Pulp Age: American Steampunk

Machinists preparing a rocket for Thomas Edison.

When most folks think of Steampunk, they think primarily of the work of European (particularly British) writers such as H.G. Wells, George Griffith, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jules Verne and others. And while I am a fan of many of the works of these esteemed gentlemen, I feel that the many American writers are too often short-changed in this regard.
Science Fiction in 19th and early 20th century was not enormously successful, and was often dominated by European writers, however there was plenty of homegrown talent that greatly influenced the genre.
In the Pulp Age setting (which has a number of Steampunk elements in it) America is front and center in the affairs of the world, churning out adventurers, industrialist inventors, and all manner of wild gadgetry. And so I will be incorporating the concepts of American writers of wild adventure stories and Edisonade elements.

A SHORT LIST OF AUTHORS
Below is a list of some American authors whose work could be considered Steampunk in many regards, and excellent examples of early Science Fiction. The science involved ran the whole gamut of plausibility and implausibility, but were thoroughly American in caste.

Frank L. Baum
Everyone has heard of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but this knowledge rarely goes beyond the 1939 film. As fun as that classic was, it hardly represents the weird and wonderful world that was churned out of this mans mind. In the Oz Books, we find all manner of strange creatures, more than a few of whom are mechanical beings of one kind or another. Though not Steampunk per se, the strange devices found throughout Oz are excellent fodder for inventions. If nothing else, the Oz books would be something that Pulp Age Adventurers would be aware of and can supply some useful flavour text to an adventure of backstory.

Edward Bellamy 

Though known primarily for his much more famous after Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben-Hur, Edward Bellamy also wrote a nifty Science Fiction novel cammed Looking Backward. The novel is primarily an overview of a Socialist Utopia that is naieve from modern views. Still the book handily predicts telephones, credit cards and modern warehouse club like BJ's, Costco, or Sam's Club. Though not Steampunk in the normal sense, Looking Backwards along with Charlotte Gilman's Herland (see below) present the "forward" thinking views of a great many people at the time.

Edgar Rice Burroughs
Though known primarily for his Tarzan novels (and the many sad movie attempts of this character), Edgar Rice Burroughs initially came on the scene with Under the Moons of Mars (1912) which inaugurated the Barsoom series (ala John Carter of Mars). These novels, along with the primordial strangeness of the Hollow Earth of Pelucidar and the Amtor (Venus) novels, make his work IDEAL for Steampunk adventures. The Land That Time Forgot is another gem worth digging up for lovers of wild implausible adventures, this one set in WWI. Not only are the works of Burroughs excellent for tidbits for GMs, but are damn fun to read. I recommend them highly!

Charlotte Gilman
The efforts of the early feminists in America are certainly noteworthy and should be required reading in all schools (but are NOT). Charlotte Gilman was a powerful voice during her lifetime (1860-1935) being a novelist, writer of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction, and a lecturer for social reform.Though perhaps not Steampunk, she wrote a novel involving weird bio-science called Herland. Herland is a utopian novel from 1915, written by feminist Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The book describes an isolated society composed entirely of women, who reproduce via parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction). The result is an ideal social order: free of war, conflict, and domination.

Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale was an American author, historian and Unitarian minister. Though primarily known as a Historian, he also wrote an excellent short story called The Brick Moon, published serially in The Atlantic Monthly starting in 1869. It describes the construction and launch into orbit of a sphere, 200 ft. in diameter, built of bricks. It is intended as a navigational aid, but is accidentally launched with people aboard. They survive, and so the story also provides the first known fictional description of a space station.

Will Harben (Land of the Changing Sun)
Considered a minor author today, Will Harben was one of the most popular novelists in America during the first two decades of the twentieth century.  In 1894 he wrote Land of the Changing Sun, his only science fiction novel. The story concerns a voyage to the center of the earth where they find a technologically advanced civilization. He incorporates number of interesting concepts such as super-foods in the form of a liquor and wireless power much like that proposed by Tesla. The book is a bit dense (being Victorian in language) but very interesting in concept.

Richard Adams Locke

Richard Adams Locke was a reporter who was working for The Sun when he wrote "The Great Moon Hoax" in 1835 under the false name of Sir John Herschel (a widely respected astronomer). The Great Moon Hoax was a series of articles about the supposed discovery of life and even civilization on the Moon.
The articles described fantastic animals on the Moon, including bison, goats, unicorns, bipedal tail-less beavers and bat-like winged humanoids ("Vespertilio-homo") who built temples. There were trees, oceans and beaches. These discoveries were supposedly made with "an immense telescope of an entirely new principle."

