Victorian D20 -- What would you like to see?

[GMSkarka]

Adamant Entertainment is getting ready to launch a new line of D20 Modern-based products, called The Imperial Age -- which will concentrate on Victorian-era gaming.

The first two products we're releasing are Advanced Classes: Scientific Detective (think Lord Darcy or Sherlock Holmes) and Monster Hunter (think Van Helsing).

What else would you like to see? A book on running mysteries? A guide to London? A complete guide to Steampunk, compiling Open Content from existing products with brand new material?

Speak up -- anything goes!

 

[Stormborn]

Lots and Lots. And it all would depend on the direction you went with it. Personally I think there is pleanty of straight Steampunk books out there, I would prefer something different. A Victorian setting of high occult weirdness, with its own magic system and perhaps a fey embassy (or two or four, wouldn't want to offend the Unseelie or the various courts) in London for example, or something more like the setting in Lord Darcy than in Sherlock Holmes.

I want a London teaming with urban fey. More magic and less steam. Magic powered airships and lesser golems and half-fey bastard sons of Dukes and Earls engaged in formal duels with pistols, swords, and spells at dawn. Secret Societies founded by John Dee and playing the Great Game from their HQ in the Diogense Club against demon summoning Lords in the Hellfire Club and the machinations of the vampiric Sons of the Dragon. Spell wards on the nursery windows to keep the babies from being stolen and extra milk left out for the brownie street gangs that rove through Whitechapel.

Organization books for wealthy clubs, secret societies, street gangs, knightly orders, the Royal Society of Science and Magic, and ecclesiastical special orders. Advanced Classes to go with each. Monster books.


I like this idea, in case you can't tell. Any chance of an open call for submissions for it?

 

[ValhallaGH]

Fluff. Lots and lots of fluff, both historic and mystic.

The easiest approach is to have three basic models, historic, steampunk and high fey. Give the historic one as the basis and litter the supplements with sidebars about how to adjust the historic with high fey or steampunk. This way a GM can read over the one Lodon supplement and easily create four versions of it (Historic, Steam, Fey and Steam-Fey).

Then you can do the same with the various far-Empire supplements (India! China!), the supplements covering the rest of Europe (because every Victorian game has to have a horse chase through the mountains of Austria and Germany), and the various other setting supplements (Africa, Americas, etc.).
Once the real world-ish areas have been covered (or during if you're having lots of inspiration) put out some supplements that detail the Fey worlds (with sidebars about incorporating Steapunk for the Steam-Fey crowd).

Such quality books would be worth every penny, to the point that I would buy them all and I don't usually like Victorian settings.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

As someone who has played in two fairly long-running Victorian England campaigns (alternate history with magic - story hour in sig), I think that you should spend less time on the things that people can figure out mostly on their own (detailed guides to London, for example) and more on things that differentiate any setting from the real world.

A Steampunk gear book would be a useful thing to have. If I were to do a London guidebook, I'd do it as sourcebook via adventure - set adventures in bits of London and the world, and explain the setting via that vehicle, rather than the other way around. The same could apply to a "mystery how-to" book - make it a mystery adventure that also gives good advice on how to run mysteries.

I also largely concur with Stormborn's suggestions.

 

[GMSkarka]

The idea would be to allow for campaign models of all sorts -- just like our THRILLING TALES line allows you to do different varieties of pulp by mixing and matching releases (Air pulps were different from Mystery Man pulps, which were different from Hard Boiled detective pulps, etc.). So we'd make modular releases, which would allow you guys to pick and choose the stuff that you need for your own particular campaign.

And yes, we're taking submissions. Pitch ideas to submissions@adamantentertainment.com

 

[Stormborn]

The idea would be to allow for campaign models of all sorts -- just like our THRILLING TALES line allows you to do different varieties of pulp by mixing and matching releases (Air pulps were different from Mystery Man pulps, which were different from Hard Boiled detective pulps, etc.). So we'd make modular releases, which would allow you guys to pick and choose the stuff that you need for your own particular campaign.

And yes, we're taking submissions. Pitch ideas to submissions@adamantentertainment.com

Great. If I wasn't leaving town in about an hour I would dask something off now. Guess it will have to wait until next week.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Adamant Entertainment is getting ready to launch a new line of D20 Modern-based products, called The Imperial Age -- which will concentrate on Victorian-era gaming.

The first two products we're releasing are Advanced Classes: Scientific Detective (think Lord Darcy or Sherlock Holmes) and Monster Hunter (think Van Helsing).

Have you released them yet? I find AdCs to be more useful if they come with examples, especially if they're a complicated class that gives lots of skill points and needs lots of them to be successful.

What else would you like to see? A book on running mysteries? A guide to London? A complete guide to Steampunk, compiling Open Content from existing products with brand new material?

Speak up -- anything goes!

A book on running mysteries, a guide to London (with NPCs who can be used as contacts, to sell illegal weaponry, etc, even if they're just named and have no stats), and adventures. I used to run a Three Kingdoms campaign but I had to close it due to lack of adventures.

 

[jaerdaph]

I have dreamed of this day.

ANYTHING for Victorian horror campaigns and consulting detective campaigns are okay by me.

I'd love to see a guide to Victorian London. Maybe guides for the various British colonies like India. And don't forget Zulus! And ghosts. Lots of ghosts. Jack the Ripper should get a shout out too.

Personally I'm not so big on steampunk, but a modular design approach makes that a non-issue.

If I had to pick a range of time during Victoria's rather lengthy reign, I'd have to say 1880s through 1890s is my favorite period. Edit: Although, I like the idea of a Charles Dickens era sourcebook...

 

[Turanil]

A guide to London?

That's it.

 

[dougmander]

A guide to London c. 1850 would be immensely helpful.
An arms and equipment guide.
An "Everyone Else"-style NPC book for every Victorian occupation from mudlarks to peelers to private detectives.

I would love to write for this series. Curse your tempting ways!