FORGOTTEN FUTURES
THE SCIENTIFIC ROMANCE ROLE PLAYING GAME

RULES

By Marcus L. Rowland
Copyright © 2005, portions Copyright © 1993-2002

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The first release of these rules was originally converted to HTML by Stefan Matthias Aust, to whom many thanks.

This document is a very large single file; a version split into several smaller files is also provided. Both should be accompanied by several files including larger versions of the game tables and a brief summary of the main rules for the use of players.

Introduction

I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.
Thomas Jefferson

Draw the blinds on yesterday and it's all so much scarier....
David Bowie

What will the future be like? Every generation has its own set of ideas and predictions. At the turn of this century most pundits thought that the mighty power of steam and electricity would usher in a new age of peace and prosperity. In the fifties the future was mostly seen as doom, gloom, and nuclear destruction. In the nineties we are obsessed with computers, and convinced that the future will revolve around information technology. Each of the earlier views was valid for its era; each was at least partially wrong. By looking at earlier guesses we may be able to discover what is wrong with our own vision of the future - and make even worse mistakes when we try to correct it!

Forgotten Futures is a role playing game based on these discarded possibilities; the futures that could never have been, and the pasts that might have led to them, as they were imagined by the authors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Role playing games (usually shortened to RPGs) are story-telling games. One player is the referee who runs the game, and has an idea of what is to happen in the story, while the other players run characters in the story. Characters are defined by a name, a description, and a list of characteristics (such as 'MIND') and skills (such as 'Marksman'). Players describe the actions of their characters, while the referee describes everyone and everything they encounter. This may sound like an impossible job for the referee, but it's easy if players are prepared to co-operate.

The Forgotten Futures rules work well when dealing with the activities of normal people, but don't easily stretch to deal with magic, superhuman powers, and the like. Some of the appendices deal with magic, exceptional characters, melodrama, and other matters that the core rules don't cover; mostly this is material that was originally written for one or another of the Forgotten Futures settings, but seems to have more general application.

One aspect of the Forgotten Futures rules may annoy players who prefer high levels of violence; it is easy to get hurt or killed in all forms of weapon-based combat, it takes a long time to recover if you are wounded, and most wounds require medical treatment. This seems more realistic than the systems offered by some other RPGs, in which a character can be shot three or four times and still come back for more. If you dislike this approach please feel free to amend the injury system, but please DO NOT distribute modified rules.

About This Release Since the game was originally published as shareware in 1993 there have been ten on-line releases, printed versions from two publishers, and conversions to pdf and html format. In all this the actual rules have stayed much the same. This release isn't going to change that; it's mainly tidying things up a little, adding in material originally written for one or another of the game settings which seems more generally useful, fixing some errors, improving layout, and generally making things more user-friendly. Most of the new material is in the appendices, but a few changes appear elsewhere. Where it's important the change is pointed out, one way or another. But you can still use any version of the rules to run anything written for the game. An important change is an acknowledgement of something that many referees will already know. In Forgotten Futures actions are resolved on a table which opposes "attacking" and "defending" skills, characteristics, or difficulty. Most referees find that they don't need to refer to the table after a game or two, since the rule behind it is extremely simple, and that it can even slow things down. This time around the text explains the rule, and a few references to the table have been changed so that they are applicable to both methods. The actual game mechanics - the values of skills etc., and the way that they interact - are unchanged. All of the material previously released or published for the game can be used without modification. All of the illustrations used come from the Forgotten Futures CD-ROM or one or another of the game releases, or were created for use with this release of the rules. Most have been cropped, reduced in size, or modified in other ways.

Example of Play

The easiest way to understand an RPG is to see it played. In this example Bert is the referee; he's using these rules and a game background which assumes that the American Civil War ended in the formation of separate Confederate and Union nations. Eric is playing Captain Kirk T. James of the Confederate Zeppelin Squadron, Judy is Ella Mae Hickey, apparently a resourceful Southern belle but actually a resourceful Yankee spy, and Aaron is reporter Horace Mandeville of the Times (that's the London Times for American readers). They are heading towards a mysterious South American plateau, on the trail of the missing British explorer Professor Challenger (see Forgotten Futures III), but there have been problems:

Bert	The airship is starting to rock from side to side, and pitching up and down in the cross winds from the hurricane.
Eric	I'll try to steer towards the eye of the storm. We'll drift with it until it ends.
Bert	How do you know where the eye is?
Eric	In this hemisphere storms spin anticlockwise. If I veer to the left, sorry, I mean port, while moving with the wind, I should go towards the eye. (Eric isn't sure, but it sounds plausible and is the sort of thing a real pilot would know. Bert isn't sure either, but knows that 'Kirk' should understand these things.)
Bert	Make your 'Pilot' roll, difficulty six.
Eric	(Rolls dice and consults table) No problemo. Gritting my teeth, I wrestle with the wheel and force the dirigible to its new heading.
Aaron	I pick up my pocket phono-recorder, slip in a new wax cylinder, and describe the captain's desperate duel with the elements.
Bert	Good idea, except you're still feeling airsick in the aft cabin and don't know what he's doing.
Aaron	I'll dictate a mood piece about airsickness instead. Let's see, how many different synonyms for the word "vomit" can I use... (starts to write list)
Judy	Ugh. Don't read it out loud.
Bert	Definitely not.
Judy	Once we're moving with the wind there should be less turbulence.
Bert	Yes, after a few minutes things seem to be getting quieter.
Judy	Kirk cut his head when the windscreen broke, didn't he?
Bert	You weren't in the control room, but yes he did.
Judy	Then I'll go forward and bandage Kirk's wounds.
Bert	I suppose he calls for your help through the speaking tube? Otherwise you wouldn't know. (Bert suggests this to keep the game moving. Players usually do better if their characters are together.)
Eric	Yes, as soon as things calm down enough to let go of the wheel for a few seconds.
Aaron	In that case I should feel better, so I'll tag along.
Bert	Roll for luck, to be there at the right time ..um... difficulty three. (Aaron rolls a 2, a success) OK, you get up and stagger forward in time to meet her.
Judy	I bat my eyelashes and ask him to carry my first aid kit.
Aaron	(speaking as Horace) Delighted to help, Miss Hickey.
Bert	You reach the bridge. Kirk is still at the wheel, and his forehead and arm are obviously badly gashed.
Judy	(as Ella Mae) Mah hero, you've saved us all!
Eric	(as Kirk) Shucks, it was nothing ma'am.
Aaron	(mimes speaking to recorder) Headline, Heroic But Modest Captain Defies Wounds In Hurricane Drama. Subhead, Southern Belle Angel Of Mercy. First paragraph: Captain Kirk T. James of the Confederate Zeppelin squadron today denied.. blah, blah, for a few paragraphs.
Judy	While he dictates I'll bandage the wounds.
Bert	Make a First Aid roll, difficulty four as he's lost a lot of blood.
Eric	Hey, I thought you said it was just cuts and bruises.
Bert	You didn't get her help straight away, and you've been bleeding for quite a while. It's now a flesh wound. (In this game prompt First Aid stops wounds getting worse, untreated wounds sometimes lead to additional damage. Some recovery time, and optionally the help of a doctor, is needed to restore health.)
Judy	Oh mah hero, let me tend to these awful cuts. (Rolls dice successfully)
Eric	Shucks, Ma'am, it's only a flesh wound. Ah feel better already.
Bert	Apart from bandages around your head and your left arm in a sling. You'll be walking wounded for at least a week.
Eric	Ouch.
Judy	When I pack my first aid kit afterwards I'll use my spy camera to take a picture of the maps on the bridge.
Bert	The camera concealed in your hat? It's the first chance you've had to use it, isn't it?
Judy	Uh-oh. Yes, it is. I have a bad feeling about this...
Bert	There's a loud whirring click, and the artificial flower at the front flaps out of the way, like the door of a cuckoo clock. The lens pops out on a concertina bellows and clicks, then retracts again. It takes two seconds.
Eric	Wow, really subtle. Do I notice this? (Eric - the player - knows that Judy's character is a spy, but Kirk - his character - is unaware of Ella Mae's real identity. A little schizophrenia is sometimes needed in an RPG)
Bert	Roll to notice. You too, Aaron. Difficulty six, I think, since her back is turned.
Eric	(Rolls dice) Rats - missed it.
Bert	Drowned out by the noise of the wind, perhaps.
Aaron	(rolls dice) Using my Detective skill I spot it, I think. (Horace is a reporter, so this skill - improved observational abilities - is naturally very useful)
Bert	Yes. What are you going to do about it?
Aaron	Nothing for now. It confirms what I thought when I saw her near the Marconi transmitter yesterday. I'll wait until we land, then try to get her to talk. An interview with a beautiful Yankee spy should sell a lot of papers!
Bert	Good thinking. Now, you seem to be in fairly clear air, and something big has just flown past the windscreen.
Judy	Another Zeppelin?
Bert	You're not too sure, but it looked like a pterodactyl....

In this example male players took male roles, and the female player took a female role. This is advisable if they feel uncomfortable playing a character of the opposite sex, but there is no other reason why players shouldn't run characters of different sexes, races, nationalities, or even species. The referee needs to take on a wide variety of roles, which will probably take in all of the above as a campaign progresses. At a few points in these rules it has been convenient to use the term "him" or "her" when describing something that is equally applicable to either sex. This is not meant to imply that either sex should be excluded from any activity. However, in historically accurate settings women may find themselved disadvantaged to some extent.

Game Terms

Characters And Rules

Each player will need at least one character, whose details should be recorded. You can use the HTML record form provided, one of the rather pretty .pdf record forms that were originally part of the printed version of the game, a spreadsheet template, or just write everything down on scrap paper. The example to the right shows the format that's generally used.

Players should record their names and the name (including any title or rank), sex, and age of the character. They may wish to give their characters aristocratic or military names and rank, academic honours, and the like; the referee must decide if this will cause problems.

Sex (Male or Female, and [optionally] sexual orientation) may be important in some game settings. Most scientific romances are based on ideas current in the early 20th century, and there are very few prominent female characters, apart from swooning maidens and an occasional competent scientist's daughter. It is rare to see a woman attain any influential business or academic status. In this setting a male adventurer is probably most useful. In a civilisation derived from a successful suffragette revolt women might have all the power, with men down-trodden or enslaved. In most scientific romance settings homosexual characters will encounter severe social problems.

Age is usually unimportant for adult characters; exceptionally young or old characters may be at a social disadvantage, otherwise there is no effect in game terms.

For "profession", write in something appropriate to the game setting; the referee should tell players if they have made an unsuitable choice. Since this game is based on a wide range of backgrounds almost anything might be useful.

Try to avoid professional ranks that will give players too much power, or restrict them too badly. A member of the Royal family is an example of both; someone accompanied by three or four detectives and a small army of servants can't personally be very adventurous. Wealthy characters are perfectly acceptable, but should not be able to buy their way out of every problem. Avoid occupations that restrict character freedom and mobility; an obvious example is a slave or a serf, but a clerk with no money, a businessman with a full work schedule, or a mother tied down by young children aren't much better off.

Example: Lady Janet Smedley-Smythe-Smythe
In a world whose science is based on H.G. Wells' "The First Men In The Moon", Lady Janet (shown, left, with her maid) is an eccentric explorer who defies the normal limits of her sex. She has participated in a series of daring interplanetary expeditions, using the latest model of Cavorite sphere-ship. She is single, 25 years old, and extremely rich. Her profession is recorded as "Immensely Wealthy Eccentric". The referee has no problem with this, because he wants the campaign to move between worlds, and sphere-ships are very expensive. Lady Janet and her adventures are used to illustrate many of the rules.

The next sections of the record are completed using character points.

Character Points

Equipment And Notes, Weapons, etc.

Characteristics

BODY represents general physique, well-being, stamina, and speed. If characters expect to spend a lot of time in combat, or performing manual labour, BODY should be high. Inanimate objects also have BODY. BODY is NOT necessarily indicative of size or weight; it's possible for something to be physically small or light and still have high BODY (e.g. a bantam weight boxer, a steel key), or big and have low BODY (e.g. a fat invalid, a greenhouse).

MIND covers all mental skills and traits including intelligence, reasoning ability, common sense, and the like. Anyone in a skilled job probably needs high MIND. MIND is also important in the use of most weapons.

SOUL covers artistic abilities, empathy, luck, and spiritual well-being. If SOUL is low the character should be played as aloof, insensitive, and unlikeable (as in the phrase "This man has no soul"); if high, the character does well in these areas. It is also used for other forms of human interaction, such as fast-talking, acting ("A very soulful performance"), and other arts (including martial arts). If your SOUL is low better not try to con anyone, and forget about learning baritsu or karate.

Normal human characteristics are in the range 1-6, with 1 exceptionally poor, 3 or 4 average, and 6 very good, the top percentile of normal human performance. Player characters may have characteristics of 7 at the discretion of the referee ONLY; this is freakishly good, far better than normal human performance. For example, a gold-medal Olympic athlete might have BODY [7], a Nobel Prize winner MIND [7].

Characteristics cannot normally be improved; under really exceptional circumstances changes might be allowed, but this is a once in a lifetime event. For example, someone discovering the fountain of eternal youth might gain extra BODY, but there should be a price to pay; reduced MIND or SOUL, hideous deformity, and the like. In the unlikely event of an increase in any characteristic, any skills already derived from it (see below) should be recalculated and (if necessary) improved.

Characteristics may sometimes be reduced. For instance, someone crippled after a fall might lose BODY, someone suffering a severe head injury might lose MIND. SOUL might be damaged by insanity or drug abuse. If any characteristic is reduced, recalculate the values of all skills derived from it.

Using Characteristics

Skills

Skills are initially calculated from one or more characteristics, with the number of points spent added to the result. For instance, Marksman (the use of all forms of hand-held firearm and other hand-held projectile weapons such as crossbows) is based on MIND. Acting is based on an average of MIND and SOUL. Skills may be raised to a maximum value of 10.

Example: Buying Skills
While generating Fred (MIND [4], SOUL [2]) a player adds two points each to the skills Acting and Marksman, and one to Linguist.
Marksman will be rated at MIND +2.
Acting will be rated at the average of MIND and SOUL +2.
Linguist will be rated at MIND +1, with his native English and Linguist/2 other languages known.
This is recorded on his character record as Marksman [6], Acting [5], Linguist (Modern Greek, German, French) [5]

Using Skills

Example: It's All Greek... (1)
Fred has the skill Linguist [5] and knows Greek. He is buying a box of matches in a shop in Athens. No dice roll is required.

Example: ...If Gills Are Green Go To Section 6b...
Lady Janet wants to identify Venusian foods that are safe to eat. Her backpack contains a copy of the Oxford Guide To Extra-Terrestrial Vegetables, and she is using its key to identify a curious warty fungus. This is routine easy use of her Scientist [6] skill and no roll is needed.

1. An opponent's characteristics, e.g.MIND, BODY, SOUL
2. An opponent's skills, e.g. Business, Martial Arts, Acting
3. An arbitrary difficulty number set by the referee (usually when dealing with inanimate objects, puzzles, combination locks, and the like.

Example: Trouble At T'mill
On her return to Earth, Lady Janet finds that one of her factories is on the verge of bankruptcy. She travels to Lancashire to investigate, using a series of Business skill rolls to overcome the Business skill of a crooked manager who has been bleeding the company dry.
  Once the villain is unmasked she should theoretically use her Business skill to unravel years of tortuously complicated accounts and restore the factory to prosperity. In practice, she uses the skill to weigh up the merits of several candidates and hires another manager.

Example: It's All Greek... (2)
Fred is still in Athens, and wants to buy a box of silver bullets, ten crucifixes, a certified genuine saint's relict, and a Mk 4 Carnacki Electric Pentacle. When the police arrest him as a suspected lunatic he will need to make several Linguist rolls against Difficulty 6 to explain his need for these items, and at least one Acting roll at Difficulty 8 to persuade them to let him go.

Improving Skills

Adding Skills

Under the rule above, additional skills based on high characteristics cost more than skills based on low characteristics. Optionally the referee may allow adventurers to add skills at less than base value with an appropriately reduced bonus point cost. By the time the skill reaches base value it will cost much more than the usual method, but this allows players to spread the cost over several adventures. For instance, a character with MIND [5] might add Marksmanship at a low level; just enough to shoot for the pot, not to shoot for the British Olympic team. In this example the player might choose to take Marksmanship [3] for 6 points, not Marksmanship [6] for 12 points. Once acquired such skills can only be improved by the normal process, and one point at a time. Referees are also advised to limit the number of below-base skills acquired to MIND/2; once skills are up to the usual base value they don't count towards this limit. The "difficult skills" described above may not be acquired this way.

Free Skills

Skill List

Actor — Basic Value: AvM&S

Any form of stage performance. If more than one point is spent you are good enough to earn money from one specialised type of performance, such as Operatic Tenor, Conjuror, Ballerina. This skill is also useful for confidence tricks. E.g. Actor (Juggler)

Artist — Basic Value: AvM&S

Any artistic endeavour, also useful for forgery. For more than one point add a specialisation, such as Sculptor, Chef, Tattoo Artist, at professional level. E.g. Artist (oil painter)

Athlete — Basic Value: B

Swimming, running, etc. The advantage of training over brute strength. For more points mention a speciality such as Skiing, Surfing, Marathon, performed at championship level. E.g. Athlete (Rock climbing).

Babbage Engine — Basic Value: M

Use for control of any type of mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, or electric computer (including player pianos and card- or roll-controlled looms and organs), also for commanding androids, golems, zombies, etc. E.g. Babbage Engine (Navigation engines)

Brawling — Basic Value: B *

Any form of unarmed combat, apart from martial arts. See the combat rules below. E.g Brawling (Boxing).

Business — Basic Value: M

Any form of financial or organisational work, man-management, politics, etc. Also useful for preparing forged papers and the like. E.g. Business (Union politics)

Detective — Basic Value: AvM&S

Trained in the art of observation; good at spotting small details, noticing faint scents, little clues, unusual behaviour, etc. Can be used as an improvement over normal observation rolls, and sometimes in place of an Idea roll, or in place of the Psychology skill. Specialities might include forensics, interrogation, etc. E.g. Detective (Bertillon identification system)

Doctor — Basic Value: M/2

A detailed knowledge of medicines, minor surgery, etc., and a licence to practice. If more than one point is spent, the character has knowledge of a speciality (such as surgery) and the appropriate qualifications. See the rules on injuries below for use of this skill. This skill may NOT be acquired in the course of play, unless several years pass between adventures. E.g. Doctor (Dentist).

Driving — Basic Value: AvB&M

Any ground vehicle (car, land ironclad, railway engine, tractor, etc.). This skill does not apply to exotic vehicles (such as aircraft, Spacecraft, submersibles) whose operators require a high degree of training. Specialities might include horse-drawn wagons, steam cars, etc., e.g. Driving (Railway engine)

Car chases and other vehicle pursuits should be resolved by using the skill of the chasing driver to attack the skill of the fleeing driver. Attempts to follow cars should be resolved by use of the tailing driver's skill to attack the observational ability (or Detective skill) of the lead driver. The performance of the vehicles may also be a factor, of course.

First Aid — Basic Value: M

Emergency treatment of wounds. See the rules on injuries below. Specialisations might include nursing, midwifery, etc. E.g. First Aid (Resuscitation)

Linguist — Basic Value: M

The ability to learn, read, speak, and write languages. Initially characters know Linguist/2 languages. More languages can be acquired very easily: see above. Characters automatically know their own native language, and need never roll to use it, without buying this skill. Specialisations are the languages known, e.g. Linguist (German, Russian)

Marksman — Basic Value: M

Use of directly aimed projectile weapons (e.g. gun, crossbow, throwing knives, spears, etc.) but not field guns or other specialised militaria. See the combat rules below. E.g. Marksman (Crossbow)

Martial Arts — Basic Value: AvB&S/2

Use for any Oriental martial art, also for Savate, quarterstaff combat, etc. See the combat rules below. Allows multiple hand-to-hand and melee weapon attacks in a single combat round, and can increase the Effect number of some attacks. E.g. Martial Arts (Ju-Jitsu)

This is by far the most powerful unarmed combat skill in this game, and is not necessarily appropriate to the scientific romance genre (although Sherlock Holmes was a master of Baritsu, an obscure Oriental martial art; see the article The New Art of Self-Defense on the FF CD-ROM). Players should only be allowed to take the more obscure martial arts at the referee's discretion, and only if they can devise a background to explain acquisition of this skill. Referees can make it a little less useful by adopting one or both of the following optional rules: Martial artists may not use firearms and Martial Arts simultaneously. Martial artists must choose to specialise in unarmed or armed combat, but not both; to gain these advantages with both, the skill must be purchased twice.

Mechanic — Basic Value: M

All forms of mechanical and electrical work, engineering, building, plumbing, etc.; this covers work on existing machinery and the like, and the use of machine tools and other production equipment, but not innovative equipment design which is covered by the Scientist skill. E.g. Mechanic (Time machines)

Medium — Basic Value: S/2

A genuine medium, or otherwise psychically gifted, not a fake. Fake mediums use the Acting skill instead. This skill may not work in all campaigns; if it does, it can be used for contact with the spirit world, séances, and premonitions of impending doom: "I have a bad feeling about this..." E.g. Medium (precognitive).

Melee Weapon — Basic Value: AvB&M

Use of any non-projectile weapon, such as a dagger, sword, or axe. See the combat rules below. E.g. Melee Weapon (Machete)

Military Arms — Basic Value: M

Use of field guns, mortars, explosives, and other specialised military weapons, but not hand guns and other simple portable weapons. E.g. Military Arms (Explosives).

Morse Code — Basic Value: M

This skill is simply knowledge of Morse code and basic telegraphic and signalling techniques, including simple equipment repairs and adjustments. It also covers semaphore and other common codes. E.g. Morse Code (Heliograph operator).

