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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 27, 2013 3:16:38 GMT 10
So considering the powers that be (the man who got us all together) was interested in original projects as well as 40k ones I was thinking we could get a little world building done for an original setting or two. I've been off and on working on some steampunk ideas for years and would love to flesh them out with others. I think where I floundered originally is I never had anyone to bounce the ideas off of. What do you guys think?
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Post by Skyking on Nov 27, 2013 5:35:07 GMT 10
I'd be willing to help I love creating worlds and characters!
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 27, 2013 5:59:54 GMT 10
Excellent! Heres the thoughts that I had started
The powers that be form a few main blocs. Basically the world has been reset, at some point some apocalyptic event set us back to square one so to speak and we've rebuilt since then and found some small pieces of ancient tech (think archaeotech and STC's). Just like in 40k there is a religious order dedicated to technology, though there is nothing stopping progress and science from being advanced.
The Victos Empire (to be debated).- inspired by the english empire at its height they hold a lot of land. They are violently expansionist. They have a basic plan of throw people at it till the enemy is dead
The Franco-Spanic Republic- originally the areas of land that were Spain and France they've been allied and intertwined so long that they are considered one Republic of peoples. They've been on the decline as they don't hold much land in comparison to their enemy the Empire. Currently they hold something of a stalemate through technological advancement. Their armies are pristine, well trained and well equipped, only they have nowhere near the manpower of the empire.
The Order of the Brass Gilded Angel: the religion of technology, they are secretive and love ancient tech, its rumored they keep militant arms of their order to retrieve and capture discovered archaeotech, the so called "Knights Mechanic". They worship a mythical being they refer to as "the Brass Gilded Angel" and believe that it was this being that gave the first spark to them to bring them out of the darkness of the bleak era of the "Fall"
The Guild States: much like in our timeline what was the USA had a civil war. Unfortunately the civil war went on much longer and destroyed what was the united states. In its current incarnation the only export of the states is...War. Generations of warfare has turned the USA into a series of city states. Each one holds an army trained from childhood, and the services of each are sold as mercenaries. Its not uncommon for mini-wars to erupt between city-states though it has the air of more ritual and competition than serious warfare.
The Pirate Islands: The name itself is a misnomer. These are a series of independent lawless islands in the caribbean. While a good portion of people there are pirates and criminals, its also a well known area for explorers and free traders to come from.
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 27, 2013 6:00:56 GMT 10
The main plotline I had originally thought up pertained to a crew of freebooters from the islands that ended up in major conspiracies between the warring republic and empire, and the machinations of the order.
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 27, 2013 6:01:12 GMT 10
Ideas/thoughts?
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Post by skyking on Nov 27, 2013 9:11:40 GMT 10
Dude it's friggin awesome. I would like to develop a character from the mercenary states. I myself really love the whole unwilling hero (e.g. Marcus fenix) which I think both the merc and the freebooters idea can offer that. I think maybe we can make the gilded angel thing almost like the Vatican where they pretty much rule everything unofficialy. That'd offer the whole conspiracy. Also what kind of ships are we talking about like iron clad civil war era ships? Or like schooners and frigates and man of war wooden ships from the exploration and colonial era?
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Post by skyking on Nov 27, 2013 9:16:54 GMT 10
And maybe a knight from the order that finds out what's really going on and decides to go rouge and joins up (or maybe stays separated) but its be cool to have a couple different story lines or point of views much like they do in 40k novels.
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 28, 2013 5:26:29 GMT 10
I like the idea of a rogue knight. Could lead to followups where he becomes a permanent crew member.
So here's what I'm thinking, the main characters are the freebooters. A small crew, that gets themselves in trouble and in a major conspiracy.
The major villain will be a man from the Empire. Some kind of specialist under orders from higher up. I would think with him being something of an assassin/spy the empire wouldn't give him normal soldiers. He'd probably get some american mercs out of his own pocket. (inspiration: the killer from pirates of the caribbean that worked for the east india trading company)
A sub-villain will be some kind of whispermonger, a professional criminal who trades in secrets. Maybe what gets the freebooters in trouble initially will be a debt to this guy. (Think Badger from Firefly)
The third antagonist will be the knight. The church is on the same trail and sends out this big scary cyborg of a knight to retrieve it. I think that upon finding out what the item is, he'll turn his back on the church and possibly join the freebooters. This will become a big point, as later on he'd always be a voice of reason and concern. Dishonor and self inflicted exile from disobeying his mission parameters on one hand, but contempt for the opportunistically criminal lifestyle of the freebooters he joins.
So what are they chasing? and what kind of dangers will they see beyond the major antagonists?
