Published Material for Castle Falkenstein
This is a complete list of all the 'official' source material for Castle Falkenstein published by R Talsorian Games. The initial resume of each book is copied from the R Talsorian website; subsequent comments about each book describing its content and usefulness are my own opinions.
Castle Falkenstein
Spellnapped! When computer game designer Tom Olam found himself sorcerously shanghaied by a rogue Wizard and a Faerie Lord, little did he suspect that he would soon become the pivotal force in the struggle to control an alternate Victorian Universe. But before the deadly game could end, he would first have to battle gigantic Landfortresses, outwit Dragons, romance a beautiful Adventuress, and defeat the evil legions of a Dark Court determined to destroy him at all costs. Then maybe, just maybe, he could find a way home again...
It's a novel. It's a game. It's both. It's Castle Falkenstein, an amazing journey into another universe just a few steps away from our own: a place where Dragons and Steampower rule the skies, Faerie Lords duel atop the battlements, and where the forces of Wizardry and Magick meet the gaslight streets of the Victorian Age. But with Castle Falkenstein the story never ends, as you too take up sabre and spell to adventure in a distant world on the other side of the mysterious Faerie Veil: a world of swashbuckling fantasy, high romance, and magickal technology. The world of Castle Falkenstein
Stock No. CF6001, (Softcover)
Stock No. CF6002, (Hardcover)
Reviews:
From RPG.net
Another review of Castle Falkenstein on RPG.net
Comme il Faut
The Castle Falkenstein Companion. Full of ideas, guidelines, and source material to make your campaign more swashbuckling and hair-raising than ever! A must buy for players and referees of any Victorian Era role-playing game.
Stock No. CF6011
ISBN 0-937279-55-2
The Angel's Comments: The most useful supplement to Castle Falkenstein for hosts and players alike. It's filled with trivia and titbits about Victorian life that will add authenticity to your games. To list but some of the content, there's rules of etiquette (such as the correct corners of calling cards to fold and the properly accepted manner to arrange romantic assignations), travel times and costs, parlour games, list of social events during the season, advice on dressing for live-action games, and maps of some of New Europa's major cities. And as R Talsorian's comment says, this is factual information relevant to any Victorian era game, be it Castle Falkenstein or not.
In terms of game mechanics, you'll find optional new rules, further explanations of existing rules, cantrips and wards for sorcerers, advice for hosts on how to run games (both round-the-table and live-action), ideas for harmonic effects for spellcasting, and much, much more.
On the downside, it's just too short. There's enough material here to wet the appetite, but it's just too diverse to cover any single topic in any detail.
Reviews:
RPG.net
Steam Age
Radium submarines! Personal velocipedes! Automated steam war machines! Meet the inventors, madmen, and devices that make the "Steam Age" truly and Age of Steam, in this exciting, inventive supplement for Castle Falkenstein.
Stock No. CF6021
ISBN 0-937279-56-0
The Angel's Comments: written in the style of a scientific magazine, Steam Age provides game statistics for inventors and their inventions alike. Lovingly illustrated from Robur the Conqueror to Captain Nemo, from steam-powered cars to Landfortresses, it's all in here. And the best article to my mind is a beautifully penned piece of advice, in the style of those found in University Career Centres, on how to become a criminal mastermind.
On the downside, almost all the inventions described here are from works of fiction, or pure fabrication for the Castle Falkenstein world. I would have liked to see real steam cars rather than fantastical ones; and a few of the devices - such as the Virtual Reality engine - are (to my mind) too outlandishly modern even for the weird science of Castle Falkenstein. Why draw only from fiction or retrospectively fit modern inventions into the Victorian world when there's so much wonderful weird science from the real Victorian era.
Reviews:
Sixguns & Sorcery
This is the comprehesive sourcebook for North America in the world of Castle Falkenstein. Complete histories and social details are provided for the nations of America, along with new Dramatic Persona, new Abilities, new magick, new steamtech, and a Gunslinging Dueling system Plus, a uniquely American Sorcerours Order - the Spellslingers! Lavishly illustrated, this is one Castle Falkenstein saga you can't do without!
Stock No. CF6031
ISBN 0-937279-59-5
The Angel's Comments: If you're running a Falkenstein game set in North America, then this is an excellent resource. The history of North America in the world of Falkenstein is rather different to our own: the United States is still confined to the east of the Mississippi by the Twenty Nations of the indian confederation; Texas is an independent republic; New Orleans is a Free State presided over by Marie Lavaux; and Emperor Norton rules the Bear Flag empire.
On the downside, this was published as an attempt to attract American players to a game that sold better in Europe than in the United States. Most Castle Falkenstein games seem to be set in New Europa, or the outposts of the British Empire (though the game seems surprisingly popular in South America as well). R Talsorian should perhaps have published worldbooks for those other parts of the world: there are rumours that a New Europan sourcebook was written but never published, and I know that this was the case with worldbooks about the Ottoman Empire and South America.
Reviews:
The Book of Sigils
The inner mysteries of the Illuminatus and other sorcerous Brotherhoods of New Europa are revealed at last. Learn the rituals, spells, secret Lodges and strongholds of the Mystic Masters of Magick as the renegade Wizard Adeptus Anthony Seville unveils his memoirs to the mundane world - while an unholy alliance of Dark Sorcery pursues him across the globe!