Pilot — Basic Value: AvB&M/2

Use for aircraft, spacecraft, submersibles, digging machines, and other vehicles which require a high degree of skill and concentration. Includes the use of parachutes and systems such as radios, sonar, navigation, and meteorology. E.g. Pilot (Bathysphere)

Psychology — Basic Value: AvM&S

Use to spot lies, calm hysteria, notice tension, and so forth. This skill may also be used for hypnosis; use the skill level against the MIND of the target - if the roll is made successfully for a number of rounds equivalent to the MIND of the target, the victim is hypnotised. This can only be done if the psychologist and target are talking face to face in a non-hostile situation. Specialities might include a particular school of psychology or a specific application, e.g. Psychology (Mesmerism)

Riding — Basic Value: AvB&S

Riding any animal, from a pony to a diplodocus. Also used for training animals including lion taming, dog handling, or running a flea circus. E.g. Riding (Muleteer).

Scholar — Basic Value: M

Expert knowledge of specific fields such as archaeology, history, philosophy. Scholar/2 related areas of knowledge are known; for example, Scholar [5] might include knowledge of Archaeology, Antiques, and Ancient Egypt. The skill cannot be taken twice to give mastery of two unrelated areas of knowledge, but the term "related" can be interpreted as loosely as the referee permits. For example, expert knowledge of Cats (but not veterinary skills) might be added to the list above because the Egyptians worshipped cats. e.g. Scholar (Antiques, Medieval Art, Medieval History).

Scientist — Basic Value: M

Use of all sciences. Most scientific romances make little or no distinction between sciences; for example Professor Challenger (in The Lost World, FF III) has knowledge of anthropology, biology, geology, and palaeontology, and in later stories displays profound knowledge of physics, chemistry, astronomy, and psychic research. E.g. Scientist (Biochemist)

Stealth — Basic Value: B/2 *

Hiding, camouflage, sneaking, etc. e.g. Stealth (Disguise) might be an alternative to Actor (Disguise); an Actor tries to look like someone else, while the aim of the Stealth skill is to look inconspicuous and go unnoticed.

Thief — Basic Value: AvB&M/2

Picking pockets, locksmith, forgery, etc. E.g. Thief (Safebreaker).

Wounds

Wounds B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]

For humans and human-sized animals, humanoid aliens, etc. the Wounds record usually has five boxes, indicating the extent of damage:

• "B" means "Bruised"; if you are hurt to this extent you are stiff and a little slow, but otherwise unharmed, and recover in a day or two. It's possible to suffer multiple bruises without any additional effect, apart from spectacular flesh colours and superficial marks. "Bruised" includes all forms of minor cut and scald.
• "F" means "Flesh Wound". This is a deep cut, concussion, or sprain, a moderately serious burn, and so forth. You are slowed, and may become infected or suffer other long-term medical effects, but there is little risk of death. If a flesh wound isn't treated promptly it may deteriorate and become an Injury (below). Recovery takes at least a week. Additional flesh wounds must be treated separately but have no other effects.
• "I" means "Injury". This is nasty; a gaping wound, punctured lung, broken bone, skull fracture, serious poisoning, first degree burns, or the like. You need first aid and reasonably prompt medical attention; without it you will probably suffer serious medical effects. You can only move slowly. If you take two injuries (a tick in both boxes) you can barely crawl and cannot fight. Injuries need at least a month to heal, longer if there are medical complications. If all Injury boxes are ticked and you take another injury you are critically injured, as below. Small animals don't have an "Injury" box on their wounds record; any result of "Injury" is automatically "Critical". Really big animals have three or more "Injury" boxes.
• "C" means "Critical". The victim is unconscious and will die without medical aid. If First Aid or the Doctor skill is used successfully the victim reverts to severely injured status (all injury boxes ticked), otherwise death occurs in a matter of minutes, hours at best.

Wound BODY   Recovery   Period Recovery Difficulty Notes Bruised - 1 Day 2 Purple marks etc. Flesh Wound   -1 1 Week 4 A nasty cut etc. Injury -2 1 Month 6 Broken bones etc. 2+ Injuries -4 1 Month 8 per injury   Humans cannot fight or run, other species may be less seriously affected Critical N/A N/A 8 Unconscious, dying. Knocked out - 6D6 min 4 May be additional to other wounds e.g. B + KO

Note that some weapons, and some other forms of damage, have two additional results possible. "KO" means knockout; the victim is knocked unconscious for a few minutes, but isn't necessarily permanently harmed. There is no need to record this since it is a temporary effect. Record bruises instead if appropriate. "K" means "Kill". For obvious reasons there isn't any need to have a tick box for this!

The table shows the effects of wounds. Temporarily reduce the value of BODY and BODY-related skills by the value shown, but not below a minimum of 1.

Example: It's Only A Flesh Wound...(1)
During a visit to a German Duke's estate, Lady Janet takes part in a boar hunt. During a sudden storm she is separated from the rest of the hunters, and loses her gun in a thicket.
  As she trudges home she disturbs a boar and is badly cut by one of its tusks. In the next round she tries to fend it off by beating it with a fallen branch. Normally she would use her Brawling [4] skill for the attack; because she has a flesh wound this is reduced to Brawling [3].

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Medical Skills, Recovery, and Death

First Aid stabilises wounds and prevent them getting worse. On a successful roll against the recovery Difficulty of the wound, there is no possibility of deterioration. For example, this might involve splinting a broken leg, disinfecting and bandaging a wound, or putting cold tea (a common Victorian remedy) or ice onto a burn. Multiple wounds must be treated separately; for instance, someone with a Flesh Wound and an Injury, or with two Injuries, would need each treated separately.

Without first aid the wound may eventually deteriorate; roll the recovery Difficulty against the patient's BODY, if the result is a success the wound will get worse. Flesh wounds become Injuries and Injuries become Critical (usually as fevers and illnesses such as gangrene) if they get worse.

The Doctor skill acts like First Aid, and also speeds healing. If a successful roll is made recovery time is halved. Since the Doctor skill usually begins at a lower level than First Aid, devoted healers may wish to take both skills.

To recover from wounds without medical help, roll BODY against the recovery difficulty - AFTER the minimum recovery period. If the result is a success, the wound is healed. If the result is a failure, the illness drags on for another period before the roll can be made again.

Example: It's Only A Flesh Wound...(2)
Lady Janet has a flesh wound. She bandages it herself, using First Aid [5] against recovery Difficulty [4]. On a 9 she doesn't do a good enough job of cleaning the wound and applying pressure to prevent further bleeding.
  She rolls BODY [3] against Difficulty [4]. On a result of 10 the wound gets worse; by the time she reaches help Lady Janet is bleeding severely, and must spend some time in bed. Her doctor fails to help, so her first roll for natural recovery is made after a month. Fortunately she succeeds and finally heals.

Death is death, and is usually permanent. In some settings there may be some rationale for reanimation or resurrection, but in most games there is no recovery. The referee should explain if this applies.

Some examples of common forms of injury follow the combat rules below; they are clearer if you understand some details that are introduced in the combat rules.

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Contents

Combat

The combat rules take up a large chunk of this file; this does NOT mean that they are the most important aspect of the game - it just means that they are a little more complicated than other sections. DON'T make the mistake of thinking that every adventure must involve several fire-fights!

These rules borrow an idea that is found in some war games. All the events in a combat round occur simultaneously. If ten people are firing guns, all of them fire BEFORE the results are assessed. You can shoot a gun out of someone's hand, but he will have a chance to shoot you before he loses it. Attacks are usually a use of skill against a defence; if the attack penetrates the defence, the damage is determined by use of the attack's Effect against the BODY of the target. All of these concepts are explained in more detail below.

Combat Rounds

Anyone taken completely by surprise CANNOT fight, move, or dodge in the first round of combat, but CAN perform a simple action. For example, intruders would have a round to attack someone who was standing a few feet from an alarm button; he would not have time to get to it first. They could not stop him pressing the button if he already had his hand on it. By definition, someone with a weapon in his hand pointed at an attacker is NOT taken by surprise!

Resolving Attacks

It is not possible to attack a specific hit location with machine guns or area effect weapons such as grenades, or while performing any form of multiple attack. Damage from these weapons should attack random hit locations.

Armour

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral

What's the BODY of a door? Of a bottle? Of the Queen Elizabeth? How much damage can a rabbit take (or dish out); a rhino; a blue whale? This section contains data on a range of common and uncommon objects, plants, and animals, which characters may conceivably encounter in the course of play.

Animals
Rat BODY [1], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [1]; Bite, Effect 1, Damage A:B, B:B, C:F Wounds: Any wound kills			Rabbit BODY [1], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [1]; Kick, Effect 1, Damage A:-, B:B, C:B Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] C[ ] (Any Injury result is Critical)
Domestic Cat BODY [1], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [4]; Claw, Effect 2, Damage A:B, B:F, C:F Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] C[ ] (any Injury result is Critical)			Small Dog BODY [2], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [3]; Bite, Effect 4, Damage A:B, B:F, C:F Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Big Dog BODY [3], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [5]; Bite, Effect 5, Damage A:B, B:F, C:I Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]			Rottweiler BODY [4], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [7]; Bite, Effect 6, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Note that the stealth of animals (especially small animals) is often considerably higher than BODY/2. Customised dogs and canine adventurers are discussed in an appendix below.
Cobra BODY [2], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [6]; Poison, Effect 8, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] C[ ]			Anaconda BODY [6], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [7]; Wrestle, Effect 8, Damage A:I, B:I, C:C Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Lion or Tiger BODY [7], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [9]; Bite, Effect 9, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]			Horse BODY [7], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [4]; Kick, Effect 7, Damage A:B, B:F, C:I/C Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Bull BODY [8], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [10]; Horns Effect 10, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]			Bear BODY [8], MIND [2], SOUL [2] Brawling [10]; Claws/Bite, Effect 10, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ] Armour thick fur -1 Effect
Rhino BODY [9], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [10]; Horn, Effect 10, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ] Armour thick skin, -2 Effect all attacks			Elephant BODY [10], MIND [2], SOUL [2] Brawling [6]; Tusks, Effect 10, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ] Armour thick skin, -2 Effect all attacks
Alligator or Crocodile BODY [8], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [8]; Bite, effect 8, Damage A:F, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ] Armour thick skin, -3 Effect all attacks			Dolphin or Porpoise BODY [8], MIND [3], SOUL [2] * Brawling [8]; Butt, Effect [8], Damage A:B, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Killer Whale BODY [15], MIND [3], SOUL [2] * Brawling [12]; Bite, Effect 15, Damage A:I, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ] Armour thick blubber, -2 Effect all attacks			Blue Whale BODY [25], MIND [3], SOUL [2] * Brawling [10]; Butt, Effect 20, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ] Armour thick blubber, -3 Effect all attacks
* If dolphins and whales are intelligent in your campaign, you may wish to change MIND and SOUL ratings and add more skills, such as Linguist or Actor (singer).
Tyrannosaur BODY [15], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [15]; Bite, Effect 16, Damage A:I, B:C, C:K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]			Diplodocus BODY [20], MIND [1], SOUL [1] Brawling [15]; Butt, Effect 16, Damage A:B, B:I, C:C/K Wounds: B[ ] F[ ] I[ ] I[ ] I[ ] C[ ]
Dinosaurs are discussed in considerably more detail in the worldbook for FF III.
Plants
Cabbage BODY [1]		Sapling BODY [3] **		Young tree BODY [8] **
Large tree BODY [10-20] **		Giant redwood BODY [30-50] **		Giant flytrap BODY [8], Bite Effect 6, Damage A:B, B:F, C:I
** Axes attack a portion of the BODY of a tree equivalent to the Effect of the weapon. For example, an axe with Effect 6 attacks 6 BODY of the tree, succeeding on a 7 or less. If successful, that much of the BODY of the tree is destroyed. Some trees have thick bark which may act as armour, or other defences.
Everything Else
Internal Door BODY [6], lock Difficulty [4]		Street Door BODY [8], lock Difficulty [5]		Church Door BODY [12] Lock Difficulty [8]
Piggy Bank BODY [1], Lock Difficulty [2]		Household Safe BODY [10], Lock Difficulty [10]		Bank vault BODY [20] Lock Difficulty [15]
House BODY [20]		Warehouse BODY [75]		Skyscraper BODY [200]
Household Table BODY [6] (wood)		Household Chair BODY [3] (wood)		Armchair BODY [4]
Garden table BODY [8] (iron)		Garden chair BODY [8] (iron)		Park bench BODY [8] (wood & iron)
Bottle BODY [1]		Motorbike BODY [4] (1900s)		Car BODY [10]
Truck BODY [15]		Bulldozer BODY [20]		Tank BODY [25] Armour reduces Effect all attacks -8
Liner BODY [100]		Airship BODY [50]		Spaceship BODY [100]
Many of the Forgotten Futures collections describe vehicles including dirigibles (FF I, FF VII), various types of spacecraft (FF II, FF IX) and flying machines (FF II, FF III, FF VII, FF IX), and time machines (FF IX). Usually these descriptions add considerably more detail!

Role Playing

SO far these rules have said a lot about rolling dice, but little about the real meat of a role playing game; the opportunity to take on a completely different personality in a world of the imagination. Since most scientific romances were written by Victorians and Edwardians, characters have a tendency to fall into stereotyped behaviour which isn't necessarily changed if they are set in the future. Here are a few of the principal elements of this behaviour:

I Know My Place...

People in inferior positions accept that they are underlings. They are happy to be employed; the idea of bettering their position, over and above promotion within their workplace, is somehow abhorrent. This attitude is especially prevalent amongst servants and others in intimate contact with their social "superiors". For examples see the roles played by Eric Sykes in "Monte Carlo Or Bust", Peter Falk in "The Great Race", and Gordon Jackson in "Upstairs, Downstairs".

Get Up And Go...

In contradiction to the above, the Protestant Work Ethic is also very popular. This says that if you work hard, study, and save money you'll eventually reach the top. This is primarily an American ideal, but also very popular with the British middle classes and anyone else who wants to better himself. Unfortunately middle-class Britons know that however successful they may be, they will never be gentlemen...

You're A Toff, Guv...

Aristocrats are the cream of society; stern but caring, almost always wealthy and learned, always polite (especially to women and other inferiors), they are genuinely superior men, and even savages know them as such. Even if an aristocrat goes bad he remains a gentleman; if his crimes are discovered he will commit suicide rather than dishonour his family by standing trial.

A Woman's Place Is In The Home...

Women unfortunately tend to be treated as inferiors, second class citizens who must be protected from physical and moral danger. An adventurous woman is VERY unusual, a cause for sensation and scandal. A woman exerting real authority is almost unheard of, despite the example of Queen Victoria, and suffragettes and other campaigners for women's rights are treated with great suspicion.

I Say, He's A Bally Foreigner...

Chauvinism, in its original meaning, is rampant. People don't necessarily hate foreigners, but they do treat them as mental and moral inferiors. To quote a satirical treatment of this attitude, from H.M.S. Pinafore:

For he might have been a Roosian,

A French, or Turk, or Proosian,
Or perhaps Itali-an,

But in spite of all temptations,

To belong to other nations,
He remains an Englishman!

Hurrah!

For the true born Englishman!

Under A Gooseberry Bush, My Dear...

Some things just aren't done. Chief amongst these is any detailed discussion of sex. Courtship is almost invariably chaperoned, any more intimate contact takes place as in this example:

Arr, We Talks Loike This....

Speech is usually fairly formal, and is of course always polite. Accents are stereotyped; in Britain members of the working classes always have lovable Cockney accents, or impenetrable country dialects, while the upper classes all have Oxford accents. Scotsmen say "Och aye", "The noo", and "Hoots mon", Welshmen "Look you" and "Boyo", Irish "Begorrah" and "Saints preserve us". America has its own stereotypes; Harvard accents for the upper classes, Brooklyn for the dregs. Only criminals and drunkards swear.

Finally, here are three examples of good and bad roleplaying in the context of these rules. Can you tell them apart?

"I say, old chap, can you direct me to the station?"
"Yo dude, where do I catch the iron horse?"

"Excuse me, my Lord, a gentleman from the police is at the door."
"Hey boss, it's the pigs."

"I'm afraid we're in a bit of a hurry. May we get by, please?"
"Out of the way, you ***ing scumbags, we're on a mission from God!"

Running Adventures

BY now you should understand the rules. Take another look at the example of game play in the introduction, and try to imagine how you would handle things if you were a player or the referee.

This section is mainly intended for referees. It goes into more details on the running of games, backgrounds and NPCs, plotting, and the use of handouts and other aids. If you are already an experienced referee some of the concepts in this section will be old news; even so, you may find some new ideas.

Setting The Scene

Before play begins the referee needs to make a few decisions. The first is the choice of background. While each of the Forgotten Futures collections includes source material, there is no reason to feel compelled to use it. Maybe you have a better idea. For instance, several authors have set stories in worlds where the Confederacy won the American Civil War, or the war ended in a stalemate; the example of play in the introduction was set in such a world. Equally valid settings include the New York of the future, as described in 1920s pulp SF, London under the rule of Dracula and Queen Victoria (See Kim Newman's "Anno Dracula"), or Africa in a world conquered by H.G. Wells' Martians.

Players should understand the basic details of the game world: the nature of society (or at least how it appears to the characters), the way in which people are expected to behave, and important things that everyone would be aware of. How do people get to work? Do they NEED to work? If not, why not? Is money used? If not, what has replaced it? What gadgets do people use? What would they like to use? What do they like, hate, or fear?

While there's nothing to stop you giving players a long briefing, or copies of the source material, this can sometimes lead to information overload; players have too many facts to digest, and don't know where to begin. This type of briefing is reminiscent of the "balloon factory" sequence found in some of the less impressive scientific romances - if the world the book described revolved around balloon travel, there would be interminable descriptions of their construction, and of the nature of society as transformed by readily available balloons. Here's an example, set in a generic Communist Utopia:

'Ah, Comrade Reporter Langford, welcome to People's Synthetic Food Processing Plant 12B. Here we take sawdust and convert it to the finest synthetic protein...' [several pages of explanation omitted]

'This is wonderful, Comrade Food Synthesis Manager Bell. Now, how does the operation of this plant fit into Comrade Glorious Leader Illingworth's five year socio-economic plan?' [several more pages of explanation omitted]

Judy	The lane ahead is blocked by a surfacer, melting the road and rolling it smooth. You can see the white glare of heat under its safety covers, and smell the usual ozone. A workman with a red flag signals for you to stop.
Bert	I say, old chap, going to be long?
Judy	The workman spits towards the surfacer; the saliva sizzles into steam as it hits the road, then he says [uses appalling rural accent] "Arr, that be what I would loike to know. The trouble with these danged cheap country roads is that your molten rock turns to glass, and glass cracks as it cools. If he doesn't take it slow we'll have the whole danged job to do again in six months." He spits again, and looks gloomy. "Thing is, if he doesn't speed up a bit I'll be late for my tea."
Bert	But I've an important appointment, old chap. Can't you let me by?
Judy	[in rural voice] Well, I could, but your tyres would melt afore ye got onto the cool part of the road....

In this scene Judy wants to establish that the surfacer produces immense heat; it will be important later. She doesn't want to let the players know that the information is important. By presenting it in this way she gives the players the impression that this encounter has been used mainly to slow them. She's also mentioned the way that this setting feels to the characters; the noise and smell of the surfacer, and the light it produces, are more evidence of its vast controlled power.

If every scene appeals to two or three senses you'll find that players visualise events more clearly. This is usually good, but don't spend so long on scene setting that the players become impatient. Here's another example:

"A sombre plume of grey smoke rises sluggishly from the red brick chimney of the cottage, twisting and billowing over the slates as the breeze blows it towards you. The smoke has a strong aroma of firewood, probably cedar, but something else is added; the sickly miasma of burning flesh."

"Grey smoke blows towards you from the cottage chimney; it smells of wood, but there's also the sweet aroma of burning meat."

Victorians, and to a lesser extent Edwardians, lived in an era when gadgetry was everywhere. No home was complete without knife grinders, elaborate folding tongs, magic lantern projectors, and other useful(?) devices. Although many important inventions date from this era, attics and old patent archives are full of "labour-saving" devices that can't readily be called useful; see FF IX for an article on the subject. Some were practical in their day, some virtually insane. Victorian gadgets are usually over-ornamented, bulky, and heavy. They are often designed with two or three extra functions over and above their main use. Power sources include compressed air (from bellows or pumps), hydraulic pressure, clockwork, coal gas, steam, electrostatic forces, batteries, and muscles. Components are usually made of brass, cast iron, leather, rubber, gutta-percha, whalebone, ivory, glass, or teak. This misplaced ingenuity sometimes found its way into scientific romances, and mentioning or describing these gadgets is often a good way to set the scene. For example:

"Grice-Charlesworth pumps the bellows, and the flywheel mounted above it begins to spin. A brass drive shaft with a couple of flexible joints runs up to an ivory handle which supports a rotating steel blade, a little like a miniature apple corer, mounted below a concave mirror. You can hear a thin hiss of air sucking back to the bellows through the blade. He squeezes the rubber bulb of the ether spray, and a thin jet of flame momentarily plays over the glittering surface of the steel. He smiles, and says 'At last, after all my work, the Little Wonder Nose Hair Cutter and Singer mark II (with razor grinder and anti-explosion device) is ready for testing! Which of you gentlemen would care to be the first to try it...?'"

One last point; a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words - when it's relevant. If you're an artist, consider sketching some of the scenes the players are likely to encounter, or use newspaper and magazine photographs. Maps and other plans are also very helpful. A word of warning; if you only prepare pictures of vital scenes, players will soon start to assume that nothing important is happening if they don't see a picture. A few extra pictures, produced to set the scene at less vital moments, can keep them guessing.

You'll find more examples of scene-setting in the Forgotten Futures adventures and worldbooks, and more on illustrations and handouts below.