Herschel was initially amused by the hoax, noting that his own real observations could never be as exciting. He became annoyed later when he had to answer questions from people who believed the hoax was serious.

Though not technically a Steampunk tale, the Moon Hoax articles are excellent fodder for adventure. In most Steampunk tales of the Moon there certainly is life.

Edward Page Mitchell (An American H.G. Wells)
Edward Page Mitchell (1852–1927) was an American editorial and short story writer for The Sun, a daily newspaper in New York City. Mitchell was a prolific writer of Steampunk/Science Fiction, and was more than a little ahead of European contemporaries. Mitchell wrote fiction about a man rendered invisible by scientific means ("The Crystal Man", published in 1881) before H.G. Wells's The Invisible Man, wrote about a time-travel machine ("The Clock that Went Backward") before Wells's The Time Machine, wrote about faster-than-light travel ("The Tachypomp"; now perhaps his best-known work) in 1874, a thinking computer and a cyborg in 1879 ("The Ablest Man in the World"), and also wrote the earliest known stories about matter transmission or teleportation ("The Man without a Body", 1877) and a superior mutant ("Old Squids and Little Speller"). "Exchanging Their Souls" (1877) is one of the earliest fictional accounts of mind transfer.
A collection of his works can be found here.

Luis Senarens
Luis was an American dime novel writer specializing in science fiction, once called "the American Jules Verne". He grew up in a Cuban-American family in Brooklyn. Senarens wrote elaborate and entertaining "inventor" themed stories incorporating all manner of wild devices. Helicopter like flying "ironclads" are widely represented in his work, and predated all other such fictional devizes by a wide margin. If you would like to read up on his work the Reade Family and particularly Boilerplate are presently available in print. For a free view of his work the book Jack Wright and His Electric Stagecoach is a good place to start.

Garrett Putman Serviss

Garrett Putnam Serviss was an American astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. His scientific papers are very interesting in their own right, and present some very interesting thoughts on the possibilities of life within our own solar system. However on the concept of Steampunk, it would be hard to do better than Edison's Conquest of Mars. In this novel, a force from Earth, composed of troops from around the world (and under the leadership of Thomas Edison) set out in Earth-made spaceships to attack Mars. This is in retaliation of the Martian assault in H.G. Wells War of The Worlds.
The Martians in this version are not like the squid-like Martians described in H.G. Wells's story. These Martians are more humanoid with arms, legs and an enormous head with projector-like eyes and bad looking faces. When they rise, they are 15 feet high (4.572 meters). However this is only the male, for the species exhibits sexual dimorphism. To Earthlings, they appear unpleasant. The Martian women, however, are (of course) graceful and beautiful.
The book contains some notable "firsts" in science fiction: alien abductions, spacesuits (called "air-tight suits"), aliens building the Pyramids, space battles, oxygen pills, asteroid mining and disintegrator rays. Steampunk Space Opera is a wonderful concept.

George Tucker
George Tucker was a United States attorney, author, educator and politician. His literary works include the first fiction of colonial life in Virginia and a second which is one of America's earliest science fictions, A Voyage to the Moon. In this novel we see the first known depiction of antigravity, as well as some novel views of utopian societies in the denizens of the Moon. The novel is more of a review of utopian concepts rather than speculations on science, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Voidjammer: The New Drule Empire

The New Drule Empire is a vast, interstellar empire ruled by Drule Blueskins. This empire is presently seeking complete control of a region of space known as The Shadow Nebula, an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other ionized gases and magic-enhancing substances. Within The Shadow Nebula, a large number of habitable worlds are known to exist, as well as ample amounts of magical substances such as Corite (positive energy) and Haggarium (negative energy) and other substances.
Also known as the Galran Empire, The New Drule Empire is an attempt by the Drule Blueskins to re-establish the ancient and scattered Drule Empire. In this effort, the Empire is seeking to control potent magics so as to construct a massive fleet of ships and a vast army of troops and Robeasts to conquer all of space. The Empire is centered on the planet Galra (see below), but has conquered numerous worlds across the Nebula.

Politics and Government

The planet is ruled by a kingdom, headed by the quarrelsome and evil Daibazaal family from the massive Castle Doom on Galra. The King serves as the head of state, presiding over a council of Drule noblemen. Each of the noblemen are in charge of vast resources, planets and factions of the Empire.

