Steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction and fantasy that imagines the advancement of Victorian-era steam engine technology. It uses the aesthetics of brass cogworks, gears, steam, and 19th-century fashion and the themes of science fiction, especially cyberpunk, from which it gets the "punk" part of its name. These themes of individualism and fighting back against tyrannical authorities are still present, but less central to the genre now. Steampunk is retrofuturistic, meaning it depicts a future as might be imagined by people in the past: zeppelins, elaborate clockwork, and steam power define the speculative steampunk world. Steampunk is a common setting for roleplaying games that straddle the line between the sci-fi future and the fantasy past. Containing elements of both futuristic technology and industry and a romanticized history, it's an attractive choice for an advanced medieval or renaissance fantasy setting or the precursor to a futurist science fiction. It's popular with players who want to explore the highly structured social order of Victorian and Edwardian England, love the aesthetics of shiny clockwork gadgetry, and want to explore an industrializing world with a touch of the fantastical.
Popular Steampunk RPGs
Blades In The Dark
A crew of scoundrels gathers round a stolen blueprint as they plan their big score. Their target has them outnumbered and outgunned; they’re just a no-name street gang up against the rich and powerful. But they have something their mark never expects: the stone cold audacity. The guts to risk everything. And a desperate hunger to get rich or die trying. Blades in the Dark is a tabletop roleplaying game, or TTRPG, about building a criminal empire in the industrial fantasy city of Duskwall. Inspired by video games like Thief, Dishonored, and Bloodborne, as well as crime drama films and television like Heat and Peaky Blinders, players create scrappy scoundrels who commit crimes in a haunted city. They might play a smooth-talking Slide, a bloody Cutter, an ingenious Leech, or a weird Whisper (among others) to lie, cheat, and steal their way to the top. They’ll also create a Crew, the gang they operate, and which, through a series of criminal jobs, will attempt to conquer the city’s underworld. One player, the Game Master (GM), takes on the role of the world those players inhabit; they’ll play as the rival gangs, wealthy nobles, and corrupt Bluecoats that pressure the player characters from all sides; the haunted, sunless, industrial city of Duskwall; and the ghosts, demons, and occult forces that lurk behind it all.
Avatar Legends: The RPG
Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game brings you and your friends into the beloved setting of Avatar Legends—as new heroes of your own stories! Weave tales of self-discovery and action with your team of friends, and go penguin-sledding while you're at it! In this RPG, you might face off with the Triple Threat Triad in Republic City, travel through a spirit portal to rescue a missing child, negotiate peace between Earth Kingdom outlaws, pursue enemies through the Four Nations, and even learn a thing or two from beloved Avatar Legends characters.
Candela Obscura
Candela Obscura is a tabletop roleplaying game, or TTRPG, about a circle of paranormal investigators who analyze occult phenomena in the turn-of-the-nineteenth century industrial fantasy city of Newfaire. In this game of monstrous gaslamp horror, players create intrepid characters who solve mysteries and defeat monsters with their various skills and specialties. They might play a smooth-talking Face with a knack for mesmerism, a soldiering Muscle bearing scars from the Great War, an ingenious Scholar of magick from the university, the sly Slink of a private detective or a Weird spirit medium. This crew, called the Circle, will take on jobs to set right the problems caused by supernatural phenomena. One player, the Lightkeeper or Game Master (GM), takes on the role of the world those players inhabit. They’ll play as the eponymous Lightkeeper, a character who dispenses assignments and information from the occult organization Candela Obscura. They’ll also play the environment, the city, and of course, the mysterious and even malevolent forces the Circle is called to confront.
Frequently asked questions about Steampunk
Blog links about Steampunk
Steampunk Reviews and Actual Plays
Haunted City | Blades in the Dark
The Glass Cannon Network travels to the dark world of Duskwall, where criminal scoundrels pull daring heists in a world without a sun.
Eberron: City of Towers
Arcane Arcade plays a Pathfinder 2E game set in Eberron, a world of powerful factions and clockwork magitech.
Candela Obscura Live | Circle of the Silver Screen
Critical Role plays Candela Obscura with designer Spenser Starke in a unique, LARP-inspired format.