Plot

Most people get up in the morning with a fair idea of likely events during the day ahead, and very rarely run into invading Martians, marauding dinosaurs, or deranged serial killers. It seems unlikely that anyone reading this has fought a gun battle on the wings of a biplane, or unravelled a sinister web of deceit to unmask the machinations of an ancient cult and a nameless evil from beyond the stars.

Life is different in a role playing game, and characters don't lead routine lives. They are adventurers, encountering excitement wherever they go. Sinister cultists kill victims on their doorsteps, or decide that an adventurer is the reincarnation of their god. Their airliner is the one that is hijacked, their spaceship the one that picks up a strange alien parasite. They suspect weirdness in the most mundane events, and are usually right. The snag is that the referee has to prepare all this for the players.

Sometimes plot elements are implicit in the game background. Let's take an example set in 1911, a decade after the War Of The Worlds was won by the wrong side. The Martians control the world, and are using their machines to exterminate humans, apart from a few survivors kept as food animals. There are still human enclaves, hiding places where a resistance organisation is gradually acquiring the tools needed to destroy the Martians. Think of a steam-powered version of the resistance organisation in the "Terminator" films. Here the staple plot will be commando-style raids on Martian bases, and attempts to destroy Martian war machines. The aliens aren't invulnerable; cunning booby traps might literally bring a machine to its knees. Long-term goals would be capture of Martian heat rays and other weapons, and discovery of a way to use them safely.

This is fine for one or two sessions, but it won't sustain a long campaign. You can only destroy so many tripods before the novelty wears off. Let's add another plot element; the Martians have implanted electrodes and transmitters in the brains of a few of their prisoners, and brainwashed them to wipe out knowledge of the implants. These spies have been allowed to "escape" to the resistance organisation, where they unconsciously report to the Martians. The Martians use the information to catch raiding parties; they prefer fresh-caught food, not the unhealthy blood of their ageing "cattle". The resistance base is allowed to exist, because the occupants are accomplishing little. The Martians know its exact location, but don't move in because it would cut off their most succulent food supply. Now raids will start to go wrong, and the adventurers may start to suspect a spy in their midst. Throw in more complications; a resistance commander who thinks that one of the adventurers is a spy - possibly correctly. An escapee who is behaving very strangely, but for a completely different reason. Sooner or later someone will realise that escapees knew something about every failed raid. Proving anything will be VERY difficult; the spies don't know that they are spies, and aren't doing anything unusual.

This simple example could be good for several evenings of play. By the time the spies have been dealt with another Martian ploy will be under way, or maybe the resistance leaders will have developed a new plan to destroy the invaders.

Campaigns without these implicit adventure backgrounds pose more difficulties. In an Utopia there is nothing obvious to drive the plot. This may mean that the setting is unsuitable, but a little twisted ingenuity will usually find some cause of conflict. No Utopia can possibly please everyone all the time, and there may be hidden serpents in the Garden of Eden. A good example here is the life of the Eloi in H.G.Wells' "The Time Machine"; apparently living a life of pastoral tranquillity, they were actually preyed on by the subterranean Morlocks. Look at the workers in the film "Metropolis", and contrast their life with that of the managers.

An interesting idea is the Utopia that goes wrong, where everyone is genuinely happy and contented until a flaw in the system starts to generate horrendous problems. The most common example is the revolt plot typified by R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots, by Carel Capek) and the film Westworld; a civilisation where robots do all the work until they decide to run things for themselves. Capek's War With The Newts shows another example of the revolt of an artificially created servant race. An interesting variant is the world where everything is run by machines - trains, planes, ships and cars drive themselves, factories are entirely automated, and every home has cleaning machines and other labour saving devices. Naturally everything is designed so that nothing can go wrong.. go wrong.. go wrong.. - when it does, the adventurers will have to deal with road building machines which don't notice that they are squashing cars, factories that insist on spray-enamelling all intruders, and bed-making machines that fold the occupants as well as the sheets. This example comes from numerous sources; most notably E.M. Forster's The Machine Stops, a gloomy account of the collapse of an over-mechanised civilisation.

For one-off adventures these relatively simple plots will probably satisfy your players. In long campaigns it's better to keep several plot threads on the boil, and bring one to the fore as another ends. These can be entirely separate, or different strands of a very complex design. Here's a breakdown of part of a campaign:

• Members of a sinister Indian cult believe that one of the adventurers is their god reincarnated, and have tricked him (and a few friends) into taking a cruise which will visit India; there they plan to kidnap him and take him to their temple.
• Members of a rival cult want to identify the god and make sure that he is never crowned; the easiest way to do this will be to kill him, using a sacred jewelled dagger which is the only weapon sacred enough to be used against a god.
• A Chinese steward steals the dagger. The theft is reported to the purser, although the significance of the dagger naturally isn't mentioned; the purser knows that one of the adventurers is a detective (there's usually at least one in every group) and asks him to track down the thief.
• The British Secret Service knows that the adventurers are on board the ship, and wants them to steal a code book from a German diplomat who is also aboard.
• Unknown to all, the German diplomat is secretly funding a sinister cult which happens to have tricked the adventurers into visiting India...

Plots of this complexity need a lot of preparation, but breaking them down into their component streams helps to keep things on track. Some referees also like to run adventures to a timetable, where NPCs will act at a given time unless the adventurers counter their plans; this can be fun if the adventurers are fighting a deadline (such as a bomb that will explode if it isn't found first), but the bookkeeping needed to time journeys and other activities tends to be a little more trouble than it's worth. Timed activities work best over very short periods, where combat rounds can be used; for example, if the adventurers are trying to fight their way out of a burning house before the gas mains explode.

Some groups of players run multi-referee campaigns; they take turns to run the game, but continue to use the same characters throughout - the current referee's character is sent off to the sidelines, or run as an NPC, as best fits the needs of the plot. These games do need to run to strict timetables, so that schemes involving NPCs will come to fruition when the appropriate referee is running the campaign. A simple variant is the use of several separate plot lines, set against a common game background, but with a set of characters for each referee. This method is most often used for superhero games, with each referee essentially running a separate "comic" set in a common world.

Finally, no discussion of plot would be complete without mentioning comedy. Humorous plots are occasionally fun, but a joke that falls flat is worse than no joke at all. Characters with peculiar names and behaviour aren't enough to sustain comedic interest, although the author is aware of one Mafia-based adventure that featured an NPC stool pigeon called Mr. Cream, inserted purely to allow the characters to "ice" Cream.... It's usually better if the humour is an intrinsic part of the situation you're describing. Pratfalls should be avoidable if the characters take a little care. For example, if the referee sets up a situation which should result in three or four characters getting covered with mud, players who think things through should be able to get away unblemished.

Many scientific romances are set around the year 2000, so one possible form of humour is satire of the real world and its public figures, transformed by the game setting. For example, a certain Herr Shwartzenegger appears in an unaccustomed role in the adventure accompanying the first Forgotten Futures sourcebook.

Non-Player Characters

NPCs are the backbone of every game; if they aren't played well, characters move through a landscape populated by formless blobs, faceless entities that are usually treated as cannon fodder. Despite the need to keep things simple, NPCs should be described and played as though they are characters. Here's a poor referee telling players that they've walked into trouble:

'Two men step out, with guns drawn, and tell you to throw down your weapons.'

'Two men step out into the road ahead of you, holding revolvers. They're wearing oilskins - odd, on a hot day like this. The older one looks very scarred; the other one looks too young to be allowed out with a gun. He's got a nasty grin and says "Kin I plug them, pa?". Dad shrugs; "Not yet, Leroy [raises voice] Maybe you boys oughta know that there are four shotguns covering you. Now drop them weapons, or Junior and ma friends will shoot your balls off."'

Ignore points when preparing NPCs; if you need someone with all three characteristics at 6 and a dozen high-powered skills, just assume that the character is exceptional. If you want a wimp, set characteristics and skills low. It really doesn't matter, so long as the character makes sense in the context of the adventure, and gives the adventurers a fair chance of survival.

If player characters are the stars of an RPG, NPCs are the supporting cast and extras; some are crucial to the plot, others are cannon fodder. If all are acted to the best of the referee's ability, players shouldn't automatically know who's who - someone who seems unimportant might really be the villain of the piece, while "important" NPCs can be set up as victims or red herrings.

Important NPCs should be prepared as thoroughly as player characters; extras need much less attention, but it's advisable to keep a list of their names, and have an idea of the way that they talk and act. Experienced referees often have a small "repertory company" of prepared NPCs, who can be used as they are needed; here are some examples.

Extras

First, some useful stock characters:

Mrs. Jenkins, The Little Old Lady, is always useful as an unreliable witness to unusual events. She's unhelpful, inclined to call the police at the first sign of trouble, and always complaining. Quote: "He's the one!" (points at a completely innocent character)
BODY [1], MIND [3], SOUL [2], Detective [8]
This character is also useful as a telephone operator, receptionist, or librarian.

Stross, the Evil Retainer, knows at least three damning secrets about his master or mistress, and blackmails guests. An expert at oiliness, materialising just before he is called, skulking in shadows, eavesdropping, and general skulduggery. Quote: "Will that be all..." [pauses and sneers] "...sir?"
BODY [3], MIND [5], SOUL [3], Detective [7], Stealth [9], Thief [8]
With minor modifications this character is easily run as a secret policeman, sinister ventriloquist, or telephone timeshare salesman. Female variants should be based on Mrs. Danvers, from Rebecca, or Frau Blucher from Young Frankenstein. A "nicer" alternative should be based on Jeeves.

Next a group of generic bruisers, suitable for brawls, for robbery with violence, and as bouncers at rock concerts. Easily used as secret policemen (add leather coats, handguns, strange accents, and Marksman [6]), or as rampaging mercenaries or soldiers (add uniforms, rifles, grenades, and Marksman [7]):

CURLY is bald, 6ft 6in tall, and armed with a crowbar. Quote: "I want a word with you, shorty"
BODY [6], MIND [2], SOUL [2], Brawling [8], Melee Weapons [8]

ERIC is an ex-jockey with a switch-blade knife. Quote: "I reckon it's time I taught you some manners..."
BODY [3], MIND [4], SOUL [1], Brawling [5], Melee Weapons [6], Riding [6]

BIG CECIL is fat, bearded, and a former wrestler. Quote: "When you get out of hospital pay your bills."
BODY [7], MIND [3], SOUL [4], Brawling [10], Martial Arts [8], Thief [5]

LENNY has a deep scar across his throat, and can only talk in a rasping whisper. He uses a knife, and is a sadist. Quote: "Oh, was that your kitten... naughty me."
BODY [4], MIND [3], SOUL [1], Brawling [7], Melee Weapons [7], Thief [4]

DAVE is an unlovable Cockney, heavily tattooed, with a shotgun. Quote: "Puke on my shoes and I'll 'it you again."
BODY [2], MIND [2], SOUL [2], Marksman [6], Brawling [3], Thief [8]

The Police: Depending on the nature of your campaign, these may be corrupt Gestapo-style thugs (as above), Scotland Yard bunglers, or skilled professionals.

CONSTABLE DICKINSON is fat, near to retirement, and has never solved a serious crime in his life. He loves beer, and is armed with a truncheon, bicycle pump, and the majesty of the law. Quote: "'Ello, 'ello, wot's orl this then?"
BODY [4], MIND [3], SOUL [4], Brawling [5], Melee weapons [5], Acting [6] (comic songs)

DETECTIVE SERGEANT MONDALE is in his mid-thirties, a ruthlessly efficient professional. He doesn't take bribes or frame anyone who doesn't really deserve it. Quote: "They don't like me to hurt prisoners, it messes up the cells..."
BODY [5], MIND [4], SOUL [3], Detective [6], Brawling [8], Melee weapons [7], Marksman [6], Thief [8]

INSPECTOR CAVENDISH is in his early forties, fighting fit, and a connoisseur of the arts. He is scrupulously honest and fair. Quote: "Hmmm... I'd say that this ash was originally Turkish tobacco mixed with a small amount of Peruvian cocaine."
BODY [5], MIND [6], SOUL [4], Artist [7], Detective [8], Scientist [7], Brawling [6], Melee weapons [6], Linguist (German, French, Italian, Welsh, Flemish) [7]

Stars

Most NPCs are secondary characters or cannon fodder. Adventures also need a few NPC stars; powerful characters who are the driving force behind the plot. These characters fall into three main groups:

AUTHORITIES: NPCs with rank and some degree of power over the characters. Usually they need not be prepared in immense detail, since they need not become involved in the action. For example, Queen Victoria appears in several of George MacDonald Fraser's "Flashman" novels, and sometimes motivates the plot, but she is never in danger, or in a situation that makes much use of her undoubted skills. Authorities are most common in adventurers with a service background.

Another type of authority is the information source; a scientist or scholar. They are usually erudite, but rarely get involved in the action. Q, in the James Bond films, is a typical information source. Again, there is usually no need to develop characters far beyond a name and a brief description. Here are examples of both types of authority:

H.R.H. QUEEN VICTORIA (Hip, Hip, Hurrah!) is an important figure in any Victorian campaign. Characters might meet her at an official function, or save her from some dastardly plot. Always regal, she is the Empress of half the world and an inspiration to all normal men and women. She has a will of iron and is totally lacking in fear (she survived at least twenty assassination attempts, some at point-blank range), absolutely convinced that God protects the monarchy and Britain. Quote: "We are most impressed"
BODY [2], MIND [4], SOUL [5], Business [7], Linguist [5] (French, German, Hindi)

X3 is a senior figure in the British Secret Service, once an active agent but now frail and confined to a wheelchair. Almost omniscient in his grasp of the "great game", he controls a vast network of spies and counter-spies. He is highly intuitive, often sensing trouble before there is evidence. Quote: "I can't order you to accept this mission..."
BODY [1], MIND [6], SOUL [7], Artist (miniatures) [9], Business [9], Detective [8], Medium [4], Linguist (German, French, Russian, Hindi) [7], Thief [6]

PROFESSOR FINCH is a leading expert on tropical diseases and toxins. He is preparing a definitive study of snake and insect venoms. There are usually a few jars with nasty-looking live specimens on his desk; sometimes the lids are a little loose. Quote: "Stay quite still while I get a net, it's more frightened than you are."
BODY [4], MIND [6], SOUL [5], Scientist [9], Doctor [5], First Aid [9]

SHERLOCK HOLMES should only appear in a Victorian or Edwardian campaign, and is more likely to be found on the track of adventurers (who often tend to leave a trail of corpses) than helping them. Quote: "I see that your shoes were repaired in Aberystwyth..."
BODY [6], MIND [7], SOUL [5], Acting (Disguise) [10], Detective [10], Marksman [8], Martial Arts (Bartitsu) [9], Scientist (Forensics) [8], Stealth [10], Melee Weapons [8], Thief [9]

JACK ROBINSON is an adventurer who subsidises his career by publishing lurid fiction based loosely on his exploits. He is NEVER around when the adventurers need him - when danger rears its ugly head in Mexico, he's believed to be somewhere in China; if evil strikes at sea, he was last seen in the desert. He's a good drinking companion, a mesmerising raconteur, and an excellent listener; several of the team's adventures have somehow found their way into his pulp novels, without acknowledgement. Quote: "There I was, with the anaconda coiled around my legs..."
BODY [7], MIND [4], SOUL [4], Actor [7] (disguise), Brawling [8], Detective [8], Marksman [7], Melee weapons [8], Scientist [6], Stealth [8], Thief [7]
If necessary use the thugs (above) as a team of assistants, substituting more socially acceptable behaviour and weapons.

One referee's lovable rogue is another's homicidal maniac. Usually players are reasonably relaxed about the threat of wholesale violence, such as a cunning plan to destroy London, but upset by more personal forms of assault. Here are two simple examples; you are STRONGLY advised to put some work into developing characters of your own!

PROFESSOR VOLKOFF is a misguided genius of crime. He uses mechanical juggernauts to break into banks, then tries to loot them before the police arrive. He doesn't realise that he would earn far more by selling his inventions. He is always caught, but always escapes from captivity. Quote: "They all laughed at me at Heidelberg..."
BODY [4], MIND [6], SOUL [2], Scientist [10], Linguist [10] (All European and Scandinavian languages, Russian, and Polish), Mechanic [9]
Volkoff will give up without a fight if he is personally confronted by the adventurers. As an interesting twist on this character, consider having him reform after his second or third brush with the adventurers, and start to "help" with his strange inventions.

THE DEATH DOCTOR is the Press's nickname for a homicidal maniac. Bodies have been found partially dissected, their adrenal glands removed with great skill. The attacks occurred in the disreputable neighbourhood of your choice. The doctor has found out how to extract adrenal fluid and transform it into a potion which imbues enormous strength, at the cost of all human feelings. The potion is addictive, effects lasting a few hours. Only glands from a certain race, sex, age group, or blood group will work; one of the adventurers falls into the affected group. These crimes should take place in the background for some time (mention them as newspaper stories appearing while the adventurers are involved in other matters), gradually getting closer and closer to home. Eventually incidents occur which make it certain that someone is stalking the affected character. Catching the doctor should be very difficult; although all human emotions and sympathy are gone when he is under the influence of the drug, his MIND remains clear and he will make sure that there is always an escape route. Quote: (On a note pinned to a corpse) "Nice trap. Better luck next time."
BODY [8/4], MIND [5], SOUL [0/1], Brawling [9/5], Doctor [7], Scientist [8], Melee weapons [7/5], Stealth [8]
Numbers before and after / signs are characteristics and skills with and without the potion. When SOUL is reduced to zero this character has no sympathy or human feelings, and is immune to all forms of emotional control.
If one of the player characters is a doctor, frame her for the murders!

For considerably more on Heroes, Villains, and melodramatic plots see the appendices below and Forgotten Futures VI.

Props

Home made maps have the advantage of being cheap and showing exactly what you want them to show. This is also their disadvantage; if a map only shows a limited number of locations, players will expect at least one of them to be significant. A map that shows an area in a reasonable amount of (mostly irrelevant) detail is usually better. Wherever possible use real maps, modifying them for the history of your game world as needed. For example, if a campaign is set in London a few years after the War Of The Worlds (the one that mankind won), it's easy to obtain a copy of a real Victorian map and add the Martian excavations on Primrose Hill, the charred remains of Imperial College, and other details. Some commercially published RPGs have included maps of Victorian London; in general the scale is too small to be useful. See below for suppliers of large-scale maps.

With a little research work it's possible to find maps and pictures of "Future cities", showing grandiose plans for architectural projects and city management that never came to pass. These are most often found in old magazines, but collections have been published.

Building plans are easily obtained; just look at a few architectural magazines or textbooks to find plenty of examples. Estate agents (realtors) also sometimes offer plans of the buildings they are selling. Plans are the most common type of handout in commercially published games - if you are involved in this hobby for any length of time, you'll soon accumulate dozens! Naturally some modification may be needed for the circumstances of your game. Needless to say there are numerous maps and plans accompanying the Forgotten Futures adventures

THUNDER CHILD MEMORIAL UNVEILED POSTHUMOUS VC FOR CAPTAIN IN A SHORT CEREMONY at Plymouth this afternoon the Prince of Wales unveiled a magnificent bronze statue commemorating the loss of the torpedo ram Thunder Child and her crew. He also announced a posthumous Victoria Cross for Commander Jason Standish RN, the Captain of the late vessel. In a moving speech he said "Since there were no survivors of this attack, the award can only be a minor acknowledgement of the gallantry of the entire ship's company, and of the many lives saved by their heroic sacrifice." The Thunder Child charitable trust has raised over a hundred thousand pounds for the families of her crew and of other service men killed by the Martians. After the ceremony the Admiralty announced that work will begin on a new Thunder Child later this year. The new ship will be larger and more modern in every respect. Meanwhile military experts have suggested that construction should be delayed until the secrets of flight are mastered. Several nations are building flying machines based on Martian designs; Germany is believed to have launched a steam ornithopter, while the American Gun Club is building an interplanetary cannon, in a bid to place men on the Moon. Britain lags behind in this research, and the recent disaster in Kensington shows that our knowledge of Martian technology is woefully incomplete. Advertisement WILL THE MARTIANS RETURN? IS THERE HOPE FOR MANKIND? Read ASTROLOGY OF THE MARTIAN INVASION by Professor Ignatius Blowitz Astrolabe Press 5s 6d AND LEARN THE FRIGHTENING TRUTH!

News clippings and other written materials are always useful. Try to give players too much information, rather than too little. Referees often make the mistake of letting players find exactly the information they need to solve a mystery, and nothing more. As an example, here's an extract from a "newspaper" produced for a late Victorian post-War of the Worlds campaign in which the Queen has been kidnapped by agents of a foreign power desperate for the results of Britain's research into the Martian heat ray.

This cutting actually contains two important clues; the fact that the Prince Of Wales unveiled the statue suggests that the Queen might be busy elsewhere, and the last paragraph makes it clear that international rivalries have spurred intense study of Martian technology. The money raised by the Thunder Child trust isn't important in the current scenario, but might be prominent in a later adventure. The advertisement is a red herring. Some other possibilities for text handouts include extracts from books, pages from diaries, letters, business cards and other identity papers (most shopping centres now have useful card-making machines), and official reports.

As already said, pictures are an extremely useful adjunct to any adventure. One obvious source is SF illustrations of the twenties and thirties, when much of the tradition of the Scientific Romance still survived in pulp magazine SF. Work from this period can be found in numerous collections. Films of the era are also visually appealing, and stills are often available; Metropolis, Things To Come, and Just Imagine are particularly good in this respect, but there are many other excellent examples. Some referees like to show players photographs of NPCs; any pictorial magazine should contain all you need. Each of the Forgotten Futures collections is accompanied by numerous illustrations, and there are many more on the FF CD-ROM. Pictures of gadgets are also useful; the author has made good use of a collection of 19th century scientific illustrations and a 1920s scientific instrument catalogue. Material of this type is often surprisingly cheap, especially if you can find a public library selling off old books.

