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Mejijpunk

Genre

Steampunk

Theme

Alternate history/Steampunk/Fantasy/Anime

In this alternate history, the so-called Meiji Restoration is taking a lot longer than expected.  The kami have awoken to defend the islands of Japan from the pollution of Westerners.  Only machinery seems resistant to the influence of the kami, so the United States has spent years developing steam-powered clockwork military machinery to resist the occult powers of Shinto priests and wire-fu samurai.  This is like the  Un-Conquista 200 years ago, and we all know how that turned out.

Background

 This alternate history setting is based on the rise of the kami in response to the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance and the attempt to overthrow the Tokugawa Shogunate.  Emperor Komei was defeated and his son Meiji never ascended the throne.  Rather, Japan fell into a one-sided civil war as the ancient spirits of the islands rose to defend them against outside influence.  Meiji, still styling himself Emperor, has called for aid from the West in defeating the Shogunate and ushering in an era of prosperity and enlightened rule.  

Though wild, natural forces are turned against them, the Meiji Emperor and his Western allies (some might say overlords) have found that mechanical technology seems resistant to the powers of the kami and those who serve them.  They are fielding mechanically augmented soldiers as well as full-clockwork units and have sent more than one clockwork assassin after the traditional nobility which supports the Shogunate.

Meanwhile, the Shogunate is finding that the kami do not necessarily support their political aims.  They seem to act according to their own designs, and are as capricious as they are powerful.  They choose to empower heroes of their own, and these heroes do not always have the Shogunate's interests at heart.  Shinto priests are able to harness lesser kami for their masters' war, but deep in the earth there are powers which do not care about politics.

Antagonists & Conflict

 The conflict in the setting is multi-layered.  There are no "good guys" - everyone involved (at least the Shogunate and the Emperor) is doing what they think is best for their homeland.  The traditionalists are empowered by the kami, but not because they are virtuous - simply because they are traditionalists.  The kami see a future of natural forces more and more bound to human will and ingenuity, and they dread it enough to fight back.

The imperialists are making a deal with the devil, so to speak, to preserve Japanese culture as much as possible in the face of overwhelming Western influence - whether it is welcome or not.  Fighting against the kami is a painful blow to them.  On the other hand, it is impossible to avoid a sense of betrayal - can't they see that this is necessary for Japan's survival in the modern world?

Each side of the conflict provides obvious antagonism for the other, but there should also be plenty of internal conflict.  Those supporting the Shogunate might chafe against the traditionalism when they are able to see for themselves what is alluring about modern civilization - particularly for the many who do not have lands or ancient noble families and have little to gain with the victory of the Shogun.  Fear drives both sides to repression, and both sides will have their own brand of resistors fighting for change from the inside.  There will also be those who want to somehow bridge the gap, to bring the warring sides together.

Lastly, what is it that the kami actually want, if they want anything at all except to drive foreign influences from Japan's shores?  Are they working in concert, or is each simply concerned about it's own limited sphere of influence?  Are they acting for the good of all of Japan, or simply out of blind self-preservation?

Special Features

 The setting is based on the clash of traditional practices empowered by supernatural kami with steampunk technology from an alternate-future United States.  They kami themselves play a role in the setting and are active participants as much as any other powerful figures.  Some manifest as deities while others are simply over-active natural forces guided by some kind of intelligence.  Traditionalist heroes are empowered by supernatural abilities granted to them by the kami.  Imperialist forces are augmented by steam-powered machinery, difference engines and electro-mechanical marvels from the fever-dreams of Nikola Tesla.

PC Role

 One of two things separate the PCs from the rest of society.  They have either been empowered by the kami, and likely can only guess as to what ultimate purpose they have been empowered, or they have been granted advanced technology by the Imperial forces working with the Americans.  Either way, they will be able to do things that normal human beings cannot.  Once they have been granted these abilities, either by the kami or by the Imperial government, they will have to decide how to use them.

Comments

mikeb's picture

Schizophrenic much?

Submitted by mikeb on Sun, 10/25/2009 - 01:05.

;)

Meijipunk is terrible!

Submitted by robosnake on Sat, 10/24/2009 - 16:15.

Whoever wrote this tripe has no idea what he's talking about. I know way more about Japanese history and he got everything wrong. I don't know if I would rather play in this setting or chew glass.

