Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirrors - Revision history

Taxall at 20:50, 19 October 2025

2025-10-19T20:50:29Z

Taxall: /* Meta: What is different from our reality? */

2025-10-19T18:09:57Z

Meta: What is different from our reality?

Taxall: /* Roll of Years */

2023-03-01T18:37:55Z

Roll of Years

Taxall: /* Roll of Years */

2023-02-28T16:27:24Z

Roll of Years

Taxall: /* Roll of Years */

2023-02-28T15:22:27Z

Roll of Years

Taxall at 16:04, 27 February 2023

2023-02-27T16:04:19Z

Taxall: /* Characters */

2023-02-27T09:12:50Z

Characters

Taxall: /* Premise */

2023-02-26T18:04:15Z

Premise

Taxall: /* Characters */

2023-02-26T09:43:09Z

Characters

Taxall: /* Characters */

2023-02-26T09:10:06Z

Characters

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:50, 19 October 2025
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		+	'''Tulossa: 'The Coins of Wrath'-seikkailu!'''
		+
	'''Tulossa: 'Machines and machinations" ''dieselpunk-kampanja!''''' <blockquote><small>''"I like the word "dieselpunk" if you are doing something like 'Weird World War II'. I think that makes perfect sense. But to me, World War I is the dividing point where modernity goes from being optimistic to being pessimistic. Because when you put the words "machine" and "gun" together, they both change. At that point, war is no longer about a sense of adventure and chivalry and a way of testing your nation's level of manhood; it's become industrial, and horrible. "'' -- Scott Westerfeld</small></blockquote>The world of 'Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirror' is set in an alternative "dieselpunk" version of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The decade following the Great War is filled with deep wounds of the Great War, dark secrets and remains of a mystic past, thirst for glory and revenge on both personal and national scale... But at the same time new technology, new marvelous machines, new ways of life, new freedoms and new ambitions are hurling the humanity towards new era, with promises of better future.		'''Tulossa: 'Machines and machinations" ''dieselpunk-kampanja!''''' <blockquote><small>''"I like the word "dieselpunk" if you are doing something like 'Weird World War II'. I think that makes perfect sense. But to me, World War I is the dividing point where modernity goes from being optimistic to being pessimistic. Because when you put the words "machine" and "gun" together, they both change. At that point, war is no longer about a sense of adventure and chivalry and a way of testing your nation's level of manhood; it's become industrial, and horrible. "'' -- Scott Westerfeld</small></blockquote>The world of 'Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirror' is set in an alternative "dieselpunk" version of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The decade following the Great War is filled with deep wounds of the Great War, dark secrets and remains of a mystic past, thirst for glory and revenge on both personal and national scale... But at the same time new technology, new marvelous machines, new ways of life, new freedoms and new ambitions are hurling the humanity towards new era, with promises of better future.

@@ Line 81: / Line 81: @@
 '''Politics, and then some'''
-The early 20th century was a moment in time where so many things could have taken a new course. So naturally, some on them have. The Ottoman empire did not go full Turk, but managed to survive as an empire, still pushing towards north while now fighting the Allied agendas in the south. Bolshevik Russia went nuts, combining impossible political agendas, multiple levels of internal strife and corruption, and stupid stupid strategic decisions while still making other nations think that they have all the leninists in the Comintern. Oh wait, that was our reality. The Austro-Hungarian Empire took a bad hit but with no TKO, so many things are different in the Czechoslovakia, like for example there isn't one. Charles I continues as the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, slowly gaining the acceptance of the Allied Powers and looking like a future ally against Ottomans and the Bolsheviks.
+The early 20th century was a moment in time where so many things could have taken a new course. So naturally, some on them have. The Ottoman empire did not go full Turk, but managed to survive as an empire, still pushing towards north while now fighting the Allied agendas in the south. Bolshevik Russia went nuts, combining impossible political agendas, multiple levels of internal strife and corruption, and stupid stupid strategic decisions while still making other nations think that they have all the leninists in the Comintern. Oh wait, that was our reality. The Austro-Hungarian Empire took a bad hit but with no TKO...
 === Magic and the Fae ===
 ==== The dying glamour====

