Steampunk Storytelling: Lessons from The Great Airship Robbery and Cogs and Conspiracies

Behind the Die by Charlie Stayton

There’s something uniquely exhilarating about steampunk at the tabletop. Airships drifting through copper skies, brass automatons clanking down cobblestone streets, factions maneuvering in smoke-filled parlors—all of it creates a setting where the rules of adventure feel both familiar and radically different.

In my own Tephra RPG adventures, from The Great Airship Robbery and Cogs and Conspiracies, I’ve discovered that the magic of steampunk storytelling isn’t just in the goggles and gears—it’s in how technology, style, and politics transform the very shape of play.

Technology as Drama

In most fantasy RPGs, technology is background dressing: swords, torches, maybe the occasional siege weapon. In steampunk, technology steps into the spotlight as a dramatic force.

• In The Great Airship Robbery, the entire adventure pivots on a robbery and possible abduction. The question isn’t just who did it?—it’s what happens when technology changes hands?

• Devices like grappling pistols, clockwork prosthetics, flying automaton horses, and dirigible cannons aren’t just tools, they’re symbols of power. Who controls them, who builds them, and who misuses them become questions that drive the narrative forward.

This creates a unique flavor of tension. Combat isn’t just about swinging blades—it’s about disabling engines, outsmarting gadgets, or surviving a sky-train roof chase. Technology isn’t static—it’s volatile, and volatility means drama.

Stylish Worldbuilding

Steampunk adventures thrive on aesthetic immersion. Every gear, every valve, every plume of steam reminds players they aren’t in a typical fantasy realm.

When designing Cogs and Conspiracies, I leaned heavily into visual storytelling:

• Velvet-lined parlors with whirring mechanical servants.

• Industrial districts where soot and magic blend in the air.

• Aerial skylines dotted with airships, each one a floating stage for intrigue or sabotage.

Style isn’t frivolous—it reinforces mood. A gaslight-lit alley feels different from a torch-lit dungeon. The world itself becomes an actor, shaping how players feel in each scene.

Faction Politics as Play

Every good steampunk world needs factions—and every faction needs an agenda. In Cogs and Conspiracies, the Crimson Cog agents served as both muscle and mystery. Were they revolutionaries? Terrorists? Loyalists with a radical streak? That ambiguity turned them into more than villains—they became a political puzzle.

Factions offer players choices beyond combat:

• Whom do you ally with?

• What compromises are worth making for progress?

• How do ideals clash when technology rewrites tradition?

When players step into these questions, they become part of the world’s ideological engine. They aren’t just adventurers surviving—they’re deciding what kind of society rises from the smog.

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Sidebar: Adapting Steampunk for D&D

Not every table plays Tephra, but you can still bring steampunk flavor into Dungeons & Dragons with just a few tweaks.

Easy Steampunk Adaptations for D&D:

• Reskin Items: Replace a wand with a Tesla-coil pistol, a flying carpet with a small ornithopter, or a lantern with a brass-and-gear contraption.

• Factions Instead of Gods: Swap divine influence for industrial guilds, inventor societies, or anarchist cells. Paladins can serve a faction’s ideal instead of a deity.

• Technology as Treasure: Instead of magic items, reward players with experimental gadgets that feel powerful but unstable. A rifle that overheats, an automaton bodyguard with quirks, or a prototype jetpack with a limited charge.

• Urban Intrigue: Use faction-driven plots instead of dungeon crawls. The mystery of “who’s behind the sabotage” can be just as thrilling as clearing out a cavern of goblins.

By layering these elements into your D&D campaign, you get the flavor of steampunk without overhauling the system.

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Closing Thoughts

Steampunk adventures stand out because they’re not just about what the players do, but why it matters. Technology creates volatility, stylish worldbuilding keeps the table immersed, and faction politics turn every choice into a statement.

Whether you’re orchestrating a high-speed heist aboard the Nimbus Express or navigating smoky backrooms full of conspirators, steampunk offers a playground where drama is built into the gears themselves.

So next time you sit down to craft a campaign, ask: What happens when the world’s gears start turning faster than its people can keep up? The answer may be the adventure your players never forget.