The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Disclaimer: I apologize for any mistake, convoluted sentence structure and other assorted "bugs" in the following text. English is not my first language, and this is the best I can do...

Introduction

Forgotten Futures (FF from now on) is a project by british rpg author Marcus Rowland. According to the copyright notice this work started around 1993. The game was originally published as series of "volumes" and distributed in electronic format only, in the same spirit of software shareware: as a labour of love, more than as a way to get money (but rest assured that content values were always quite high).

The idea behind the project is to offer a game system tailored to re-enacting "scientific romances", a genre which could be summarized as "the grand-father of Science Fiction" (Jules Verne and Wells are the most obvious examples...)

Each volume contained fiction from Victorian-era authors like Kipling or Conan Doyle, FF rpg rules and a "worldbook" containing additional material to play in the world described in the included story.

Originally available directly from the author (and distributed as ASCII text and GIFs on IBM diskettes) it was converted to HTML first and put on CD-ROM later.
You can still subscribe to this growing body of work by visiting the author's site; the project lives on both as electronically distributed volumes (shareware) and in printed format. In fact, part of the delay in getting to a printed version was caused by the author's desire not to restrict the shareware availability of his project.

The paper version

The paper version is published by Heliograph, a small publishing house which specializes in Victorian-themed games (they are currently working on re-releasing Space:1889, among other things).
The first release is a small format (6x11 inches) softcover, giving you a complete system, copious referee's notes, tips and "additional sources" lists covering books, movies, comics to help you getting the feel for the actual historical period (which can accomodate from early Victorian to late Edwardian) and the genre-related conventions (which again can range from The War of the Worlds to Dracula and pit Sherlock Holmes against Fu Manchu or Captain Nemo.

The book includes an adventure (which serves as a nice example of how to mix history and fantasy: the plot involves Queen Victoria and the inauguration of a tunnel between England and France...) and some extra useful material like a condensed rule guide for players.

The graphical design of the book is adequate. I usually don't care much about lavishly decorated manuals, but I understand that some people could find the production values of the book a bit on the frugal side. Artwork comes for the most part from original period sources.
The material is clearly written and fairly well organized (with a full index).

All in all, a lot of stuff in 152 pages. This will be the "main rulebook" for the system, and rules and examples tend to cover various different campaign ideas, from fairly realistic to magically or "SF" oriented ones (yes, you can have Jack the Ripper, and dinosaurs, too, conveniently placed in Earth's hollow core... ).
Futures supplements will include the original stories and specific rules and worldbooks, just like the electronic version.

Rules overview

The system is not very complex, and thanks to the existence of the electronic version, it has been playtested for years. Each character is defined by three stats (Body, Mind and Soul) with values ranging from 1 to 6. Stats are point based. The game defines 25 skills from the mundane (Brawling, Mechanic) to the esoteric (Babbage Engine, Medium). Skills are very broad: Scientist, for example covers any science, from Archeology to Zoology. This is a conscious design decision, and is fairly genre-related. Characters like Prof. Challenger or Sherlock Holmes show a fairly comprehensive grasp of various disciplines.
All game mechanics are resolved by using six-sided dices (usually two). The core system is based around a sort of resistance-table similar to the one used in Chaosium's BRP. Damage does not use hit points but a simple wound system.
The game is not cinematic, and violence is usually not the best solution.

Is it for me?

On the good side, we have a well-researched, fully playtested game with is well integrated with the original background (it is fairly popular among Space 1889 players, for example, who seem to like FF as a replacement for the original rules).

