Looking for a Steampunk Fantasy RPG

Does anyone know of a tabletop game that is Steampunk themed and contains an actual rules system for the technology and devices? I can skin different games into something close, but I am looking for a system of item creation that is built into and part of the game. I'm trying to work on one for myself, but it isn't working out.

Fantasy and magic elements are fine, but I'm more interested in a game without those parts. If it is a good system, I'd consider running here.

Did you want everyone in a party tinkering? Would the items be one shot useage or all the time?

Edit: Victorian or Samurai Steampunk?

Without magic I recommend Abney Park's Airship Pirates. With magic I suggest Victoriana, Malifaux: Through the Breach, or Iron Kingdoms. If you really are looking mainly just for players making technology than I have to suggest Deadlands. It takes place in a fantasy version of the US Wild West era and the Mad Scientist rules is exactly what you want.

I wouldn't want to force everyone to be a tinker/inventor if they didn't want to. Ideally items would vary. Some might be one time use, some continuous. In my mind (and the system I was trying to build myself) items would have chances to break or cease functioning, but it wouldn't be a huge burden during action scenes. Probably an escalating chance the more its used.

As for Victorian vs. Samurai...I had never considered Samurai steampunk before. That is intriguing as well.

Thank you for these suggestions, I will look into them. I have never heard of Abney Park. I thought Malifaux was just a minis game. I have seen Iron Kingdoms around but it never leaped out at me as Steampunk. I have heard Deadlands played on a few podcasts, but again, it was not presented as what I was looking for, but I will check all of these out. Thanks!

Victorian Steampunk is usually what people think of, men in suits and ladies in dresses with monocles and gears on their closes and drinking tea served by a steam powered butler. Feudal Samurais steampunk with wooden and metal robots is a bit different, when depicted in anime it seems pretty cool to me.

Deadlands Reloaded using the Savage Worlds ruleset will give them the ability to use 'powers' as a mad scientist, you can reskin and call it Steam Punk Engineer if you like. Have two or more people creating a device could possibly mechanically have the same effect but look entirely different, one could be Jameson's Amazing Hyperflux Ray that looks like a two handed rifle type while another inventor might go for something the size of a derringer but has the recoil to knock him back, they both do the same thing but theme wise they're based on the inventor and their design.

If you're going the Savage World's system route I'd suggest Deadlands Reloaded (different than Deadlands mentioned previously), Iron Dynasty if you want a feudal samurai steampunk them, Rippers possibly (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen meets megaman when you harvest monster's powers), or Agents of Oblivion and you just roll the clock back for setting time to Victorian, plus there's the rules in it for one shot use devices to get an ability/edge are in there but with Savage Worlds you can grab/cut/remix rules and settings how you like I figure from various settings to work for the theme you want. I know people have done Warehouse 13 themed Savaged World games and I think X Com (I forget if it was The Bureau version). I guess it really depends on what kinda game you want to run in and how in the weeds you want them to be for item creation.

The nice thing about Savage Worlds is if you say 'No magic' people still have access through it through Science, or psionics if you want that to be something they have, some people think that's a good thing, some people think it takes away from the uniqueness.

Just for completeness I thought I'd add that I've been playing in a Savage Worlds steampunk game using the Runepunk setting for some time now. There are some steampunk devices and rules for steampunk modifications for people (Overwrought - a bit like Mieville's Remade), but I wouldn't go so far as to say this makes a system for tech - in Savage Worlds everything is kind of 'plugin' rather than 'design'.

Like in Deadlands mentioned above, and as has already been said about Savage Worlds, the system for inventors is that they get to choose powers (from a limited list, but partially shared with more traditional wizards, Runecasters, and clerics, Shadowpriests), but those powers are represented as being a device, which does give the players some creativity. So one player's Armor power might be a gentleman's suit woven with copper wire which he activates by plugging a battery in, whereas another might be a steam-powered device which whirls air and steam around him. Savage Worlds generally encourages imaginative 'trappings' to powers whilst keeping the core functionality similar, though that can also be tweaked (so the suit would be a problem - or supercharged - in water, and the steam defence might be more or less effective on a windy day, or whatever - player's imagination and GM's discretion!)

Ah...that sounds like what I was trying to build myself, the only thing you didn't specifically mention was "breakdown" rules like in was working on. Nothing to harsh, but the idea was that characters would need to make checks if some kind every so often to make sure everything was in working order. Then of course if anything broke they would have to go find the parts needed to repair it or repourpose/scrap the device and build a new thing. Looks like I'm headed to Drive Thru with a list. Thanks for the suggestions.

Breakdown is covered in SW - It's a bit different in the core rules and each setting but the basic idea is that if you roll a 1 on your skill dice when you activate an item, things go wrong. Also each item has its own power points (mana) and so when it runs out of those it is also temporarily out of use.

Oh man...that's it then! That's what I want. Well now I just have to read up.

I got to this conversation late but most everything is already mentioned. The only thing I'll throw in is GURPS Steampunk had some good idea fodder for types of inventions and tinkerings. I use it on top of Werewolf: The Wild West for something I call Steampunk Werewolf Cowboys. I too will check out this Savage Worlds Runepunk system. I'm running SWC at GenCon and any additional prep is welcome.

For Savage Worlds I'd check out the free stuff off pinnacle's site and if you like what you see get the Corebook (you could techincally run anything from Steampunk Batman to My Little Pony to Sponge Bob Squarepants (I have no idea what he does but he's a thing I guess)) since it's $10 last I checked. I guess the main point about SW is if you want it to be combat heavy homebrewing and a formula to make things, easy/ok/hard/Run!!! becomes a slippery slope if there's bad rolls for the PC and you dice keep aceing for the GM. But I will say going from we're playing tonight? to I'm ready for the session with three note cards is nice.

Update: Not Steampunkish but it might be convertible, there's a kickstart going for Shadows Over Sol there's also a free Quick-Start in Drive Thru RPG. May not be what you're looking for but it pulls a larger look into doing tech I think in the Sci Fi genre maybe it can translate. You never know.

Some that I've heard from:

Abney Park's Airship Pirates.

Brass & Steel

Brass, Blood, and Steam

Broken Gears

Clockwork Empire

Cloudship Atlantis

Cogs, Cakes & Swordsticks

Etherscope

League of Adventures

Steampunk Musha

Tephra

The Great Game

The New Epoch

Through the Breach

Uber RPG Steampunk

Unhallowed Metropolis/Necropolis

Victoriana

Wolsung Steam Punk Fantasy

Wile I own some of those as pdf, I've yet to read them yet, so I can't say if they're any good...

Have you tried Savage Worlds: Clockwork Dreams? It's mostly the Savage Worlds rule set but with a few specifics since it's set in a steam punk world and such. Might be what you're looking for/