A steady policy of infighting, assassination and arguments is common in The Empire, resulting in only the most vicious, cunning and paranoid retaining leadership positions for any time. Because of this, the Empire has no use for mercy, or justice. But they do operate under a legal system presided over by the King and the clerics of the goddess Honerva (Chaotic Clerics) and their Drule Antipaladin enforcers.

Military

Under the command of the king, the military conducts combat operations. The Doom military has fleets of spacecraft, wings of combat and support aircraft, and armies. The mainstay of the kingdom's ground forces are Doomite Undead (see below), who are "created" from the life-force of slaves using the planets negative energy properties. In addition to conventional forces, Robeasts provide extra muscle.

Slavery

The Empire relies heavily on slave labor, sending Doomite Freighters to the far reaches of the universe looking for slaves. Though many slaves are sent to labor in the mines, the more interesting sorts are made to fight in the Arena at Castle Doom. In the arena, slaves must battle Robeasts and other foes for the amusement of the nobles and Doomites. Those who die are used as feed for the robeasts, and their souls captured to make Doomites. Those who survive will eventually be transformed into Robeasts.

Galra (aka Planet Doom)

Galra, also known as Planet Doom, is the seat of The New Drule Empire. It is a harsh, unforgiving world that is nonetheless quite rich in material wealth. The mines of Galra have a seemingless endless amount of ferrous metals, possibly due to a number of elemental gates leading to the Elemental Plane of Earth and Fire. The negative-energy ore known as Haggarium is in great abundance.

Galra is a dark and gloomy world yet there is always enough light to see by due to the nearly continuous fires and eerie magical lights. 

Some areas on the planet have only the minor negative-dominant trait, and these regions tend to be inhabited by Drule Blueskins and their favored slaves. The rest of the planet is major negative-dominant trait. Some areas on the planet have only the minor negative-dominant trait, and these regions tend to be inhabited by Drule Blueskins and their favored slaves. The rest of the planet is major negative-dominant trait. 

Spells and special abilities that use negative energy have all their variables maximized.Spells that use positive energy, including cure wounds spells have a 50% chance of spell failure. Characters on this planet take a -5 penalty on Fortitude saves made to regain lost levels from energy drain.

Doomite   

Medium Humanoid, Chaotic (LE), Average Intelligence; Warband (4d6)*
HD 1+1
AC 15 (breastplate)
ATK By weapon
MV 30
SV F 13, R 15, W 15
XP 75 (CL 1)
Doomites  are large cousins of goblins with no hair and charcoal grey skin color. Large males have pronounced ridges on the top of their heads and large eyes. Doomite eyes are either yellowish or black, while their teeth are yellow or black fangs. Doomite soldiers wear simple armor, but when off-duty these goblinoids dress in foppish finery such as frilled colars and sleeves. Their weaponry is kept polished and in good repair. Doomite speak Drule and Common. Doomite hate humans and attack them first, in preference to other opponents.
Doomites live primarily on Galra, but can be found wherever the Galran Empire has spread. When encountered in the field, Doomites are  organized into units of 1d10 x 20 warriors. Each unit is led by a great Doomite with 5+1 HD. There is a 30% chance the tribe dwells with one of the following: 2d6 Large Robeasts or 1d6 Huge Robeasts. Doomite army composition can be determined randomly.

25% DRONES: Leather armor (AC 13), scimitar, whip
20% TROOPER: Breastplate (AC 15), scimitar, pistol
30% DOOMITE: Breastplate (AC 15), scimitar, rifle
15% ELITE: Chitin Plate (AC 18), glaive, short sword, rifle, pistol
10% PILOT: Leather Armor (AC 13), scimitar, rifle, Drule Fighter Ship

Special Qualities: Immune to disease and poison, resistance to cold. 

GALRANIAN AS CHARACTERS
Doomites modify their starting ability scores as follows: Str +1, Dex +1, Int -1 and Cha -1. Doomites have dark-vision to a range of 120 feet. Spells that cure hit point damage act as harm spells, and negative energy spells such as harm spells and ray of enfeeblement have the opposite effect on Doomites.
Doomites speak Drule and Common, but might also know Infernal, Ghoul or Orc. Doomites can advance to a maximum of 9th level in most classes, but have unlimited advancement as Assassins. 

