Sherlock Holmes

By the way, saw the new Sherlock Holmes the Wednesday (did I mention I've been watching a lot of films lately), and it was pretty good. I mean, I'll never really think of Holmes as the "action hero" portrayed in the film, and Robert Downey Jr.'s English accent DID wander all about the various regions of the UK (ugh!), but it was well written and well-paced.

Plus I love the subject matter...I've always been a Holmes fan and love all that Victorian-era, steam punk stuff. It reminded me a bit of Young Sherlock Holmes, a film I really liked as a youngster; I should probably try to rent and re-watch that one. Charles Dickens + guns + Aleister Crowley/secret societies + up-tight sexually-repressed heroes/heroines = great fun in my book.

Though it IS a fine line. I did recently acquire Castle Falkenstein and though I've tried to read it a couple times, I find it a bit tedious...I mean it feels a bit too much like Shadowrun in the 19th century for my taste and that is NOT what I'm looking for in an RPG.

Doesn't mean Holmes doesn't make good fodder for an RPG. Coming out of the movie my wife, who loved it, exclaimed "I wish I could watch that every week...with a new mystery every time!" There we go, all the networks need to do is hatch CSI: Dickens England and they've got a sure-fire homerun hit...at least in JB's household.

But IF a film makes you want to keep watching it, or keep following the characters, especially in episodic vein...well, history has shown there's usually a properly licensed RPG on its way to press. Regardless of whether or not the RPG is any good or not. Of course, I don't think anyone could LICENSE Sherlock Holmes (perhaps the images from the film) as it's probably a matter of public domain by now. So perhaps we'll have several on their way to market? For my money, I'd want the Pelgrane Press, GUMSHOE version (if one is forthcoming) as that's about the only system I could see working for a Holmes-style RPG.

Of course, I have become infatuated with the 64-page RPG myself these days (I've got two already in the hopper...I'm starting to think it's the perfect medium for the role-playing GAME book). Maybe I should do my own version of Holmes?

Well, maybe not. Holmes by himself is a tad one-dimensional...but something steam-punk that pastiches Holmes (and maybe allows him to be an action-hero, etc., etc.) might be worth a pass at the drafting table.

Wow...all these ideas. Maybe I DO need to hire some staff artists!

Castle Falkenstein

I've been to Bavaria and toured Neuschvanstein, the magnificent castle built by King Ludvig "the Mad."  I've seen the sketches of his beautifully designed, never built opus Castle Falkenstein (is it just me or does that gate look like a gaping mouth?)...at my old house, I kept a postcard of the image on my fridge for awhile.

What I've NEVER done, though, is played R. Talsorian's Castle Falkenstein RPG. Long out-o-print, I missed it when it was first published (I was probably too busy playing Vampire the Masquerade at the time); years later I regret never getting it, as I've read many excellent things about it, both from a design perspective (cards instead of dice? cool!) and from a game/entertainment perspective (I LOVE "steam-punk"). 

Oh, wait...did I say "out-of-print" for years? Um...apparently not anymore!

I was in the local game store, "checking things out" (as I am wont to do), and was greeted by the prominently displayed Castle Falkenstein RPG on their front shelf.

"What's all this about?" I asked the shopkeep.

"They're printing it again."

Now this is what HE says...I found no news of this on the R. Talsorian web site, nor was I given the option to purchase it from their on-line store (not that I would anyway...I like my books pre-printed, thank you very much).  But the shop manager assures me the game is in distribution again, he has three copies and he has pledged to "stock it as long as they continue to publish." 

Wow, I don't know. I didn't pick it up yesterday, but I'm thinking maybe I should snatch it while it's still on the shelf, seeing as how I've been looking for this RPG for the last couple years in the used book shops. Ugh. Money's tight right now a little tight right now to be investing in theory-craft right when I'm in the middle of my own writing projects.

But FALKENSTEIN...I must possess it! Shoot.

Maybe I can get them to hold a copy till next Friday. Not only is there another household paycheck coming in on the 15th, I've had a couple games on the shelf in desperate need of being sold back for "store credit" (including another R. Talsorian game: Cybergenerations. Man, I have no idea how/where I acquired THAT turkey!).

: )