This isn't exactly the first time that fantasy races have been thrown into a different setting; the paper and pencil role-playing game Shadowrun was probably one of the first traditional RPGs to bring magic and technology together – but the futuristic setting had a definitive cyberpunk feel to it that “overshadowed” the fantasy elements. With Arcanum, the setting is more reminiscent of the “steam punk” movement where gritty pseudo film-noir characters are transplanted in the seemingly proper Victorian Age. This era is actually perfect for serious adventuring as it was a time of great exploration and lamentably, great exploitation. There is also the general notion that everything was prim and proper but the reality was that the masses supported a select few.

It is those wealthy few that travel by Zeppelins in the world of Arcanum, and it seems that the player's character can count him/herself lucky – or so would seem until the airship is attacked by primitive aeroplanes and crashes in a fiery inferno. This plays out in an opening sequence that suggests that the airship is certainly first class all the way, and it also seems that no apparent reason is given for the ostensibly unprovoked attack from which only the player survives. No sooner do you as the sole survivor begin to figure out what has happened when a mortally wounded Gnome gives you a ring and says to try to find his younger brother, inspiring the game's first quest. But just as this unfolds, a lone and very strange man named Virgil, one with unique healing powers, approaches and declares you a deity for having survived the crash while offering any assistance including helping you reach the nearby village.

And with that, the game is very much afoot, with no clear cut objective other than finding some semblance of civilization and trying to figure out who would want to attack an unarmed – or apparently unarmed – passenger airship. The first stop is most likely the small village that Virgil knows of and where players will no doubt find some answers, along with a whole new batch of questions and a few side quests. As with any role-playing game, it appears that the best course of action remains to go talk to everyone in town and try to figure out where you are and what's happened.