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 28, 2013 5:31:31 GMT 10
That said, lets build up the information a little more. Lets start with the empire. Who are they, what are they like, inspirations etc. start big and work small
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Post by skyking on Nov 28, 2013 8:01:04 GMT 10
Well you've already stated that its based off the British empire so for the soldiers you almost have to have just the classic redcoats since despite how much the world changed they almost never did except the gun they were carrying. For civilians I think a Victorian/industrial revolution look would be cool. With the extremely rich with nice augmentations made of gold silver brass all sorts of fine metals. While the poor are lucky to get wooden ones that barely work. (And for the Guilded state mercs they should get augmentations with guns on them and that's it. Just so you really get the feel of their aggression.) their armaments should for the majority of the soldiers be like flintlocks (this is so the Franco-Spanish union could be way more advanced and have like revolvers and clip fed weapons however are still fairly simple and unreliable so it's a little more fair otherwise if they were perfect the empire would get their asses kicked) however some officers and rich soldiers should have fancier revolver and clip fed weaponry equal or just a bit lesser to the Franco Spanish union. (Maybe the guild states should have the finest guns bringing them to the equivalent of the old west and for very few WW1 since its a country full of mercs gun development would come first? Just an idea) swords should still be popular but I think tanks would have to be a must. Their coal operated much like a train that's fires cannon shots? With a revolving turret with 2 or 3 smaller gun crews so by the time it gets to that first one that fired they'd be loaded up already ? However they'd have to be huge and very rare and expensive to make thus deployed in only the most key battle zones. Which I think all that's left would maybe be the ships which might be the most important of them all seeing has pirates are the antigonists. It should be a mix of the two with ironclads being rare and only 10 or 20 in the whole navy while wooden ones are kind of the norm with a few hybrid ships being made not quite has t
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Post by skyking on Nov 28, 2013 8:05:32 GMT 10
Has tough has an ironclad but stronger than a regular wooden ship. These are extremely rare has they are complicated to make because of the balance of weight issue also the regular iron clads are steam operated with a propeller and the regular ships propelled by winds a hybrid ship would be propelled by wind and are usually faster than a normal ironclad so they would be hard to balance to heavy it might sink and probably barely move to light and theres not enough armor. This is what I think the pirates should own.
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 28, 2013 12:02:18 GMT 10
Ok so here's what we've got so far broken down.
The Victos Empire
Soldiers: Redcoats, maybe some minor brass augmentation.
Civilians: The poor may have wooden augments, maybe throw in heavy amounts of injuries from industrial accidents. The rich get the very finest in augmentations. I imagine this is a very class based society. Officers in the military are likely noble born or from rich merchant families. Just thought of this, what if for the poor augments from wood and iron are necessary because of accidents and tough living. For the rich its a sign of power. Finely crafted and immensely useful augments taken voluntarily to show wealth.
The empire kind of reminds me of hive cities from 40k.
Tech and Weapons:
Soldiers are still armed with muskets, possibly with minor things that make them better than what a musket would've been. (break loading, pre-packed powder charges, rifled barrels etc).
Bayonets and swords are common, with bayonets being a common piece of equipment.
Tanks: I see tanks as these massive but ponderous machines. Possibly moved on massive wheels, possibly spiked for traction. They'd have a rotating cannon, and maybe one or two side gun positions with gatlings. These are rare, the cost to make them is high so they dont get put out often.
Formation warfare is still paramount to them, men are just numbers in the army and they'll throw thousands at a target to grind away at it.
Ships: Ironclads, the empire is all about overwhelming the enemy. they'd likely make large and well armored ships to hold lots of men and cannon. On the adverse side of this they are very slow ships, but can take a massive beating.
What do you think of airships? They'd probably be on the same principle. Massive behemoths floating slowly that are flying fortresses compared to other lighter aircraft that rely on maneuverability.
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 28, 2013 12:14:50 GMT 10
My original concept for the Franco-Spanic Republic (that name still feels weird...) was a kind of enlightened republic of people. They believe in a common good of the people, and have very little in the way of a lower class. Most people are gainfully employed and they excel individually toward common goals. The color of their armies is light blue and gold.
Soldiers: soldiers are commonly individually armed to their own preferences and are versatile. They are each an army of one, usually with repeating weapons. Their swords are finely crafted and often augmented with tech. (The officers especially have a tendency toward tesla weapons and swords with energy fields).
A rare sight on the field would be walkers, steam driven automatons fielded by specialists carrying larger weapons. Armor would be ornate and sometimes heavily decorated to really show personality. A particularly powerful walker might even be a heirloom.
Ships: these will be midsized but usually in formation, a group of three mid size ships that will often take on individual ironclads.
Airships: these unfortunately they wont have a lot of, what they will have will be prop driven fighters and plenty of them.
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 28, 2013 12:18:03 GMT 10
The Guilded States
Highly trained these guys are all about warfare. Think Kasrkin or normal cadians. They get the best repeating gun tech, and are often armed with highly refined blades. They excel in brief skirmishes that leave heavy casualties on the enemy side before pulling out to do it again, something they learned well from the original revolution for independence from the empire.
A number of special groups of warriors hail from specific places. These are very specialized in particular forms, and often carry particular types of weapons.
They have almost no airships, or navy but they act in support of others.
Their uniforms will run the gamut of colors depending on the city-state they are from.
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Post by ryomas2580 on Nov 28, 2013 12:21:54 GMT 10
What do you think of magic in this setting? I kind of like the idea of mixing magic and technology one augmenting the other. Magic has become a form of science that can be increased and molded with technological doodads. Make this a VERY specialized almost secretive thing.
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