[Game] Work Up a Steampunk Setting

[ericthered]

Answer to Q4

Availability has already been mentioned, Another note is the consistent quality of the fuel: its a biological product, not a geological one. That means it burns hotter and requires less management.

Setting Question 5
How did the scramble for Africa turn out? same as our timeline? One power took all? Africa is still open for the taking? Different powers conquered? Independent but still european controlled nations?

EDIT: Wait, Combat Medic was the first to do this game on this forum, before I showed up? I had no idea. Thanks for the links!

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Answer to Q4

Availability has already been mentioned, Another note is the consistent quality of the fuel: its a biological product, not a geological one. That means it burns hotter and requires less management.

Setting Question 5
How did the scramble for Africa turn out? same as our timeline? One power took all? Africa is still open for the taking? Different powers conquered? Independent but still european controlled nations?

EDIT: Wait, Combat Medic was the first to do this game on this forum, before I showed up? I had no idea. Thanks for the links!

Answer to Q5

Conflict is good in any RPG setting, so the fight for Africa is even more violent and it remains ongoing.

The key area of concern is the Congo basin, as the presence of petrol reefs in close proximity to a large, navigable waterway makes it, and not South Africa, the crowning prize of the continent.

However, it's a poisonous jewel. The rampant diseases in the area bring death to Europeans and their horses and cattle, so colonial powers send in small groups of special operatives to work through local tribal proxies to fight vicious little wars throughout the thick, steaming jungle and across winding, intertwined waterways plied by armed and armored steamboats.

Tiny Belgium never had a chance, here, and shifted its attention to the Swahili Coast, where it remained true to form. Belgian colonial officials work through comprador-class soldiers to keep their boots on the throats of locals forced to grow coffee and tea, and hunt elephants for valuable ivory. Bloody uprisings, and even more brutal suppression, are the mark of Belgian rule.

In South Africa, British distraction in the Congo basin leaves the Boers to impose a brutal apartheid society dependent upon what is effectively slave labor in the diamond fields and gold mines. The British have seized the cape as a vital refueling station, just as they did in our world, but haven't pushed hard into the interior

The British cape faces a constant threat of Boer raids, armed and funded by gold and diamonds shipped out via freight dirigible from Johannesburg. Meanwhile the Zulu, who have benefited from the butterfly flaps, realize the impis, armed with shield and iklwa, cannot prevail, and work with anyone willing to provide them with modern arms and training. They pay in cattle, women, and stolen diamonds and gold, and the rare dirigible smuggler willing to brave the crags of the Drakensburgs with a cargo of breech-loading rifles or powder can make a killing -- at least, as long as he or she manages to avoid British navy patrols and merciless Boer kommando raiders.

The fuse is long, but that explosion will rock the world if it's allowed to burn.

In the Congo basin, itself, France supplanted the Portuguese 250 years ago, and now the empire fights desperately against British and German opportunistic efforts to pry the prize away.

None of that matters much to the men in the jungle, though. Alliances shift as often as river channels in the rainy season and, regardless of the side to which a neighbor may have formally pledged, money rules all. The knife across one's throat may come from someone who called himself a comrade, a month ago.

(NOTE: I had originally meant the reefs to have evolved to take advantage of petroleum produced by natural geological processes, but I really like how that idea morphed. It makes jungles, marshes and moors into gold mines that reek of rotten eggs, once the digging starts, and that's in addition to the regular deposits of petroleum, which also appear in reefs. Bravo!)

Question 6

In addition to Britain, France and Germany, who are the major industrial powers of this world and how did they achieve that status?

[TGLS]

Answer to Question 6
In addition to Britain, France and Germany, who are the major industrial powers of this world and how did they achieve that status?

Brazil: Broke away from Portugal during the Hapsburg Crisis (1762-1771). A French mining concern brought the first steam engines to the continent druing the gold rush, and a local engineer (Pedro Magalhães) in one of the mines came up with the bright idea to use fuel coral to drive the engine instead expensive imported coal. The Magalhães-Watt steam engine quickly became Brazil's chief export along with fuel coral, and provided a strong industrial base to improve on.

California Republic: During the gold rush in the 1840s, miners trying to decrease the cost of expensive fuel coral for the mining equipment discovered a large deposits of fuel coral under the La Brea Tar Pit near Los Angeles. Coupled with large population increases from immigration, the nascent republic grew very wealthy, and gained influence over the western half of North America.

