Steam and Steel

SStteameam anandd SStteeeell aa gguiduidee ttoo fantfantasyasy ststeameamwwoorrksks by Christopher Allen on the web E.N.Publishing www.enworld.org/enpublishing North American HQ 1666 Ridge Rd by phone Vankleek Hill, On 1.613.678.3880 K0B 1R0 or fax Canada 1.613.678.5955 First Electronic Release - June 11 2004 - version 1.0 The sales of these electronic products pays to feed and house us. If you downloaded this for free via any file sharing system, you have been deceived into receiving stolen merchandise. You can report such violations through our website. Thank you for supporting electronic publishing, our company and our community with the purchase of this product. SStteameam anandd SStteeeell by Christopher Allen Layout & Production Interior Art M Jason Parent Anthony “Squidhead” Monorchio Nathan Boyd Art Direction David Hamilton Denise Robinson Benjamin D Richards Cover Design Page Design M Jason Parent Denise Robinson Introduction 2 Spider Sentinel 95 Steam Technology in a Fantasy Setting 2 Steel Sentinel 96 Effects of Introducing Steam Tech 6 Stalker 96 Steam Power Styles 12 Steam Wurm 97 Creating and Using Steamworks 16 Steam Spirit 99 Maintaining Steamwork Devices 21 Steamwork Creature 99 Malfunctions Table 19 Steamwork Lich 100 Creating Steamwork Devices 21 Zealot 102 Feats 22 Beasts of Steel - Vehicles 103 Engines of Steam 26 Vehicle Upgrades 103 Materials and Craftmanship 37 Copter 106 Copter, Dragonfly 106 Tools of the Trade 40 Dirigible 107 Equipment 40 Dirigible, Personal 108 Weapons of War 54 Steam Train 108 Personal Protection 60 Steam Ship 110 Edifices of Might 64 IronClad 110 Prosthetics 73 Steam Wagon 111 Prosthetic Upgrades 79 Submersible 111 Prosthetics and Magical Healing 80 Tunneller 112 Beasts of Steel - Constructs 82 Prestige Classes 113 Alchemists Hound 82 Balloonist 113 Automaton 83 Inspired Inventor 114 Behemoth 85 Mechanist 116 Eviscerator 87 Metalworker 117 Living Steel 88 Steel Knight 119 Iron Juggernaut 89 Spells 121 Iron Shroud 90 Appendix 124 Manservant 91 Legal 126 Mechanized Creature 92 Scorpion Sentinel 92 Siege Sentinel 94 Slaughterer 94 page 1 IntrIntrodoductiuctioonn magine a world where the magic of fantasy ogy into it to create a world like that described and the power of science is thrown together to above - one made exciting from the opportunities Icreate and exciting new mixture of the to be had from the power and possibilities of eldritch and the mechanical. Industrializing cities steamworks. spread and grow, becoming cityscapes of roofs and chimneys, vents and smokestacks, smoke Steam & Steel presents rules and ideas for a pluming upwards from the incessant toil of hun- DM wishing to incorporate steam technology dreds of smithies and alchemists and factories. into their campaign setting, however much or lit- Mechanics and arcane engineers assemble mighty tle they may desire. From small everyday steam- beasts of steel, designing armoured constructs to work devices to the massive machines employed take to the field of battle and ironclad vehicles to by heavy industries, to steamwork prosthetics travel far and wide. Elves seek to defend the and deadly constructs, this guide presents a boundaries of their ancestral lands from the bur- framework of rules that cover many different geoning cultures around them, bringing their forms of steam technology, and explores the pos- advanced technology, magic and skill to bear sibilities of meshing magic with machinery to get against their foes, fighting from graceful flying a unique feel for a fantasy world. As well as rules, airships and wielding blades and armour aug- Steam & Steel covers the impact that steam tech- mented by steamwork power. Dwarves delve nology has in a setting, on a wider scale than just deeper than ever before in their mines with mas- the items that adventurers can get their hands on, sive drilling machines, their fortresses sporting delving into the effects and ramifications of the massive chimneys to gout forth the fumes of a changes that advancing technology brings about thousand machines forging weapons of war. Evil and the advance of industrialization. goblin necromancers craft sinister and deadly war machines that feed off the souls of the dead to fuel their engines, darkening the skies above their hordes with the smoke of burning corpses. The Steam Technology clergy of a machine cult spread their word far and in a wide, bringing with them new technologies and crafting steel prosthetics to replace weak flesh and Fantasy Setting blood. Turmoil and change grips a land that is undergoing the transition from feudal and ancient cultures to dynamic and powerful industrial his section of Steam & Steel is devoted to nations. exploring a number of the ideas and Tthemes behind the use of steam technolo- This guide is aimed to allow a Dungeon gy in a fantasy setting. It covers the basic princi- Master