Cars or no cars?

[Roxxy]

My homebrew Pathfinder setting has guns as the primary weapons. They use caseless ammunition (essentially, thanks to alchemical skill the powder comes in solid bricks fused to the bullet), and are capable of semiautomatic fire. The visual style of the setting is something like this, without the armor (which is obsolete), or this. One point of contention for me, however, is vehicles. I have decided to have steam powered sea-going ships, airships, and trains, but I am unsure of whether to have steam powered cars and motorcycles. I would like to have some opinions on whether a commonality of such vehicles would be a good fit for the setting, as I really don't know. What do you guys think on the issue of cars?

[Elemental]

If I remember correctly, steam powered cars never really got off the ground.
They were too expensive to run and maintain as well as being rather bulky.
Anyone who had one was likely some rich quirky professor.

So yes, you can put some in, they just won't be as common or as convenient and comfortable as horse drawn vehicles.

[Grinner]

Depends on what you want your setting to be about. You've said a lot about the technology of the setting, but that's just a superficial element. What is it?

The rise of accessible motor vehicles brought a new kind of freedom with it. No longer were people shackled to their homes. A car, after all, doesn't require food or stabling, can carry more than any horse, and doesn't get tired.

If you're going for a dystopic setting, this sort of egalitarianism will prove detrimental to the atmospheric tension.

But if you're setting is all about living freely, then by all means, go for it. Keep in mind that this will lessen the importance of railways as a mode of personal transport, relegating it largely to industrial applications.

[Maquise]

Since you are using Pathfinder, I'm assuming you have magic. In which case, steam doesn't have to be big and bulky (or, any more than it needs to be for aesthetic reasons). For example, in stead of burning coal, the heat could be generated from bound fire elementals.

[Roxxy]

This discussion proceeded well.

The setting is largely about social revolution including the struggles between aristocracy, populism, democracy, and socialism and the rise of mass technology and practical magic (non-elven wizardry is a fairly new art).

[AsDeR]

If you are already liking the steampunk style, why don't you go with steampunk horses? (Either magically, alchemy, or steam-powered?)

[Icedaemon]

While steam-powered cars did not really do well and bikes were unheard of (remember - bicycles themselves were only invented in the early 19th century - the very concept of a bike would seem absurd to people who don't know that balancing on one or two wheels is even possible) steam wagons do exist. These would allow for mobility off the railway lines but still be far too unfeasible for public access - the PCs would if fortunate have one lorry for the lot of them instead of possessing individual vehicles.

[Dr.Orpheus]

laws regarding early cars would make them incontinent I know that in Washington there remains an old forgotten law that says that cars driving at night cannot exceed 10 mph and people had to stand 40 ft in front of and behind the car holding lanterns and warning people of the cars approach.

[Loxagn]

You could, alternatively, introduce the Combustion Engine as a new thing.

Of course, you have to take into account how massive an effect that would have on your world. Suddenly, there is access to vehicles that can move quite rapidly indeed, and without magic at that.

A combination of steam and combustion engines allows trade to be revolutionized, no longer relying on slow-moving caravans or expensive magic. Trains can transport massive amounts of cargo over land for relatively little cost at a relatively high speed, and combustion-powered trucks can take it in similar volumes from offload points to places the trains don't go.

You have to be careful, introducing a thing like that. It shifts the balance of political and economic power out of the hands of whoever has the highest caster level, and puts it a whole lot closer to the common man.