Victorian Era Sources

[iwatt]

So I'm gearing up to run a Victorian era Horror game. The party will be a cadre of Monster Hunters.

Any good products out there? I'll be using True20, so d20 systems will be preferred, although anything else is probably worth a look.

 

[kingpaul]

Etherscope and CoC d20?

 

[Stormborn]

Adamant has an Imperial Age line that includes a monster hunter advanced class - which I am sure can be cannabalized for True 20. I highly recommend the line, and not just because I wrote the magick (yes, with a "k" - because incontext it makes sense) system either (and two other major supplements that are currently in editing), but my discussions with Walt, the line editor, show me that they are really dedicated to the genre. The magick system is largely feat based, and thus will fit into True 20 perfectly.

I would be glad to answer any questions you might have about the line, as I can.

If you need flavor you might want to check out GURPS Horror, GURPS Screampunk, GURPS Steampunk, and GURPS Cabal. TSR did a For Faerie Queen and Country that was, IIRC, for the unisystem - which is the right era but may not fit your game.

Other than that I would say that the Menace Manual has some great monsters in it that might work for you.

 

[Prest0]

You probably want to take a look at Rippers. It's Victorian era monster-hunting, so it fits your bill. It's for Savage Worlds, but people have noted similarity to Savage Worlds and True20, so maybe translating it won't be too bad.

 

[GlassJaw]

I've done a lot of hunting for steampunk material myself so some of this might help. Here are some of my favorites:

Etherscope
Call of Cthulhu
Privateer's Iron Kingdoms stuff
Monte's Chaositech - kind of out there but great if you want to introduce some really nasty stuff. I really like this book.
EN Publishing Steam & Steel
EN Publishing Mechamancy I & II (although S&S is my favorite)

I've found some good web resources as well:

some good steampunk resources

Wikipedia steampunk entry

Time traveller's guide to Victorian Britain - What life was really like.

Steampunk magazine - A resource I found only recently. It's a free webzine with some interesting stuff.

Thief: The Circle - great fansite for the Thief video games. If you hunt around, you can find a lot of background and info on the setting. Great inspiration for a steampunk game. The Thief games are really what got me interested in the steampunk genre to begin with.

Hope that helps!

 

[lmpjr007]

Well if you are going to do Victorian Horror you might want to check out Victorian Horrors: Jack the Ripper and Victorian Horrors: Martian Invaders . You might find them useful.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Living Death - The RPGA's Living Death Campaign which is a conversion of Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death to 3.5e.

 

[Justin D. Jacobson]

My Passages is a game of literary adventure in the Victorian era, uses a system loosely based on d20, and features lots of campaign and adventure advice, including specific advice for the horror genre.

 

[ragboy]

You probably want to take a look at Rippers. It's Victorian era monster-hunting, so it fits your bill. It's for Savage Worlds, but people have noted similarity to Savage Worlds and True20, so maybe translating it won't be too bad.

I second Rippers, though depending on the "feel" you're going for, it may not work. It's on the comic book / penny dreadful side of the Victorian Horror spectrum.

I have a couple of suggestions, but neither fits well with your request:
* Dragon #352 for the Perdido Street Station stuff. Though it's a crazy fantasy steampunk world, there's some great horror to be gleaned there and it's got a heavy Victorian influence.
* Forgotten Futures -- Absolutely no connection to d20, but some of the best Victorian roleplaying source material ever. And it's free/donation-ware: http://www.forgottenfutures.com/

 

[iwatt]

Wow, thanks for the responses. Rippers seems like the best fit, even though it's for Savage Worlds. About the only thing throwing me off is the Rippertech. How essential is the rippertech?