"18th Century Sci Fi" Topic

Has anyone ever gamed this that could give Me some pointers.

Could you be a little more specific in what you are talking about and what you are seeking?

There was a French film (was it The Brotherhood?) that took place in the 18th century. I recall that it involved werewolves or some similar type of monster. The hero had a sidekick from Asia who was a martial arts expert, as I recall. Lots of nice costumes and tricorn hats.

I suppose that werewolves and vampires and headless horsemen would do the trick. Look at some of the new Blue Moon figures from Old Glory. that should provide you with some inspiration.

Do you mean 18thC (1700s) or 19thC (1800s)? Because there's not a whole lot of sci-fi set in the 1700s.

Brotherhood of the Wolf(ves). No werewolves, just fairly feral group of minions for a covert society of Rich folk.

The martial arts sidekick was an Iroqois Indian (might not be the correct tribe) from New France. The was a lion (I believe) in a suit of armor (sort of).

Baron von Munschhausen (sic?) seem sort of the closest to 18th c. science fiction. Don't know of any games related to is, however.

Fantasy or Horror seem more appropriate for 18th c. than Science Fictio.

Rob

I've often thought that it would be fun to make some Montgolfier hot air balloons and incorporate them into a game in some manner. Or maybe someone could unearth the schematics for Leonardo de Vinci's war machines and build them in the 18th century.

Maybe along the lines of Treasure Planet….pirates in space?

I once ran a Sci-Fi sort of campaign set around the 1682 Siege of Vienna. I used the GASLIGHT rules and had things like Sky Galleons, clockwork automotons, and lots of rockets. The back story lifted a lot of ideas from the Newton's Cannon series, with the technology heavily based in alchemy. There are some pictures from it posted on the GASLIGHT Yahoo Group.

Mister Franklin and his Leyden Jars have possibilities also.

>Or maybe someone could unearth the schematics for Leonardo >de Vinci's war machines and build them in the 18th century.

>technology heavily based in alchemy
That's what I'm looking for.

>There are some pictures from it posted on the GASLIGHT >Yahoo Group.
the Rules or Photos Group

The Rules Group, link There are pictures in the Photos section and a write-up with game stats in the Files section, both in files titled "Age of Reason"

Found them, Cool pictures, What did You make the steam wagons out of?

Instead of so much "science" fiction, it might be more "fantastical" fiction. Magic replacing pure science.

Anubis Gates by Tim Powers I think had some settings in the 1700s. That might give you some ideas.

Also check out his On Stranger Tides about magic & pirates. (I thought there was a TMP post about it recently, but I can't find it.)

I'm already working on converting one of My Weapons and Warriors pirateships into a flying one.

The steam wagons are only slightly modified model kits. One is of Stevenson's Rocket and the other is another early locomotive. I think they were 1/24 scale or something like that but there really isn't all that much on the kits that would identify the scale is supposed to be.

The large spheres on the warships are just the cardboard craft balls that you can pick up at Michael's for a buck each or so. I based them on some of the drawings of the proposed airships of the 17th century Jesuit, Lana-Terzi. Here's a website on Terzi followed by some more on 17th and 18th century "sci-fi"

link

link

link

I've been toying with this idea ever since I read Stephenson's "System of the World" trilogy. I've been picturing something like the Leonardo game , but with the steam tanks being much more baroque. I also think there's room for monsters- I had pictured some of the countries as being 'technical' and some as being 'fantastical' i.e. British steam tanks vs. Russian trolls.

Rich

Mine's going to have everything from monsters and vampires to (now) flying sailing ships and clockwork golems, if I can find some.
And I hope to do everything from skirmishes to battles.

The 18th Century saw the first use of a submarine (Fulton's "Turtle") in an attack on the British fleet in NYC harbour in 1776. I would have thought that was a good starting point for sci-fi evolution.

Well I've made a lifeboat from a Weapons and Warriors pirateships (the small one ) with a

Well I've made a lifeboat from a Weapons and Warriors pirateships (the small one ) with a polyfoam ball as the gasbag, held in place by four wires. It's powered by an alchemical engine, which is a xmas lamppost snaped in half and a round bead, pot, placed between the base and lamp.
It holds about three figures.

What is a Leyden Jar?

AWI. Alien Wombats Invade. (Although some prefer calling it the Alien Raids of Wombats.)