Figures and other models are useful but aren't essential. For most purposes a few men and women in civilian clothing should be ample. Figures made for the games Space 1889 and Call Of Cthulhu tend to be particularly good for Victorian and Edwardian settings, SF figures may be more appropriate in games with futuristic settings. RPG shops mainly sell lead or alloy figures in 25mm scale, but there are plenty of alternatives; plastic figures made for model railways can be quite useful, as can larger scale plastic soldiers and animals, or the smaller figures sold for war games. Toys are almost always cheaper and less fragile than gaming miniatures. Dinosaurs and other large animals are best purchased as plastic models; in Britain the Natural History Museum sells an especially realistic range. Cars and other vehicles are best obtained as toys, not as gaming models, since toys are generally a LOT cheaper. One word of warning; once you start buying these things, it's very hard to stop. The author has several hundred lead figures, dozens of vehicles, and a whole herd of dinosaurs, but generally uses less than a dozen figures for any game! If all of this sounds hideously expensive, there's nothing to stop you using paper cutouts instead of figures; just glue a picture or photograph to a piece of card, and add a bit of wood or a coin as the base. Commercial cardboard figures are rare but do exist, usually supplied as part of game modules; the Cardboard Heroes range formerly manufactured by Steve Jackson Games is still occasionally available, and is highly recommended. Some of the later Forgotten Futures collections include illustrations that are made to be printed and used in this way; again, there are many more on the FF CD-ROM

More exotic props can occasionally be useful, but they are often more trouble than they are worth. Full sized replica daggers and guns look good, but carrying them around most modern cities is asking for trouble. Model airships or spaceships tend to be too large for easy transportation, and you'll get some very strange looks from people who notice what you are carrying...

Some referees like to enhance the mood of a game by playing music that matches its theme. For instance, the music from Jeff Wayne's War Of The Worlds album might be quite effective in a post-invasion game. Ragtime might suit a campaign set in the twenties or thirties, with Gilbert and Sullivan or Souza more appropriate for Victorian adventures. Some players like this idea, others hate it; provided the music doesn't stop people hearing what's going on, it probably doesn't matter.

Finally, one last word of warning; if you need an eerie atmosphere, DON'T try to establish it by drawing the curtains and running the game by the light of a single candle. Extensive tests have revealed that three out of five referees can't read their own notes under these conditions, while one player in eight falls asleep in the dimness, and one in fifty sets fire to something...

Game Worlds

FF I: The A.B.C. Files
A complete role playing game set in Kipling's 21st century airship utopia. Contains the complete text of With The Night Mail and As Easy As A.B.C., a worldbook, an adventure (with an operatic theme), a spreadsheet of data on historical airships, and illustrations.

FF II: The Log Of The Astronef
The exploration of the Solar System in 1900 AD. Based on George Griffith's Stories Of Other Worlds (better known as Honeymoon in Space), it contains six complete stories, all the illustrations from their original publication, a worldbook taking the story forward to 1920, a spaceship design spreadsheet, five adventures, and much more.

FF III: George E. Challenger's Mysterious World
Adventures with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's scientific hero, including the full text of The Lost World, The Poison Belt, When The World Screamed, The Land Of Mist, The Horror Of The Heights, and The Disintegration Machine, a worldbook, four adventures, a wargames scenario, etc.

FF IV: The Carnacki Cylinders
All nine stories of Carnacki the Ghost Finder, with illustrations and game material, magic rules, three long adventures and two large adventure outlines, and a story-telling card game.

FF V: Goodbye Piccadilly
A collection of game worlds based on the destruction or transformation of London as described by various authors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Includes maps, period fiction, articles, and illustrations, and all the usual game material.

FF VI: Victorian Villainy
A collection of stories and adventures showing various Victorian villains in action, with rules for melodramatic roleplaying, crime and punishment, fate, villainy, etc. Includes a novel, nine short stories, three plays, and three adventures plus several in outline form. Also includes cardboard cutout figures for the major characters in the adventures.

FF VII: Tsar Wars
A complete future history spanning 130 years, based on two epic novels by George Griffith. The birth of a Socialist Utopia in blood and war, the destruction of the Russian Empire, and its eventual resurgance form the tragic background to a story of future war and catastrophe, and the annihilation of most of the human race. Includes several adventures and adventure outlines, rules for Æronef flying machines, and much more.

FF VIII: Fables and Frolics
The world of Victorian fantasy, as described by E. Nesbit. Includes extended rules for playing Victorian children, magic, and much more. With three long adventures and numerous adventure outlines, as well as dozens of stories and three novels.

FF IX: It's My Own Invention...
The theme of this collection is weird technology, source material includes two novels by George Griffith, plus short stories and articles by a variety of authors. Four detailed game worlds describe flying hussars with a mission to fight the supernatural, a world of Babbage engines and automata, time travel by ocean liner, and a space race with big rewards for the winner. With rules for constructing automata, flying machines, etc.

All of this material, and much more, is on the FF CD-ROM; with a few exceptions all of the game material can be downloaded via either of the author's sites:

www.forgottenfutures.co.uk
www.forgottenfutures.com

The following are only available on the FF CD-ROM

• Flatland, The Role Playing Game: Action and adventure in a world where characters are supposed to be two dimensional. Uses a modified and simplified version of the Forgotten Futures rules. An additional short adventure, Flatlander: The Thickening, will be published (in a generic form) for charity in 2005 and added to the FF CD-ROM in 2006.
• Bartitsu! Originally published in Valkyrie magazine, and then in an amended version in GURPS Who's Who 2, Bartitsu is a short account of the life and work of E.W. Barton-Wright, the inventor of Bartitsu, the martial art made famous as Sherlock Holmes' "Baritsu". For copyright reasons it is not available on line.
• Mummies, The Next Generation: A variant campaign setting combining the background of FF II with George Griffith's novel The Romance of Golden Star. Includes variant starship design rules, suspended animation (or rather reanimation of the dead), and more. For contractual reasons it is not available on line.

Printed versions of the Forgotten Futures rules and of some of the adventure and source material have been published by Heliograph Inc., but they are currently out of print.

The Real World

The Sainsbury Museum web-site has a large illustration of Victorian coins to scale (1.2mb) which may be useful.

Reading Prices
There is very little standardisation of the way prices are written; for example:
• £2 6s 6½d = Two pounds, six shillings and sixpence-ha'penny
• 2s 6d or 2/6 = Two shillings and sixpence = half a crown
• 19/11 = 19s 11d = Nineteen shillings and eleven pence
• 10^/6 = 10s 6d
• 25s = £1 5s
• Half a guinea = 10s 6d
• 5gn = 5 guineas = £5 5s
• 5½gn = 5½ guineas = £5 15s 6d

Timeline 1890-1914

A very brief summary of a few interesting events from 1890 to 1914, most of which has previously appeared in some of the Forgotten Futures worldbooks.

1890	Forth Railway Bridge, the first major steel bridge, opened. Van Gogh commits suicide. Wounded Knee massacre.
1891	American Express introduces traveler's cheques. Homo erectus remains found on Java. Wilde publishes The Picture of Dorian Gray. Free primary school education in Britain.
1892	Mary Baker Eddy reforms Christian Science movement. Le Libre Parole (French anti-Semitic newspaper) founded. Depression in Australia. Mechanical voting in USA. Borden family murdered in USA.
1893	Gladstone's second Irish Home Rule Bill is vetoed by the House of Lords. Art Nouveau movement.
1894	Arrest of Dreyfus. Percival Lowell builds an observatory to study Martian canals (see FF II). Aubrey Beardsley illustrates Oscar Wilde's Salome. The Jungle Book published. Marconi demonstrates wireless telegraphy.
1895	Lenin exiled to Siberia. X rays. Motion pictures. Wilde writes The Importance of Being Ernest.
1896	First modern Olympics. Becquerel discovers radioactivity.
1897	Stanislavsky founds method acting technique. Chekhov writes Uncle Vanya. Pearson's Magazine serialises Kipling's Captains Courageous and Wells' The War Of The Worlds.
1898	Spanish-American War. Britain leases Hong Kong from the Chinese. Boxer Uprising in China.
1899	Second Boer war (the first was 1882). Siege of Mafeking. Elgar writes The Enigma Variations. Boxer uprising (to 1901), Siege of Peking.
1900	Boer war becomes guerilla war. Electrocardiograph. Quantum theory. Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams. Britain's Labour Party formed.
1901	Queen Victoria dies, succeeded by Edward VII. Marconi tests transatlantic radio transmission (see FF II). Frozen mammoth found in Russia (see FF III adventures). Picasso's Blue Period. Beatrix Potter publishes The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
1902	Coronation of Edward VII. Boer war ends. Caruso makes his first phonographic recording. Conrad publishes Heart of Darkness. Melies produces A Trip to the Moon. Doyle publishes The Hound of the Baskervilles.
1903	Lenin organizes the Bolshevik revolutionary group. Britain invades Tibet (see FF III adventures). Emmeline Pankhurst founds the Women's Social and Political Union. Rolls-Royce founded. Wright brothers fly (see FF II adventures). Curies win the Nobel Prize for work on radioactivity. Jack London publishes The Call of the Wild. Russo-Japanese War (see FF III adventures). Pavlov wins Nobel Prize.
1904	Madame Butterfly. Peter Pan. The Cherry Orchard. First intelligence tests.
1905	Russian fleet destroyed by the Japanese. General strike and failed revolution in Russia (see FF III adventures). Sinn Fein (Irish nationalist movement) founded. Thermionic valve. Special Theory of Relativity.
1906	Dreyfus pardoned. H.M.S. Dreadnought launched. San Francisco earthquake kills 700. The Forsyte Saga.
1907	Rasputin gains influence at the court of Nicholas II. Triode valve. Tungsten light bulbs.
1908	Earthquake kills 80,000 in Italy. Tunguska fireball. Model T Ford. Boy Scout movement. First newsreel. The Wind in the Willows.
1909	Peary reaches the North Pole. Bleriot flies the Channel.
1910	Cure for syphilis. Rodin casts The Thinker. Edward VII dies, George V crowned. Most of the Carnacki stories (FF II) published. Anarchist crimes in London (FFV).
1911	Siege of Sidney Street (FFV). Tibet declares its independence from China. Admundsen reaches the South Pole ahead of Robert Scott. Rutherford formulates theory of atomic structure. Geiger counter. Gyrocompass. Seaplane. Chinese revolution. Mona Lisa stolen.
1912	Scott reaches the South Pole. Titanic sinks. Continental drift. Piltdown man discovered. Tarzan of the Apes.
1913	Bohr publishes his atomic theory. Lawrence publishes Sons and Lovers.
1914	Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo; First World War (Known as the Great War until WW2) begins.

World Leaders 1890-1914

APPENDIX - Units and Dates

Units

1 inch (in) is roughly 2.5 centimetres The most commonly used subdivisions of an inch were halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds, and sixty-fourths. Engineers may prefer metric divisions down to a thousandth of an inch, but they are rarely used elsewhere. 1 foot (ft) is 12in is roughly 30 centimetres On plans feet and inches are often indicated by single and double quotes; for example, 5' 4" = 5ft 4in. 1 yard (yd) is 3ft is 36in is roughly 0.9 metre 1 mile (mi) is 1760yds is roughly 1.6 kilometres 1 fathom is 6ft or 1.8 metres, usually a nautical measurement 1 acre is 4840 square yards, roughly 0.4 hectares 1 horsepower is roughly 0.75 Kilowatt

1 ounce (oz) is roughly 28 grams 1 pound (lb) is 16 oz is roughly 450 grams 1 ton (English or "long" ton) is almost exactly 1 metric ton. 1 ton (American or "short" ton) is roughly 0.9 metric tons. 1 pint (pt) is roughly 0.45 litres 1 quart (qt) is roughly 0.9 litres 1 gallon (UK gallon) is roughly 4.5 litres 1 gallon (US gallon) is roughly 3.8 litres Zero degrees Fahrenheit is approximately -18 degrees Celsius 32 degrees Fahrenheit is zero Celsius 212 degrees Fahrenheit is one hundred degrees Celsius Body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit

There are numerous conversion programs available for most computers.

Dates

• British - 11/2/93 = 11th February 1993
• American - 3/4/55 = March 4th 1955

APPENDIX - Children and Animals

Dogs As Adventurers

APPENDIX - Adding Melodrama

Forgotten Futures VI introduced ideas for adventures and campaigns run in the style of Victorian melodrama. The concepts discussed include the classic stereotypes of Hero, Anti-Hero, Villain, and Romantic Lead, all run as player characters, various traits that can be used to make an interestingly melodramatic character, and staging hints.

What follows is a summary of the ideas in FF VI, which may be useful for a more flamboyant campaign. Some ideas from the article Accidents of Birth (on the FF CD-ROM) are also included. Many examples of dialogue and source material and adventure ideas have been cut for brevity.

Melodrama can be used in many ways in a role-playing campaign. Any adventure may have melodramatic elements added; this usually works, although there is a danger of taking them to the point of self-parody. The Ganymedan Menace (FF II) is in this genre.

A more fundamental shift is to run an adventure as a melodrama, using all the conventions of the genre; elaborate death traps, characters speaking in "asides" to an imaginary audience, mesmerism, sudden bursts of song and music, and so forth. Much of this section relates to this style of play. It should be mentioned that there may be problems with a long-term campaign in this genre; unless you favour a serial "Perils of Pauline" style, with new villainy threatening the Hero and Romantic Lead each adventure, any problem that initially confronts them will eventually be defeated. One way to handle this is a campaign in which characters go from one role to another, as actors go from one role to another; even if they are killed in one adventure, they will return in the next.

Another useful ideas is "doubling"; each player runs two or more characters, not one, who are never "on stage" simultaneously, and all actions must take place on stage. For example, one player might run the Villain and the Kindly Doctor, another the Romantic Lead and the Villain's ally, the Sinister Housekeeper. The referee should organise the plot so that they are never quite in the same room at the same time in a given scene. There are several ramifications to this idea; for example, the Villain might notice a resemblence to the Kindly Doctor and use a disguise to take his place. It sounds, and is, a little complicated, but it works very well if done right. See FF VI for an adventure using this idea.

If none of these approaches appeal, characters in an otherwise "normal" campaign might be given reasons to act on stage; perhaps to unmask a spy or a murderer amongst the cast, or for some other purpose. In this case one or another of the theatrical scripts in FF VI could be an excellent resource for the adventure.

Heroes

He came down the gangway... ...with a light step in the summer sunlight, with a soft grey hat canted rakishly over one eye, and a raincoat slung carelessly over his shoulder. There was death in his pocket, and peril of an even deadlier kind under his arm...
Leslie Charteris: The Simon Templar Foundation

Optionally, referees might prepare a theme tune for Heroes, to be played whenever they go into action. Try especially various Gilbert & Sullivan themes, and Sousa marches such as Liberty Bell (the Monty Python theme) and Hail To The Spirit of Liberty (the Doc Savage theme).

Anti-Heroes

My blood froze. My heart sickened. My brain whirled. How I had liked this villain! How I had admired him! How my liking and admiration must turn to loathing and disgust. I waited for the change. I longed to feel it in my heart. But -- I longed and I waited in vain!
The Ides of March - E.W. Hornung

Romantic Leads

"Oh, no! my father; the enthusiasm of knowledge, the applauses of the powerful, may for a time, have weaned him from us but my own kind, gentle, Frankenstein, can never be inhuman."
Frankenstein (1826 play)

Romantic Leads should also have a theme tune; regardless of the instrument, it must be played romantically. Violin and piano pieces are appropriate; there should be sad overtones.

Villains

"...He has had reason to know that I am pitting my wits against his, and he flatters himself that so far he has got the better of me. That is because I am drawing him on. I am maturing a plan that will make him a poor and a very miserable man at one and the same time..."
A Bid for Fortune [Guy Boothby 1895]

"...Presently, when all is complete I shall press the lever, the machinery will be set in motion, and you will find yourself being slowly and surely ground into powder. Then you will hand over what I want, and be sorry you ever thought to baulk Dr. Nikola!"
ibid; later in the same speech

Everybody Else

Most of the other characters in a melodrama are there in a supporting role, or as comic relief. Adventurers taking any of these roles are generated normally. With the exception of henchmen and dogs, any of the following may be required to sing or dance if it will enhance the "atmosphere" of the melodrama.

• Peasants wear smocks or 'rude garments' (made of linen or leather, sewn together badly), and speak variants on the Mummerset dialect, a fake country accent often found in bad detective stories;
    "Arr, it be warm weather for the toime of year"
    "No, sorr, I can't say that oi have seen a monster today, sorr."
    "You're not from these parts, are ye, sorr."
  It is impossible to overdo this accent; the more grotesque it is, the more 'authentic'! Typical possessions might include a pitchfork, a flaming torch, or both, some sort of firearm (very rarely used), or a shepherd's crook. In the most lavish productions peasants appear accompanied by flocks of sheep, horse-drawn ploughs, and other evidence of their rural activities. Foreign peasants speak with appropriate accents:
    "Si, it be warm weather for the toime of year, Signore"
  and wear traditional native costume, but are otherwise identical to their British cousins.
    NPC peasants should appear to have no useful skills whatever; this may not be completely true (for example, they may know of old legends), but for the most part they are present simply to stand around in the background, drink large quantities of beer, die horribly, accidentally let the Villain escape, besiege a ruined castle with flaming torches and pitchforks, or join in an occasional country song or dance.
    Sinister peasants are rare, if used the referee should try to avoid the temptation to emulate sources such as The Wicker Man. Unless they are in the pay of the Villain, peasants tend to be friendly or at worst suspicious, not actively hostile. Bandits are sometimes disguised as peasants; generally they are an independent nuisance, not pawns of the Villain.

• Gypsies are usually presented as a romantic musical subspecies of peasant, and behave as such, but there is always a chance that they are in the pay of a Villain (see Dracula etc.), especially in Transylvania and other foreign parts. If so, they will generally skulk in the undergrowth, communicate by cunning whistles and bird calls, and help to beat up unwary friends of the Hero. They usually have the Thief skill, often applied to poaching, Brawling, Melee Weapon, etc.
    Gypsy mystics and fortune tellers abound, usually making eerily predictive but unfortunately cryptic pronouncements:
    "Soon your life... will be in... great danger."
    "The fat man is looking for the bird..."
  If there seems to be any chance that a prediction will be useful, someone will generally murder the gypsy before it is complete. If possible the Villain will frame the Hero for the death.
    Beautiful gypsy maidens will generally attempt to seduce the Hero, in an effort to enrage their gypsy lovers, and use flamenco dancing, eerie gypsy songs, and other wiles to lure the Hero (or a friend) into danger. They (and their boyfriends) are often armed with knives, and adventurers wishing to avoid trouble would do well to stay out of their way. Some beautiful gypsies are also fortune tellers or mystics.

• Policemen are a more variable group. At their worst they are bumbling bunglers with no useful skills, often present to confuse a situation or arrest the wrong person. This role is often given a comic emphasis. At their best they are shrewd detectives and/or stern guardians of the law. Sometimes an apparent policeman is a disguised Hero or Villain, or in the Villain's pay.
    Bumbling and comic policemen are usually portrayed as having a fairly relaxed attitude to the law; poaching and other minor offences are often ignored, and they can usually be distracted by the offer of a drink or a smoke. In a modern piece they will usually appear riding or wheeling a bicycle. Often they will contribute a comic monologue or song. They can usually be tricked. Gamekeepers are also often found in a police-like role.
    Typical dialogue for a comic policeman (usually in a pronounced Mummerset accent):
    "Hello, hello, what's all this then?"
    "No licence sir? Oh, that type of licence!" (pockets coin)
    "Locked in me own handcuffs. There's a predicament!"
  Efficient policemen are the law personified. They are usually portrayed as young, efficient, and keen, and may be the Hero of a story. They are almost always from Scotland Yard, and speak with an upper-class accent. For instance:
    "So at 11.15 p.m. you were all gathered in the library..."
    "This gun has fired several shots."
    "One of the people in this room is the murderer..."
  Excellent examples of this type of policeman can be found in most novels by Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, or in the play The Mousetrap by Christie.
    As well as the obvious Detective and combat skills, both classes of policeman spend a lot of time out of doors, especially in rural areas, and it's entirely reasonable to include Science (Astronomy) and Scholar (British Flora and Fauna) amongst their skills. It's amazing how often characters will try to fob off the law with excuses involving star gazing or bird watching...

• Soldiers share many of the characteristics of policeman, and their roles are almost interchangeable. They almost always appear in large groups and are usually under the command of an officer or NCO. Officers can be Heroes or (rarely) Villains, NCOs are usually present as comic relief. In some melodramas soldiers serve the Villain and spend time searching for the Hero or Romantic Lead, executing secondary characters, etc. They often appear or depart off-stage singing a cheery martial song. Typical dialogue:
    "Squad... Atten-shun!"
    "Resistance is useless!" (always good for a cheap laugh)
    "Halt! Who goes there? Friend or foe?"
    "Fix bayonets!"
  Officers have upper-class accents, NCOs and other ranks are typically of Cockney or peasant stock, with appropriate accents.

• Sailors almost always appear en masse, often singing sea shanties as they perform some nautical task. Their use is generally confined to shipboard dramas, in which the Hero and possibly the Villain are serving Naval officers. Apart from their dialogue, sailors are almost identical to soldiers in behaviour, accents, etc.:
    "Sail on the starboard bow!"
    "Signal him to heave to or we open fire."
    "Haul anchor!"
  Sailors may also appear as pirates, in which case their most noticeable traits are usually seething resentment of their officers, lecherousness, drunkenness, and casual brutality. Sailors employed by a true Villain (eg. Captain Nemo) will be as smart and efficient as any naval crew, and devoted to their work. Presumably the pay and working conditions are better...

