Rule 5 no screenshots <| sep |> As far as I know zeppelins were propelled by oilfired engines . I suppose hypothetically they could be coalpowered , but you ' d need a lot of coal , and that would get heavy . Also logistical problems in designing a system that would allow coal to get in but not to let sparks out . So zeppelins probably can ' t be done in a world without oil . Hmm . Have to do more research on that . They ' re cool , and undeniably part of the 1920 s . But I don ' t particularly want them in my world , mainly because they shrink it . The advent of aviation and widespread car ownership made the world a good deal smaller . I want a world that is still full of vast unexplored regions and villages unaware of the world outside , and it ' s hard to do that when things like zeppelins exist .