Systems · Technical/ Mechanical · Specific
Aetherball
Aetherball: the only sport with a PSI rating.
Quest entry
Quest - Steampunk
Steampunk! Any sort of steampunk at all from thaumatech to simple old-fashioned steamtech. Wind up your imaginations and start the kettle boiling! 15XP for each submission with 100XP for 1st and 50XP for second. Open the quest
Full quest brief
Steampunk!
Any sort of steampunk at all from thaumatech to simple old-fashioned steamtech.
Wind up your imaginations and start the kettle boiling!
15XP for each submission with 100XP for 1st and 50XP for second.
One thing that most universities have no lack of is inventions. Another thing that they have no shortage of is slightly off-kilter folk eager to try said inventions. What they didn't have, until recently, was a good opportunity to try out the oft-deranged products of their fertile minds.
Enter Aetherball.
There is some debate as to who invented the sport, but for the most part, folk care less about who invented it than when the next match is. All it really is, at the end of the day, is an excuse to showcase various contraptions and see how they hold up under stress.
The rules are reasonably simple:
1) All equipment is allowed.
2) No lethal force, please.
3) No more than ten people per team
4) Score by getting the ball to exist in a quantum state of both existing and not existing.
Though it sounds impossible, there are many ways to achieve goals, such as putting it in a chamber with a perfect 50% chance of destroying the ball when opened and then not opening it. It is important to remember that there are many, many items scattered around an aetherball field, including malfunctioning steam engines, thumb tacks, and, in the case of the grand arena at Hautriesenburg, a small rift to three minutes ago. In essence, if there is something peculiar that nobody really has much use for, it can always find a home in the Aetherball ring.
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Also for this quest
Other entries under Quest - Steampunk.
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Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam
As the world grows and changes, so to do the gods. One such creature is Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam.
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Clockfolk
"It's important to remember, when dealing with the clockfolk, that they only LOOK like toys."
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Melders
The followers of the mechanogod Whrrrm, those who could never have come about until the advent of steamtech.
-
Mech-Undead
The grinding of gears in the dead of night is a precursor of an unforgiving danger. Survivors remember little, save the smell of metal and death.
-
Conversion Warhead
"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become Death, the destr…
-
Steamwalkers
In the deep of night, even the most jaded of criminals will look over their shoulders for the telltale scarlet glow of the steamwalkers.
-
Potential Cannon
"It was as if, for a heartbeat, the world awoke, and lashed out in rage at those who disturbed it."
-
Aetherometer
Odd little devices, almost ubiquitous in any city which relies on thaumatechnology.
Use alongside
Submissions that pair well with this one at the table.
-
Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam
As the world grows and changes, so to do the gods. One such creature is Verdichtung, Reaver of Steam.
-
Clockfolk
"It's important to remember, when dealing with the clockfolk, that they only LOOK like toys."
-
Melders
The followers of the mechanogod Whrrrm, those who could never have come about until the advent of steamtech.
-
Mech-Undead
The grinding of gears in the dead of night is a precursor of an unforgiving danger. Survivors remember little, save the smell of metal and death.
-
Steamwalkers
In the deep of night, even the most jaded of criminals will look over their shoulders for the telltale scarlet glow of the steamwalkers.
-
Conversion Warhead
"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the mighty one. Now I am become Death, the destr…
strange but fun.
Aside from the mention of the strange items scattered around the field, I'm not too sure how steampunk this sub is, but it's certainly an amusing idea for a sport for mad scientists.
It's mostly designed for scientists of both the sane and mad variety to show off their inventions. In and of itself, it's not very steampunk, it's what the players bring to the field that make it so.
Fair enough, I suppose.
It could also serve in a sci-fi setting, I expect, where quantum mechanics are well-known.
I gotta jump on the bandwagon here: the quantum state thing kinda threw me. It seems rather out of place with the rest of the sub. Is there not some other way to score that doesn't require something that...advanced? Not all steampunk is going to be advanced enough to know of, let alone deal with quantum states. However, most steampunk will indeed have this sort of sporting event, at minimum around the Colleges of Steamtech.
As an alternative, perhaps something along the lines of 'keep-away'? For every minute you keep possession of the ball, you gain 2 points. First team to 10 wins (longer games can be played to 20, or even be timed, with the highest scoring team winning). I'll admit, the quantum state of existing and not-existing is an interesting variant of winning conditions, but I just find it too advanced for most steampunk settings.
Amusingly enough, this would provide so much more entertainment than Quidditch of HP fame. Sports are yet another thing to toss into a world to add verisimilitude.
Nice idea, but a little thin for me.
How do you see scoring judged?
But by observing the score, you alter it. hmmm