• Servants abound in melodrama. They usually have a comic role and are often used to pass on misinformation. They are generally of peasant stock and speak with a Mummerset accent or an appropriate dialect. Very rarely a servant is ultimately the Hero or Romantic Lead or a disguised Villain or henchman. Regardless of their roles, all servants have very similar lines, but a Villain's servant will insert a few meaningful pauses, or omit explanations to add an air of mystery. For example, a comic servant might use one of the following phrases:
    "Oh, the master never drinks wine, sir, says it gives him gout."
    "Did you ring, Sir?"
    "Sorry, the master's not in, he's gone down to the village."
  But a sinister servant would say:
   "The master never drinks... wine."
   "You rang... Sir?"
   "The master is not... available... at present."
  More examples of Sinister Servant dialogue can be found above, numerous examples of the comic style are in the plays accompanying FF VI

• Friends of the Hero are best run as player characters. If NPCs, they lend a helping hand in everyday affairs, but should not be used as cannon fodder or reinforcements for the adventurers. Basically, a friend's role is to be helpful when the Hero is drunk, ill, injured, short of money, needs a best man, or is otherwise indisposed, to be an infernal nuisance when the adventurer is busy, to pass on useful information, and to misunderstand vital instructions. From time to time the activities of friends should impinge on adventures; for example, a letter from a friend visiting Ruritania might suggest a visit to this remote Central European nation, even though the friend has been and gone by the time the adventurer arrives. Unless there is a really good reason, friends should not be killed casually; they are more useful in a supportive role, or as potential victims of the Villain, than as corpses.
    Useful dialogue for these friends obviously depends on the situation; for instance:
    "I say, I'm sure there's someone hiding in those bushes!"
    "This Matabeleland business looks dashed odd."
    "Don't worry about me, old boy, it's only a flesh wound."
    "Don't pull which lever? This one?" [pulls it]

• Friends of the Romantic Lead are generally present to reflect her beauty, kindness, good nature, etc., to inadvertently betray some secret to the Villain, and to giggle whenever the Hero is mentioned. On rare occasions they have good advice to offer. Occasionally they are murdered or suffer some other horrible fate in the Romantic Lead's place. Usually they have no relevant skills and are totally expendable. They say things like:
    "That dress is lovely!"
    "Oh, I do envy you so!"
    "But have you told your mama?"
    "No... no... let go... urgh!"

• Relatives of the Romantic Lead are usually victims, people to be murdered, blackmailed, or thrown out into the snow by the Villain and/or his henchmen. Parents may be blackmailed or tricked into making marriage arrangements that will ultimately be disastrous for the Romantic Lead; brothers are usually wastrels who must be protected from the consequences of their folly, insane, drunkards, or cripples who depend on their sister for support; sisters are usually invalids. Dialogue obviously depends on the situation and the relationship. For example:
    "I'm only a burden to you now...."
    "Far be it from me to complain, but..."
    "Unless you marry him the papers will go to the police!"
    "Give me some money, I need a drop of gin."
    "We're ruined!"
  While other characters presumably have relatives (see, especially, Villains and their daughters, above), they are generally less likely to become involved in the plot.

• Doctors and Lawyers are the good fairies of melodrama (unless they ultimately turn out to be Villains); they seem to do nothing, except cadge an occasional glass of sherry, but appear after the Villain has been defeated to reveal some essential fact that (usually) benefits the Hero and Romantic Lead. For instance:
    "These papers are conclusive proof that you are the rightful heir to his late Lordship's estate."
    "Sir, I write to inform you that another will has been found..."
    "These tests prove you are not related; you are free to wed."
    "The crisis has passed, and she will soon recover..."
  Villainous Doctors and Lawyers often pretend to be friendly while weaving elaborate snares for the Hero and Romantic Lead. Doctors Nikola and Fu Manchu aside, they are usually minor Villains, or henchmen of some major Villain, and their plans will seldom range far beyond various forms of blackmail and embezzlement or the odd murder or two. For example:
    "I'm sorry, sir, there is no cure. Perhaps we might discuss the endowment of a charity to study your condition..."
    "I fear that your father's debts must be repaid, my dear; unless, of course, we can come to some sort of - ahem [twirls moustache] - arrangement..."
    "One step closer, sir, and the will shall be in the fire - and of course the earlier document leaves everything to your cousin..."
    "So I'm afraid your little brother will die unless he has the operation - a shame that you have no money to pay for his treatment. But there are alternatives to money..."

• Children might seem to have no place in an adventurer's life, except as a nuisance, but they are often useful as a source of motivation. They can be kidnapped, lost, left to die in the snow, trapped in burning buildings, slaughtered by a horrible monster, fall ill, or innocently betray the Hero's hiding place or interrupt a tender romantic moment. They give the Romantic Lead a chance to show her tenderness, maternal instinct, etc. Villains may find them useful as innocent pawns or bait in their evil schemes.
    Note: If a player runs a child in a game where the other players are running adult characters, it is advisable to set up a few ground rules; for example, an agreement that the child will not be so obnoxious as to provoke homicidal rage in any sentient life form, while the adult adventurers (except perhaps the Villain) will behave like responsible adults and try to keep the little darling alive. Some suitable dialogue for NPC children:
    "Wow - that was a long kiss!"
    "Gosh - that's a long way doooooow" [splat]
    "Please, will I be well soon? [tubercular cough]"
    "Help - let me go! Let me go!"

• Dogs and other pets must be either cute, of near-human intelligence, or both. Rats, snakes, alligators, piranha, tarantulas, and the other "less attractive" members of the animal kingdom are best left to Villains. This may be regarded as speciest (and the author's snakes would undoubtedly agree if they understood the question), but cats and dogs are somewhat brighter than most of the above, and more generally acknowledged to be cute, especially in melodrama, unless they are being sinister.
    Villains are often associated with cats, but rarely have dogs, other than guard dogs and Petty Villains' lurchers. Some rules for nine-lived cats as player characters appear in FF VIII; use the rules in the previous appendix for dogs. Unusually intelligent horses and ponies are sometimes useful, mandatory for any adventure with a Wild West or Royal Canadian Mounted Police background; generate them with BODY of 5 (pony) to 8 (stallion), with 12-BODY points available for the other characteristics and skills; for example, a BODY 8 stallion gets 4 points to spend on MIND, SOUL, and skills; a BODY 5 pony gets 7 points. All skills available to dogs can be taken, apart from Riding (except possibly for VERY small circus ponies) and Detective (sense of smell and eyesight aren't good enough).
    A pet's function in a melodrama is to get help (usually by barking, sometimes by carrying a message slipped into the collar), trip up the villain in a crucial fight scene, chew through ropes and other bonds, etc. Trained animals may be able to do more if it is dramatically appropriate; for example, bark or tap with their hooves to indicate the direction taken by the Villain, the number of people who have passed, etc. Unless you are running a very strange campaign these animals should not be able to talk.
    If players seem to be placing too much reliance on animals, it may be advisable to require a MIND roll for the pet to carry out its instructions. For example "Get help" (any human) might be Difficulty 3; "Get Uncle George" (a specific person known to the animal) Difficulty 5, "Get the Police" (a concept that is unlikely to be understood) Difficulty 7. Anything else, e.g. "Bite through the rope", "Fetch the keys from that hook" should be rated according to the likelihood of the animal understanding the instruction, and any training it may have been given. In an adventure where this rule was used the dog concerned returned with a stick and a dead pigeon before fetching help.

APPENDIX - It's a Kind of MAGIC...

Forgotten Futures VIII introduced rules for magic, a new MAGIC characteristic, and a new Wizardry skill, plus rules for generating characters as children with magical powers. They work well in their original context, but poorly for designing adult characters. This appendix contains a more general and somewhat abridged version of this material.

For non-magical campaigns continue to use the standard BODY, MIND and SOUL. If characters are subsequently used in a magical setting they are recorded as having MAGIC [0]; this would apparently imply that they are very vulnerable to magical attacks, but in practice the other characteristics can be used to resist them.

FF IV: The Carnacki Cylinders also dealt with magic, in the context of supernatural detectives. To use these rules with FF IV characters simply convert their Scholar (Magic) skill to Wizardry, and give them MAGIC at Wizardry/2 (round UP). Anyone who doesn't have Scholar (Magic) should be given MAGIC [0]. Note that most spells simply won't work in the Carnacki universe, where magic is used almost entirely for defensive purposes and summoning and communicating with supernatural entities.

Depending on the circumstances of the campaign magic may be a neutral force, good, or evil. In most of what follows it's assumed to be neutral, a tool responsive to the will of its user. Reliability is another matter; most Victorian and Edwardian sources seem to show magic as devastatingly powerful while simultaneously whimsical in its effects. Spells never work exactly as planned, although they may come close. The examples below hopefully reflect this.

Magical Basics

The basic process of magic is simple; each spell attacks its target using the magician's Wizardry, with Effect equivalent to the magician's MAGIC. The target might be BODY (especially if the magician wants to harm or transform something), MIND (to create an illusion), SOUL (for hypnosis etc., or to convert something alive to an inanimate object) or MAGIC (to overcome another spell or magical power, or to cast a spell on another magician). Often two or more characteristics are attacked, if so they should be added together. Sometimes more characteristics can be added to the attack; for example, for telepathy SOUL might be added to MAGIC. MAGIC can also be used to boost another characteristic or a skill.

Optionally, if the roll to attack is a 12 something bad happens; the spell backfires in some way, hits the wrong target, or otherwise malfunctions.

More MAGIC Magicians often need much more MAGIC than they have. There are several possible sources, all with disadvantages:   Wands and magical talismans add to MAGIC and may reduce the time needed to cast spells, but sometimes have an agenda of their own, or just exist to cause trouble. They may be usable as often as the magician wants to cast a spell, or have some limitation such as a maximum number of uses, or an unwelcome side effect. This is one way that a magician with MAGIC [0] can cast spells. Common forms include rings, daggers and other weapons, books, amulets, pointy hats, and of course staffs with a knob on the end™. Some places also seem to have this effect, adding to the MAGIC of spells; ancient stone circles, tombs, temples and fairy rings are particularly likely to have this property. Wizards may go to great lengths to find such places, especially if they plan powerful permanent spells or magical defences. This is usually not good news for the neighbours...   Magicians can pool their power in a spell; this lets them add their MAGIC together but increases the time needed to cast it. There is unfortunately no guarantee that participants won't use their own MAGIC to overcome the nominal leader of the ceremony and change the nature or target of the spell. Witches are especially likely to work this way, especially in trios. The magician leading the spell should usually be the most powerful. Some evil magicians may be able to tap the MAGIC of an unwilling victim in such a ceremony; this usually has bad side effects.   Familiars can lend their MAGIC to a spell, and can be used as a "communications relay" for the magician, reducing the Difficulty of spells cast at a distance. In fiction the most common are cats, but many other species seem possible.   Worshippers are a useful source for religious magicians, using spells which draw on the SOUL of the worshippers. The magician adds 1 MAGIC per worshipper present, regardless of their SOUL or MAGIC, but the power goes as soon as the ceremony ends, time is again prolonged, and the worshippers are usually exhausted after the ceremony.   Human or animal Sacrifice lets the magician add a victim's MAGIC (or SOUL/2) to his own MAGIC. The duration is usually a day or two. The magician needs MAGIC [1] or better, or an external source of MAGIC, to make this work. Magicians who specialise in this type of spell are usually called Necromancers, and are feared and shunned.

All spells should have a basic duration; the spell-casters MAGIC in days (or in hours or minutes for unusually spectacular feats); for unusual duration add Difficulty as follows:

Beyond these guidelines each magician, and each work of magic, is unique.

Magical Techniques

Spell books and training schools apart, there is no such thing as a "standard" spell or magician; everyone has their own path to power, and often it may be very different to the magician next door. One magician might turn a prince into a frog by an elaborate ritual, another by clicking his heels. What follow is very much a do-it-yourself system, and referees should be ready to make up most of the details as they go along; some examples of the most common spells follow, with some modifiers that might be useful. Everything in this section is optional.

• Communication seems to be the easiest magical power, according to most sources; anyone with any trace of magical talent talks to foreigners, animals, plants, and inanimate objects, and gets useful answers. This generally seems so easy that it's pointless putting numbers here, but if you want to make people roll for it, use MAGIC with the following Difficulty:

  Language	Difficulty
  Any other human language regardless of origin, most supernatural creatures, pets	2
  Any domesticated animal (cows, horses, chickens etc.)	3
  Wild animals including birds, fish, etc., toys and other favourite objects.	4
  Insects and other invertebrates, plants, railway engines and other man-made objects	5
  Rocks, clouds, the wind, the sea, bacteria, etc.	6

  If used at all these numbers should only be guidelines, and may be modified if (for example) the creature or object is making an effort to talk to the magician. All sources seem to agree that practice improves this ability, to the point at which your enjoyment of a nice scone may be spoiled by involuntarily hearing the death-agonies of the yeast organisms as they cook. See e.g. Diane Duane's So You Want To Be A Wizard and sequels.

  Add to the Difficulty if communication would normally be prevented or takes place at a distance. For example, if the magician is bound and gagged but wants to use telepathy to contact a friend and ask for rescue, the referee might make the Difficulty 3 for communication under impossible circumstances plus 2 for distance (use the distance modifiers listed for clairvoyance below), total Difficulty 5. Optionally SOUL can be added to MAGIC for attempts at telepathy, to a maximum of 10.

  Many non-human intelligent creatures can communicate without the use of magic, by the normal Linguist skill or by having a human language as their native tongue; for example, any magical creature resident in Britain probably speaks some variation of English (or Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Old English, etc.)

• Clairvoyance is the ability to know what's going on at a distance, in a place that can't be seen by other means, or in the past or future. Difficulty is based on distance and time; as a rough guide:

  Distance	Difficulty	Time	Difficulty
  10 miles	1	A day in the future *	2
  100 miles	2	Two days in the future *	4
  1000 miles	3	Three days in the future *	8 etc.
  Anywhere in the world	4	A year in the past	1
  The moon	5	Ten years in the past	2
  Anywhere in the solar system	8	A century in the past	3 etc.
  Another universe	10	Dark / underwater / underground	+2
  * Seeing the future is much more difficult than seeing the past, since there is an observer effect which means that viewing the future often changes it; see the notes on time travel below.

  Difficulty rises if the power is being opposed by another magician's MAGIC, falls if the target wants to be observed and adds MAGIC to the spell.

• Materialisation of objects (such as an ice-cream cone or a pair of billiard balls) is tricky. Ignoring Einstein, who would say that this requires ridiculously large amounts of energy, the basic Difficulty is the BODY of the object to be materialised, plus its MIND, SOUL and MAGIC (if any), multiplied by the number of objects to be created. Calculating this can be tricky; for example, creating two billiard balls (BODY [1], no MIND, SOUL or MAGIC) would be Difficulty 2, since the balls are two distinct objects, but the whole set of balls in their frame can be visualised as a single whole object with BODY [1], and thus created with Difficulty 1! Some more examples:

  To create a ton or so of gold (BODY [20], no MIND, SOUL, or MAGIC) would be Difficulty 20 if it is visualised as a huge heap of gold. If it was visualised as separate coins the Difficulty would be 1 per coin, totalling several hundred for the whole stack!

  To create a kitten (BODY [1], MIND [1], SOUL [1], MAGIC [1]) for a few days would be Difficulty 4. To create a kitten to last for centuries would raise the cost to 6, higher if the spell is to be proof against standard magic-breaking events such as the touch of cold iron. It's easier to buy one at the pet shop...

  A gateway to another world (BODY [6], MAGIC [8]) would be Difficulty 14 if the world is already known, considerably more if it required a feat of imagination.

  Materialisation can be worked in reverse, to destroy something - the Difficulty is again the total of all characteristics - and especially gifted magicians can cast a short-duration destructive spell on themselves (or anyone or anything else) to vanish in one place and reappear in another. The Difficulty is the total of all characteristics plus modifiers for duration and distance as above. Obviously the results of a fumble are likely to be fairly horrible - think "transporter accident" plus The Fly...

• Just as common is transformation, changing objects from one form to another; lead into gold, a prince into a frog, wood into fire. It is also used to make objects larger or smaller (and thus change BODY) without otherwise affecting them. Ignoring Einstein again, the basic Difficulty is the sum of the change in each of the characteristics, plus the original BODY of the object. For example:

  To change a BODY [4] prince into a BODY [1] frog will be at least Difficulty 7 (10 if the spell is to last centuries); a change of form affecting BODY [4], then a change in BODY from 4 to 1. the result will be a frog that still has human intelligence etc., removing these characteristics makes the spell even more difficult. If the prince has any MAGIC it will oppose the spell, adding to the Difficulty. Often transformed humans gain magical powers as a side-effect of transformation - as a rough guideline, give such characters any BODY, MIND, or SOUL they've lost as MAGIC, with the proviso that it can't be used to reverse the spell; our prince would gain at least 3 MAGIC.

  To change yourself (BODY [2], MIND [2], SOUL [2], MAGIC [4] into a BODY [1] fish with other characteristics unchanged would be Difficulty 3; since it is a willing transformation your MAGIC does not oppose the spell. Reduce the Difficulty to 2 if the spell will only last a couple of hours, to 1 if it's just for a couple of minutes.

  To change a frog into a gold statuette of a frog would require a change of form affecting BODY [1], and the removal of MIND [1] and SOUL [1], total Difficulty 3. Add 3 Difficulty to make the spell permanent.

  To set a log on fire is a transformation which will destroy BODY, so the Difficulty is the BODY of the log plus the eventual loss of BODY; in other words, double the BODY.

  To change lead into gold is a change in form, but not a change in BODY or any other characteristic, so the difficulty is just the BODY of the lead. Referees may choose to halve the Difficulty of such "easy" transformations.

  Optionally, magicians who transform themselves into animal forms must beware of a subtle danger; the risk that they will come to believe that they are the creature whose form has been assumed, and prolong the spell until it becomes permanent and gradually erases the magician's personality. Roll MIND plus SOUL against the number of days since the spell was cast: If there is a failure 1 MIND or 1 SOUL is lost, on a roll of twelve 1D6/2 MIND or SOUL is lost. Repeat until there is nothing left that isn't natural to the animal. The only thing that reveals the truth is the trace of MAGIC that keeps the spell working. If the spell is reversed MIND and SOUL slowly return; roll every day, on a 2 one point is recovered. A full cure may take months. Note that this doesn't apply to people who have been changed into animal form by someone else's spell; the duration and effects of the spell are set when it is cast.

  If any characteristic is changed to zero it is usually a temporary effect, and will be revert when the spell is undone. Exactly what happens to MIND and SOUL during this process isn't clear; since they are usually restored they presumably exist in some form, but no thought or feelings should be experienced until the transformation ends.

  Optionally people or creatures turned into inanimate objects might retain their MIND, SOUL, and even MAGIC, which can be detected by someone with the Medium skill or MAGIC. If this option is used the Difficulty of the transformation should be unchanged because it will still be necessary to bind these characteristics to the will of the magician. This could be one of the ways that evil magicians create some of the magical objects described in the next section. If the object is destroyed before the spell can be reversed the SOUL is released and the victim dies.

• Some magicians seem to be able to hurl bolts of lightning, fire, ice, small stones and other physical attacks at their foes. While it looks spectacular, this is essentially an attack of Wizardry versus the target's BODY (and MAGIC if any) plus or minus a modifier to Difficulty as below, with the magician's MAGIC as the Effect. Some examples:

  Attack type	A	B	C	Notes
  Lightning	B/F	F+KO	I+KO	Injuries are burns, Difficulty +3
  Fire	B	F	I	Injuries are burns, Difficulty +2
  Ice * / cold	B	F	F/I	Injuries are frostbite
  Stones *	B	F	I/I+KO	Injuries are bruises and/or cuts
  Water / Small frogs / fish *	-	B	B	Victim suffers embarassment or discomfort, Difficulty -1
  * These attacks involve the momentary materialisation and destruction of physical objects, but leave no physical evidence apart from cold, dampness, slime, a smell of fish, etc.

  To Boost characteristics or skills Difficulty is simply the change; for example, to boost your strength and lift a boulder you might need to boost BODY from 2 to 6 - the Difficulty would be 4. This power only works while the character is concentrating on it - for example, by thinking "I must be strong" - and actually using the characteristic. It wears off as soon as the character relaxes. Only one characteristic (BODY, MIND, or SOUL) can be boosted, related skills are not boosted. The characteristic is used normally in all respects once this change has been made. Changing BODY in this way does not change a character's size; that requires transformation as above. Skills may be improved in the same way.

  Healing is the one type of magic that usually seems to be permanent; if a rationale is needed, say that curing an injury is like undoing a spell and restoring the patient's body to normal. The Difficulty of the spell is the recovery Difficulty, as in the Forgotten Futures rules. Usually the patient recovers immediately, and since the spell restores the pre-injury condition there is no mark left. The means by which a cure is administered can be childishly simple - "I'll kiss it better" - or an adjunct to more conventional medical treatment. Optionally there should be the same chance of a magical cure going wrong as any other type of healing; if the spell fails, the wound will take longer than usual to heal.

  Illusions seem to be part of most magicians' repertoire. The magician's MIND and MAGIC attack the observer's MIND (and MAGIC if any). Illusions normally end in a few minutes as the victim notices inconsistencies, but with extra Difficulty they can be made to last longer. They can also be cast on a place or object as a temporary or permanent effect, "attacking" the MIND and MAGIC of anyone who looks at it, but this also adds to Difficulty. Normally illusions only target sight, add +1 Difficulty per sense to target hearing, smell, etc. The magician can't see the illusion, but must imagine it in all its detail. Usually an illusion won't affect a camera, the spell is targeted specifically at the mind. Whether mirrors are any defence is a matter for the referee.

