STEAM LONDON~ GAME GUIDE ~
PREMISESteam London is a freeform role-playing game with a minimum of rules and near-complete freedom for players in regards to character creation and plot. Players are instead encouraged to cooperate and interact with other players' characters and to create sub-plots of their own.
The following rules apply to all players and are the sole restrictions upon role-playing:
* No permament change is to be made to other players' characters without their permission. This includes the murdering of other characters or the otherwise inflicting of damage which cannot be undone and could be considered undesirable.
* Role-playing is restricted to the setting outlined in this Guide (i.e.: late-nineteenth century Steampunk London). This restriction applies to geographical movement and technologies and sensibilities unfit for the setting and period, etc.
(Further rules may be added without prior notice or consent.)
SETTINGThe late-nineteenth century produced the city of London as the largest and grittiest metropolis on the planet, encompassing "London Proper" and stretching so far north as to enclose the former city of Luton and so far south that Brighton and Dover have became suburbs of London itself. The capital of Empire holds approximately one hundred million people, yet accurate estimates are made impossible by the great number of unknown illegal immigrants and homeless proles.
London is powered by steam rather than electricity and built of brick, glass, and steel. The wealthier parts of the city are built on solid Victorian principles of architecture and technology. Great towers spiring high above St. Paul's Cathedral and Big Ben Tower now dominate the London skyline while the poor and hopeless are housed in slubs on the outskirts of the city and dwell the mysterious realms of the London Underworld. Deep below the "Upper World" of London Proper exists a world far different, ruled by feudal principles and held firmly in grip of occultists and magicians; a world which the authorities avoid and where people live in hardship and fear. Here, everything is for barter and survival demands a combination of luck, wits and brutality.
CHARACTER CREATIONPlayers are basically free to create whatever character they like, be it a Zeppelin Captain or Vampire. Please do keep in mind though that characters with magical powers are expected to be based within the Underword, where Upper World characters should be of more middle- to upper-class background, possibly with a peculiar interest in science and technology.
Though there are no official restrictions on what players' characters can be and do, certain limits to their abilities are encouraged. Characters with near-divine powers and seemingly no weakness (i.e.: "uber-characters") are thus strongly disencouraged; such characters make for boring and predictable role-playing. Players are rather recommended to create
interesting characters, who have flaws, can sometimes be unsympathetic, but are above all human (more or less) and realistic.
QUESTIONSShould you have any questions in regard to the RPG, please adress them in
this thread. Please do not contact me,
Ottens, for I am no longer involved in this RPG.
