Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-17-2016, 09:43 AM   #51
Bravesteel
 
Bravesteel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Question 33

It has been stated that China has collapsed. Why did it collapse? Are there any factions fighting it out or did it just disintegrate into various warlord states?

Answer to Q33

China collapsed two reasons, the intrusion of the Empire of Japan into their sphere of influence, and the rise of Mongolia in the north.

Troubling China

The Empire of Japan has caused great disruption throughout China, and the inability of the Chinese government led to large-scale resentment towards central authority. The country devolved into many smaller kingdoms as the people consolidated around those nobles and other leaders who were able to create a sense of local stability. Some of these provinces are, in essence, vassals of the Empire of Japan, paying large fees to escape military censure from the Japanese.

Greater Mongolia

Mongolia experienced a kind of cultural and economic renaissance with the collapse of Russia. The Mongolians have united under the banner of a new Khan, who and they have taken advantage of the widespread chaos in China to grab lands to their south as well as lands to north where the sway of Russian power has loosened considerably. The economy and technologic assets of Greater Mongolia been boosted by British interests who want to use Greater Mongolia as a local power buffer against the growing threat of Japanese Imperialism.

Question 35

What has happened to Korea?
__________________
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to destroy a planet.
Bravesteel is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2016, 10:10 AM   #52
TGLS
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Question 35

What has happened to Korea?

Answer to Q35
Many years ago, in the heyday of Imperial Russian power, Japan conquered Korea as part of an agreement partitioning East Asia with the Russians. The Japanese received Sakhalin and Korea, while Russia was given a free hand in Northern China. They were unable to capitalize on this because of conflicts in Europe.

Today, Korea has gone through a significant level of Japanization; Japanese is taught in schools and is used in government. Japanese religions are promoted over native religions. Government documents use Japanese versions of Korean names. Large numbers of Japanese have settled in Korea, and there are many of third generation Japanese settlers.

Question 29
Who is winning the race to plunder the depths of the seas?

Question 34
What are popular tourist destinations?

Question 35
What is the current status of Spain, and what are its relationships with the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America?

Last edited by TGLS; 11-17-2016 at 10:14 AM.
TGLS is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2016, 07:08 PM   #53
Warlockco
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Colorado
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Question 29
Who is winning the race to plunder the depths of the seas?

Question 34
What are popular tourist destinations?

Question 35
What is the current status of Spain, and what are its relationships with the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America?

Also we are on 4 of 7 Technological Wonders of the World.
Warlockco is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2016, 02:44 AM   #54
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Quote:
Question 29
Who is winning the race to plunder the depths of the seas?
It's difficult to say who is winning, but certainly a strong contender is The United Kingdoms of Norway and Sweden, under King Gustav V. This is largely due to…

Technological Marvel No. 5: Eugeniebyen Subsea Research City
Eugeniebyen is a subsea research complex stretching along a mile of cliff on the fjord of Hardangerfjord near the city of Bergen, in Norway. Named in honour of Princess Eugenie, it looks like an intricate tangle of brass pipes, steel girders, glass domes and elevators, gear sheds, terraces and brick laboratories clinging precariously to the cliffside. Situated at the deepest point of the fjord, at 860 metres, the facility provides direct access to the natural high pressure environment (at close to 90 bar) useful for medical, manufacturing, chemical engineering, subsea mining and military research, as well as allowing direct observation of aquatic biology at all depths. The facility extends deep into the cliffside via a series of tunnels, and outward into the depths of the fjord with an extensive array of gantries and platforms.

Different parts of the complex are dedicated to different research disciplines, such as the Oscar II Hospital for Hyperbaric Medicine, the Geophysical Institute School of Deep Sea Technology- who are investigating how to seed naturally occurring coral reefs to turn them into tar coral farms- and the Norwegian Army Hćrens Vĺpenskole Undervannsoperasjoner Divisjon- whose 3rd Irregulars Platoon is based here. Grandiose subaquatic accommodations are also provided for the entertainment of the royal family if they choose to visit, and indeed Prince Eugen spends a lot of time at the Royal Quarters, painting underwater vistas and discretely entertaining gentleman artists.

