#Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

[igorlevchenko-blog]

How to: play games.

You can emulate the low-intelligence dialogue of isometric Fallouts and Arcanum by playing ANY game in a foreign language you have only a surface understanding of. Not only does it make bad writing most games have much more palatable—allowing you to supplant disagreeable impressions with novel memories— language-learning aspect becomes itself a game mechanic, one that readily injects itself into the game's own (oftentimes critically limited) pool of game mechanics. Low-intelligence dialogue also doesn't necessarily indicate a stupid PC, but a foreigner or a rustic with a tenuous grasp of local language. I've managed to squeeze one more playthrough from otherwise well-trodden Arcanum by playing in French as half-ogre idiot-savant. And Gothic's limited portfolio of game mechanics was GREATLY improved by playing The Chronicles Of Myrtana: Archolos in its native Polish. Archolos, in case you don't know, is a total conversion mod for Gothic 2 that follows up on its overarching theme of orcish invasion (the exact same problem I have in real life, actually).

[stellastra-scribbles]

Doodled my endgame party from Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura~

Individual images and identities below the cut.

THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING!!! but seriously play this game if you like isometric cRPGs like the classic Fallout games :D

Rí'an Mal'los, “The Living One” (aka my custom protagonist). She's just a jolly elf seeking adventure and got caught in a bunch of nonsense when the airship she was a passenger on was attacked by ogre-piloted biplanes.

Virgil Brummond, the first companion. Enlightened by his experience with death, Virgil became Rí'an's best friend and trusted confidant throughout their long journey across Arcanum.

Magnus Shale Fist real name: Malcolm Schulefest, originally a city dwarf from Caladon, he is now the heritor of the Iron Clan's legacy, gladly donning the once-lost clan's armor.

'Raven,' princess of Qintarra, the home of the elves of the Glimmering Forest. She's not too fond of being around Z'an, but Raven's willing to overlook her presence to help save the fate of Arcanum.

Z'an Al'urin, seer of T'sen-Ang's dark elves. Her visions are vague and often leave her confused, but she saw something in them that made her start questioning the elven supremacist beliefs she grew up with. As such, she joined Rí'an's crew in the hope of finding answers.

Arronax, the Destroyer. Son of the great Nasrudin, he was given deferential treatment and offered a seat on the Elven Council during the Age of Legends, although he was quite young (for an elf) and it showed in his aggressive temperament. Arronax's destructive actions caused him to be banished to the Void by his own father. The past two millennia imprisoned in the Void have given him much to contemplate about his mistakes, hence why he tags along with Rí'an's party in the end.

Torian Kel, former Warlord in the Gray Legions of the Derian-Ka. Originally an ancient reanimated skeleton on the verge of crumbling into dust, Rí'an heeded Torian's request to find dragon blood to restore his body and mortality. Now, he joins her out of gratitude and in hopes of finding the answers to free his fellow Gray Legionnaires, who have long since crumbled to dust but cannot pass into the afterlife.

Dog, the best boy~ Just a regular dog, but he doesn't need to be anything more than that. He's strong, fast, and loyal. What else could one want from a dog?

Loghaire Thunder Stone, king of Arcanum's dwarves and lord of the Wheel Clan. After Rí'an convinced him to leave exile, Loghaire returned to the throne. He got his vengeance on M'in Gorad.

[mukuuji]

Franklin Payne - Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura

Thank you for supporting me, stellastra-san!

[rpgchoices]

I would give anything for a new game set in the Arcanum world...

[senritsu-yuki]

И так я попыталась повторить прошлый подвиг)

Неожиданный кроссовер о котором никто не просил) хе-хе) Просто было бы интересно будь за дверьми его кабинета не Вотердип а... Тарант) Не, можно было бы его и к магам упихнуть (уже и не помню как их город назывался), но Тарант по веселее будет) ..по крайней мере на сколько я помню)

P.s. Не думала, что покрас Гейла выпьет из меня столько крови.....) P.s.s. Слышала уже о двух играх в стимпанковом сеттинге вдохновлённые Арканумом которые ��аходятся в разработке... мои надежды на ремейк Арканума вновь во��родились :D (Clockwork Revolution и New Arc Line)

[feletida]

Arronax did nothing wrong

[vtmbbot]

“Have you ever spoken with the dead? Called to them from this side, pulled them from their silent rest? Do you know what it is that they feel? Pain. Pain, when torn into this wakefulness, this reminder of the chaos from which they had escaped. Pain, at having to live. There will be no more pain. There will be no more chaos.”