Louisiana Confederacy: Born during the political turmoil of the German Wars of Unification (1793-1817) from Colonial British refugees fleeing the French armies, the Louisiana Confederacy industry began to grow from early investments in imported Magalhães-Watt steam engines. Industry surged with the discovery of fuel coral in the swamps of Louisiana and Florida. Dominates eastern North America.

Empire of Japan: Westernized with the aid of the British during the prelude to the Hapsburg Crisis (1762-1771). Military victories in the Philippines established it as a powerful force in the Pacific. Quietly seized control of trade in the Indochina during the German Wars of Unification (1793-1817). Industrial growth was sparked to provide an independent supply of weapons and is fueled by the reefs surrounding Japan, as well as Japanese owned mines in the Indochina.

Question 7
What are the traditional rivalries/alliances?

[Emerald Cat]

Answer to Q7:
A British-Brazilian-Lousianan alliance and a Franco-German alliance are the traditional rivals in this setting. Britain also has an alliance with Japan. However, Japan rarely intervenes outside of Asia.

Question 8:
Do people have any supernatural powers in this setting?

[(E)]

Answer to Question 8:
The supernatural is a topic that those people who are concerned about their social standing avoid. A multitude of supernatural entities and abilities exist. None of them are world shaking and they exist around the edges of society and amongst the poor and oppressed. The slums of Paris, the dirt poor workers shanties of the Louisiana swamps this is where the supernatural is found. The metropolitan police force in London operates a small squad tasked with preventing trouble from "unusual" creatures and people but this group know better than most policemen that you never knock on the front door. It would be social suicide to admit to having any talent with the stranger powers.

Question 9
Where are the great unexplored corners of the world that explorers seek out to plant the flags of their nations?

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by ericthered

EDIT: Wait, Combat Medic was the first to do this game on this forum, before I showed up? I had no idea. Thanks for the links!

Actually, yours might've been the first explicit "Ask a question" version, but there have also been various other make-a-setting exercises.

PS- I added in the Vote Up a Setting threads I could find too.

PPS- A couple of pertinent Wikipedia pages for alternate technology and discovery timelines-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeli...ventions#1800s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeli...n#20th_century

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by (E)

Question 9
Where are the great unexplored corners of the world that explorers seek out to plant the flags of their nations?

Answer to Q9
Actually, the Age of Sail and the Age of Exploration came to a close some 30-50 years earlier than OTL, due to three innovations in particular.

There were the Napoleonic steamers, based on the Niepce Brothers' Pyréolophore, fleets of which quickly pushed to every corner of the globe and mapped out every last remaining coastline.

(Incidentally, photography is significantly retarded compared to OTL, as Napoleon forced Nicéphore Niépce to continue work on high-speed steamers, and thus his OTL discoveries in photography never occurred.)

By no means did Napoleonic France dominate this exploration, but they set the pace for other powers to keep up with.

Terrestrial discovery, exploring the inlands of Australia, crossing the Andes, etc, was greatly accelerated by the use of Crimean Crawlers, great Magalhães-Watt steam wagons mounted on dreadnaught wheels and later caterpillar tracks. The surplus of power meant they could be equipped with circular saws on articulators, to make crossing heavily wooded terrain much easier.

Finally, the frontiers of Arctic and Antarctic exploration were conquered in the 1890's with the aid of Enthermalised Holland Walkers, all-encompassing environmental dress containing a miniature power plant to circulate heated air around the wearer. Produced at the Cork Brassworks, in the Celtic Federacy, by John Phillip Holland, similar Enfridgerated Holland Walkers are a common sight amongst European explorers and merchants venturing into hot tropical or desert areas.

What remains for exploration lies more in the vertical realm. Bathyphilic Holland Walkers and Fenian Diving Yachts are being deployed by many world powers, in a race to colonise useful deep sea territories. High altitude mountain ranges also pose a final frontier for exploration, but teams of Holland Walker equipped explorers, accompanied by Celtic engineers who keep these machines running, are on the verge of conquering this realm as well.

Question 10:
What are the physical properties of the tar coral? i.e. How does it burn? Does it need to be refined? Can it be used as explosive or as an alternative to gunpowder?

[Dr. Beckenstein]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Answer to Q9
Question 10:
What are the physical properties of the tar coral? i.e. How does it burn? Does it need to be refined? Can it be used as explosive or as an alternative to gunpowder?

Answer: It depends. Various kinds of tar coral exist, and their properties depend on the species of the coral, the place they lived, their age and so on. The leading authority on tar corals, Professor Dr. Dr. Wilhelm Ferdinand von Schneckenberg (University of Heidelberg), described in his "Natural History of the Tar Coral" (Heidelberg, 1892) at least 136 various subspecies.