While Eugeniebyen is the largest fjordside facility, there are five other sister facilities around the country, such as the Sognefjorden Industrial Centre, which has access to a 1300 metre/131 bar pressure column, or the Buskerud Aquaculture Anlegget on Drammensfjord. The 1st and 2nd Irregulars Platoons of the Undervannsoperasjoner Divisjon are garrisoned in the Bunnefjorden near the capital of Kristiania, where they train in long range motorised Holmsborg bathosuit operations for missions such as mine removal, harbour penetration and anti-sabotage.

The Norwegian crown also operates a tropical subsea research facility sharing similar technology on St Thomas, in the Danish East Indies, in partnership with the Danish government.

This core of research and high quality manufacturing for underwater facilities has meant there is a great demand for Norwegian technology and expertise around the world, and a number of Norwegian-Swedish corporations are taking full advantage of this. The largest such company is Norsk Akvatisk ASA, partly crown-owned and partly by the Wallenberg family, which has manufacturing plants in 30 countries around the world and on every continent. Therefore any harbour or deep sea development around the globe will most likely involve Norsk Akvatisk engineering, their Celtic rivals from Holland Marine Inc, or perhaps in the Pacific sphere, Grand Kurokirishima KK.

Question 36
What is it on the floor of the North Sea that the Norwegian Army and British Marine division are fighting over?

Question 37
What exactly is the nature of these supernatural powers? Is it sorcery, psionics, or something more eldritch?

Question 38
The new Chancellor of State, Lord Phillip Buggsbury, is addressing his attache, Sir Adrian, in his offices.
"Ah yes, Sir Adrian. I have to brief the Prime Minister in the morning on the top hot spots, if you will. Trouble spots, you could say. Locales where violence and hostilities have erupted. Fighting, I should say, to be perfectly simple. Where is it?"
"The fighting, m'lord?"
"Of course. Skirmishing and affray. War, revolution, protest and uprising. Who's doing it to whom, why they are doing it, and where. And which bloody side we are on; I shan't seem a ninny in front of the Prime Minister."
"If I may, m'lord, direct your attention to the several dossiers atop your bureau, you shall find within them great detail on global unrest..."
Lord Buggsbury waves a languid hand dismissively.
"Piff and tosh and piffle, Sir Adrian. Far too wordy. I have croquet in the afternoon with the Marquesa, and I shan't be late. Now then, be a good man would you, and compose a précis of whatever is in these dossiers. I do want to make an impression for the Prime Minister tomorrow. A précis, mind you. One leaf of foolscap will suffice."
"Yes, m'lord, as you desire. Shall there be anything else?"
"Why yes, one last thing. Can you affirm whether the Marquesa likes dill with her cucumber sandwiches? I shan't seem a ninny in front of Her Ladyship if she cannot abide dill and I were to be so insensitive as to inflict such an herb upon her."
"Yes, m'lord."

TLDR- What are the top 5-10 global trouble spots, and which side are the British or other powers supporting?
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!

Last edited by Daigoro; 11-18-2016 at 06:46 AM.
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2016, 10:36 AM   #55
Emerald Cat
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Question 37
What exactly is the nature of these supernatural powers? Is it sorcery, psionics, or something more eldritch?
Answer to Question 37

All of the gods and spirits from mythology are real and live in the astral plane in this setting. However, the deities are too busy protecting the universe from the eldritchian horrors that seek to end it to reliably intervene in mortal affairs. In fact, everyone reincarnates in this setting because the gods don't have time to judge mortal souls.

Spirits are far less busy than the gods but also less powerful. Casting magic from the astral plane is too difficult for them to accomplish. Mages are spirits who have decided to overcome this problem by incarnating as humans. Unfortunately, mages are as likely to have malevolent intentions as they are to have good intentions.

Their supernatural powers would be best modeled as magic as powers. Awakening supernatural powers takes extended periods of practice. Spells are themed on classical elements. European mages use the elements of Air, Earth, Fire, Life, and Water. Asian mages use the Chinese elements of Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, and Wood. Knowledge and Luck are universal themes. Teleportation and mind affecting magic is not possible. Raising the dead is possible but costs the patient 25 character points worth of physical traits.