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (Troika Games, 2001)

[proffbon]

When life doesn't give you artistic talent, you make the power of your imagination everyone else's problem.

[most-datable-undatable]

[our-favourite-orcs]

ROUND 1 - MATCH 6

Propaganda under the cut!

Propaganda for Clarisse Vorak from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura:

She might not look very orcish and she's a potential player character and therefore she's what you make her, but she's a half-orc scientist facing racism. And I read a fanfic about her that made me fascinated with her, I swear.

Propaganda for Flerbish from Tumblr:

Flerbish can photosynthesise

Propaganda for Alkett and Karvek from To Clear the Air by Malcolm Schmitz:

the character work in this short story is SOOO GOOD!!! Alkett is an outcast from her tribe, and Karvek is a former friend deeply affected by her betrayal. But when they encounter each other in the desert with danger all around, they have to work together despite old wounds. They hit on all the core Orc traits--loyalty vs bravery, and trust in the midst of battle. Fundamentally it's a story about communication and understanding, and both are such good foils for each other. Also Alkett has an awesome mechanical arm. AND they use kickass lace magic. What more could you want.

[hallofemptycalories]

I feel like my exploration of older computer rpgs (“older” than like 2007 to be specific) is completely marred by the fact that I am not treating the instruction manual like an inseparable aspect of the text. Like, ppl would put actual *lore* in these things, it’s nuts.

[stellastra-scribbles]

October 5, 2024 - Some pencil sketches from a few days ago of Princess Raven from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Doodled these between breaks at work.

Also, I know Raven's in-game portrait portrays her with blue eyes, but I like drawing her with green eyes since the dialogue when you first meet her states that she has "dark crimson, almost black" hair and "green eyes."

[mukuuji]

Thank you for your request, stellastra! mukuuji's commission page

Doc Roberts - Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura

[rpgchoices]

Orc activist and politician Donn from Arcanum: of Steamwork and Magick Obscura vs husband material from Skryim: Ghorbash the Iron Hand!

Tournament tag (all polls) here

[mrfrunky]

Something I noticed is that in the age of fantasy, the mainstream tabletop and CRPG enjoyers love elves more than dwarfs at the moment. around the 2000s-2010s this was not the case, as RPGs like arcanum and Dragon Age Inquisition had SO MUCH neat dwarf stuff in it.

in the present day, dwarf stuff isn’t many, such as how Baldurs gate 3 has a distinct lack of dwarf companions but 5 (FIVE (V (

)))

ELF COMPANIONS. WHAT AM I TO DO WITH ALL THESE ELVES???

Of course it’s fine but then the kicker is when mountain dwarfs are as useful as glasses without their fucking frames AND AN UNCOMFORTABLE AMOUNT OF THE DWARVES YOU FIND DONT HAVE BEARDS! WHAT?? I think it’s outrageous.

There’s also of course the amount of players that (seriously) play dwarf. Luckily the group im in are dwarf-aligned so we have encountered a fair amount of dorf. But in other groups I noticed that they are quite uncommon. Which I think is interesting.

Besides the point, while elves are more popular in CRPG and Tabletop games (most likely due to them being very much akin to a human in aesthetic, plus the fact that there are just so many cool options and clear differences between elves) I have noticed an influx of dwarf related games and media. There’s Wind Rose (a really good dwarf metal band) LOTR return to Moira which is a co-op dwarf game, and deep rock galactic, which is an awesome four person co op game too. Lastly I'd like to mention that there should be more elf games besides Elder Scrolls, PLEASE.

[feletida]

Zan what do you see? - monologuing. Lots of monologuing.