@@ Line 279: / Line 279: @@
 |-
 |July 2–6, 1919
-|– British airship R34 makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible
+|British airship R34 makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible
 |-
 |July 7, 1919
@@ Line 299: / Line 299: @@
 |The Spanish Flu ends with an estimate between seventeen million to fifty million dead.
 |-
-|April 20, 1920
+|June 4, 1920
-|The 1920 Summer Olympics open in Antwerp, Belgium.
+|Treaty of Trianon
 |-
+|

@@ Line 239: / Line 239: @@
 |March 3, 1918
 |Treaty of Brest-Litovsk is signed  between Russia and Germany
 |-
 |June 18 – August 5 1918
@@ Line 267: / Line 270: @@
 |The League of Red Cross Societies is formed in Paris.
 |-
-|14–15 June, 1919
+|June 14–15, 1919
 |British aviators Alcock and Brown made the first non-stop transatlantic flight.
 |-
@@ Line 277: / Line 280: @@
 |July 2–6, 1919
 |– British airship R34 makes the first transatlantic flight by dirigible
 |-
 |September 10,1919
@@ Line 283: / Line 289: @@
 |January 17, 1920
 |National Prohibition Act cames into force, prohibiting the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States.
 |}

@@ Line 130: / Line 130: @@
 |Date
 |Event
 |-
 |January 14, 1905
@@ Line 142: / Line 144: @@
 |June 29, 1914
 |Tirnanoc declares its neutrality on matters of "three and three men". The last remaining fae ambassadors disappear.
 |-
 |July 28, 1914
@@ Line 256: / Line 260: @@
 |September 26, 1918
 |First phase of the U.S.  Meuse-Argonne offensive underway
 |-
 |June 28, 1919
 |Treaty of Versailles
 |-
 |September 10,1919
 |Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
 |}

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:04, 27 February 2023
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−	'''Tulossa: ''dieselpunk-kampanja!''''' <blockquote><small>''"I like the word "dieselpunk" if you are doing something like 'Weird World War II'. I think that makes perfect sense. But to me, World War I is the dividing point where modernity goes from being optimistic to being pessimistic. Because when you put the words "machine" and "gun" together, they both change. At that point, war is no longer about a sense of adventure and chivalry and a way of testing your nation's level of manhood; it's become industrial, and horrible. "'' -- Scott Westerfeld</small></blockquote>The world of 'Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirror' is set in an alternative "dieselpunk" version of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The decade following the Great War is filled with deep wounds of the Great War, dark secrets and remains of a mystic past, thirst for glory and revenge on both personal and national scale... But at the same time new technology, new marvelous machines, new ways of life, new freedoms and new ambitions are hurling the humanity towards new era, with promises of better future.	+	'''Tulossa: 'Machines and machinations" ''dieselpunk-kampanja!''''' <blockquote><small>''"I like the word "dieselpunk" if you are doing something like 'Weird World War II'. I think that makes perfect sense. But to me, World War I is the dividing point where modernity goes from being optimistic to being pessimistic. Because when you put the words "machine" and "gun" together, they both change. At that point, war is no longer about a sense of adventure and chivalry and a way of testing your nation's level of manhood; it's become industrial, and horrible. "'' -- Scott Westerfeld</small></blockquote>The world of 'Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirror' is set in an alternative "dieselpunk" version of the late 1920s and early 1930s. The decade following the Great War is filled with deep wounds of the Great War, dark secrets and remains of a mystic past, thirst for glory and revenge on both personal and national scale... But at the same time new technology, new marvelous machines, new ways of life, new freedoms and new ambitions are hurling the humanity towards new era, with promises of better future.

	'Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirrors' contains a wide variety of flavor, powered by the greasy and smoky heavy machinery of dieselpunk, spiced up by the roaring 20s decopunk, and shaded by the otherworldly horrors and ancient mystic ways and creatures.		'Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirrors' contains a wide variety of flavor, powered by the greasy and smoky heavy machinery of dieselpunk, spiced up by the roaring 20s decopunk, and shaded by the otherworldly horrors and ancient mystic ways and creatures.

