For a truly steampunk feel, I'd recommend that the technology be invented in a magic-less or near to magic-less area, so that they designers can't 'cheat' by using elemental so or other magic to make things easier. Once technology gets loose into the rest of the world, shortcuts will multiply like the common cold.
Sounds great! There's a module, Wardens Of The Reborn Forge that's set in the Mana Wastes with a Gazetteer of Alkenstar if that helps.
The adventure itself doesn't have a lot to do with Alkenstar but it's alright. :-)
Also my dyslexia reads your title as Parking Golarion. :-) good luck making a profit on a parking lot in that environment. :-D
I have an idea that can help you avoid players using divine magic. Cixyron is a Daemon Harbinger of all kinds of technologically based stuff, so the new boom in technology causes him to have a monumental surge in power.
He becomes a god in the process... in fact, he becomes THE most powerful god in the setting. He gains a divine power monopoly that makes him one of the few gods left to worship. If you decide to use divine magic, huge chance it's from him. Since he's Neutral Evil and plans on bringing about the end of existence, it would be a pretty big deterrent from divine magic.
Also my dyslexia reads your title as Parking Golarion. :-) good luck making a profit on a parking lot in that environment. :-D
Suddenly, I get the mental image of Asmodeus working as a traffic warden, slapping a parking ticket on the whole planet.
"There! For illegal planet double-parking."
I'm planning on bringing in some steampunk to my home brew Golarion based setting and would like some ideas and advice on how to make this feel like a natural development from existing trends in Golarion. I was thinking about having the starting point be a breakthrough in Alkenstar with the discovery of aluminum and the use of mithral in components allowing high efficiency steam engines that operate at extreme pressure. This then leads to airships as a means of (relatively) safe transit into and out the mana wastes for shipping and transportation. Thoughts, opinions?
Might consider having a large number of engineers from the Farmlands. After all, hot air balloons were invented there, and it would explain the goggle fashion trend (as half the engineers would have sensitive eyes).
Also, maybe a synthetic mithral substitute, which works as well for machinery but not for armor or weapons should be developed since mithral mass production is probably impractical, what with it being more valuable (and therefore, rarer) than platinum.
Sorry, meant darklands. Autocorrect error. The dark lands exist under golarion, where duergar, derro, drow, and more live. Apparently there are huge caverns where hot air balloons were invented, which means a prominent dark land engineer could plausibly have a hand in the development of airships. It also helps that many subterranean races have a mad scientist vibe about them. They are featured in Blood of Shadows and Heroes of the Darklands. Probably more info in bestiary entries on the races above as well as the Dark Folk (any of them) and Svirfneblins.
And why wouldn't Brigh, Ptah, or Omratagi, all full deities, also receive a power boost, putting them still significantly above Cixyron?I have an idea that can help you avoid players using divine magic. Cixyron is a Daemon Harbinger of all kinds of technologically based stuff, so the new boom in technology causes him to have a monumental surge in power.
He becomes a god in the process... in fact, he becomes THE most powerful god in the setting. He gains a divine power monopoly that makes him one of the few gods left to worship. If you decide to use divine magic, huge chance it's from him. Since he's Neutral Evil and plans on bringing about the end of existence, it would be a pretty big deterrent from divine magic.
That's actually a good point. There would still be a huge impact on the pantheon, though. I just thought of Cixyron because he was the first divine with a tech focus that came to my mind. Good catch!