I'll second Ironsworn - it takes a little bit to figure out the mindset, but it's also improved my other games since I started playing it! And, yeah, Ironsworn is free!
5too
joined 2 years ago
I'm running a Steampunk game, where my players crew a small airship. Basically I took a lot of the Dungeon Fantasy components, shifted to low mana/sanctity/etc, and ran the tech level up a few levels (and sideways a level or two - it's Steampunk!) The idea is that the Turan empire has just recently solidified its hold on the continent. Dwarven rail lines dominate most shipping, while Gnomish zeppelin fleets snatch up the most lucrative cargo contracts; squeezing honest free traders out of their profits. There's a great dragon running one of the component nations (and quietly working to undermine the Turan Empire); goblinoids make up most of the Imperial Legion (along with their own ninja-based resistance movement); and autonomic Clanks are displacing much of the labor force. Most of the Imperial forces seem to be quietly being shifted north, however - where there are stories of "brass walkers" (the survivors describe them as "half-clanks") overrunning settlements.
So far my players have looted a shipment of medicinal Paut from a crashed airship (the mana-dependant Faun snatched some for herself; covering her medical needs for a month!), escaped an orcish ninja attack, yeeted an exploding locomotive away from a station using their airship (while fending off more of said ninjas), and encountered a powerful psionic group consciousness while recovering a long-distance communications prototype. They then went on to perform a heist on an exclusive airship-based auction, where they encountered a secretive Automaton Liberation Group ("'Clank' is pejorative!"), uncovered some dirt on the magical nature of the airship, and narrowly escaped an Agent of the Empire - a high-powered specialist acting against threats to the Empire, with the full material might of the Empire backing them up. This particular agent is a Psionicist who got a whiff of the group consciousness encounter, and became very interested in who they are and what they're doing.
Most recently, they interviewed a fellow airship captain for a quick job ("Low risk to you! Just a few hours' work!" Smelled fishy, but they always need cash). The captain had them meet in a crowded goblinoid bar, and warned them that another associate was very unhappy with them - right before most of the patrons rose up on a signal, and started charging them! The faun headbutted the hobgoblin captain to open up an escape route, while he fell out of his chair laughing - the bar's band had just switched from a slow number to a faster beat, and a mosh pit was forming right where their contact had placed them! Once he'd had his fun, he assured them their reputation was good, and invited them into a back room to discuss the actual job. Most of the PCs joined the mosh pit after.
These sound awesome! My players would love these!
Poorly! I do it poorly! :D
Characters are in GURPS Character Sheet, an (awesome!) open source character management program. I run our games through Foundry VTT, which handles all the combat tracking, HP/FP management, maps when I have them, etc. It also imports GCS files (and GCA, if that's your flavor of character editor). Most of my other notes (events, generated people names for unexpected NPCs, etc) go in Google Keep notes. Notes that I have to take on the fly go into my notebook, where they go forgotten until the next session, more often than I'd like...
The Turan Empire fully solidified it's hold on the continent just four years ago. The rail lines provided by the dwarven clans, along with the gnomes' airship designs, proved instrumental in moving troops and material about as it expanded to the coasts. While the Emperor (and some noble families) are eyeing expansion across the seas, most are pivoting to using these resources in a more mercantile capacity.
Great lighter-than-air craft, held aloft by "lift-gas" (a gnomish alchemical secret), were used by the Empire to quickly establish forward bases; allowing territory to be taken and held while rail lines were established. These were usually armed with heavy cannon and bombs, and escorted by a mix of ornithopters, smaller LTA craft, and winged mounts (gryphons, wyverns, etc). These mighty vessels now patrol the skies of the Empire, while the rail lines they protected now transport goods throughout the continent. Many of the smaller airships are now privately owned (including one by my players) - but as rail lines haul more goods and the mercantile families contract between themselves to cover air transport, it's getting harder for independent operators to find legitimate cargo to move.
