RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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I was thinking about Eberron lately and I came to realize that, for the most part, it really is a rather unique idea to combine magic and technology. Granted, every Final Fantasy game since FFIII (VI in Japan) has touched on the idea but you don't see this kind of synthesis get brought into the mainstream very often.
Therefore, I'm putting out a call. Where can I find a movie, even an animated one, that has some of the same steampunk/magi-tech vibe of Eberron? I'd like to see what others have found in this vein, because I haven't come across much of anything.
Well, I can't think of any steampunk/magic films (maybe City of Lost Children, though it's darker than you may be looking for) but the theme is explored really well in the computer game Arcanum. It's an RPG (I think it uses GURPS or something very similar) released several years ago. One of the best storylines in a video game, though combat leaves a few things to be desired.
Magic and technology butt heads a lot, though, so it isn't quite magic=technology.
Didn't they have a list of movies that helped inspire Eberron in the foreword of the ECS? (I may be mistaken in that it was on Keith Baker's website, but I know he mentioned it somewhere)
That being said, I'm not sure if any of them had Magic and Tech in the same movie. I seem to remember more "pulpy" movies like Casablanca, through to Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, Brotherhood of the Wolf, etc
I'd say Dark City (linky) captures the feel fairly well, even though it's not terribly steampunky or fantasy-ish either.
There's the weird technology/mysticism thing going on though, and it's dark and mysterious, though.
The Eberron core book lists
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Casablanca
From Hell
The Maltese Falcon
The Mummy
The Name of the Rose
Pirates of the Caribbean
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Sleepy Hollow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_steampunk_works#In_films
lists some steampunk movies and TV series, and some of these are good. Some of the anime ones are a little too giant-robot to fit the genre, though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Detective_Story
Shinichiro Watanabe's animated short set in the Matrix universe is not a bad "noir" set in a sort of "fantasy" world with weird retro-like tech.
I'd say Dark City (linky) captures the feel fairly well, even though it's not terribly steampunky or fantasy-ish either.
There's the weird technology/mysticism thing going on though, and it's dark and mysterious, though.
The Eberron core book lists
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Casablanca
From Hell
The Maltese Falcon
The Mummy
The Name of the Rose
Pirates of the Caribbean
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Sleepy Hollowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_steampunk_works#In_films
lists some steampunk movies and TV series, and some of these are good. Some of the anime ones are a little too giant-robot to fit the genre, though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Detective_Story
Shinichiro Watanabe's animated short set in the Matrix universe is not a bad "noir" set in a sort of "fantasy" world with weird retro-like tech.
Ooh... I didn't remember From Hell being on that list. Really fits some of Logue's Eberron adventures in Dungeon, doesn't it? ;-)
Along the video game line, there was the "Thief" series. I could see that in Eberron.
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Wouldn't "Masters of the Universe" qualify for combining technology and magic? I'm referring to the original cartoon, not the ill-made live action movie. The quality of life was still fairly medieval, yet they had vehicles, computers, and laser cannons...
I think that the comic series/movie "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" could also be inspirational.