The Prologue

(Or how a mysterious book draws our protagonist into a life of swashbuckling adventure!)

One day, in a secondhand bookshop in Cheltenham, whilst on summer leave from Aberystwyth University, a book cover impressed itself on my consciousness so much that I forked over the few coins I had in my pocket for a copy. There was a miniature figure, dressed in Victorian garb on the prow of a ship piloted by a skeletal figure sailing above the streets of London. The book was Homunculus by James P. Blaylock. The book sat on my shelf upon my return to Aberystwyth for a long while, until looking for something to read whilst the healthier and less inhibited of my friends occupied themselves with swimming, I picked up my copy.

I was engrossed and was torn between savouring every page or devouring it all in one go. It had everything: Fantasy; Magic; Horror; Humour; Adventure; Heroics; Science Fiction and characters that you longed to be or meet. It captured a fantastic history that never was. That evening I was immediately suggesting a new role-playing game system to my friends...little knowing that one already existed. I was pointed in the direction of a tattered and dog-eared copy of Castle Falkenstein, and thus I was hooked.

Since that day I have eagerly sought out all I can on Victorian adventure, from modern greats like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore to Classics like War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. It didn't matter what medium, computer game, film, music, book or graphic novel, all were grist for the mill. I first ran Castle Falkenstein as a brief short-lived game in the final weeks of my final year at university for a small group of my flat-mates and friends. That was back in 1998. 6 years on and the game, having been through many incarnations and many different players, is still going strong.

The Masterplan

(Or how the evil genius plans to spread his nefarious schemes throughout the world!)

Which brings us to this website. Over the years my research, my imagination and the rich contributions of many players I have had the honour of writing material for created a rich background of ideas and resources that it seems unjust that they don't see the light of day beyond the piles of scrawled notes, maps, documents and pictures that are a result of all those hours. So, with the invaluable assistance of Ian Thomas and his help (I say help, but pretty much everything technical that you see here, or don't see which is the genius of it, is his work) I have decided to compile this website, as resource for your edification and entertainment.

The website is structured so that it can grow with contributions (a cunning plan, given my constant struggle with apathy and disorganisation!) as the game itself grew. The material presented here is indeed sourced from a Castle Falkenstein game, but has had so many influences that I feel it is not limited to that system, but can be used for any system within the genre of Steampunk. Some work is my own creation, some is inspired by the work of others and some is the ever welcome work of those who have contributed to my campaign. Hopefully you will find amongst these pages something rewarding, whether you are reading them for source material, for inspiration or to remind yourselves of the story thus far...