Well, the next Steampunk campaign is finally in the planning stages - a Private Investigation Agency, episodic rather than serial in nature. Starting in 1866.

I have an idea for a major background plot, but that will only kick in about every three or four sessions, starting in the first - when the PCs get a letter and package from a rival P.I..

Dramatis Personae:
Sophia - A succubus that is playing her own game, not against the team, but willing to use them for her own ends. (She is the first part of the main plot that the team is likely to encounter. Miniature is Bourbon St. Sophie by Reaper.)


Would you trust this woman if she told you that you were being followed?

Nicodemus & Vicar Aramis - Gargoyle, and the man who is the gargoyle's soul.

Archer Darrow - PI, not long for this world. Found some information and tries to use it to his advantage.

Scenes & Settings:
All Souls Cathedral - a cathedral in Blythe - later to be residence to a number of gargoyles, but before then, something goes very wrong....

Lower Blythe Railstation - a refitted Harbourmaster's.

The Auld Grump

Probably the easiest way to get the feel you want is to snag a listing of the earliest Holmes mysteries and look at their basic plots. (Use the serial adventures here, not the novels or the later adaptations.) From there decide if each individual case is going to be more 'grounded' or rely more heavily on steampunk trappings.

Character motivations and plots, though, should transfer easily. The important thing is to get the Victorian social sensibilities down, which Holmes will do for you.

I may have to do some sculpting - last night I dreamed about a steam powered caterpillar centaur. Brass body, lozenge shaped 'stacks', human torso wearing a Victorian evening dress, the panniers flaring across the upper thorax of the caterpillar.

Do a mold for the dozen or so little legs.... A baroness or a countess, I think, for the later game.

The Auld Grump

Is Sawney Bean too obscure? Christie-Cleek?

Thinking about using one name in Fallout, the other in steampunk.

The Auld Grump, maybe Alferd Packer? Though for steampunk he would still be alive, so, for that matter, would be his victims....

have you read ? It's irregular, but really good.

So that we can get some practical use from this, you could outline the main plot a bit. Makes stealing easier

There's some really great material in Arvid Nelson's 6 part graphic novel series Rex Mundi (Dark Horse Comics) that could transfer beautifully into your campaign. To hook you on the series, part 1 is available for free PDF download .

If you don't know Rex Mundi already, I highly recommend it.

Thanks for posting that summary, as it puts a different spin on things form where I thought you were going. Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is a more adult version of what you're suggesting - could be something useful there.

A bit that has now been bouncing around for years is what to do with the - I know the scene, I know what it is about, but how to use it...? The 013 from the Necropolis at midnight, returning at 3 AM.... I know who (and what) is on it, but I don't yet have a plot to tie it to.

The Auld Grump

If you're looking for a cool player handout thingy, there are these steampunk playing cards:
http://www.theory11.com/playingcards/steampunk.php

There's also these:

http://www.theory11.com/playingcards/de ... dition.php

That company makes a lot of awesome playing cards!

Those cards do look really great!

I am considering giving the P.I.s a 'Q' - a mad scientist using them for field testing, each character getting a piece of gear designed by the GM (me) for use in the scenario.

Or perhaps a piece of signature gear, not sure yet....

The Auld Grump