class Zeppelin (different from Steam-Tech's Luftschiff Zeppelin)
20. Victorian Glider
21. Santos Dumont Demoiselle
22. Blériot XI
23. The Albatross

Appeared Previously (or something very similar did):

1. Colonial Locomotive
2. Iron Horse
3. Land Ironclad (though heavily redesigned)
4. O-Daisuchiimu
5. Armed Launch
6. Fulton's Nautilus
7. Verne's Nautilus
8. Observation Balloon
9. Aerial Battleship (close to Steampunk's Aerial Dreadnought)
10. Clockpunk Hang-Glider (close to Steampunk's Prototype Glider)
11. Steampunk Ornithopter
12. Electric Aeronef
13. Electric Astronef
14. Solar Steamer