Since I chose a magic as powers approach, I need to derive the power modifier. Magic's power is not dependent on location (+0%). Supernatural abilities can be countered with special advantages or skills (-5%). Mages must stay true to their nature to keep access to their powers. Their nature is represented by 10 points worth of mental disadvantages (-10%). Their powers disappear immediately if the mage goes against their these disadvantages (+0%) but don't turn against the mage (+0%). Restoring their powers takes a week, a minor quest, or minor harm (+0%). Using magic is exhausting for a spirit, so all of their abilities have Costs Fatigue (-5%). The total power modifier is thus -20%.

The general public thinks that magic exists even though it rarely impacts them. Magic often outright breaks the laws of physics and many civilians feel that it is unnatural. Worse, magic is often associated with eccentrics and the criminally insane. Known mages have historically had Social Stigma(Minority Group) and possibly Social Stigma(Disowned) depending on how their families react.

World leaders and mainstream scientists are generally in active denial about the existence of magic. They would be loathe to accept the existence of magic because it would heavily undermine their deterministic worldview. Most mages are too busy fighting each other to risk getting drawn into worldly politics. Demonstrations of magic would be rationalized as clever mundane illusions by these people anyway.

The Metropolitan Police Force in London is one of the few police departments to have personnel dedicated to dealing with magic. MPF's chief of police only established the "magic department" to assuage public panic over a "witch" placing "death curses" on people. Not believing this story for minute, he treated these positions as sinecures to earn political favor with the nobility. Fortunately, the nobles he chose tried to at least give the appearance of investigating their case. Their perfunctory investigation discovered that the victims had all been connected to a single mutual acquaintance. When they confronted the "witch", he panicked and gave one of the investigators a heart attack. They might have been persuaded that it was a coincidence if the spell didn't produce a light show. After the dust settled, they vowed to fight the supernatural wherever it stood within London. Unfortunately, they have no funding besides their salaries, none of them are trained detectives, the chief doesn't take their investigations seriously, and the courts don't accept the existence of magic. Vigilantism seems unavoidable. Hopefully, they will find a mage ally before they get themselves killed...

Religious organizations are some of the few social and career outlets open to an outed mage. About 40% of religious figures secretly wield magic. Preaching that magic is evil usually leads to exposure of scandalous secrets or fatal "accidents". While mages get a lukewarm reaction from typical church goers, they are often met with open arms by their fellow mages. Enough people are falsely labeled as mages for any favoritism to go unnoticed or mistaken for pity.

Passing on the knowledge of magic is important to most mages. Nonmages can be taught to use magic. However, they learn magic slower and are less flexible than mages. Vows to only teach magic to the "worthy" are nearly universal. Those who don't meet that definition will find getting training difficult.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Question 36
What is it on the floor of the North Sea that the Norwegian Army and British Marine division are fighting over?

Question 38
The new Chancellor of State, Lord Phillip Buggsbury, is addressing his attache, Sir Adrian, in his offices.
"Ah yes, Sir Adrian. I have to brief the Prime Minister in the morning on the top hot spots, if you will. Trouble spots, you could say. Locales where violence and hostilities have erupted. Fighting, I should say, to be perfectly simple. Where is it?"
"The fighting, m'lord?"
"Of course. Skirmishing and affray. War, revolution, protest and uprising. Who's doing it to whom, why they are doing it, and where. And which bloody side we are on; I shan't seem a ninny in front of the Prime Minister."
"If I may, m'lord, direct your attention to the several dossiers atop your bureau, you shall find within them great detail on global unrest..."
Lord Buggsbury waves a languid hand dismissively.
"Piff and tosh and piffle, Sir Adrian. Far too wordy. I have croquet in the afternoon with the Marquesa, and I shan't be late. Now then, be a good man would you, and compose a précis of whatever is in these dossiers. I do want to make an impression for the Prime Minister tomorrow. A précis, mind you. One leaf of foolscap will suffice."
"Yes, m'lord, as you desire. Shall there be anything else?"
"Why yes, one last thing. Can you affirm whether the Marquesa likes dill with her cucumber sandwiches? I shan't seem a ninny in front of Her Ladyship if she cannot abide dill and I were to be so insensitive as to inflict such an herb upon her."
"Yes, m'lord."

