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Rail Baron series and world setting

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Rail Baron series and world setting
Post by lwhitehead   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:26 am

lwhitehead
Lieutenant (Senior Grade)

Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:23 pm

Hi I would like help with Rail Baron fantasy Steampunk setting,

I got the idea reading about Robber Barons and North American Train history, Barons in the English sense during the Middle Ages had there own Armies and Castles and sections of Land they fought over with each other, Robber Barons of America were mostly in railroads and behaved like there Middle Ages counterpart.


Now we take a Fantasy world of Humans that have Steamtech and there great Noble Houses own there own Railways and War with each other like Nobles did in our world,

LW
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Re: Rail Baron series and world setting
Post by Weird Harold   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:55 am

Weird Harold
Fleet Admiral

Posts: 4478
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:25 pm
Location: "Lost Wages", NV

lwhitehead wrote:Hi I would like help with Rail Baron fantasy Steampunk setting,

I got the idea reading about Robber Barons and North American Train history,


Take the history of the US Transcontinental Railroad and American "Robber Barons" and add Airships -- Instant Steampunk alternative history. :shock:
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.
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Answers! I got lots of answers!

(Now if I could just find the right questions.)
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Re: Rail Baron series and world setting
Post by lwhitehead   » Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:11 pm

lwhitehead
Lieutenant (Senior Grade)

Posts: 85
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:23 pm

I rather have thi setting on a original Fantasy world, so How can a Hard Fantasy world discover Steam Locomotives.



LW
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Re: Rail Baron series and world setting
Post by Michael Everett   » Fri Oct 02, 2015 12:21 am

Michael Everett
Admiral

Posts: 2612
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:54 am
Location: Bristol, England

lwhitehead wrote:I rather have thi setting on a original Fantasy world, so How can a Hard Fantasy world discover Steam Locomotives.

Simple.
Fire elementals.
A mad wizard trapped a fire elemental in a metal pot and tried to drown it (well, he was mad...). The resultant steam-burst flipped the lid into the ceiling and incidentally killed the mad wizard, leaving the unwilling apprentice/ritual fodder alive, slightly boiled and astonished. Said apprentice abandons the way of magic and starts experimenting with the power of steam (after all, it did fire the lid into the ceiling).
Fast-forward a decade and the apprentice has discovered how to use fire elementals to heat water into steam and has created a "nodding-donkey" type engine to allow workshops to be built in places where waterwheels are impractical. His new apprentice (a proper one this time) has a burst of genius and alters the steam engine, placing it on wheels. Since controlling its direction is hard, he uses a mining concept and places the whole thing on rails.
Once again, fast-forward another decade or so and the steam locomotors have become highly popular. Due to the use of fire elementals, they run on magic (stored in crystals) and each year, a new design comes out, smoother and sleeker as the designers get their inspiration from nature.

Ta-da. Magitech trains. Packaged and ready to use.
~~~~~~

I can't write anywhere near as well as Weber
But I try nonetheless, And even do my own artwork.

(Now on Twitter)and mentioned by RFC!
ACNH Dreams at DA-6594-0940-7995
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Re: Rail Baron series and world setting
Post by Michael Everett   » Mon Oct 05, 2015 12:19 pm

Michael Everett
Admiral

Posts: 2612
Joined: Tue Nov 03, 2009 3:54 am
Location: Bristol, England

Half a week and no comment on the magitech engine idea.
Has it been abandoned already just like the Kath, Chinese Fantasy, Kavi, Privateer, Giovanni Bank and Delos false starts?
Seriously, six false starts? Sure sign of problem in basic approach.

L, try approaching this from the other side. Create a basic plot-line BEFORE worrying about building the world to put it in. Actually knowing what you intend to do with the world will help you create it.
Seriously. Characters and plot are more important than trying to map out every blade of grass.
~~~~~~

I can't write anywhere near as well as Weber
But I try nonetheless, And even do my own artwork.

(Now on Twitter)and mentioned by RFC!
ACNH Dreams at DA-6594-0940-7995
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Re: Rail Baron series and world setting
Post by DDHvi   » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:07 am

DDHvi
Captain (Junior Grade)

Posts: 365
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:16 pm

Michael Everett wrote:Half a week and no comment on the magitech engine idea.
Has it been abandoned already just like the Kath, Chinese Fantasy, Kavi, Privateer, Giovanni Bank and Delos false starts?
Seriously, six false starts? Sure sign of problem in basic approach.

L, try approaching this from the other side. Create a basic plot-line BEFORE worrying about building the world to put it in. Actually knowing what you intend to do with the world will help you create it.
Seriously. Characters and plot are more important than trying to map out every blade of grass.


Too bad I can't write fiction, this would be fun to play with!

Plot line: The old guard magicians hate the "debasement of our high art" and try to stop the whole thing!
Douglas Hvistendahl
Retired technical nerd
ddhviste@drtel.net

Dumb mistakes are very irritating.
Smart mistakes go on forever
Unless you test your assumptions!
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