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My perspective in this review is to review GURPS Castle Falkenstein as a GURPS supplement, rather than by contrasting it with the original game. My impression gained from reading previous reviews is that the product may not be especially important to those who have the original. However, it does provide an extremely interesting setting for those familiar with the GURPS rules, and from that point of view is well worth getting hold of, especially since the original is currently out of print (although it may be coming back in the near future).
So, on to the meat of the review. The book opens with a summary of recent alternate history in the Castle Falkenstein reality. Judging what is written, Bismark was both more aggressive and less successful than in our own history, and the Prussians, supported by the Unseelie court, represent the greatest threat to world peace. Other major threats include the Steam Lords (some of Britain's very successful industrialists, with an exploitative philosophy and political clout) and the Anarchist Brotherhood. The major "good guys" are the Bavarians (who managed to defeat the Prussian attack with a little help) and the Second Compact--- a deal between the Seelie Court and a number of prominent individuals to deal with threats represented by the Unseelie.
The next chapter of the book is a summary of several nations in the Castle Falkenstein World. It focuses mainly on `New Europa' with short entries on Bavaria, Prussian, France, Great Britain, Russia, the Italies (Italy is not unified in the Falkenstein History), and the Ottoman Empire. Other areas described are North America (somewhat fragmented in the Falkenstein reality--- the Native Americans have enough magic available to be able to repel settlers), South America, with mention of Mexico, Brazil, and the still extant Maya and Inca Empires (magic is again the explanation), China, India, Japan, and Australia and New Zealand. The descriptions of these countries are if anything even more brief than those of the European (or `New Europan') countries, and obviously leave a lot of work for the GM. For me personally, this was no problem; I *like* designing things. I did, however, have one major gripe--- the map of New Europa given in the book is terrible. It is too small and unclear to be remotely useful; I had to consult a historical atlas and make my own.
After the geography comes some useful information about Victorian Society, along with ideas for GURPS characters and templates. The templates are probably the least useful part of the book for those that do not play GURPS. That said, personally I don't play GURPS, and I still found some useful ideas.
Next come list of goods and jobs in the Falkenstein world. In this list is something a little odd; the prices are all in US dollars. Most of the information in the book is about New Europa; another currency should have been chosen for the list (probably pounds Sterling, the British Empire being the dominant world power at that time) and notes given on conversion to other currencies. Still, this is only a minor complaint, and the lists do give some more ideas about Victorian life.
We now come to the fantasy elements of the book; information on Dragons, Dwarfs, and Faeries, Magick, and Superscience. The information on non-human species, especially Faeries, is quite thorough--- it is interesting to see how all three species fit into Victorian societies. The Dwarfs seem to be Faeries that have changed themselves into fixed forms due to their love of metal and gadgets, and the Dragons are descended from Pterosaurs that somehow learned to use magic. Faeries are the strangest of all, and (fortunately) little resemble Victorian fairies.
The Magick chapter gives completely new rules for magic that better fits into the Castle Falkenstein mould. I cannot really comment on these rules since I use my own adaptation of GURPS Magic rather than the independent rules given here. I still found the chapter useful, however, because of its information about Sorcerous Orders. All of those who practice magic must be trained by a Sorcerous Order. The magic a particular Sorcerous Order can practice is determined by the Lorebooks available to it. Sorcerous Orders are smoothly integrated into society, and are the only thing preventing magic from being abused.
There is not a huge amount of information on Superscience, but there is a nice list of fantastic vehicles and weapons. This is enough to provide a start. My campaign tends to emphasize magic rather than science, so again, I do not feel able to comment in detail.
The book concludes with a list of campaign ideas, including the obligatory recommendation of other GURPS books. There is also an appendix with guidelines to convert characters from the original Castle Falkenstein rules to GURPS.
This review is already longer than I intended, so I will try to conclude. I am inclined to view this book very favourably, since I am currently running what I think of as quite a nice campaign with this book as a basis. However, I did have to do quite a lot of work to further develop the campaign background and adventures. But if you like the idea of a Fantasy Steampunk campaign, do not own the original Castle Falkenstein, and are not totally allergic to the GURPS rules, this is a fantastic book.
