History TabletopGame / GURPSThaumatologyAlchemicalBaroque

''GURPS Thaumatology: Alchemical Baroque'' is a short (24-page) setting/worldbook supplement for ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' 4th edition by Creator/PhilMasters; the full title indicates that it is associated with the larger supplement ''GURPS Thaumatology'', using the extended rules for magic in ''GURPS'' from that book. The setting it describes was originally depicted in a chapter of ''GURPS All-Star Jam 2004'', a 3rd edition supplement; the material from there is expanded and updated for the newer rules here.

The setting is the "Known Lands", a fantasy land loosely but openly based on Europe and its environs in the late 17th and early 18th centuries -- the early part of UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment period. Hence, the setting attempts to avoid most of the tropes of the StandardFantasySetting, instead drawing on traditional FairyTales combined with alchemy, early science, musket-and-bayonet warfare, and pre-industrial technology. Games run in the setting can range from clever peasant heroes tricking dangerous ogres to subtle tales of international intrigue.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: Given that it’s an {{expy}} of the historical Versailles, the Palace of the Sun must fall into this category to some extent.

The setting is the "Known Lands", a fantasy land loosely but openly based on Europe and its environs in the late 17th and early 18th centuries -- the early part of UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment period. Hence, the setting attempts to avoid most of the tropes of the StandardFantasySetting, instead of drawing on traditional FairyTales combined with alchemy, early science, musket-and-bayonet warfare, and pre-industrial technology. Games run in the setting can range from clever peasant heroes tricking dangerous ogres to subtle tales of international intrigue.

[[quoteright:150:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ac932bd0_8ab3_46e4_a203_433357890d74.jpeg]]

The setting is the "Known Lands", a fantasy land loosely but openly based on Europe and its environs in the late 17th and early 18th centuries -- the early part of UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment period. Hence, the setting attempts to avoid most of the tropes of the StandardFantasySetting, instead drawing on traditional FairyTales combined with alchemy, early science, musket-and-bayonet warfare, and pre-industrial technology. Games run in the setting can range from clever peasant heroes tricking dangerous ogres to subtle tales of international intrigue.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Dragons in this setting are technically fairies (see below) stuck in a material form; that of a giant winged reptile. They can't breathe fire, but do often have a very poisonous or acidic venom.
* OurFairiesAreDifferent: Fairies in the Known Lands are a category of supernatural being who can take a whole range of weird and wonderful shapes.

* TheEmpire: The Great Majestic Solar Empire is actually "a nation with pretensions", and isn't overtly evil -- but it has very strong imperialist ambitions, and uses both military strength and diplomatic subtlety in pursuit of power.

** The Solar Empire: France (in the time of UsefulNotes/LouisXIV, "The Sun King").

-->''Enigmatic, whimsical, often powerful, fairies exist on the border between flesh and spirit. Some grant wishes; others steal babies. Their physical forms are to some extent malleable projections, but many lesser fairies are fixed to one shape; sometimes, the effort ofmanifesting physically drains their powers so much that they can’t change back.''

* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Known Lands devils are mean and malicious spirits from hell who sometimes travel to the material world, where they manifest as "bright red humanoid figures, somewhere between six inches and two feet tall, with wings, short horns, and chittering voices". They can be clever tempters, despite the fact that everyone knows how nasty they are, and demonstrate various supernatural powers.

* OurOgresAreHungrier: Ogres in this setting are technically fairies (see above), but they have burned out their powers taking physical form, reducing their minds to "a parody of intelligence".

-->From the book's introduction.