Chaosium, the house that gave us Call of Cthulhu and a respectable body count of player characters, just announced a brand-new tabletop RPG: Time Without Tide. The setting is a fog-choked, post-apocalyptic faux-Victorian world overrun with robots, magic, and (presumably) orphans with serious anger management issues. You play a Delver: someone whose job description is basically “go outside into the horrifying Fog and find out what’s in it.” Spoiler: it’s probably not a tea party.

And here’s the part that has The Doctor’s attention: they’re not using BRP. This is a whole new engine, purpose-built for tactical combat and what the BackerKit page calls “highly customisable character development” (vehicles, gear, companions, mutant powers). So Chaosium built a steampunk game from scratch instead of just bolting Victorian hats onto their existing system. That is either brilliantly committed or magnificently ambitious. Possibly both. The Formula approves of both.

It’s not live yet; the BackerKit campaign is coming. Watch the pre-launch page, get on the list, and tell them The Doctor sent you. Nothing can beat old age and betrayal, but a well-timed crowdfunding notification is a solid third place.

Via: Bell of Lost Souls

The Chicago Steampunk Exposition 2026 wrapped up today at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, and if you were not there, I cannot help you. The theme was “Adventures in Wonderland” (technically the 1893 Chicago Exposition-through-a-looking-glass, which is the most SteamPunk elevator pitch since someone strapped a pressure gauge to a corset). Gail Carriger was on hand, UnWoman provided the soundtrack to your brass-and-velvet fever dreams, and the Hall of Curiosities was presumably full of things that would have gotten a man arrested in actual 1893. Three days, four exhibitor halls, and approximately one metric ton of top hats. The Doctor approves.

If you missed it: the Underground Market, the Midway Market (Artists/Writers/Musicians), the Hall of Curiosities, AND hallway exhibitors across the entire atrium. That is not a convention, that is a siege. They rolled dice (a d20, a d30, a d60, AND a d100) to determine badge prize winners at Opening Ceremonies, which is the correct way to run any gathering of human beings. Why is every awards show not doing this? I ask because I genuinely want to know.

Mark your calendar now: same Hyatt, same interdimensional time portals, and presumably a new theme that will be equally unhinged in the best possible way. Nothing can beat old age and betrayal, but a weekend in a parallel 1893 with several hundred gear-wearing lunatics comes close.

Via: Chicago Steampunk Exposition