  Invisibility is one example of an illusion, usually affecting sight only. Generally evidence of the presence of an invisible person is not concealed; footmarks and other tracks are left behind, there may also be a scent trail that can be followed, fingerprints, etc. Invisibility and other illusions generated by an object (such as a cloak) usually only apply to the object itself; for example, someone who is made invisible by a cloak or a ring (see e.g. The Hobbit) may still have a visible shadow. Such objects usually have power equivalent to the MAGIC and Wizardry of the person who cast the spell on them.

  To fly the magician must overcome BODY to hover, with Difficulty +1 per 10 MPH. The spell normally lasts a few minutes, with difficulty rising for longer durations as above. To make an unwilling victim fly overcome that person's BODY and MAGIC, if any. If a willing subject wanted to fly their MAGIC would be subtracted from the Difficulty, not added. Possible results for a success are:

  1. Flight at two thirds the desired speed
  2. Flight at desired speed
  3. Flight at 1½ times the desired speed

  Another way to fly is to be transformed to a winged human form then fly naturally. Even with wings some magical help is needed - human bodies simply aren't built for flight - but the Difficulty of flying can be halved. See also Transformation into animals, above.

  Mind Control is the most sinister spell discussed here. Many magicians and some magical devices are capable of influencing the thoughts of others, causing personality changes or taking control of thoughts. Illusions are a limited version of this power, and relatively harmless; mind control can be much more dangerous. However, it must usually be accomplished gradually, much like hypnosis; use MIND plus Wizardry against the MIND plus MAGIC of the target - if the roll is made successfully for a number of rounds equivalent to the MIND of the target, the victim's mind can be controlled. The degree of success is determined by a roll of the magician's MIND plus MAGIC against the victim's MIND plus MAGIC.

  1. Limited success: the victim must be led to believe that there is a rational reason to do whatever the magician wishes, and will not perform any act which would seriously conflict with normal behaviour (e.g. someone who wouldn't normally steal or use violence still won't).
  2. Success: the victim will do anything required, provided that it does not involve suicide or a major conflict with normal behaviour (e.g. someone who wouldn't normally steal or use violence will steal, but probably won't use violence)
  3. Total Success: the victim will do absolutely anything, up to and including suicide.

  With appropriate Difficulty modifiers (and more time) this spell can be used at a distance, by telepathy, and across species barriers. The magician can make things easier by aiming to trigger an emotion, such as greed or anger, rather than precisely controlling behaviour.

  Curses seem to use combinations of spells, often adding time delays and unlikely cancellation conditions. In many cases it seems possible that these conditions are actually predictions, things that are going to happen anyway if given a little nudge by magic. Player characters should not usually be allowed to use curses; if they insist, make it clear that they have to do all the hard work of ensuring that they have the desired effect.

Many other spells can be imagined or have appeared in fiction. Hopefully these examples will help referees to develop more of their own as the need arises.

External Magic

External sources of magical power are common in fantasy, and have advantages for the referee. Since their powers are defined by the referee players can rarely be sure of their capabilities or limitations, and if necessary the referee can "bend" them to meet the needs of the scenario. It's rarely necessary to use special rules to describe their effects.

They generally fall into one or more of four broad categories; wishing machines, a term borrowed from an "article" by the late John Brunner, Galactic Consumer Reports: Twin Tube Wishing Machines, transport systems such as magic carpets, which may also have some "wishing machine" functions, "gadgets" such as enchanted swords that have limited functions, and magical beings which can either use magic or are innately magical. The first three terms often include creatures that can use these powers, such as genies.

• Wishing machines always have some degree of intelligence, even if they are inanimate objects. They can alter reality, usually on receipt of a command prefaced by the words "I wish" (also, if you're feeling extra mean, "I want" and other alternatives). It really is that simple; if a child says "I wish I had a million billion ice creams." the whole world will be hip-deep in the stuff - imagine the child buried under megatons of ice cream, the pollution, and the smell as it goes rancid a couple of days later... Fortunately there are usually loopholes to stop global dairy deluges and other catastrophes, most typically some of the following limits, some of which can also be applied to other magical devices and beings:

  The wish can only be activated by a complex ritual, prolonged flattery, or persuasion.

  An upper physical limit on the size or complexity of the wish. In the example above the "million billion ice creams" might be microscopic ones, or even individual molecules, and the great ice cream flood suddenly becomes a quart or two of raspberry ripple. The rules for materialisation spells in the previous section may be useful, if only as a guideline.

  No wish will cause immediate harm to anyone - however, the consequences of a wish may be very dangerous. For instance, in the ice-cream example above the child would be safely on top of the ice-cream mountain rather than underneath it - but would soon start to sink...

  There are a finite number of wishes per day or wishes in total, as in The Monkey's Paw and most other "three wishes" stories. Referees are strongly advised to make this limitation apply to the whole group of adventurers, rather than giving each person three wishes!

  At a certain time, or after a certain number of hours, the spell will come undone (the Psammead, Cinderella's fairy Godmother, etc.)

  A condition or command that will undo the spell; a good example appears in the original version of the film Bedazzled. Usually undoing a wish erases all of its effects, and removes it from the memory of everyone except those who made the wish.

  A limitation imposed by a previous wish.

  Wishes can only be granted if they will further a specific goal (e.g. vengeance, the course of true love, etc.)

  Wishes can only be granted if what is wished for could conceivably happen, however unlikely it might be. This rules out some of the more extreme examples of magic, such as wings - unless you want to acquire them by some extraordinary non-magical means, such as being bitten by a radioactive sparrow - but makes it more likely that magic will have permanent effects. For example, the only way to give someone "...wealth beyond the dreams of avarice" might be for them to find a hitherto-unknown gold mine, or inherit untold millions from a long-lost relative.

  Wishes will only be granted if the person making the wish understands what they are wishing for. They may not understand the consequences, of course...

  An element of whimsy and/or wilful stupidity and literal-mindedness.

  For example, in Nesbit's Five Children and It (FF VIII) the Psammead is a living wishing machine whose main limitations are a limit of one spell per day (two if one of them is very small), a high limit on complexity and/or bulk, a time limit (spells always end at sunset), and its own bloody-mindedness. An early wish adds a permanent qualifier - that a family's servants will never notice the effects of wishes.

  Unlimited Wishes For a very different "feel" to wishes, and assuming that the referee is prepared to live with the consequences, try the following "limits" instead of those in the main text: All wishes are permanent, can cause harm, and affect as much of the world as seems appropriate. If necessary they affect the past retroactively, e.g. "what do you mean, that green dog is proof that you made a wish? I've got two puppies just like it at home..." The effects of wishes are cumulative. Wishes can't be undone unless a different wish cancels them - this may not be of the form "I wish that wish had never been cast...", it must have some other objective. Wishes can't be undone by wishing that the power to cast wishes had never been acquired. You can wish for supreme godlike power, mastery of the world, etc., but must live with the consequences; for example, you may have to spend every moment thinking about keeping the earth rotating, the sun shining, etc. You can't wish away the power to cast wishes. Usually the world and/or the human race lasts about two days if these conditions are used; see e.g. Jerome Bixby's It's a Good Life and Ursula K. LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven

  It's difficult to avoid saying "I wish" accidentally; to simulate this with players who may be trying to avoid the phrase, the referee should encourage them to talk in character, listen for anything that's said which might be construed as a wish then ask the player to roll MIND versus Difficulty 6 - if the result is a failure the words "I wish" were used. Of course it's best if the words "I wish" are actually used by players, and sooner or later someone will probably slip.

  Referees should be alert for any use of the word "wish", even out of context, including phrases along the lines of "what if I wish for..." or "Suppose we wish..." - optionally assume that the wishing machine uses the word "wish..." as an activation phrase and will then start to 'parse' the words that follow!

  Players may try to beat the system by setting up elaborate logic traps and conditions for wishes. Discourage this by making the results worst than a straightforward wish, or by wilful stupidity on the behalf of the wishing machine. For example:

  "...and that the aforesaid children will not be harmed in any way by receiving this wish, subject to the terms and conditions previously mentioned, and that the wish will commence upon my saying `I so wish'. I so wish!" Cedric concluded triumphantly.

  A hundred gallons of ice cream cascaded down onto his head. "Was that all right?," asked the Psammead "I think I lost track somewhere in the second subclause."

  If you want to put numbers to this (the author prefers vindictiveness and abuse of power by the referee) assume that the wishing machine must use its MIND to overcome a Difficulty number of the referee's choosing - 4+2 for each clause, "however", or other qualifier in the wish seems about right.

  Similarly, the referee may wish to limit the maximum size or complexity of the item wished for; use the materialisation rules above, or your own discretion. NEVER let the players know what factors are used to decide the results!

  When granting wishes referees should always be alert for the implications of the wish, as well as the actual request, and its potential for chaos and disaster. For example, wishing for unseasonable rain might achieve the desired end (rain stops play at Lords, Britain wins the Test Match) but have some undesirable side effects (flash floods wipe out half of Norfolk).

  Normally there is no way to resist the power of a wish; if for any reason the referee wants to allow this - for example, if the wish is being made by an enemy and will cause physical or mental harm - the referee should roll the MAGIC behind the spell versus the MAGIC of each character. On a failure the wish doesn't work on that particular character. Wishes that affect the world as a whole can't be resisted in this way.

• Transport Systems range from flying carpets to brooms to wings to sophisticated magical time machines. Some are operated like wishing machines; the user states a destination, and the transport system does its best to interpret their meaning, sometimes with mixed success. Others are steered by their riders, who must direct their travels. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages.

  "Wish" travel is inflexible but requires little skill. All of the limitations indicated for wishing machines above can apply, the most important being that there may be limits on the system's ability to understand complex or vague orders. The users are passengers, not drivers, and may be at the mercy of their transport. "Steered" travel is more flexible, but may require the Riding or Driving skill and some knowledge of geography for navigation. Sometimes these skills may be part of the mode of travel, such as an instinctive ability to fly as part of magical transformation to bird form.

  There's no guarantee that all magical transport will be as easy to use, of course; it may require special skills (e.g. a broomstick rider might need Riding and Athlete to control the broom and stay on) or status (e.g. some obvious qualifications are needed to ride a unicorn).

  The main types of travel that appear in fantasy are teleportation and portals through space and/or time, flight, and fast land travel.

  Teleportation is usually an instantaneous transition from one place to another, almost always achieved by a wish or command which could potentially go wrong (as described under materialisation, in the previous section). There generally seems to be some form of protection to ensure that travellers have room to materialise, and aren't in deadly danger the second they arrive. To keep teleportation from becoming too powerful a tool, referees may want to impose some moderately obvious limits. Some or all of the following should suffice:

  You can only teleport somewhere you (or the teleporting device) has already been, or somewhere you can see.

  You can't teleport into or from a fast moving vehicle (such as a train). Slow vehicles (such as ships) may be allowed. Optionally, it's necessary to match speed with the target vehicle before teleporting.

  You can't teleport into any private area, such as a home or a bank vault, unless you have permission to enter (or it is dramatically appropriate). This usually doesn't apply if one of the adventurers is being held prisoner and the others want to rescue him; the presence of the captive is an implied invitation to enter.

  Some minimum time must elapse before you can teleport again. This can be very specific (e.g. "At least twenty minutes"), or extremely vague ("When I'm feeling a little better").

  An upper limit on the size or weight of the object that can be teleported.

  You can only teleport to or from special places, such as intersections of Ley Lines (note that this is not authentic for period fantasy) or fairy rings.

  An activating ritual is needed before teleportation is possible, or some rare substance must be found first (see e.g. the need for mercury to repair the "fluid links" in early Dr. Who stories)

  After teleporting you must return to your starting point before you can go anywhere else. Optionally there is a base station (see especially portals, below) which doesn't travel.

  Loosely worded orders will be interpreted reasonably well; really precise orders tend to go wrong.

  A common variant on teleportation is a portal through space, time, or to other worlds and dimensions; the wardrobe of the Narnia stories and the openings of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy are good examples. All of the limitations above can be applied; additionally, some of the following may be useful

  Only one portal at a time may be open, or only one in a given area.

  You have to go back the way you came before you can go anywhere else.

  While a portal is open it is a "weakness" which allows strange phenomena to enter the world, or may slowly damage the world in some way.

  Portals are "natural" events; they appear and vanish spontaneously, the "magic" is in finding and using them. E.g. Time Bandits, Sliders.

  The "model" for time travel used in stories of this period varies considerably, but a good compromise version appears in Nesbit's The Story of the Amulet (FF VIII) and can best be summed up as "fixed past, potential future". You can't make major changes to the past, and in many cases what you do causes history as you know it. There are no time paradoxes, and you can't affect your personal past. Minor changes can be made, such as saving the life of someone relatively obscure who is supposed to have died (the change might manifest as a previously-unnoticed page of errata in a local history, a changed or missing gravestone in a cemetary, or a pained letter to The Times from the grandson of someone who allegedly died in infancy), but it is impossible to change the broad sweep of past history. Any changes you make will have "always" been that way, so far as the rest of the world is concerned. An excellent modern example of this style of time travel can be found in the film Twelve Monkeys.

  There's an important exception; some magic includes a "reset" button, the ability to wish that it had never happened (as in Anstey's The Brass Bottle). Here there seems to be a "branch" in history at the moment the spell was cast, with two possible futures depending on whether or not the spell is cancelled. Usually the duration of the split seems to be from a few hours to a few days, but there seems no reason why this situation should be resolved so quickly. Generally only the person who cancels the spell can remember the previous state of affairs. An oddly relevant SF story is the novel Replay by Ken Grimwood.

  The future is full of potential; anything is possible, and the right choices may improve things. You are creating the future as you live, a fraction of a second at a time, and anything you bring back to the present is simply a prophetic vision, not a certainty or anything like it. It's a startling intuitive anticipation of the uncertainty we take for granted today.

  Again, there is an exception; while knowledge bought back by time travel can be as inaccurate as any other vision, there are occasional prophecies and curses that seem to be inescapable. Generally speaking these seem to take place only in highly magical "fairy-tale" worlds. It's a much earlier version of time and predestination, as seen in stories from the Arabian Nights to the Brothers Grimm. While it can be fun to involve adventurers in resolving these situations, it isn't usually a good idea to make them the subjects of the prediction, players tend to be much better than fairy-tale characters at resolving them!

  For a VERY different version of time travel see the Past Out, Future Home campaign described in FF IX.

• Flight is usually controllable, using the Riding or Driving skill as seems appropriate for animals and vehicles, or suddenly-acquired instincts if given wings, transformed into birds, etc. The main advantages are the ability to fly over obstacles and away from danger, and the sheer fun of it. The main disadvantage is the risk of something going wrong, especially when the means of flight is wholly magical; it can be a LONG way down...

  Any of the means of flight discussed in the previous section can be granted by magical devices, wishes, etc.; if so, the performance is usually derived from the devices' characteristics, or those of the source of the spell, not the user. Top speed for most magical flying devices should be their Wizardry x 10 MPH, the maximum extra load carried is their MAGIC minus the rider's BODY (or BODY 1 if the rider's BODY is the same or greater than the device's MAGIC).

  Wings let their users fly like a bird. Optionally assume that to fly at all needs a roll of BODY (or Athlete) versus Difficulty 4 to get airborne, with multiple attempts allowed if necessary. Once airborne the rest is easy... Usually the skills needed to control flight come free with the wings. If not, use BODY or Athlete rolls to avoid obstructions etc., and any other skills that seem appropriate. Top speed is as for levitation above. Wings large enough to carry a human should be at least as bulky as those of a hang glider, so they are somewhat conspicuous on the ground. Optionally they have other disadvantages ("...don't fly too close to the sun!") which should be determined by the referee.

  Carpets may be limited as to size, capacity, ability to teleport, etc. If they are steered the Drive or Ride skill is appropriate, otherwise a period of trial and error with the carpet performing acrobatics while the rider holds on for dear life... Referees can have fun with activation words and rituals (see especially Diana Wynne Jones' Castle in the Air), number of uses per day, and anything else that seems appropriate. Magic carpets can be rolled up and carried when they aren't in use, and seem to be implausibly small and light when rolled; presumably they use their power to neutralise some of their weight.

  Broomsticks are mainly the province of witches; despite the Harry Potter books they aren't "canonical" for anyone else in this genre. They generally fly extremely fast, but lack other powers. Unlike the other devices discussed here, they are in part fuelled by the user's MAGIC, giving them a top speed of the user's MAGIC x 20 MPH.

  Pegasi, Dragons, Rocs, etc. tend to be extremely shy; unless they can be tamed they tend to try to escape and/or harm their riders. They fly by a combination of muscle and MAGIC, but riders can never be sure how much of each is involved; for example, without magic does a Pegasus fly slowly, glide, or plummet like a stone? All should be controlled by the Riding skill, or may be intelligent enough to make their own decisions.

  Flying Ships are generally only found in worlds where magic is a powerful part of everyday life. They can carry as much cargo as any sailing ship, and fly at the speed of the wind; about 30-60 MPH at altitude, less near the ground. They can only land on water. Creating such ships is usually the work of a powerful magician, but once built almost anyone can steer them. Winged ships have BODY 10-30 depending on size. They can be armed with catapults and other weapons, including cannon if they are available. See FF VII for rules for mechanical winged ships, aerial combat, etc., which can be adapted to magical ships. If the magic that holds them up is interrupted for any reason they must glide for a crash landing; for this reason they usually fly over water and try to avoid mountains, the fortresses of evil wizards, and other hazards. Optionally clouds may be the equivalent of magical islands or rocks in the sky, and a real hazard to aerial navigation. Living Ships - In some magical worlds winged ships might be living beings, bred for qualities such as speed or cargo capacity. Their eggs hatch as small winged boats then slowly grow to full size. They have swan- or dragon-like wings and heads on long necks at the prow, and are reasonably affectionate to an owner who treats them well. Such small boats, with the right pedigree, might grow up to be very valuable. What they eat is left up to the referee; pond weed seems a reasonably simple option, but possibly war ships eat meat.   An interesting adventure might revolve around catching and training a wild ship; see e.g. The Black Stallion for ideas.   For non-magical equivalents see the TV series Lexx and Farscape, both of which have living starships.

  Flying carriages are usually built by powerful wizards or witches; they must be pulled by something which would normally travel through the air, such as swans or a dragon.

  Flying houses, cauldrons, etc. have a certain unnaturalness that tends to brand them as the work of evil witches and wizards. A cautious adventurer will usually try to hide if he sees them coming. They fly by their innate magical power, the spells used to create them, but are controlled by the magic of their owners. If either fails they plummet downwards or fly off out of control.

  There are many other forms of travel, of course, on land and water, underground, and everywhere else that can readily be imagined. Often the form of transport functions both as a means of transport and (in stories beginning in the "real" world) as a means of getting to magic kingdoms and other strange places, and may be able to go into the past or future:

  Seven-league boots are the traditional way to get around quickly on land. How they actually work is uncertain; the most likely explanation is that taking a step starts teleportation to a point seven leagues away (about 21 miles). The main problem with them, as with many other magical transport devices, is stopping without overshooting the destination. It ought to be possible to reach any place within seven leagues in two steps with the aid of a compass, map, and dividers, using simple geometric methods. Even if this can be done, stopping without taking another step could be difficult. See Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle for an excellent example of the problems that might arise. Boots appear to have their own magical power, and can move one person and anything that person carries.

  Sleighs show an odd dichotomy; they seem to be used as transport by evil queens and witches (The Snow Queen, the Narnia stories) and Father Christmas, but rarely by anyone in between these extremes of goodness and badness. Usually they are supernaturally fast, pulled by reindeer or immensely strong horses, and move in an eerie silence interrupted only by the soft jingling of bells, the crack of a whip and an occasional stamping hoof. They can carry several occupants and tons of cargo; they can often fly.

  Ships are often the best way of getting around in primitive societies; usually they have sails, since steam is a little too high-tech for most period fantasy. Ships seem to have a habit of being stopped by sea serpents and other monsters, getting wrecked on tropical isles that happen to be the hiding place of immense pirate treasures, and otherwise forcing adventure upon their passengers. Magical ships often come with their own source of wind (or a magician who can control it); see e.g. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea). Other features can improve animated figure-heads (as for the flying ships above), golem or undead rowers (especially for evil captains), etc. Ships with black sails are almost always owned by evil magicians and/or slave traders. Ships with silk sails are generally owned by magical beings of one sort or another.

• Magical Gadgets almost always have one main function; sometimes this is obvious from their nature - for example, a magic sword is most likely going to be enchanted in a way that makes it a better sword - otherwise some experimentation may be needed. Since their functions tend to be limited they aren't usually intelligent, although there are always exceptions. Intelligent gadgets have at least some of the capabilities and limitations of wishing machines and transport systems, their behaviour should be handled accordingly.

  Wands and Staffs usually add to the user's MAGIC, sometimes to Wizardry. They may be limited to a particular type of spell (such as lightning bolts, transformation, etc.) or to a particular purpose (they will only aid spells cast against dragons, cast for an evil purpose, etc.), or have no limitations at all. Sometimes they are unreliable or treacherous, waiting until the user comes to rely on their power then turning against them.

  Books typically contain spells on a single topic such as the summoning of demons or protection against them. There may also be stored magical power which allows someone without the MAGIC characteristic to cast them. Sometimes they are written in obscure dialects of ancient languages; just as often they are all too eager to be read, and any chance glimpse is enough to release the magic within, with optional brain damage and other side effects to anyone looking at the text.

  Magic Weapons have unusually high Effect (typically +1 to +3 above the normal weapon), and may have additional properties similar to those of any of the gadgets in this section. For example: The Dragon-Repellant Broadsword has Effect Melee +3 or BODY +3, whichever is better, and when it is drawn from its sheath has the additional power of singing a note that is acutely painful to dragons; dragons will typically flee rather than fight, humans eventually get a bad migraine. It can currently be found in the hoard of a profoundly deaf dragon. Jove's Thunderbolts are chunks of solidified lightning shaped to be fired from a longbow. Anyone struck by them suffers an electrical attack: Brawling 6, Effect 6, A:F, B:F/KO, C:I/C in addition to the normal damage from being hit by an arrow. Unfortunately anyone touching them suffers a smaller attack, delivered as Brawling 2, Effect 2, A:-, B:F, C:F+KO.

