Idea Engineering A Dieselpunk RP

[Bronco]

Let me start this off by saying that I have NO IDEA what the story for this thing is going to be. Currently myself, and I'm sure most of you all, are getting back into the swing of schooling/college. Therefore, this is less of a planning section for the moment and more of a collective idea dump. Will this turn into something, perhaps... but for right now I'd appreciate whatever spitball ideas you'd like to contribute that relate the genre. We're talking factions, cities, ships, even plot points you'd like to see in a story. Below are a set of images I thought captured the vibe we're looking for, let's see what y'all can build off of them.

Aircraft:


LandCraft:

 

[FoolsErin]

Props for breaking into dieselpunk in the first place, offshoots of steampunk are unfortunately overlooked. I personally think it might work as a nation-building thing with some kind of war and all of that baggage? I dunno, I feel the whole aesthetic has pretty deep roots into the world wars.

 

[Bronco]

100% yeah, most of the concept art I found was literally just redesigned machinery from the second world war. This whole thing does spawn from a world building exercise from last summer, though it didn't go far past brainstorming some factions and their relations. Any ideas you have would be appreciated.

 

[Jannah]

Dieselpunk(along with Atompunk) is best -punk!

 

[Bronco]

indeed

 

[Bronco]

I'll kick off the brainstorm session.

Idea: Trading Principalities/Tribes/States
- Inspired by that one cinema flop with the roving cities, they'd essentially be massive moving craft that play host to entire populations. Their "territory" would not be a set of boarders, but instead an established trade route. Perhaps due to fuel shortages or corporate greed, cities might occasionally pass through these other's routes and spark tension between nations. They might even trade with stationary settlements, lay claim to their trading rights, and fiercely protect their preferred trading stops. It's still a working idea but I'd like to have a "no man's land" region in this world where these roving nations rule.

 

[Murdergurl]

I love dieselpunk. It's my favorite of all the "punk" genres. I just wish I could find it in a setting that wasn't focused on a wartime/military aesthetic.

That being said, look up the artwork of Ian McQue. He has done a lot of diesly-punkish artwork that is atypical in that regard.

 

[Bronco]

thanks for the reference, I've actually seen some of his art without even knowing it. Go figure.

 

[Murdergurl]

thanks for the reference, I've actually seen some of his art without even knowing it. Go figure.

I'm sure of it. I stumble across it all the time in searches. But it's nice to have the name when you want to find the same aesthetic.

 

[Bronco]

Idea: The Iron Plague
- This'll probably be the first time I've ever taken inspiration from werewolves/vampires, but I was also drunk when thinking about this. Essentially the plague would be less of a biological threat and more of a chemical one. Let's say this airborne toxin has the ability to covert biomass into mechanics, or at least metallics. Let's also say that this chemical, now ever present within a person's bloodstream, acts like glow sticks and only performs when introduced to a stimulant. Though I don't know what said stimulant is yet, it would cause individuals to morph either entirely or partially from standard humans into cyborg-esc hybrids.

Differing societies would look upon these effected individuals in their own unique ways. Perhaps some would raise inquisitions to hunt down the unnatural menace while others blatantly advertise their settlements as safe havens for the afflicted. I would like there to be varying intensities of the condition, ranging from a body part that essentially just becomes metal under the right conditions to someone who goes into an almost feral state when transformed into a dieselpunk T-800. Again, it'll be a working concept...