TLDR- What are the top 5-10 global trouble spots, and which side are the British or other powers supporting?

Last edited by Emerald Cat; 11-20-2016 at 09:48 PM. Reason: Reconciled the MPF having a magic department with magic being secret.
Emerald Cat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2016, 11:29 AM   #56
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Emerald Cat View Post
Answer to Question 37
Mages are spirits who have decided to overcome this problem by incarnating as humans. Unfortunately, mages are as likely to have malevolent intentions as they are to have good intentions.
Clarification:
Does that mean that mages are aware that they are incarnated spirits with a particular purpose?
Quote:
However, vows to only teach magic to the "worthy" are nearly universal.
And so are all mages incarnated spirits, or can regular humans (who I guess have also reincarnated) become mages too, if it can be taught?

I guess you can either reply with your ideas, or set these up as new questions for the question pool.
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2016, 01:33 PM   #57
Warlockco
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Colorado
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Question 34
What are popular tourist destinations?

Question 35
What is the current status of Spain, and what are its relationships with the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America?

Question 36
What is it on the floor of the North Sea that the Norwegian Army and British Marine division are fighting over?

Standing Question 1
What are the 7 Technological Wonders of the World?
Also we are on 5 of 7 Technological Wonders of the World.

Standing Question 2
What are the top 5-10 Global Trouble Spots, and which side are the British or other powers supporting?

Last edited by Warlockco; 11-18-2016 at 09:36 PM.
Warlockco is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2016, 07:53 PM   #58
Emerald Cat
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Clarification:
Does that mean that mages are aware that they are incarnated spirits with a particular purpose?
Whenever someone is reincarnated, they lose conscious knowledge of their past lives. Humans require a near death experience to regain these suppressed memories. Unfortunately, survivable near death experiences are rare at this TL.

Spirits suffer similar memory suppression when they incarnate. Meaning that spirits grow up thinking that they are ordinary humans. For all practical intents and purposes they are except for the -10 points of mental disadvantages. Learning their true nature requires exposure to magic or a near death experience.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
And so are all mages incarnated spirits, or can regular humans (who I guess have also reincarnated) become mages too, if it can be taught?
Regular humans can learn magic. However, they have a harder time with it than the spirits do. Firstly, regular humans must be taught magic. Secondly, a regular human's mental disadvantages aren't part of their power modifier. Learning abilities can be significantly more expensive for a human as a result. Thirdly, humans must learn their abilities by rote. Therefore, regular humans can't take Modular Abilities or Wild Talent as part of their power set. In a similar vein, only spirits have access to the Temporary Enhancements and Default Abilities rules from Powers.

tldr: regular humans can learn magic but spirits are a lot better at it.
Emerald Cat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2016, 09:19 PM   #59
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Quote:
Originally Posted by Warlockco View Post
Question 38
What are the top 5-10 global trouble spots, and which side are the British or other powers supporting?
To clarify myself, I intended this to be a standing question, so don't feel obliged to write them all up at once.

And Emerald Cat, did you want to add a question?
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-19-2016, 09:12 AM   #60
Emerald Cat
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Cincinnati, OH, USA
Default Re: [Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

Question 36
What is it on the floor of the North Sea that the Norwegian Army and British Marine division are fighting over?

Answer to Question 36:
A prehistoric enigmatic pyramid. The North Sea Pyramid looms 900 ft tall (measured from the sea floor), about twice as tall as the Pyramid at Giza. Ocean depth is 1000 ft at this point, so the North Sea Pyramid is completely submerged.

The Norwegians and Britons are interested in the Pyramid for the advanced underwater engineering it represents. Whoever figures out how to build such a massive structure underwater will dominate the ocean floor.

Standing Questions
Question 34
What are popular tourist destinations?

Question 35
What is the current status of Spain, and what are its relationships with the Spanish-speaking areas of Latin America?

Question 39
Who built the North Sea Pyramid, and why?

Standing Question 1
What are the 7 Technological Wonders of the World?
Also we are on 5 of 7 Technological Wonders of the World.

Standing Question 2
What are the top 5-10 Global Trouble Spots, and which side are the British or other powers supporting?
Emerald Cat is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
game, setting, setting building, steampunk, worldbuilding

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:51 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.