My "On strnger Tides" review:
TMP link

Fritz, a Leyden Jar is a capacitor, made from a glass jar wrapped in foil. It was charged with a static generator (rubbing a cat?), and could store quite a healthy jolt.
Ben Franklin experimented with them a lot, and his research led to his famous kite.

Ben also invented the glass harmonium. Did you ever wet a finger and rub the rim of a crystal glass and hear the harmonic hum? Mozart actually wrote music for it.
But think of the possibilities of the "harmonics of the heavenly spheres", and go wild with itw weapons possibilities.

Remember the #1 tenet of VSF: "That which has not been disproven, works." At least, it's MY tenet.
Perpetual motion machines were all the rage, too.

Think of the chess playing automotons also.

That's "On Stranger Tides"…

In "Brotherhood of the Wolf" Marc Decascos played an Native American that somehow knew martial arts. He now plays The Chairman on "Iron Chef America," a show on The Food Network. I don't know if that's moving up a career ladder or not. 8)

The "Turtle" that attempted to sink British warships in NY harbour was by a guy named Bushnell, a blacksmith I think. Fulton's sub was, (drumroll) the "Nautilus" and was, I believe, offered to both the French and British navies.

You are absolutely right. Fulton was a bit later – his vessel was rejected by Napoleon as "ungentlemanly" IIRC.

Interesting piece on the "Turtle" here – never knew that Franklin was involved with the project:

link

The old Burt Lancaster movie "The Crimson Pirate" has a great battle scene at the end where a whole fleet of Turtle-like submarines attack the bad guys' fortress. (There's also a scene where the heroes use an upside-down rowboat as a prmitive submarine that was copied in Pirates of the Carib.0

>Leyden Jar is a capacitor, made from a glass jar wrapped in foil. It was charged with a static generator (rubbing a cat?)<
But where can I get a figure of a man rubbing a cat???

Well I've got a couple of floating ships built, now do I pit the Dutch against the Holy Roman Empire or the Turks against the HRE?

Gray Ghost (and other), we are waiting for photos!
Cheers,
Jean-Louis

see Hellraiser 4

part 18th century
part 20th
part future

Perhaps an army based on concepts expounded on in "L'an 2440" by Mercier. This book, published in 1771, shows what an 18th century man thought the far future might be like in Paris. A Utopian army, wearing baggy but still 18th century looking uniforms.

@ Luke Mulder:
intringuing suggestion…
Are you not a Master Converter?
Then what about *also* the semi18th C. troops of 'Monster Blood Tattoo'? TMP link

Cheers,
Jean-Louis

Ooh, good to see this one revived!

>>> In "Brotherhood of the Wolf" Marc Decascos played an Native American that somehow knew martial arts.

What Mani displays mostly could be attributed to stick fighting (common both among the Iroquois--not just in lacrosse!--and in France) and the "jeu Marseillais", a foot-and open hand-fighting style which developed among French sailors in the c.18th. Both those arts were influences on savate, which developed in the following century.

Dacascos himself is a champion in both kung fu and karate, and no doubt was also influenced by his father's own style, Wun Hop Kuen Do. Al Dacascos is a widely-recognized martial artist, trainer, and teacher.

Allen

I am thinking of introducing The Doctor into my Kopf-Schlager world, actually I think i have already introduced him and he had David Morier travelling with him, cant wait for the drawings..

Wonder to what degree the Mani of 'BoW' (a French movie) was influenced by Goscinny & Uderzo's Oumpa-pah (a French comics): a Native American befriending a you French 'Chevalier' and coming to France with him. Of course, the characters and adventures designed by the inventors of Asterix were less 'dark'.

@ bogdanwaz: surely you did not use these marvelous models only once? Are there other photos / AAR available on the web? Do you have a blog?

@ The Gray Ghost:
"[] floating seige bombard and battery []. The bombard and battery were made to look like hotair ballons held them up and a small flaoting ship was also used.":
TMP link
Still no digital camera?
How is your "Steam Tanks and War Wagons"
TMP link
project advancing?

Best regards to both,
JL
link

@ bogdanwaz: I tried to e-mail you through the GASLIGHTRules group, but my message bounced back, seemingly the address is no longer valid. How could I contact you otherwise?
Jean-Louis
Lacepunk: link