@@ Line 295: / Line 295: @@
 THE DOCTOR ''(*reserved template)''
-You have earned a medical doctorate from a renowned university, and during the war years you got your share of training patients for your surgical studies. You have a reputation for being able to operate successfully almost any major trauma patient. You are looking something in far away from home - is it fame? New challenges? (Nationality: any european. Age: 30-50)
+You have earned a medical doctorate from a renowned university, and during the war years you got your share of training patients for your surgical studies. You have a reputation for being able to operate successfully almost any major trauma patient. You are farbfrom home and looking for something - is it fame? New challenges? (Nationality: any european. Age: 30-50)
 THE PILOT
@@ Line 301: / Line 301: @@
 You flew a biplane during the last year of the war, You shot down four enemy aircrafts before you were shot down day after your 19th birthday. The injuries you suffered did not make you disabled but prevented you from flying again. Since the war you have carried with you a feeling of unfulfilled destiny, and now you think you have founded it - piloting a latest generation automechanical walker, a war machine like nothing else before. (Nationality: any of those that participated on the fighter battles over european fronts. Age: 26)
-THE SHOOTER
+THE SHOOTER (*reserved template)
-You perfected your shooting in the trenches in the Western Front, and some parts of your soul were left there. But the trenches gave you a need to improve, adapt and innovate, so much that now you are more of an inventor than a sharpshooter. Telescopic sights. Periscope sights. Remotely fired rifles and machineguns. And when the limits of traditional technology are reached, maybe one could find some tesla tech gizmo that allows to break those limits. (Nationality: any of those that participated on the trench warfare of the Western Front. Age: 30-40.)
+You perfected your shooting in the trenches in the Western Front, and some parts of your soul were left there. But the trenches gave you a need to improve, adapt and innovate, so much that now you are more of an inventor than a sharpshooter. Telescopic sights. Periscope sights. Remotely fired rifles and machineguns. Light amplifying scopes? Antimech rifles? And when the limits of traditional technology are reached, maybe one could find some tesla tech gizmo that allows to break those limits. (Nationality: any of those that participated on the trench warfare of the Western Front. Age: 30-40.)
-THE BOMBER
+THE SERGEANT
 (Nationality: any)