"Raw" corals can simply be burned, but it is more effective to wash them, dry them and grind them to a fine powder. "Coral flour", as it is called, can be stored easier, and modern steam machines have a system of tanks and pipes that deliver just the right amount of dust that is needed.

To use it for other purposes, coral dust can be prepared with numerous chemical and biological products. and it looks like the 20th century will see an incredible variety of tar coral products we can not even dream of.

Question 11: Which country is the leading cultural nation, be it music, theatre, fashion or visual arts?

[tshiggins]

Answer to Q11:

The sprawling expanse of the British Empire makes London the center of culture for most of the world, as it reflects the wide diversity of the people who live under the suzerainty of His Imperial Highness, Edward VII who, despite great efforts to act discretely, is widely understood to have been a libertine playboy for most of his life.

Women wear attire that closely matches what was seen at the turn of the century in our own history. Frilly blouses over long, narrow, skirts that emphasize slender waistlines, topped by ubiquitous flowered hats for all occasions. For outings, a long jacket and kid gloves are mandatory, as are tinted goggles with frames in a variety of amusing shapes and colors, for motorized escapades.

However, female attire does make a bit of a deeper nod toward practicality, in that it features sturdy belts and boots, and most jackets and skirts actually have practical pockets.

When it comes to evening wear, London's primary rival, Paris, rules the night as it always has. Gowns of flowing cotton and/or silk lace or, alternatively fine pleats, appear at every dinner party, with skirts long enough to drag along polished floors.

The most startling difference appears in the wider variety of bright colors commonly selected. Brazil's ascendance as a world power not only brought the scandalous samba and forró to the clubs of Whitechapel, it also made bright, birdlike colors especially popular in ladies' wear.

This has proven somewhat challenging, as colors that look so gorgeous on the café au lait complexions of Brazil's greatest beauties can prove rather challenging for women of quality who strive to achieve Europe's alabaster ideal. Seek a color consultant of good reputation for help, when selecting that next fabulous frock!

Question 12:

In our history, the United Kingdom sought alliances with Portugal to counter its rival, Spain; alliances with Germany to counter its rival, France; and alliances with Japan to counter its rival, Russia.

For their part, Spain worked with the Dutch, and France (and even Ireland) to some extent, to counter the United Kingdom; France sought help from Russia to counter the rising strength of Germany; and Russia supported the Austria-Hungarian Empire to help it against Germany and the Scandinavian countries.

Germany, once it had coalesced under Otto von Bismarck, reached out Austria's historical existential foe, the Ottoman Empire, to counter Austria which, in turn, did its best to retain control of the Magyars and Italians for much-needed manpower.

However, in this timeline, the alliances are all different, and the most notable missing player is Russia.

So, what caused Russia's collapse as a world power, and does anyone control the vast petrol reefs in Western Siberia and the Caspian Sea?

[TGLS]

Question 12: (trimmed)
So, what caused Russia's collapse as a world power, and does anyone control the vast petrol reefs in Western Siberia and the Caspian Sea?

Answer to Q12
The immediate cause of the current crises Russia faces are British actions in Central Asia and Japanese actions in Kamchatka, coupled with negative relations with France and Germany. The underlying cause of the ongoing collapse of Russia is a matter of great dispute to historians and political scientists.

Many argue that that main problem that Russia faces is its inability to industrialize on the scale of the other great powers of the 19th century. Many point to its political and social structures being incapable of supporting an industrial economy with no real demand for goods from the population. Others point to poor relations with the other industrial powers made it difficult for the empire to get the industrial materials necessary to build factories locally in the first place. Others argue that the country did not have a sufficent level of literacy to allow for a large industrial working class. Others argue that the urban centres where industry would reside are far from the supplies of tar coral necessary for industrialization.

The other main argument is that the majority of Russia problems are political. After their loss during the Second War of German Unification (1799-1801), after the surprise intervention of France (PM Napoleon signed a secret treaty with growing republic), Russia turned inward on itself. Later, after their defeat by the British in the Greek War (the British were brought into the war in exchange for a concession to build the Suez Canal), Russia faced a coup attempt from a coalition of intellectuals and nobility. In the late 19th century, military adventures into Manchuria, Poland and Finland drew international response and the formation of the Grand Coalition (All great powers except for isolationist California). The coalition moved quickly, securing the independence of Finland and establishing protectorates in Manchuria and Poland. Faced with these defeats, other nationalist movements are organizing across the Russian Empire, as well as the Sorelian Party under Lenin.

Question 13:
How do people get about?