Meijipunk is amazing!

Submitted by robosnake on Sat, 10/24/2009 - 16:13.

This is the greatest setting ever! I am not biased, even though I wrote it up.

Author

robosnake

Setting Concept Score

3.33333
3.33333
Read review by cptbeefalo
Posted 1 year 49 weeks ago
by cptbeefalo
4
5
4

Heh, I like it. A bit silly, but very original. I'm imagining steampunk armored Civil War-era soldiers fighting Shao-Lin monks and spirits. Nice!

Very original! I don't know if the historical aspects are 100% accurate or not, though comments would make it seem they are not, but it is a game system, and most people won't know the details anyway other than what you tell them. Either we can fix the errors, or we can just roll with the inaccuracies and explain them away through more creative language in the setting explanation: "In this world..." or "Due to the subtle actions of the kami, history was changed and x happened before y..."

I have some fun ideas bouncing around from this. Samurai Jack with spirit powers vs cannonblade/katana-wielding American and Japanese soldiers. You could even throw in a precursor to a tank and somesuch. Not to mention clockwork soldiers! Whee!!

Well-written, clear and while it would seem not as historically accurate as some would hope, the potentials do come across. Nice effort!

Read review by Satyr
Posted 2 years 1 week ago
by Satyr
1
2
3

Steampunk as a genre suffers from a great setback: It just makes no sense, which hurts the game's verisimilitude. As people of the 21st century, we know pretty well how technology works and where its boundaries lie; we also know what is pretty much out of the reach. Unlike magic which can pretty much become whatever you wants it to be, technology has a direct equivalent in every day life of each player. So trying to use technology as a blanche card for weird stuff, it is not interesting, it's just incoherent.

This is the reason why I think that Steampunk should be treated with great care. It 's just unbelievable, and enforces players to constantly ignore what they know - usually without any explanation - to make the world work. And that is usually a bad idea, because it let the setting look stupid.

So, I have a problem with steampunk as a genre in general, and this might make me prejudiced when I review this setting (or any steampunk setting; it might not be fair, but I haven't seen one yet that didn't felt superficial and more occupied with style than with substance).

The  setting seems predisposed towards a style over substance approach of Samurai vs. Robots. Which may seem like a nice special effects sequence but holds too little substance to keep it interesting for a longer term.

 

Sorry, that sounds a  lot harsher than it is intended; I can see the appeal of this setting, but this appeal is just not very interesting to me, and as someone who strongly favors substance over style and depth over the more superficial approaches, MEIJIPUNK does just not seem to be that interesting for me, and is weighed down with the baggage of the whole steampunk issue.

A historical / pseudo setting dealing with the enforced end of the isolation of Japan, or the conflict between traditionalists vs. modernists spiced up with kamis and other supernatural occurances would be very interesting, even though it sounds very similar to Last Samurai. The whole Steampunk thing doesn't make it more interesting; it just makes it ridiculous (by being steampunk) and it clutters the original plot you could have through overkill.  
 

Read review by robosnake
Posted 2 years 4 weeks ago
by robosnake
3
3
3

 I'd say that the best way go to with it is to have it be alternate history.  I'd much prefer a complete lack of arguments about what "real" historical Japan was like, but rather have lots of conversations about how awesome it is to have traditionalist kami-powered hero-samurai fighting steam-teach military mecha...

I'm no expert in the time period either, and I don't want a game that requires someone to get a degree in history in order to play properly.  I'd like for there to be liscense for every game set in this setting to be unique.

Read review by mikeb
Posted 2 years 14 weeks ago
by mikeb
2
4
4

My knowledge of Japanese culture and mythology is pretty slim, so I had to look up what the kami are. I think it's definitely an interesting setting. My lack of knowledge around Japanese culture makes me a little less interested in writing for it, but I think it has potential.

Read review by Zack Faust
Posted 2 years 14 weeks ago
by Zack Faust
3
4
5

Fasciniating. I admit I don't know where to begin with this setting, but I know I would love to play in it, and it is very unique. I especialy like the clash between kami and steam-punk tech!

Read review by tadk
Posted 2 years 14 weeks ago
by tadk
5
4
3

I like this idea a lot, I can see me playing and gaming in this setting.