This campaign setting uses the Blood and Treasure RPG rules. Its a melding of Old School gaming and the newer, smoother-running games rules. Its a game that is fairly rules light, but has just enough crunch to satisfy my gaming appetite. All the cool kids are doing it.

Voidjammer: Fantasy Space Cosmology Pt I

Travel in Fantasy Space is full of weird and wonderful sights and encounters. From Space Dragons and Living Planets to the stars and planets themselves. In part, fantasy space is based on Ptolemaic Astronomy, Aristotelian Physics. But it is also inspired by space-going adventure tales from past decades such as Flash Gordon, John Carter of Mars and others. Its not so much about real-world astrophysics (which is far weirder), but about daring adventures against jaw-dropping vistas.
The multiverse of Voidjammer presented below uses the Planar Rules from pages 19-24 of the Blood and Treasure Treasurekeepers Tome. Whether or not planets and wildspace are actually other planes from the Prime Material, the planar rules are still excellent for portraying strange environment. As for my home campaign, other planets are other planes.


WILDSPACE (Starry Sea, the Void, Space)
"When ships to sail the void between the stars have been invented there will also be men who come forward to sail those ships." -Johannes Kepler
Wildspace is the "space" between celestial bodies (planets, suns, etc). It is considered coterminous with the Material Plane, the crystal shells and the phlogiston. Wildspace is also coexistent with the Ethereal Plane, The Astral Plane, and the Plane of Shadow. Wildspace doesn’t have an atmosphere of any kind and is a perfect vacuum. Conventional interplanetary journeys around a solar system take place within wildspace. It is the first obstacle that must be conquered by would-be space travelers.

Mind Eater Dreadnaught

Wildspace has no gravity, and is finite only within its own crystal sphere (though these are quite large). It is neutral in alignment, and has no elemental or energy traits. While, for the most part, magic works normally in wildspace there are some limits. Magical fire doesn’t need air to work properly but if the end result a spellcaster wants requires an atmosphere (i.e. oxygen) then that end result cannot occur. For example, a Fireball spell will work but it hasn’t any chance of lighting an object or person on fire.

Travel through Wildspace is managed with the use of specialized vehicles called Voidjammers. Ships not unlike sailing vessels in design but made (or altered) to fly through the depths of space. Through the use of magical devices called Helms, these ships can travel at tremendous speeds, and even contain their own atmosphere and gravity. 

Game Notes: Fantasy space is a dangerous place, and characters can die very quickly if they are thrown beyond an air envelope. A person can hold their breath for one round per two points of constitution if they are not moving, or for one round per three points of constitution if they are active (swimming, fighting, etc). Once they run out of breath, they suck water into their lungs and begin suffering 1d6 points of constitution damage per round until dead. Constructs and Undead are immune to this, for obvious reasons.

CELESTIAL BODIES 

Asteroids are great for those who don't like neighbors.

The celestial body that is most familiar to typical player characters is their home planet, be it Barsoom, Mongo, Eternia, or any one of countless others that populate the multiverse. Celestial bodies extend upward in size to that of the largest sun, and downward to the size of asteroids and planetoids. The tremendous variety that is possible (and proven) in celestial bodies mandates that the only accurate definition for the term is any significantly large conglomeration of matter that is wheeling about in wildspace.
In general, however, a celestial body is a plane in and of itself, generally corresponding to one or more of the Inner Planes. Most of these Celestial Bodies are single-biome worlds, with only those with diverse biospheres (like our world) being considered "Prime Material" planets. Treasure Keepers are encouraged to be creative when designing Celestial Bodies. Some common classifications: Asteroids, Cloud Planets (Gas Giants), Dark Planets, Death Planets, Desert Planet, Discworlds, Fire Bodies (aka Suns), Forest Planets, Ice Planets, Jungle Planets, Ocean Planets, Swamp Planets, Twilight Worlds, and Volcano Planets.
Celestial Bodies can have any gravity, elemental and energy traits, or magic rules, depending on the concept of the world in question. Alignment of Celestial Bodies are usually some variation on Mildly Neutral (Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, Chaotic Neutral), but some few are more strongly aligned.
Celestial bodies can have any shape, though the most common is spherical. Still, there are flat worlds, elliptical worlds, cubic worlds, amorphous worlds, ring-shaped worlds, hollow worlds. Some astronomers from have even theorized the existence of a mobius world.

Next: Crystal Spheres and The Phlogiston!