  As with the spells in the previous section, these are simply examples showing a relatively small range of possibilities. Referees are strongly advised to develop alternatives, preferably ones that won't be familiar from endless fantasy novels or other RPGs. Magic should contain infinite variety, not the same gizmos over and over again.

APPENDIX - A Gallery of Gadgets

MOST of the source material for this game has its roots in Scientific Romances, the predecessors of science fiction. It's a genre that tends to emphasise weird science and technology, so most of the worldbooks and adventures have included examples. Here are a few; rules for designing them, and many more useful(?) gadgets, can be found in the rest of the material published for the game.

Postal Packet 162 A fast metal-hulled lighter-than-air airship from the world of Kipling's Aerial Board of Control, Postal Packet 162 is owned by the Post Office and used to transport the transatlantic mail. It is essentially a featureless cigar-shape with a detachable carriage holding mail and several sorting clerks who organise the mail in flight. See FF I for the background, details of the propulsion system, etc. Length: 240 ft (72m), Maximum Width: 37 ft (11m), Length / Width Ratio: 6:1 Lift: 5.5 tons, Maximum Speed: 230 MPH, BODY: 40 3 x 500 HP (1,500 HP) standard turbines, cost £6,300, Gas cost £190, other components £2,800, Total £25,625 Uninsured, risk carried by G.P.O.

The Astronef The Astronef is a spacegoing yacht built to accommodate two (or possibly more) passengers in luxury. It has three decks, the upper of which is glass-domed. It flies by the "R" or "Repulsive" force, one of the components of gravity; essentially it presses against the nearest planets, and uses the push to accelerate. See FF II for background, engine design, and other rules. Yacht, owner Lord Redgrave, completed 1900 British, base Smeaton, Yorkshire Equipment: Control room, 100 cubic yards 1st class passenger space, 1 x 3rd class cabin, galley, air lock, supplies (26 weeks), 4 x Pneumatic Cannon, 4 x Maxim guns, forward ram, 1 pair atmospheric engines, 1 pair Redgrave Standard developing engines, 2 x searchlights, telescope, 2 x Breathing dress Hull cigar-shaped, standard plate / armoured glass Volume 245.4 cubic yards, mass 99.6 tons, BODY 75 Atmospheric speed 138 MPH, difficulty modifier -1 Engine crystals £20,833 (x2), service life 16.6 months, max 5g Engine cores 1 year capacity, recharge cost £7,402 Cost £177,082, operating cost £3,116 per month. This luxurious space yacht carries supplies for three occupants for half a year. She was the first spacecraft and is not fitted with a lifeboat (since there was no-one to rescue the occupants). The Astronef is cutting-edge technology for its day, a sleek agile craft with good handling in the air and in space.

The Redgrave Patent Breathing Dress Unless they are passengers on the largest liner, all spacefarers inevitably spend some time in breathing dress, or space suits. The design that follows was described in the source material for FF II, and has since also been used in Mummies, The Next Generation and FF IX.   The Redgrave Patent Breathing Dress resembles a diving dress but is much lighter, made of asbestos-cloth lined with rubberised fabric and padded with quilted cotton or lambswool. The helmets are aluminium covered with asbestos, and contain a small telephone. There is a lantern on the chest plate; some models also have helmet lamps. The backpack contains equipment to regulate and recycle liquefied air, released from a cylinder below the pack. Efficiency is very good, with endurance measurable in days. The pressure of air inside the helmet regulates the supply. An airtight collar stops air circulating into the dress, to prevent the material tearing or ballooning until it is impossible to move, but the interior of the suit is not a complete vacuum; a little air is bled in to maintain partial atmospheric pressure and protect the skin and body from vacuum-related injuries such as ruptured veins. While it is possible to put on a breathing dress in minutes, fittings can take several days. They must be precisely tailored to the wearer's body, and repeatedly tested before they are worn in a vacuum. Long underwear is essential to prevent chafing. For prolonged use it is advisable to wear elasticated underclothes, which help maintain the body's internal pressure. While the air supply is measurable in days, these suits have no plumbing or drinking water - without them maximum endurance is probably six to eight hours. Breathing dress reduces the Effect of all blunt weapons by 3, of all sharp weapons by 2. Since the helmet is isolated from the body, the wearer does not automatically suffocate if the suit is damaged, but any damage which actually rips the suit is automatically made worse if there is no air; flesh wounds become injuries, injuries become criticals, and criticals become kills. Double the difficulty of first aid if a suit is ripped. The helmet windows have BODY 3 for purposes of resisting damage. Because breathing dress is made of asbestos fibre, it gives some limited protection against fire. Reduce the Effect of all fires by 4 for 1D6 rounds. The backpack has BODY 4. It contains lead-acid batteries, soda lime and other air purifying chemicals, and is linked to a supply of liquefied air. Any damage which affects the pack is likely to have catastrophic results, as the acid reacts with the soda lime or eats through a pipe.

The Carnacki™ Electric Pentacle An efficient defence against Ab-natural entities (see FF IV), considerably improving on the protection offered by a pentacle alone, developed after disappointing experiments with "bare" pentacles and manufactured under license by the Radium Patent Light Company (RPLC Ltd.) of London. Purchasers included Aleister Crowley and the Psychical Research Society.   The pentacle is an arrangement of mercury discharge tubes wired in parallel, powered by a group of lead-acid accumulators (rechargeable batteries) with an induction coil used to boost the voltage. Induction coils were noted for their noise (a loud buzz), unreliability, and smell of ozone. Carnacki overcame the first and last of these problems by keeping the induction coil in a box surrounded by layers of asbestos wool and absorbent charcoal; the reliability problem could only be overcome by careful maintenance and adjustment. The kit sold commercially has forty tubes and holders, and is supplied with assembly instructions, four spare tubes, accumulators and an induction coil. It costs £24 19s 11d and weighs 23 lb including the cases. There is room for one man inside the pentacle, seated on the accumulator box or the floor. Larger pentacles can be assembled by plugging two or more kits together; Carnacki used as many as four on occasion. An ordinary chalked or drawn pentacle adds +1 to the Effect of any spell or ritual defending against a purely magical or supernatural attack The Electric Pentacle raises this to +4 when live, +1 (simply by the presence of an object in this shape) when switched off. Optionally it also defends against mind control via psionics, telekinesis, etc.

The Psychic Idealiser Designed as a means of making thoughts visible, the Psychic Idealiser is in fact a means of travel to parallel worlds, invented accidentally by the eccentric philosopher, phrenologist and scientist Dr. Pyotr Plokta (of Utrecht, the Sorbonne, and Imperial College, London) in 1898, as part of an abortive search for the Platonic Ideal.   The main components are a helmet bearing hundreds of fine wire coils arranged around the appropriate "faculties" of the head, mapped by careful phrenological probing. The coils connect to antennae arranged around a circular glass cylinder with a flexible diaphragm at its base, containing a quantity of fine powdered magnesium, an extremely light metal, electrified by a Wimshurst machine. The volunteer is instructed to meditate upon some common object, such as a chair, and try to visualise it in its Ideal form. As he does so a clockwork mechanism vibrates under the diaphragm, throwing the dust into the air of the cylinder.   Plokta hoped that the dust would be controlled by the amplified brain waves of the subject, momentarily adhering to form a crude replica of the Ideal object. Eventually he obtained a fuzzy image of Wren's original design for St. Paul's Cathedral, which differed in many details from the version built. During the next experiment, with more power, he and his assistant suddenly found themselves standing in the plaza in front of the revised cathedral, wearing strangely old-fashioned clothing and with blurry double memories of two lives; their lives in the world where Plokta invented the machine, and in this new world, in which Britain was at war with France and medicine was still waiting for the discovery of germ theory. It was obvious that their personalities had somehow transferred to the bodies of their equivalents in the new world.   Plokta built another machine, hoping that they might return to their original world. In the next St. Paul's Cathedral was much as they remembered, but London was criss-crossed with elevated railways and everyone spoke an Americanised form of English. Neither could stand the pace of this new society, so they built another machine and tried again. And again... Now, a score of worlds later, Plokta has established the basic principles of dimensional travel: You can't take material things with you; knowledge is another matter. In the fifth world nobody had invented photography; Plokta's assistant took out patents and settled there. Plokta sometimes gains new skills as he moves to a new world; for instance, he has picked up several languages his alter egos learned before he took over. You can't go back. Plokta has repeatedly tried to return to his original world, or any of the other worlds he has visited. It doesn't work. He believes that the body he leaves behind dies when he transfers to a new world, making it impossible for him to return. You can only travel to a world where you already exist; on one occasion one of the "guinea-pigs" didn't make contact with Plokta after an experiment, and it subsequently emerged that he had died as a child. The more people involved, the better it works; with one or two people using the equipment, it may take a dozen tries; with several, it usually works the first or second time. Everyone within a few feet of the equipment transfers to the new world. Some users forget their change of world within a few minutes. Those who arrive in a better situation than they left are most likely to forget their origins; for example, one subject was a poor clerk with an unhappy marriage in the world he left, a happily married banker in his new identity, and soon forgot his "original" past. Plokta often notices that the date and time differ by hours, weeks, or even years when he arrives in a new world. He often arrives months earlier than he left - but the history of the worlds involved has been so different that he has rarely been able to take advantage of his knowledge of the future. He is aged appropriately for the date; 40 in 1898, 49 in 1907, and so forth. Building a new machine is always expensive and difficult; it should take a minimum of 2-3 weeks, and parts must be hand-built to order. Costs vary wildly in different worlds. Practice makes perfect. As Plokta travels he finds it easier to visualise features of the world he desires; but anything he doesn't imagine seems to be entirely random. Generally speaking, he seems no closer to any Ideal. Simple changes work best. If a complicated feature is imagined, it tends to be incomplete. A simple feature is most likely to work as planned. Plokta has now perfected the technique of settling in a new world, raising funds to buy the equipment for another jump, recruiting a few "colleagues" for his next experiment, and travelling on again. He still hopes to find the Ideal eventually. For more on the Idealiser, the worlds it visits, and its effects see FF V.

The Aerophane A semi-rigid airship consisting of a large fish-shaped canvas "envelope" filled with several ballonets of hydrogen. A skeletal metal "car" or gondola below the gas bag carries three passengers, a small petrol engine, and up to a ton of cargo. It literally swims through the air, using two rippling wings of canvas and metal struts for forward (or backward) motion, several steerable sails, and a fishlike tail to steer. It is designed to carry special bombs to precipitate rain and disperse smog. See FF V for more on the circumstances that led to its use. Aerophanes have a maximum speed of 20 MPH, handle very poorly (especially in wind), and are unsteady in turbulent conditions. Fortunately these problems are rarely a factor when they are used; dense smogs only occur if there is little or no wind. Each craft carries 25 5lb charges of a new (and highly secret) explosive compound which precipitates rain by shaking it from the clouds. Charges are lowered into the clouds on a wire and detonated electrically. They are generally stable, but may be set off by fire or strong impacts. Length: 150 ft, Maximum width: 30 ft (excludes wings), Lift: 1.2 tons, 1x 5 HP engine, Speed: 20 MPH Gasbag BODY 10, Gondola BODY 6 Add 2 to the Difficulty of Pilot skill rolls while flying an aerophane. The explosive charges are optimised to produce the loudest possible explosion and shock wave to "shake" rain from the clouds. Rain Bombs, Effect 12, Radius 10 ft, A:B B:KO+F C:KO+I

Radium Healing Rays Healing rays are used to speed the body's own repair processes. The treatment time (in hours) is their Effect, attacking the recovery Difficulty of the injury, any success halves the recovery time. For more on this and other rays see FF VI. The cumulative time of all treatment within the last month also attacks the BODY of the patient, with the following results: No effect F (Severe sunburn which cannot be cured by the ray) I/C (radiation burns which cannot be cured by the ray) On a 12 the device burns out and treatment must be stopped. The referee must keep track of treatments to assess any damage. If adventurers rely on the ray and taking too many risks, it may be advisable to extend the cumulative period to six months, a year, or even the lifetime dosage. Optionally the ray operator and anyone else in the room must also make the cumulative roll, but Effect is halved.

Ariel-Class Æronefs The Ariel and her sister-ships are æronefs, heavier-than-air flying machines built in 1900 by The Terror, an anarchist group dedicated to the overflow of the Tsar and creation of a socialist Utopia. They are built largely of aluminium, with some wood and other metals used where necessary, and designed primarily for war against ground forces, balloons, and other greatly inferior foes. Their primary advantage is Arnold's fuel, an incredibly powerful binary chemical which powers the engines and can give astonishing power-weight and fuel-distance ratios, and is also usable as a powerful explosive. For more about The Terror and its technology, use in combat, etc., see FF VII. Length: 70ft,, Width 12 ft. wide, with air-planes (wings) 24 ft. wide to either side of the hull and running its length. Three masts with fan-wheels (vertical propellers). Four engines. Seaworthy hull with ram. Forward cabin for six men, saloon on deck, and six single cabins aft. Controlled from a conning tower forward and a wheel house aft. 6 crew, 6 officers, wardroom for 12, galley, 7 tons cargo Four pneumatic guns, two in the bow and two in the stern, with a range of 6 miles. 400 rounds ammunition, small arms, searchlight. 120 MPH, range 12,000 miles, maximum lift 45 tons on fans. Altitude: 3000 ft. cruising, 5000 ft. on fans, 7000 ft. on fans and wings with full emergency power. 30 tons loaded weight, 24 BODY. Cost is 1248 Man-Days, the currency used by The Terror. Shells (Arnold's explosive) 15ft burst radius, Effect 20, A:I B:C C:K

The Amulet, Magical Time Machine The Amulet is primarily a transport device, but can only take travellers to a place or time where they might be able to find its missing half. Since its existence spans several thousand years this allows plenty of scope, but once complete it loses this ability. When activated (by holding it in the direction of the rising sun and reciting the name inscribed on it, "Ur Hekau Setcheh") the Amulet grows to archway size, allowing travellers to walk to the past or future. For more on this and other magical devices see FF VIII Users must state a destination (such as Atlantis) and time then pass through in order of age, the eldest first. The Amulet vanishes and reappears in the hand of the youngest traveller once they have all passed through. Users of the Amulet are able to understand and speak the language of any place it takes them. No time passes in the present while users are in the past or future. Once complete and perfect the Amulet will only allow perfect souls to pass through its arch, and they will not be able to travel through time. This power is used only once, to strip evil from two souls and unite them in one body. BODY [3/15], MIND [3], SOUL [-], MAGIC [10], Linguist (understands all languages, cannot speak) [7], Scholar (History, Geography, etc.) [8], Wizardry [10] Wounds: The Amulet is made of some form of granite-hard rock, so is difficult to damage (the two BODY ratings given are for its normal size and its form as a stone archway). Nevertheless a determined attack with a hammer could destroy it in its small form; in its larger form explosives are probably needed.

Krupp Stahlwächter The Krupp Stahlwächter (steel guard) is a Prussian automaton used to protect the Imperial Calculating Engines and other important facilities. For this important job the Prussians have takem the unusual step of adapting the "terrain" to the automata. Sites on which they are used are levelled and surfaced to a high standard, and in buildings ramps replace stairs. This allows the use of a wheeled design with very little ground clearance, the wheels being covered by armour plating. An aluminium chassis minimises weight and electric motors reduce noise. Generally considered successful, although they are slow to react and vulnerable to attacks which damage the "terrain" or push them over; they cannot right themselves. An unusual feature is the telescopic eye, which is moved in and out on bellows and improves the accuracy of marksmanship. The down-side is that the eye has a restricted field of view, so that the automaton is easily attacked from the side, although sites where this model is used are generally designed to limit opportunities for such attacks. For more on these machines and other automata see FF IX. Military automaton with Swiss-made calculating engine, monochrome "eye" with telescopic lens, single arm, aluminium frame wheeled construction, electric powered, with armour steel casing. BODY [4], MIND [1], SOUL [-], Athlete (running) [4], Brawling [4], Marksmanship [5 / 6 at long range only], Stealth [2] Cost: £364, Weight: 236 lb., Carrying Capacity: 108 lb, Endurance: 5 hours, Reaction Time: 9 seconds Maxim gun, 50 rounds, Armoured: -6 Effect to all attacks Quote: "Stehenbleiben oder ich schieße!" (Halt or I fire) German soldiers generally refer to these machines as Pfeffertopfsoldaten, literally "pepper-pot soldiers".

American Eagle (projectile spacecraft) The American Eagle is a two-seater spacecraft designed to be launched to the Moon by the combination of a train-borne steam catapult and a rocket engine in a three-stage process; it's accelerated to the astonishing speed of 300 MPH by a special steam turbine train, then a steam catapult fires and boosts it to nearly 1000 MPH. As it leaves the catapult a supplementary or "booster" rocket ignites and delivers the remainder of the velocity needed to take it to the Moon. This is basically a "proof of concept" craft, which will be scaled up if it is successful, and if the first flight finds resources valuable enough to make another flight worthwhile. Of course this depends on the resources; if diamonds were found, for example, the craft is large enough for a considerable fortune. See FF IX for more on this and other projectile craft. 2 x 4th class accommodation, supplies 2 x 1 week, hold 1.0 ton 3.0 Yds³, landing gear, rocket / parachutes for return flight. Projectile 10.6 tons, 31.0 Yds³, £1,550, BODY 50 Booster rocket for above 58.3 tons, 106.0 Yds³, £3,180, BODY 50 Launch train and catapult for above £170,500, expendables £1,700 plus booster. 2 x vacuum suits, prospecting supplies, camera, etc. Since there is no air lock the occupants must both wear vacuum suits if either leaves the vessel; in flight they must take turns on a bicycle generator to keep batteries charged for lighting and life support.

APPENDIX - Sources

Recommended Reading (Non-Fiction)

• Brian Aldiss & David Wingrove: Trillion Year Spree [1986]
  An excellent history of SF, focused primarily on origins and early work in the genre. A previous version (Billion Year Spree [1976], by Aldiss only) contains most of the same material on early SF and scientific romances; the revisions were mostly concerned with improved coverage of modern SF.
• Brian Aldiss (ed): Science Fiction Art [1975]
  A good large-format collection of SF art from the late nineteenth and twentieth century, very useful for "futuristic" machines and cities.
• Kingsley Amis: New Maps Of Hell [1960]
  An excellent source on early science fiction. Currently out of print.
• Reyner Banham: Megastructure - Urban Futures Of The Recent Past [1976]
• Felix Barker & Ralph Hyde: London As It Might Have Been [1982, 1995]
  Two interesting books on architecture. The first discusses a dream of of the sixties and seventies; multi-function "super-buildings" used for work and leisure, which have some potential for expansion and incorporate transportation systems. The examples begin with medieval bridges and Victorian piers, leading on to complexes that would span most of North America. A must if you are thinking of designing a city of the future as it was once imagined. The second book focuses on London, and a range of proposed architectural and engineering projects that never came to fruition, featuring such wonders as monorails over Regent Street, mausoleum pyramids in North London, and dirigible mooring towers almost everywhere. Reprinted 1995.
• I.F.Clarke: Voices Prophesying War [1966]
  Study of future war stories, from the eighteenth century to the present day.
• John Clute & Peter Nicholls: The Enclopaedia of Science Fiction [1993]
• John Clute & John Grant: The Enclopaedia of Fantasy [1997]
  The Orbit second edition of the SF encyclopaedia (1400 pages, also available on Grolier CD-ROM) is expensive, but an excellent source for information on scientific romances. Its section on games was largely written by me; just don't believe anything said about me in the list of contributors! The first edition [1980] can occasionally be found second hand, but is not as useful. The Fantasy Encyclopaedia is also extremely useful, and again contains a games section by me.
    SFView, a computer program from Ansible Information, is a Windows add-on for the Grolier version of the SF Encyclopaedia (now published by Focus Multimedia, and available as a bundle with SFView from Ansible Information) which gives it a greatly improved user interface, fixes numerous errors that were added by Grolier, and updates it as new information becomes available. A Macintosh version is not available.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica
  The 1911 edition is often considered to be one of the definitive references for this period. It's on line at https://1911encyclopedia.org/ but there still seem to be many OCR errors, especially in the more obscure entries which are unfortunately often the most usful.
• Chris Morgan: The Shape Of Futures Past [1980]
  A scholastic study of speculative fiction from 1800 to 1945.
• Jess Nevins: The Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Victoriana [2006]
  An exhaustively comprehensive reference for Victorian fantasy and SF characters and settings.
• David Pringle: Imaginary People [1987, revised 1989]
  An interesting but occasionally infuriating study of the career of fictional characters in a wide variety of genres.
• David Seed (ed): Anticipations: Essays On Early Science Fiction And Its Precursors [1994]
  This collection is published by Liverpool University, and is probably most useful for readers with a serious academic interest in the roots of science fiction, and the convergence of several forms of fiction in the modern genre.
• Brian M. Stableford: Scientific Romance In Britain 1890-1950 [1985]
  A study of this genre and the features which distinguish it from Science Fiction, which may sometimes be somewhat blurred in the Forgotten Futures game.
• Leonard De Vries: Victorian Inventions [1971]
  A coffee-table book of ingenious Victorian gadgetry, from airships to theatrical illusions. Profusely illustrated, highly recommended.