Stock No. CF6041
ISBN 0-937279-61-7
The Angel's Comments: With details on the structure of sorcerous lodges, and rules of the orders, The Book of Sigils provides all the information you'll ever need for running or hosting a magick-wielding character. Penned by a renegade sorcerer as he travels the world trying to keep a step ahead of adepts from the Temple of Ra who would see him dead, the journal also introduces us to many new orders, their motivations, lorebooks and lore.
On the downside, I believe a lot of material was cut from this book before publication to keep the size down.
Reviews:
RPG.net
The Memoirs of Auberon of Faerie
Helpful brownies, playful pixies, sensuous niaads, and even frightening bogeys and haunts. These are the Faerie - a beautiful, magical and occasionally terrifying part of the sorcerous near-earth of Castle Falkenstein. Now, Auberon, High Lord of The Seelie Court, reveals the long-hidden origins and nature of the enigmatic Faerie, along the way illuminating many secrets both strange and surprising concerning the different Faerie breed and their relationships with Humankind. His tale is one of wonder and horror amixed, certain to change your perception of the "Fair Folk" forever.
Stock No. CF6051
ISBN 0-937279-64-1
The Angel's Comments: If you want game stats for the different types of Fae, or the mechanics of their many and varied kindred powers, then this is the book to use. As a list of Faerie categorised by their basic powers, it's quite useful. It also provides details on the Faerie mindset and advice on how they should be roleplayed.
On the downside, honest answer, most of the book. I refuse to use the descriptions of the various universes and the history of Faerie in (as detailed here) in my own games. To my mind, the idea that Faerie are basically beings from another world who have visited the earth in several different universes both past and future (giving them a knowledge of future history) - and have access to high tech weaponry from future worlds - just doesn't seem to fit with the Falkenstein setting. And, to use the modern American euphanism, the artwork sucks big time.
Reviews:
Just to prove that not everyone dislikes this supplememt, here's a highly complementary review from RPG.net
The Lost Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
The secrets of Engine Magick revealed! This is it, the book which Tom Olam brought through the Faerie Veil to save New Europa with. Sorcery and Technology meet in these pages penned by the Master himself.
Stock No. CF6061
ISBN 0-937279-68-4
The Angel's Comments: A wonderful book on engine magick, and a must for any Castle Falkenstein collector. The Lost Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci is a beautiful creation with descriptions and images for all forms of sorcerous engines penned in a style that the master would have been proud to acknowledge as his own.
On the downside, I've yet to find the content of any value when actually running games.
Reviews:
Castle Falkenstein Fiction
From Prussia with Love
By John DeChancie
In the magic alternate Victorian universe of New Europa, good King Ludwig rules a mad empire of Faerie lords and ladies, spies, and scientists in a world where dragons, dwarfs and advanced steam technology are everyday reality. His stronghold is the mysterious fortress born of his own fevered imagination and eldrich Faerie sorcery - Castle Falkenstein.
When Ludwig's secret agents discover his archenemy Chancellor Bismark is developing steam-powered intracontinental ballistic missiles, desperate measures are called for! Enter Tom Olam, 20th Century computer game designer (and part-time secret agent), pulled by sorcery and subterfuge into New Europa to foil the Iron Chancellor's plot. His mission: infiltrate and sabotage the Prussian missile program, while King Ludwig, an Italian fireworks master, and the greatest dwarf engineer of all time struggle to create their own countermissile to save the kingdom! Can they make it in time? Or does this spell the end of Castle Falkenstein?
ISBN 1-55958-772-4
The Angel's Comments:
Masterminds of Falkenstein
By John DeChancie
In the alternate Victorian world of New Europa, educated dragons, dwarf engineers, and evil steam lords scheme to enslave humanity. Tom Olam, ex-game designer turned ace secret agent after being spellnapped to this steampunk reality, finds his skills put to the ultimate test: A world convention of mad scientists turns Golden Age San Francisco topsy-turvy, and steam-powered superdevices clash with Indian sorcery and New Europan wizardry.
It's a plot only Olam and his companion, the gorgeous and deadly Countess Marianne, could hope to derail. But can they stop the shadowy mastermind known only as Adam, whose strange connection to computer genius Ada Lovelace threatens to destroy the Empire of California and subjugate the entire world?
ISBN 0-7615-0484-2
The Angel's Comments:
The League of Dragons
By George Alec Effinger
Tom Olam and the lovely, swashbuckling Marianne meet Sherlock Holmes, the young, not-yet-famous hero of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's series, on his first big adventure. Holmes must match wits with Dr. Fu Manchu. In the Castle Falkenstein universe, the Chinese supervillain isn't just an evil genius - he's a dragon! Fu Manchu has plans to use the Five Celestial Snows, Chinese herbal compounds of unthinkable power, to give China - and himself - control of the world. And only Holmes can stop him.
ISBN 0-7615-0243-2
The Angel's Comments: Never actually published as far as I'm aware.
The Wish List
A few supplements that I'd like to see: