If you are looking for a great idea to throw into a Steampunk campaign, you must take a look at Boilerplate! Boilerplate is the story of the world's first mechanical man, which premiered at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition held in Chicago. Complete with photos, posters and other great art. The history of the mechanical man is presented in an engaging set of pages that bring to light a forgotten episode of robotics history.

The site also includes a wide array of links that provide more information about the era. In fact you will find so many useful links (tucked into the text) on this site, you can easily find yourself browsing for hours. I will not give away to many of them here, but one of interest to many Victorian Gamers will be Historical Modeler's Forum

Of particular interest is the political cartoon depicting the threat of mechanical men replacing human workers. This corresponds to the earlier fears about the Babbage Engine replacing the human mind and traces its roots back to the Luddites who protested machinery replacing semi-skilled and unskilled workers.

Paul Guinan is a noted artist whose work can be found in a wide variety of places from book covers, comic books and collectible playing cards that listing them is beyond the scope of this page. Check out the website at BigRedHair.com for Paul and his wifes work.