@@ Line 271: / Line 271: @@
 Still the future of the empire was not cheap as Italy, Poland, Romania and Serbia received territories from the Austro-Hungarian empire. The treaty included 'war reparations' of large sums of money, directed towards the Allies, and it limited the size of empire's navy and air force.
-In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon decreed that the Principality of Transylvania was a separate kingdom entirely independent of Austro-Hungary. Unification of Transylvania with Romania was agreed to commence as soon as the four main sections of the treaty concerning the independence of Transylvania were fulfilled. The main sections were the founding of the Transylvanian Diet, the process of election for a king in Transylvania, removal of Austro-Hungarian troops from the area, and the methods to secure the safety of Hungarian and German population living in Transylvania.
+In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon decreed that the Principality of Transylvania was a separate kingdom entirely independent of Austro-Hungary. Negotiations for the possible unification of Transylvania with Romania was agreed to commence as soon as the four main sections of the treaty concerning the independence of Transylvania were fulfilled. The main sections were the founding of the Transylvanian Diet, the process of election for a king in Transylvania, removal of Austro-Hungarian troops from the area, and the methods to provide the safety of Hungarian and German population living in Transylvania.
-The Principality had significant support from the Allied Powers, with British, French, and Italian army officers and government officials aiding and supervising in these early phases. Because of the small number of military and police forces the Principality controlled, the Allied Powers requested that Austro-Hungarian empire would give troops to Allied control, to secure the eastern border of the Principality. Emperor Charles I chartered the founding of the k.k. Freiwilligen Ausländisch Schützenregiment and ordered the regiment to be used in "good will and honest intention" to aid the Allied Powers in Transylvania.
+The Principality had significant support from the Allied Powers, with British, French, and Italian army officers and government officials aiding and supervising in these early phases. Because of the small number of military and police forces the Principality controlled, the Allied Powers requested that Austro-Hungarian empire would give troops to Allied control, to secure the eastern border of the Principality. Emperor Charles I chartered the founding of the ''k.k. Freiwilligen Ausländisch Schützenregiment'' (''k.k.FAS, the Imperial-Royal Volunteer Foreign Rifle Regiment'') and ordered the regiment to be used in "good will and honest intention" to aid the Allied Powers in Transylvania.
 === The Story ===
-The year is 1925.
+The year is 1925. The Regional Command 1 of the ''Csendőrség'' (the Hungarian Royal Gendarmeries) has requested assistance from the k.k.FAS to prevent the spreading of the civil unrest in the ''Beszterce-Naszód'' area. Answering to the call, the k.k.FAS has assigned a mechanical walker squadron (Sturmschützen Eskadron Nr. 2) to reinforce the  ''Csendőrség garrisons in the county.''
 === Characters ===
-Characters have volunteered to serve in the '''''k.k. Freiwilligen Ausländisch Schützenregiment''''', the Austro-Hungarian foreign legion. Characters can be of any nationality (with few limitations depending on the character template). Officially the the majority of enlisted men originate from western Europe, but in reality large part of the personnel are Hungarian or Austrian, "ordered to volunteer". The actual foreign members of the legion are always placed in visible tasks, to highlight the "foreign volunteers" charter of the regiment. The officer corps are heavily representated by Austrians, but most of the low- and mid-level officers are foreigners.
+Characters have volunteered to serve in the '''''k.k. Freiwilligen Ausländisch Schützenregiment''''', the Austro-Hungarian foreign legion. As part of the A troop of the Sturmschützen Eskadron Nr. 2, the characters have been assigned to assist the ''Csendőrség'' to "uphold the security and peace in the land".
-Characters
+One of the characters will be a troop leader, in charge of the troop. The troop consists of the player characters, and approx. two dozen NPCs (a few from supply and maintenance, and the rest are ordinary riflemen). If no player volunteers to the position of the troop leader, then the GM will give the assignment for the "most probable and capable senior character".
-THE MECHANIC
+Characters can be of any nationality (with few limitations depending on the character template). The age, sex and ethnicity should be plausible for the character background, with a small room for bargaining - this is DieselPunk-themed campaign, not a historical reenactment.
-The taste of burned powder, coal and diesel never leaves your mouth. You know how machines work, and you can keep them running year after year, assuming access to a some sort of a machine shop and some spare parts. The things supernatural scare you and you try to stay clear of any such thing, and the gizmos running on Tesla powers worry you. (Nationality: any. Age: 30-50.)
+'''Character templates'''
 THE DETECTIVE
@@ Line 312: / Line 312: @@
 You know how to move, survive and fight in forests, hills and mountains. You have lived most of your life in an alpine valley, and fought numerous battles on the slopes of the alpine mountains. After the war you returned back to your home village, but life there was not enough. You left in search for something exciting, and now you find yourself again in mountainous terrain, rifle in your hands. (Nationality: Italian or Austrian. Age: 30-40)
 [[Category:Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirrors]]
 [[Category:Kampanjat]]
 [[Category:Taxall]]

