Time once again for another chapter of
Plays Well With Others.
Between some games there are often rivalries, heated debates, or even outright distaste. Some games even have that between editions.
Not so for Victorian-era games. We, the aficionados of such pastimes, fancy ourselves more genteel Lords and Ladies. We generally get along and support each other and celebrate each other's successes. This can be seen in the Facebook groups
Victorian Gamers Association and
+Jordan Bodewell's
Victorian Adventure Enthusiast.
So today it will my pleasure to discuss how you can use
Victorious with various other Victorian-era RPGS.
Note and Disclaimers: 1. I am making no attempt whatsoever to hide my biases here. 2. All books are mine. No book was provided for review purposes. 3. Links are affiliate links. 4. This will not be exhaustive.
Shall we begin?
Tho star with let's talk about what Victorious brings to the table that is unique. This is not just a Steampunk game or a game of Victorian daring-do. This is a game of Super-humanity from a Victorian point of view. This is the writing of Friedrich Nietzsche writ-large with more hope, action, and steam. These are the promises of the ideas, but not the letter of, Charles Darwin. The attitude is generally positive (which mind you can be a criticism of the game, the Victorian times were dirty, poor and generally terrible for many).
Victorious, true to it's name, is about striving for more and then seeing that goal realized.
If you go back to
my review from yesterday you will see right off the cuff there are a few things that can easily be added to any Victorian game from Victorious.
1. The timeline
2. Background on the Victorian world, with various organizations.
3. The NPCs, in particular, the villains.
Many of the games I am talking about will also have these, but using them in concert makes for a better game.
Leagues of Adventure
Right off the bat
Victorious has a LOT in common with
Leagues of Adventure. Both games have similar motives and design goals. Where Victorious can be summed up, though inadequately, as "Victorian Superheroes", Leagues of Adventure is summed up as "Victorian High Adventure". Both have simlar Pre-Pulp sensibilities, and both have the point of view of Mankind will soon be much better. I think the main difference to me is summed up by think how the characters could travel from London to New York in each game. In Victorious the character would either fly by some sort of super-human means (in addition to other means) in LoA the characters would pilot a steam powered airship.
The timelines of both games are largely compatible and characters in one would feel right at home in the other game.
Could you imagine a team up of these characters? I totally can.
The power levels of LoA are a little flatter than Victorious'. Character start out and remain largely human-powered. LoA has more skills, but Victorious' rules are a little faster on how skills are dealt with. The GM of one game should find a lot material in the other game to give them plenty of ideas.
Victoriana
If Victorious is about super-humanity, then
Victoriana is about weird-humanity and others. Regardless of which edition you have/buy (1st Edition is pictured below), Victoriana is a little further on the "Castle Falkenstein" scale of Fantasy Victoriana than Victorious is. It also takes place in the mid-Victorian era compared to Victorious' ever-popular late-Victorian era.
Victoriana is often described as Gaslight-Shadowrun. This is true. There are also plenty of other races like orcs, trolls, ogres, gnomes, elves (Eldren) and dwarves running around. Victoriana is a fun game, but I sometimes wonder what it would be like under a different rule system.
Well not exactly like that...but you could fake a really cool Victoriana by mixing Victorious with Castles & Crusades. It would be a system that most of my readers would already be familiar with and still get at some similar types of game-play. I would then advise GMs to grab some of the 3rd Edition Victoriana supplements. Most of them are written with a minimum of game stats and all are absolutely beautiful.
While reading over Victorious I could not help but think of this picture from 1st Edition Victoriana.
This appendix in Victoriana covers very well what mixing 21st-century super-heroes with 19th-century sensibilities would be like. It is a good read for anyone running a Victorious game.
In our hypothetical trip from London to New York, our Victoriana characters also travel by Airship, though it is not steam powered, but rather some eldritch magic. Or they find an ancient Eldren gate.
Victoria
On the WAAAY other end of the "Castle Falkenstein Scale" is
+Daniel Hodges'
Victoria. Victoria is very much set in the "real world". It is, however, a game I always suggest since it deals with the issues of the Victorian times better than pretty much every other game. Why? Because those issues are the focus of the game. IF as a GM you really want to get a feel of the times then this is the game to use. In fact, I have often wanted to run this game as an introduction game. Everything is nice (well...not really nice) and normal then move on to the Fantastic game of choice once the characters learn of the "true world".
To travel to New York from London in this game you better book passage on a steamer and with some luck you will get there in about a week.
NOTE to FUTURE GAME DESIGNERS
We have now used up all versions of "Victoria" for a game!
Baker Street
On the same scale as Victoria is the Sherlock Holmes influenced
Baker Street by
+Bryce Whitacre. Baker Street is set in "normal" Victorian times, albeit, one with Sherlock Holmes as a real person. Victorious also has the world's most famous detective. GMs should pick up a copy of Baker Street if Sherlock is going to play any part in their Victorious game. Plus the clue-resolution system in Baker Street is fantastic and is something that can be lifted out to use in any game.
I will go as far as to say that Baker Street is one of those underrated games that should really get much more attention and many more awards.
Again. Steamer ship, arrive one week later.
Let's go to the other side of the scale into more Horror. It is October after all.
Masque of the Red Death
Ravenloft Masque of the Red Death shares a lot of DNA with Victorious. Either the d20/3rd edition or the original 2nd edition would work fine here. I have already mentioned that you can mix Victorious with
Tainted Lands and get something not unakin to
Ravenloft Masque of the Red Death. Both games have several compliments to each other. Both have great and well-researched timelines. Both games have a great variety of NPCs and Villians. In fact, most of the material from one game can be used with the other with little fuss. The big issues though are what does the Red Death mean in Victorious and how do super-humans work in Masque of the Red Death. If you want to add some Gothic Horror to Victorious this is where I would start. I for one would pick up
MotRD's A Guide to Transylvania in a heartbeat to use with this.
Gaslight
Not too far away from Masque of the Red Death, but further up on the CF scale (this is a thing now) is
Gaslight. Gaslight is cut from the same cloth as Masque. Since it is OGL/d20 it mixes with Victorious well. I would argue that the system in Victorious/Castles & Crusades is better than d20 for this, but use some ideas from Gaslight to add a little more horror to your game.
Ghosts of Albion
In truth, Victorious and
Ghosts of Albion are very, very different games. Victorious takes place in the late Victorian era, Ghosts in the early. There are plenty of known superhuman and supernatural occurrences in Victorious. In Ghosts everything is hidden behind a veil of secrecy and magic.
But both games have a number of complimentary features. First, if you plan to run one game in the other's time frame then both have good, detailed timelines. Magic is a main feature of Ghosts, so if you are planning to add some more magical juice to Victorious then this is a good place to start.
I bet I could put together a "Protector" class for Victorious. Mix in some details from Amazing Adventures and I could have a Ghost, Faerie and Vampire races for it as well.
Otherwise, the Magic quality is easily replicated by Victorious' Magicians.
One day I'll run an ultimate Victorian game with elements of these games plus Space: 1889 and Cthulhu by Gaslight. Something truly epic.