On the other hand, Victorian era rpgs are not exactly "mainstream", even if the period is quite rich in ideas and background.
Luckily, the electronic version of FF already offers a lot of additional stuff, including adventures and campaigns which are quite imaginative and fairly well written, and can offer a low-cost source for further expanding the game, so by buying the manual and registering the electronic distribution you have a lot of stuff at a fairly low cost.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Forgotten Futures
Author: Marcus Rowland Category: game Company/Publisher: Heliograph Inc. Line: Forgotten Futures Cost: 18.00 Page count: 152 ISBN: 0-9668926-2-3 SKU: FFRB Capsule Review by Paolo Marino on 09/07/00. Genre tags: Science fiction Historical Space	Disclaimer: I apologize for any mistake, convoluted sentence structure and other assorted "bugs" in the following text. English is not my first language, and this is the best I can do... Introduction Forgotten Futures (FF from now on) is a project by british rpg author Marcus Rowland. According to the copyright notice this work started around 1993. The game was originally published as series of "volumes" and distributed in electronic format only, in the same spirit of software shareware: as a labour of love, more than as a way to get money (but rest assured that content values were always quite high). The idea behind the project is to offer a game system tailored to re-enacting "scientific romances", a genre which could be summarized as "the grand-father of Science Fiction" (Jules Verne and Wells are the most obvious examples...) Each volume contained fiction from Victorian-era authors like Kipling or Conan Doyle, FF rpg rules and a "worldbook" containing additional material to play in the world described in the included story. Originally available directly from the author (and distributed as ASCII text and GIFs on IBM diskettes) it was converted to HTML first and put on CD-ROM later. You can still subscribe to this growing body of work by visiting the author's site; the project lives on both as electronically distributed volumes (shareware) and in printed format. In fact, part of the delay in getting to a printed version was caused by the author's desire not to restrict the shareware availability of his project. The paper version The paper version is published by Heliograph, a small publishing house which specializes in Victorian-themed games (they are currently working on re-releasing Space:1889, among other things). The first release is a small format (6x11 inches) softcover, giving you a complete system, copious referee's notes, tips and "additional sources" lists covering books, movies, comics to help you getting the feel for the actual historical period (which can accomodate from early Victorian to late Edwardian) and the genre-related conventions (which again can range from The War of the Worlds to Dracula and pit Sherlock Holmes against Fu Manchu or Captain Nemo. The book includes an adventure (which serves as a nice example of how to mix history and fantasy: the plot involves Queen Victoria and the inauguration of a tunnel between England and France...) and some extra useful material like a condensed rule guide for players. The graphical design of the book is adequate. I usually don't care much about lavishly decorated manuals, but I understand that some people could find the production values of the book a bit on the frugal side. Artwork comes for the most part from original period sources. The material is clearly written and fairly well organized (with a full index). All in all, a lot of stuff in 152 pages. This will be the "main rulebook" for the system, and rules and examples tend to cover various different campaign ideas, from fairly realistic to magically or "SF" oriented ones (yes, you can have Jack the Ripper, and dinosaurs, too, conveniently placed in Earth's hollow core... ). Futures supplements will include the original stories and specific rules and worldbooks, just like the electronic version. Rules overview The system is not very complex, and thanks to the existence of the electronic version, it has been playtested for years. Each character is defined by three stats (Body, Mind and Soul) with values ranging from 1 to 6. Stats are point based. The game defines 25 skills from the mundane (Brawling, Mechanic) to the esoteric (Babbage Engine, Medium). Skills are very broad: Scientist, for example covers any science, from Archeology to Zoology. This is a conscious design decision, and is fairly genre-related. Characters like Prof. Challenger or Sherlock Holmes show a fairly comprehensive grasp of various disciplines. All game mechanics are resolved by using six-sided dices (usually two). The core system is based around a sort of resistance-table similar to the one used in Chaosium's BRP. Damage does not use hit points but a simple wound system. The game is not cinematic, and violence is usually not the best solution. Is it for me? On the good side, we have a well-researched, fully playtested game with is well integrated with the original background (it is fairly popular among Space 1889 players, for example, who seem to like FF as a replacement for the original rules). On the other hand, Victorian era rpgs are not exactly "mainstream", even if the period is quite rich in ideas and background. Luckily, the electronic version of FF already offers a lot of additional stuff, including adventures and campaigns which are quite imaginative and fairly well written, and can offer a low-cost source for further expanding the game, so by buying the manual and registering the electronic distribution you have a lot of stuff at a fairly low cost. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)