The WWW is probably one of the best friends of your average Victorian Gamer. The Victorian Period hasn’t many role-playing games dedicated to it as the Middle Ages or the Far Future, so the Best Place to find Victorian RPGs and information about the Victorian Age specifically tailored for RPGs is the Web. Below I’ll list many Colourful and Interesting Sites related with the Fine Art of Victorian Gaming. Enjoy!
The Mana Bros. Steampunk Connection
Very Interesting site with lots of Good Stuff for many Famous Victorian RPGs. It’s Space: 1889 section is relatively small, but has a Good Conversion between Space: 1889 and West End Games’ D6 system, as well as a the Terrifying Shambleau Project on the Resources section and some Links for Space: 1889.
It’s Castle Falkenstein section is bigger than the Space: 1889 one, and has more Useful Information. It begins with a Who’s Who section, detailing Davide Mana’s current Entertainment Personas. Following this is a Steampunk Hardware page, which details two Interesting Inventions, the Grandis Tank (or Gratan), and Professor Von Trapp’s Wingpack. The page’s best feature is Campaigning South of the Alps, an Interesting Look on CF’s Italy, currently containing some General Stuff on Falkensteinian Italy and a more Detailed Look on the Savoia Coalition. The CF ends with an adaptation of the Shambleau for CF.
The Cthulhu by Gaslight and GURPS: Goblins are still under construction.
Heliograph Space:1889 WWW SiteI’m not a Space: 1889 Player, but, although this site doesn’t look Pretty, there is a Ton of Useful Stuff here. It has instructions on how to subscribe to the Space: 1889 Mailing List (and believe me, I’m subscribed to six RPG lists, and it’s the Best Place to get News and Opinions on any game), and some Stuff Edited from the List, including seven Adventure/Adventure Seeds, Information and Indexes for Space: 1889 and Associated Media, Rules Discussions, Modifications and Alternatives, Sources for Victorian Roleplaying and The Worlds of Space: 1889. If you’re lucky enough to own a Mac, there are some nice Character and Vehicle Creation Utilities. The page ends with some Space: 1889 Links.
The War of the Worlds: the RPG
Do you like H.G. Wells Wonderful Works? Check out this site! Easily one of the Best Sites in this list, it contains All Things Necessary to play a War of the Worlds campaign! The only Catch is that it doesn’t include a Game System, since it uses the Call of Cthulhu rules.
This one is for those who enjoy CRPG such as the Final Fantasy Series and Chrono Trigger. The authors of these site are designing a traditional CRPG which combines the Best Elements of Japanese Anime and Victorian Steampunk. If you’re a fan of both genres like I am, you should check out this site. You may even help in the Design Process by becoming a playtester and playing the Beta Version.
In this article for The Fantacie Update (a Dutch e-zine), Marijn van der Gaag and Johannes Rooseboom give us a Complete Review of 1876’s Netherlands for the Castle Falkenstein game. From Geography, Politics and Daily Life to Magical Societies, Military Life and Diplomacy, this is the Perfect Place to start a campaign set in the Victorian Netherlands. Particularly recommended for those tired of Castle Falkenstein usual Settings of Bayern, England and Prussia.
You should visit this page if you enjoy Freeform Roleplaying. It has various rooms dedicated to Freeform Victorian Roleplaying, as well as a Bulletin Board, some links to Complete Victorian Books and other Useful Things.
Phil Master’s Steampunk Links Page
Although the author is a Castle Falkenstein player, the Links on this Site are not dedicated solely to that Wonderful Game. The sections on Arts and Appearances, Science and Technology and People and Places have Useful Links for any Victorian Gamer.
Forgotten Futures, the Scientific Romance Role Playing Game
A shareware system with many different campaign settings, each one concentrating on a different aspect of Victorian Fiction. There’s a Ghost Stories campaign ("The Carnacki Cylinders"), a Space campaign ("The Log Of The Astonef") and so on.Here’s a link to the Old Site to Satisfy your Curiosity.
A very simple and apparently still incomplete Steampunk RPG. I wouldn’t use it as a Stand Alone Game, but it is a good source of Ideas for those of you Designing Victorian Games.
This site has Completely Free E-Texts of Famous Books Whose Copyright Has Expired. Many, many of these books are Victorian Scientific Novels, Ghost Stories and Mystery Stories. Conan Doyle, Verne, H.G. Wells, and Stocker are just some of the authors whose works have been collected here. Don’t be fooled by the lack of RPG material: there isn’t a single ounce of RPG Stuff here, but this is easily The Best Site on the Whole List.
I hope that the information on the Above Sites improve your Victorian RPG Campaign. If you’re not satisfied with then try these:
The Falkenstein Babbage Authors League
Colonial Wars Web RingThe sites above should keep you busy for years.
Keep Dreaming,
Eduardo Penna, a.k.a. Mad Ed