Arcanum 1885

1885 of Arcanum · one turn = one year

Steam against magick. The units, buildings, technologies and policies of Firaxis' steampunk scenario Empires of the Smoky Skies on the continent of Arcanum, from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. A long game rather than a war scenario: five nations, ten free cities, twelve natural wonders at their lore sites, no turn limit.

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Version 1 · released 2026-10-18 · Civilization V with Gods & Kings and Brave New World

The nations

Tarant and its Industrial Council, the Kingdom of Caladon, King Praetor's Cumbria, the Wheel Clan of the dwarves under Loghaire Thunder Stone, and the Technocracy of Vendigroth, which in this history never fell. Each is one of the five Smoky Skies civilizations with its leader scene and traits, starting in 1885 with a Settler, a guard and a Worker at its lore capital, Industrial technologies known. Ten free cities as city-states: Qintarra, Ashbury, Black Root, Stillwater, Shrouded Hills, Roseborough, Tulla, the Isle of Despair, Bedokaan and T'sen-Ang.

The map

92 x 112 hexes of Arcanum: the Glimmering Forest, the Stonewall and Grey Mountains, the Morbihan Plains, the Bangellian Swamp, the Vendigroth wastes, Cattan and Thanatos. Resources are randomised by the game at every start. Natural wonders renamed after the lore: Bellerogrim's Lair, the Ancient Temple of Derian-Ka, the Elven Burial Site, the Ruins of Kree, the Rock of Despair, the Ring of Brodgar, Falcon's Ache, the Bangellian Deeps, the Lethe Wyvern's Lair, Stonewall Peak, the Mines of the Wheel Clan and Torg's Altar.

The rules

The Smoky Skies tech tree (23 steampunk technologies, 6 air and land units) and its five-branch policy tree, with the three Brave New World ideologies and their tenets kept. Quick speed, one turn = one year from 1885, Huge map, raging barbarians, no goody huts, no religion. Victories: domination, cultural (tourism, with the Hotel, Airport, Visitor Centre and Stadium moved onto steampunk techs) and diplomatic (World Congress, United Nations). No science victory, no time limit.

Requirements

Civilization V with Gods & Kings and Brave New World (the scenario's art and units come from Gods & Kings). Windows and Mac. Single player. Start the scenario from Mods → Single Player → Scenarios. Enable this mod alone.

Known limits

No events, no multiplayer. The AI plays with the stock logic. The scenario's own token victory and turn counter are removed.

Unofficial, non-commercial fan work. Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura and its names belong to their rights holders; Empires of the Smoky Skies belongs to Firaxis Games. The hex map is derived from the "Tarantian Geographical Society" map of Arcanum by kriss80858 (DeviantArt).

Changelog

v1 (2026-10-18): first release. Five nations, ten free cities, twelve natural wonders, Smoky Skies rules on Brave New World.