@@ Line 274: / Line 274: @@
 The Principality had significant support from the Allied Powers, with British, French, and Italian army officers and government officials aiding and supervising in these early phases. Because of the small number of military and police forces the Principality controlled, the Allied Powers requested that Austro-Hungarian empire would give troops to Allied control, to secure the eastern border of the Principality. Emperor Charles I chartered the founding of the k.k. Freiwilligen Ausländisch Schützenregiment and ordered the regiment to be used in "good will and honest intention" to aid the Allied Powers in Transylvania.
 === Characters ===
-Characters have volunteered to serve in the '''''k.k. Freiwilligen Ausländisch Schützenregiment''''', the Austro-Hungarian foreign legion. Characters can be of any nationality. Officially the the majority of enlisted men originate from western Europe, but in reality large part of the personnel are Hungarian or Austrian, "ordered to volunteer". The actual foreign members of the legion are always placed in visible tasks, to highlight the "foreign volunteers" charter of the regiment. The officer corps are heavily representated by Austrians, but most of the low- and mid-level officers are foreigners.
+Characters have volunteered to serve in the '''''k.k. Freiwilligen Ausländisch Schützenregiment''''', the Austro-Hungarian foreign legion. Characters can be of any nationality (with few limitations depending on the character template). Officially the the majority of enlisted men originate from western Europe, but in reality large part of the personnel are Hungarian or Austrian, "ordered to volunteer". The actual foreign members of the legion are always placed in visible tasks, to highlight the "foreign volunteers" charter of the regiment. The officer corps are heavily representated by Austrians, but most of the low- and mid-level officers are foreigners.
 '''''Sturmschützen Eskadronen Nr. 2'''''
@@ Line 288: / Line 291: @@
 THE DETECTIVE
-You might not be the Holmes of the 1920s, but wits and logic are your main tools and you are good with them, You worked for the Pinkerton agency for a while after you left the government service, and now you are searching for something on your own. Volunteering for the k.k.FAS was just the best way to get you closer to what you are searching for. (Nationality: USA)
+You might not be the Holmes of the 1920s, but wits and logic are your main tools and you are good with them, You worked for the Pinkerton agency for a while after you left the government service, and now you are searching for something on your own. Volunteering for the k.k.FAS was just the best way to get you closer to what you are searching for. (Nationality: USA. Age: 30-50.)
 THE DOCTOR ''(*reserved template)''
-You have earned a medical doctorate from a renowned university, and during the war years you got your share of training patients for your surgical studies. You have a reputation for being able to operate successfully almost any major trauma patient. You are looking something in far away from home - is it fame? New challenges? (Nationality: any european)
+You have earned a medical doctorate from a renowned university, and during the war years you got your share of training patients for your surgical studies. You have a reputation for being able to operate successfully almost any major trauma patient. You are looking something in far away from home - is it fame? New challenges? (Nationality: any european. Age: 30-50)
 THE PILOT
-You flew a biplane during the last year of the war, You shot down four enemy aircrafts before you were shot down day after your 19th birthday. The injuries you suffered did not make you disabled but prevented you from flying again. Since the war you have carried with you a feeling of unfulfilled destiny, and now you think you have founded it - piloting a latest generation automechanical walker, a war machine like nothing else before. (Nationality: any european)
+You flew a biplane during the last year of the war, You shot down four enemy aircrafts before you were shot down day after your 19th birthday. The injuries you suffered did not make you disabled but prevented you from flying again. Since the war you have carried with you a feeling of unfulfilled destiny, and now you think you have founded it - piloting a latest generation automechanical walker, a war machine like nothing else before. (Nationality: any european. Age: 30)
 THE SHOOTER
-You perfected your shooting in the trenches in the Western Front, and some parts of your soul were left there. But the trenches gave you a need to improve, adapt and innovate, so much that now you are more of an inventor than a sharpshooter. Telescopic sights. Periscope sights. Remotely fired rifles and machineguns. And when the limits of traditional technology are reached, maybe one could find some tesla tech gizmo that allows to break those limits. (Nationality: any of those that participated on the trench warfare of the Western Front.)
+You perfected your shooting in the trenches in the Western Front, and some parts of your soul were left there. But the trenches gave you a need to improve, adapt and innovate, so much that now you are more of an inventor than a sharpshooter. Telescopic sights. Periscope sights. Remotely fired rifles and machineguns. And when the limits of traditional technology are reached, maybe one could find some tesla tech gizmo that allows to break those limits. (Nationality: any of those that participated on the trench warfare of the Western Front. Age: 30-40.)
 THE BOMBER
@@ Line 308: / Line 311: @@
 THE RANGER
-You know how to move, survive and fight in forests, hills and mountains. You have lived most of your life in an alpine valley, and fought numerous battles on the slopes of mountains. After the war you returned back to your home village, but life there was not enough. You left in search for something exciting, and now you find yourself again in mountainous terrain, rifle in your hands. (Nationality: Italian or Austrian)
+You know how to move, survive and fight in forests, hills and mountains. You have lived most of your life in an alpine valley, and fought numerous battles on the slopes of mountains. After the war you returned back to your home village, but life there was not enough. You left in search for something exciting, and now you find yourself again in mountainous terrain, rifle in your hands. (Nationality: Italian or Austrian. Age: 30-40)
 [[Category:Diesel Smoke and Magic Mirrors]]
 [[Category:Kampanjat]]
 [[Category:Taxall]]