Recommended Reading (Fiction)

• Stephen Baxter: Anti-Ice [1993]
  A modern "steampunk" novel set in a world where Britain controls a strange form of power which can drive mighty machines or destroy a city. The story begins with the destruction of Sebastapol, during the Crimean war, and includes a trip to the moon, encounters with the forces of Anarchy, and nuclear terrorism.
• Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships [1995]
  The only authorised sequel to Wells' "The Time Machine", taking in several alternate universes and some extremely wide-ranging physics. Like any work derived from Wells, it is often gloomy but well worth reading.
• John Brunner (ed): Kipling's Science Fiction [1992]
  A useful collection, including the A.B.C. stories featured in the first Forgotten Futures compilation (but not the accompanying poetry or advertisements from With The Night Mail). A companion volume covers fantasy.
• Karel Capek: R.U.R. (play) [1920, trans 1923]
  Humanoid robots (literally "workers") are created, but eventually rebel and destroy the human race. One of the first depictions of robots (actually androids, chemically synthesised human replicants) and the consequences of their mass-production. Capek's novel "War With The Newts" [1937] tackles similar issues.
• G.K. Chesterton: The Napoleon Of Notting Hill [1904]
  A future Britain split into tiny warring nations.
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Lost World [1912]
  The Poison Belt [1913]
  The Disintegration Machine [1928]
  When The World Screamed [1929]
  The Horror Of The Heights [1913]
  Four of the Professor Challenger stories, plus a notable story of monsters in the stratosphere. A fifth Challenger story, The Land Of Mist [1926], is possibly Doyle's worst novel and recommended only to fanatic completists. The five have been collected in one volume. Forgotten Futures III includes all six of these stories. Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories are essential reading for background detail and characterisation.
• E.M. Forster: The Machine Stops [1909]
  The collapse of an over-mechanised Utopia.
• George MacDonald Fraser: Flashman (& sequels, various dates)
  The exploits of Flashman, the villain of the novel "Tom Brown's Schooldays", a coward who receives the Victoria Cross (V.C.) and becomes one of Britain's most respected soldiers. Although recently written, they are highly recommended for research into Victorian period detail and descriptions of the attitudes and notables of the era.
• William Gibson & Bruce Sterling: The Difference Engine [1990]
  A modern novel exploring an alternative 19th century in which there was a Radical revolution, information technology arrived early, and "our lady of the engines" (Ada Lovelace, a mathematical genius and associate of Babbage) is creating the first artificial intelligence.
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland [1914]
  A radical feminist Utopia based on parthenogenetic reproduction. Probably only available as an electronic text released by Project Gutenberg.
• Colin Greenland: Harm's Way [1993]
  An excellent modern recreation of a scientific romance in the style of Dickens and Jane Austen. Featuring clipper ships sailing to Mars and Venus, iron moons, angels, and mysterious assassins. Highly recommended.
• George Griffith: A Honeymoon In Space [1901]
  An interplanetary adventure, originally published as a series of short stories in 1900, which seems to have influenced a surprising amount of early SF. The hero, his bride, and dour engineer Murgatroyd set off for a honeymoon cruise in space, visiting various worlds and meeting hostile and friendly aliens. Echoes of these stories can be found in space operas and stories by many authors including E.E. "Doc" Smith, Ray Bradbury, John W. Campbell, and C.S. Lewis.
  The story cycle is the background for the second Forgotten Futures Collection, 'The Log Of The Astronef', which includes all six.
• Harry Harrison: A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! [1972]
  Can George Washington, descendant of the famous traitor, complete the tunnel that will link Britain to her American colonies? Who is trying to sabotage the work? Will Washington reach England in time to join the first train through the tunnel? These and many other questions are answered in a wonderful evocation of the Victorian adventure novel, set in a world where America lost the War of Independence. Also known as "Tunnel Through The Deeps".
• William Hope Hodgson: Carnacki The Ghost-Finder [1913]
  An excellent collection of period stories featuring a scientific psychic detective and his brushes with real and faked supernatural events. All stories are included in the fourth Forgotten Futures collection.
• Aldous Huxley: Brave New World [1932]
  The classic novel of genetic manipulation and thought control.
• Rudyard Kipling: Actions And Reactions [1909]
  A Diversity of Creatures [1917]
  Two excellent collections, which between them contain the A.B.C. stories and some of Kipling's best writing. See Forgotten Futures I for these stories and MUCH more on Kipling.
• C.S. Lewis: Out of the Silent Planet [1938]
  Perelandra (aka "Voyage To Venus") [1943]
  That Hideous Strength [1945]
  This trilogy is probably best described as ANTI-Scientific Romance, but still includes some powerful writing and vivid descriptions of excellent aliens.
• Peter Martin: Summer In 3000 [1946]
  An interesting example of a socialist Utopia, whose science is based largely on bioengineered plastics and gene modification, drawn into conflict with a horrific religio-fascist USA. Long out of print and very difficult to find; a little too inclined to lecture its readers.
• Michael Moorcock: The Warlord Of The Air [1971]
  The Land Leviathan [1974]
  The Steel Tsar [1981]
  (Collected in one volume as The Nomad Of Time [1982])
  The "Oswald Bastable" stories; the narrator literally walks into alternate worlds, derived in part from the work of Wells and Kipling. Very highly recommended.
• Kim Newman: Famous Monsters (story) [1990]
  Modern homage to H.G. Wells, in which one of the tentacled survivors of the War of the Worlds takes up a career in B-movies. A collection with this title, published in 1994, is also recommended.
• Kim Newman: Anno Dracula [1992]
  The Bloody Red Baron [1996]
  Dracula infects Queen Victoria with vampirism, and becomes her consort and ruler of Britain... Suddenly vampirism is the height of fashion, but a desperate resistance organisation has a cunning plan. Modern, not really a scientific romance, but fun and useful for details of personalities (real and fictional) of the late nineteenth century.
  The Bloody Red Baron takes the story on to the first world war, with the deposed Dracula now working for the Kaiser; most of the flying aces on both sides are now vampires, and some don't need aircraft any more...
• Christopher Priest: The Space Machine [1976]
  The Prestige [1995]
  The first is a light-hearted romp based loosely on H.G. Wells' fiction, in the style of a scientific romance. The second is a serious novel about Victorian magicians, including some excellent weird science.
• William Rushton: Dr. W.G. Grace's Last Case [1984]
  Another (very) light-hearted Victorian romp. After the War of the Worlds, Dr. Watson and Dr. W.G. Grace (the World's Greatest Cricketer and all-England croquet champion) team up to solve a murder, and stumble across a diabolical plan to destroy the human race. With guest appearances by Dr. Jekyll, Moriarty, Queen Victoria, A.J. Raffles, Buffalo Bill, Picasso, and many others. Not recommended as a source, unless you want to get VERY silly, but LOTS of fun!
• A. Kingsley Russell (ed): The Rivals of H.G. Wells [1979]
  Anthology of late Victorian and early Edwardian short fiction by a variety of authors, reproduced (with illustrations) from British magazines of the period. Includes work by George Griffith, Jack London, Fred M. White, and others, and several examples of the ever-popular British catastrophe story, in which London is destroyed by gas explosion, flood, ice, fire, and volcano.
• George Bernard Shaw: Back To Methuselah [1921]
  Play studying the consequences of immortality.
• Mary Shelley: Frankenstein [1818]
  Despite its early date, this novel is a fascinating discussion of scientific responsibility and morality.
• Olaf Stapledon: Last And First Men [1930]
  A panoramic history of the future, extending from the 1930s to the death of the solar system.
• Olaf Stapledon: Odd John [1935]
  Sirius [1944]
  The first is based on the evolution of a mental superman, and the consequences of his attempts to found a new civilisation. The second deals with the creation of dogs with human intelligence.
• Jules Verne: From The Earth To The Moon [1869]
  Journey To The Centre Of The Earth [1872]
  Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea [1872]
  Master Of The World [1914]
  Despite appallingly bad translations, and some occasional lapses in science which are primarily translation errors, all of these stories are scientific romances at their best.
  A recent discovery, Paris In The Twentieth Century, may also be useful.
• Thea Von Harbou: Metropolis [1926]
  The book of the film; Von Harbou was Fritz Lang's wife and co-author of the script. There are many other adaptations of this story and its setting, including an graphic novel; Superman's Metropolis [1996]
• Edgar Wallace: The Four Just Men [1901]
  Not a scientific romance, but an excellent turn of the century thriller with some interesting sidelights on British attitudes to foreigners. The later sequels are less useful.
• H.G. Wells: When The Sleeper Wakes [1899]
  The War Of The Worlds [1898]
  The First Men In The Moon [1901]
  The Time Machine [1895]
  Mankind under the rule of immensely rich capitalists, the classic novel of alien invasion, and two definitive journeys, whose impact on science fiction can't be overestimated.
• John Wyndham: The Day Of The Triffids [1951]
  The Kraken Wakes [1953]
  Trouble With Lichen [1960]
  Three rather late scientific romances; two catastrophe stories (always a popular theme with British authors) and a novel about the discovery of immortality.
• Yevgeny Zamiatin: We [1924]
  Life in a world socialist state where personal names and the word "I" are forbidden.

Recommended Viewing

• The First Men In The Moon [1964]
  Professor Cavor's antigravity ship flies to the Moon, where Selenites are preparing to invade Earth. Wells played somewhat for laughs, but still an interesting adaptation of an important work. Special effects are poor by today's standards.
• Just Imagine [1930]
  A man from the thirties is transported to 1980s New York, and can't cope with the changes. A musical, notable for lavish sets but poor dialogue and acting.
• The Lost World [1925]
  One of several adaptations of the Conan Doyle classic, featuring Ray Harryhausen's early stop-frame model animation and effects, including a Brontosaurus loose in London. Silent, but better than the subsequent remakes.
• Jules Verne's Rocket To The Moon [1967]
  A dire comedy version of From The Earth To The Moon, from the same team as The First Men In The Moon, it nevertheless has some nice Victorian high-tech devices, but unfortunately never gets into space.
• Metropolis [1926]
  Workers in a hellish underground complex provide luxuries for the rich bosses, who panic when they see signs of revolt. An important precursor of many later films including Bladerunner.
• The Time Machine [1960]
  Reasonably faithful enactment of Wells' classic story, let down by wooden acting.
• Things To Come [1936]
  World War 2 lasts from the thirties to the sixties, ending in the formation of a world government run by scientists. Biased heavily towards Wells' notions of politics and history.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [2003]
  Despite occasional lapses into silliness this is a reasonably evocation of the comic and of the "kitchen sink" approach to steampunk; pile in every character and device and hope that the end result is fun. It works very well in the comic, not quite so well in the film but it's still worth watching.
• Van Helsing [2004]
  Like The League... above this film uses the "pile it high" approach to the late 19th century, this time for horror rather than science fiction. The plot is often desperately silly but it has some good moments, most notably when trying to evoke the old RKO movies it emulates.
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow [2004]
  An excellent evocation of the magazine serial combined with 1930s-1950s pulp SF. Most scenes seem to be based on magazine covers of the period, with a "gosh wow" factor that makes up for occasional wooden acting.

Comics

• Brian Augustyn: Gotham By Gaslight [1991]
  Master of the Future [1992]
  Two 'graphic novels' starring Batman, set against a Victorian background. Some interesting characterisation can be found in both stories; the first pits a Victorian version of Batman against Jack The Ripper, the second against a villain straight from the pages of Jules Verne. Period detail is excellent. The 'Elseworlds' series from DC has included several other stories with Victorian or Edwardian settings; the above are particularly good examples. For a profoundly silly take on Victorian detectives see the L.E.G.I.O.N. 007 annual [1994], also part of this series.
• Grant Morrison: Sebastian O [1993]
  A 3-issue series in which the Victorian era acquired television and computers somewhat early, with unfortunate results. Extremely violent, not always faithful to the era, but good for imagery and costuming.
• Bryan Talbot: The Adventures Of Luther Arkwright [197?-89]
  Published in several different formats over this period, this is (usually) a 9-part story of inter-dimensional warfare. Several sections are set in a world with quasi-Victorian technology. Highly recommended.
• Alan Moore: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen [2000-2004]
  Two short magazine serials about The League, an organisation of adventurers including Captain Nemo, Alan Quartermain, The Invisible Man and others. The first series pits them against Dr. Fu Manchu, the second against the Martians of The War of the Worlds. It's possibly the best evocation of the "kitchen sink" approach to steampunk; pile in every character and device and hope that the end result is fun. Every scene includes a few references to other stories, from Dickens to Wells, and spotting them is immense fun. It works very well indeed.

Old Maps

Replica and reprinted maps are wonderful props for any game, and a useful starting point for "future cities" as they were imagined around the turn of the century. It should be possible to obtain them for most areas; the examples that follow are useful for a British campaign.

• Alan Godfrey Maps, 57-58 Spoor St., Dunston, Gateshead, NE11 9BD, Britain
  The "Godfrey Edition" of 15"/mile (1/4224) scale Ordnance Survey maps are photographically reduced from late 19th and early 20th century 25"/mile originals. They give very clear coverage of London, and partial coverage of many other areas of Britain, adding a history of each area and other useful data on the back. Map details include individual houses, footpaths, tram lines, and so forth. London alone needs more than a hundred sheets, each showing an area of roughly 1.5 square miles, for full coverage, but most campaigns will only need a few key areas. 7 or 8 new maps are published every month. Particularly recommended:
  • 63(11) - Whitechapel 1893 - A must for any campaign with echoes of Jack the Ripper.
  • K710 - Crystal Palace 1871 - A marvel of Victorian engineering, including a history of what was once Britain's largest exhibition site plus plans and pictures of its interior.
  The range includes some 36"/Mile (1/1760) scale plans of especially important sites, such as the Tower of London and Dublin Castle. A catalogue is available by post.
• David & Charles, Brunel House, Newton Abbot, Devon, Britain
  This company reproduces 1"/1 mile scale maps (1/63360 scale) from 19th-century originals. They cover large areas, but this scale is too small to show much detail, and clarity is poorer than the Godfrey maps. London is mostly on sheet 72, with outlying areas on sheets 71, 79, and 80. No catalogue available. Current prices, mail order & foreign details not known.
• Small-scale Victorian maps of London can also be found in:
  • Cthulhu By Gaslight (Chaosium Inc.)
  • GURPS Horror (Steve Jackson Games)
  • Masque of the Red Death (TSR)
  Chaosium also publish maps of 1920s America and the imaginary towns of Arkham and Innsmouth for the Call of Cthulhu game.

APPENDIX - Some other game systems

Unusually paranoid legal note

• Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium Inc.) is designed for horror campaigns, but is readily usable for any 19th or 20th century genre. It has all the skills needed for a scientific romance setting, and a huge body of published adventures and source material. It is relatively easy to learn and play.
• The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (23rd Parallel Games) was based on a well-known comics series, and part of the original story was set in a world whose technology is very like that of Kipling's A.B.C. stories and Griffith's Angel of the Revolution. The rules include psionics and travel between dimensions, as part of an ongoing struggle between rival groups who want to save or destroy all universes. It is now out of print and very rare. No additional material seems likely to appear.
• Space 1889 (GDW then Heliograph Inc.) is a scientific romance game. Set in an alternate universe where the "Luminiferous Ether" exists and Edison invented a space drive, it features forgotten civilisations on Mars, the Moon, and Venus, flying ships, and some useful rules on weird science and inventions. Several supplements and associated war games and board games were available, but GDW ceased trading in February 1996. A promised film never appeared, but a radio series was recently announced. All of the books for the system (but not the board games) are still in print from Heliograph Inc., who will also publish the upcoming Zeppelin Age RPG.
• Wessex games publish a series of Victorian wargames beginning with Aeronef, a game of aerial battles based in part on FF II
• GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System: Steve Jackson Games) is a multi-genre game intended for use with any campaign setting. Regrettably the long-promised source pack set in the world of The Difference Engine will not now appear, but the excellent GURPS Steampunk covers much the same ground. GURPS can be expensive, since it's sometimes necessary to buy three or four books to get everything needed for a campaign, but it is by far the most wide-ranging RPG in print, with a huge range of supplements and adventures.
• The Amazing Engine (TSR Inc) was a generic role playing system for SF and fantasy adventures, published with a series of world books for these genres. One of the first was For Faery, Queen, And Country, a Victorian fantasy campaign. Rules are reasonably simple, and additional material (mostly in the form of more game worlds) was published. Despite a few oddities, such as decimalised British currency in the mid-nineteenth century, this worldbook may be useful for variant campaigns, but is out of print and difficult to find.
• TSR also published Masque Of The Red Death, a Victorian horror supplement for AD&D, which contains a lot of useful information on period characters and locations. While much is biased towards the concerns of the horror genre, the presentation is good, and it covers a generalised Victorian background in great detail. It's possible that the successor publisher of AD&D, Wizards of the Coast, may eventually reprint it or put it on line.
• Castle Falkenstein (R. Talsorian Games) is another Victorian fantasy game, whose background has many similarities to "For Faery, Queen, and Country", but emphasises weird science, the "technology" of magic, and magic/science hybrids, with a swashbuckling approach to adventures. The system is exceptionally well designed and presented, using playing cards to resolve combat and the use of skills, and is well-supported by its publisher. A GURPS version of the setting is also available.
• Victoriana (Heresy Gaming) is yet another Victorian fantasy setting, this time taking a more historical approach to the setting but mixing in various fantasy races and weird science. Unlike many of the games mentioned here it's comparatively recent (2003) and is still in print, with several supplements and adventures available.
• H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds roleplaying game (Deep7) is a recent small quirky RPG published as a PDF in the USA, where Wells is out of copyright. It's limited in scope but cheap and has some interesting ideas on adventures during the invasion.
• Finally, TWERPS (The Worlds Easiest Role Playing System: Gamescience) may be useful for anyone who thinks that Forgotten Futures is much too complex; its rules fit on a small piece of paper!

These games are, or were, available from most specialist shops.

Historical note: With the exception of various cowboy RPGs, such as TSR's Boot Hill, the first commercial RPG to cover the 19th century in any detail was probably Victorian Adventure by Stephen Smith, published by SKS Distribution. It was intended as a purely historical game, and appeared in Britain around 1982-3, with at least two editions. It was not a success, possibly because readers were put off by unusual typography and layout, possibly because there wasn't much of a market for a purely historical game. Many thanks to Patrick Brady for these details.

APPENDIX - About the author

Marcus L. Rowland is a London-based technician. In his spare time he has been writing for games magazines and publishers since 1979. Notable works include the following game supplements and adventures:

• For Golden Heroes
  Queen Victoria And The Holy Grail (Games Workshop)

• For Call of Cthulhu
  Trail Of The Loathesome Slime (Games Workshop)
  Nightmare In Norway (Games Workshop)
  Bad Moon Rising (in The Great Old Ones, Chaosium)
  Honeymoon In Hell (in Blood Brothers, Chaosium)
  Fear Of Flying (in Fearful Passages, Chaosium)
  El Tigre, y la Piramede de Destruccion (in Blood Brothers 2, Chaosium)

• For The Judge Dredd Role Playing Game
  Judgement Day (Games Workshop)
  High Justice (Games Workshop: accepted but never published)

• For Space 1889
  Canal Priests Of Mars (Game Designers Workshop: published in a heavily abridged form not approved by the author; the complete version previously announced by Heliograph Inc. has now been cancelled.)

• Into the Detective's Casebook (card game, The Magellanica Co.)

• World Generator (Software: Shareware, later freeware; user registrations no longer accepted)
  Download World Generator, 142k zip file
  DOS program, CGA graphics, works (just) on modern PCs but don't expect too much!

• Forgotten Futures:
  A series of complete text-based RPGs based on scientific romances and other fiction from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries:
  Forgotten Futures I: The A.B.C. Files
  Forgotten Futures II: The Log Of The Astronef
  Forgotten Futures III: George E. Challenger's Mysterious World
  Forgotten Futures IV: The Carnacki Cylinders
  Forgotten Futures V: Goodbye Piccadilly
  Forgotten Futures VI: Victorian Villainy
  Forgotten Futures VII: Tsar Wars
  Forgotten Futures VIII: Fables and Frolics
  Forgotten Futures IX: It's My Own Invention
  The Forgotten Futures CD-ROM (now version 5.0)

  The first printed version of Forgotten Futures was published as a free booklet with Future Publishing's Arcane magazine in 1997. This booklet is now very rare. It consists of the summary rules and introductory adventure, both of which are on line and on the Forgotten Futures CD-ROM.

  From Heliograph Inc. for Forgotten Futures
  Forgotten Futures (expanded rules and introductory adventure)
  (ed.) Stories of Other Worlds and A Honeymoon In Space by George Griffith
  The Log of the Astronef - Space travel worldbook
  (ed.) Tsar Wars: The Angel of the Revolution by George Griffith
  (ed.) Tsar Wars: The Syren of the Skies by George Griffith
  Masters of the Graviton, the space travel adventures book, long on hold, has now been cancelled, and there are currently no plans for continued print publication of Forgotten Futures.

• Diana, Warrior Princess
  In print, illustrated by Aaron Williams, 116 pp from Heliograph Inc.

• Magazine credits include articles, adventures, and games in numerous issues of White Dwarf, Challenge, Different Worlds, Dagon, Concepts, Imagine, The Dragon, Dungeon Magazine, 2000 AD (board game, not credited as author), Fantasy Chronicles, Red Giant, Space Gamer, Games Trade Monthly, Games Review Monthly, New Scientist (not game-related), Strategy Plus, Role Player Independent, The Last Province, Journeys, Valkyrie, Ragnarok, Interactive Fantasy, Arcane, Odyssey, Pyramid On-Line, several computer magazines, and various other magazines and fanzines.

• Short fiction has appeared in shared world collections edited by the Midnight Rose collective and published by Roc Books; Temps, Euro Temps, and The Weerde 2. These books have only appeared in the UK at the time of writing. These stories should be published on the author's web site in 2005.

• Author of the Fantasy Games article in The Encyclopaedia of Fantasy and co-author of the equivalent article in The Encyclopaedia of Science Fiction.