Ironically enough, I generally can barely stand D&D these days, and much prefer systems like Blades In The Dark, Powered By The Apocalypse, Ironsworn/Starforged, etc., so please understand that while my criticism comes from a place of cited reference, in no way do I support the tactical "storytelling" that WotC sells to the unwitting and the brand-loyal. In fact, it seems that we're of very similar mind, after all. π€β€οΈ
edit: I'd like to point out that I had the "privilege" of playing in a game that Gygax ran at GenCon back in the day, and Colville's "style" is cut from similar cloth. Some might enjoy it, but I genuinely wish the flyleaves of rulebooks still assured readers that the book's contents were merely guidelines to assist imagination among their group.
How apropos that steampunk is what you get when you slap half-cocked period fashion on highschool theater tier drama and handwave science (ie. physics, economics, politics, ecology, etc.) to cobble together tired tropes for semi-literate self-styled "outcasts"... Basically Twilight for LARPers. π€·πΌββοΈ
edit: I see steampunk cringe doesn't hinder the ability to silently downvote. Cute.