Methods of transport: Rail lines are becoming the go-to method for moving goods; due to a combination of volume they can handle and the speed of movement. Where that isn't available, water-based barges can haul bulk goods wherever a body of water goes. Zeppelins are available for cargo that needs to move on demand without regard for the rigors of ground-based travel. Waterways and roadways also continue to be available; and some people have winged bodies (gargoyles, some elves, and certain god-touched types), have winged mounts, or build their own flying machines.
Most of these are available in at least some capacity to the masses; though certain animals (particularly gryphons) cost a great deal to feed and/or are tricky to breed, and heavier-than-air flying machines still tend to be custom built and need skilled maintenance. However, bicycles, boots, and boats are generally available; and zeppelins and trains generally have a "steerage" class available. Certain professions tend to have access to creatures such as wyverns and horses as well.
Speed of transport: While I wanted the option for high-speed aerial dogfighting action in this world, I also really wanted to keep the feel of sometimes needing to travel for weeks to arrive at a destination - and the speeds involved in dogfighting tend to reduce the size of the world too much for that. Most air travel therefore occurs at 20-30MPH, with remarkable craft going as fast as 40+MPH (usually for short times with expensive fuel). Trains can generally get up to 35-40MPH on straight lines, but of course must follow their rails.
Who controls transport: A few dwarven clans allied to convince the growing Empire to rely on rail logistics; the Ironroller clan handles creating and maintaining the lines, and the Steelhammers and Alestones are the premier rail line operators (with several smaller concerns).
A few gnomish families control the distribution of lift-gas. (Gnomish family ties tend to be convoluted to outsiders; so the names wouldn't mean much here. Generally you set up a contract with someone you've been introduced to, or they'll introduce you to someone else.) Other gnomish families have large zeppelin construction companies as well, though some outsiders are beginning to edge into this market as well (notably the Cloudrunner Corp, a primarily goblin-run group). Incidentally, there's another group of gnomes who are responsible for all construction of the automaton "clanks" that much of the empire has come to rely on.
Water travel tends to be dominated by small groups of locals wherever a waterway exists - stereotypically, this is generally handled by local halflings, sea-elves ("mermen/mermaids"), and humans. As of yet, no overt moves have been taken to control this ancient form of transport as a whole.
Safety: This is a steampunk world, and safety levels of vehicular travel more or less parallel those of our industrial age - which is to say, what there is tends to be aimed at the comfort of the well-off. That said, it is a world with a low level of magic, and one where the gods still have a weak influence (neither as high as it once was); and between that and modern mechanical marvels, injuries that would have been fatal in our industrial age are now survivable.
**Resources used: **The fuel that most industry is powered by is primarily ordinary coal. Elemental coal is more efficient, along with a few more esoteric sources of power; but it's ordinary coal that is currently available at the levels needed. The gnomes' development of the lift-gas process is still a closely guarded secret, and is remarkable as much for its scale as its product.
(I'm still astonished I had forgotten bicycles should be a thing; thanks for the reminder!)
You might skim the offerings at https://1shotadventures.com/ - they're all one-off GURPS adventures the author writes and makes freely available! Could lower the barrier to trying out the system :) (edit) Each adventure also includes a set of optional character sheets; since character creation is one of the more time consuming parts of GURPS (/edit)
Coming a bit late to the conversation, but https://1shotadventures.com/ has a bunch of free GURPS adventures for your group to dip your toes into!
I'm running a GURPS game for some family (Dungeon Fantasy tropes plopped into a Steampunk world, for Firefly-esque fun), and I'm running a solo game of Eberron using GURPS rules as well! For the solo game, I'm using Ironsworn to manage the GM side of things.
Amazon has it, I'm pretty sure! I have it, but haven't had a chance to play it
You should look at solo systems! Mythic can be used with pretty much any game system, and their new edition is supposed to be very good!
I feel like Starforged can feel pretty cinematic, particularly for a dogfight style encounter!
I've been looking for a Lemmy solo RPG community; thanks for posting this!