to take a more conventional fantasy ples by which steamwork devices operate, and the setting, a campaign rich with fantastic manners in which steam power can be exploited. beasts and exotic magic, and to inte- It also investigates how to integrate steam tech- grate the marvels of steam technol- nology into a fantasy setting, covering the addi- page 2 a Guide to Fantasy Steamworks struct could be given motility, with mechanisms moving its armoured legs and giving its strikes bone-shattering strength. The same engine design could be put to use driv- ing a massive rock drill deep in the bowels of a dwarven coal mine reaching far underground. With the use of simple turbines and generators a steam engine could even create electricity, bringing power to a wizard's arcane lab or a personal static generator incorporated in a suit of steamwork armour. In a fantasy setting where magic can be melded with machinery, the possibilities are limited only by your capacity for imagination. Steam powered constructs, flying machines, suits of armour and even more bizarre and exotic devices such as steam- powered prosthetics are all possible when magic is taken into account. Steam technology does have innate disadvantages; limita- tions brought about by the dependency on a steam engine tional aspects that it brings to a campaign and the that such a device has. The impact that steam power has on the societies and boiler must be kept heated to make sure that the cultures that it is brought to. flow of steam through the system continues unabated, and in any conventional fuel-burning engine this means that the fire must be kept burn- How does steam power work? ing. If the fire were to go out, the boiler would team power works on a relatively simple simply cool down, the steam all recondensing basis. Any piece of steam-powered technol- back into water, and as a result steam power Sogy is based around a boiler engine, which demands a constant stream of fuel being fed in. heats up the water within its system to boiling The furnace of such an engine is vulnerable too, point. The water then becomes steam and moves and needs to be protected lest it be put out. Of around the system under pressure. Various meth- course, in a fantasy setting far more exotic forms ods of harnessing this movement are available, of steam engines are possible such as mystical depending on what the designer of the machine arcane engines powered only by eldritch cur- had in mind when creating it. rents of magic, and dark necromantic By harnessing the steam engine to pistons and engines that feed not from coal or oil gears, translating the energy of the steam into but from the souls of the living. mechanical movement, an iron-shod war con- These types of engines may not page 3 SteamSteam && SteelSteel have the same problems as more conventional its way via trade or theft to the areas where the engines but they often are far more expensive and focus of the campaign takes place. Steamworks complex to create, and may well have their own might be the handiwork of a guild of mechanic drawbacks. mages that carefully guards their hard-won Steam engines also need plenty of mainte- knowledge of machinery and whose creations nance. Burning fuels creates grime and fumes only rarely come into the hands of outsiders. which can cause pipes and working parts to seize On the other hand, a setting might be rich in up or build up too much pressure. The steam examples of the melding of steam science and fan- flowing through the system takes its own toll on tastic concepts. Steamwork constructs might be machine parts, and leakage's and steam escaping crafted to do the heavy industrial work of facto- are common problems. Mechanisms need oiling ries and transport, or even designed to fight the and cleaning to ensure they continue to work at wars of nations and religions. The followers of a optimum efficiency. The more exotic forms of deity of machines might take it as their task to steamwork device need appropriately more spread the word of steam power, progress and bizarre forms of maintenance, such as attending industrialisation. Steam power could well be a to arcane rituals or speaking the appropriate matter of common knowledge if encountered on a prayers every day. Keeping a steamwork device in daily basis by people of all levels of society. condition is a messy task that usually involves A fantasy setting can feature any amount of plenty of grime and oil, as well as a decent knowl- steam technology you wish, from just a few edge and understanding of just how the whole examples scattered here and there in an otherwise machine works. Those with little skill in main- conventionally medieval fantasy campaign, to taining steamworks will soon find that their total saturation of everyday life in a world of high devices are quick to break or fail.

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