An Endzeitgeist.com review

Gather round, ladies and gentlemen! I Am glad to serve once more as your host for this discussion of an ephemeral piece of media associated with the Great Game!

This installment of the Variation-rules for Castle Falkenstein clocks in at 8 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, leaving us with 6 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

My dear ladies and gentlemen, it is with utmost concern that I have to express this warning; it is only with greatest hesitation that I even dare mention the existence of a pamphlet which may well shake the foundation of all that is right and proper to the core; were it not for the continuation of the exploits of master Tom Olam, which I did promise you at the last gathering, I would not tarnish the good graces and reputation of my house mentioning this sanctimonious, scandalous development.

I do advise those with a fairer disposition to leave the room, for, as the narrative provided makes clear with ample gratuity, the very soul of our cherished and proper Great Game is in danger! None other than the dastardly Professor Moriarty has found a way to, and I ask you once more to brace yourselves, employ DICE with the favorite pastimes of well-bred persons of proper pedigree!

Dice! The plebeian, profane gambling tools of the masses! Dice! My outrage, as that of my maids, butlers and angelic significant other, knew no bounds! Indeed, this horrifically deamonic pamphlet, undoubtedly planted by criminal elements of illest repute in the hands of the courteous Fat Goblin cadre of entrepreneurs, includes even more than the means to replace the tools of properly civilized folk – it also sports a means to replace the noble cards with CHITS. 52, divided into sets of 13. 4 are drawn, and spent chits are put back inside and a new is drawn. They are drawn from the same bowl! Scandalous! Preposterous! Imagine the moral decay – for the hand of a proper lady to touch the same chits as that of one of a male! In sequence! The outrage is, indeed, staggering! What next? Are we to take off our gloves?? Truly, this malignant Moriarty is trying to tear asunder the very values upon which our grand station is based!

Worse, special chits can be included, including so-called “royal chits”! The implications! As if being of royal blood was not the prerogative of the divinely ordained, as if it was bound to profane luck! Chaos reigns, even before Wild Chits are added – only the most malignant of malfeasants would contemplate this!

But…and here, I’d like to ask our faerie friends in particular to remain strong – this is not where Moriarty’s perfidious incursion ends; instead, we are faced with a blasphemy that attacks the very nature of our world-order, implying that sorcery can be similarly…modif. Modif…I can’ bring myself to use any other word that “tainted”; “perverted!”

Indeed, while this ephemeral text may adhere to a 2-column presentation and may look as aesthetically-pleasing as other offerings in our beloved series, I cannot recommended this abomination. So please, take a close look and memorize the contents of this pamphlet, so we may warn others of its corrupting nature, which surely only gracious characters of impeccable morals such as we may resist.

(5 stars + seal of approval – an amazing little file by J Gray! It's also a Candiate for my Top Ten of 2018, just fyi.)

Endzeitgeist out.

The Six-sided Variations

The fifth in Mr J Gray’s series on Castle Falkenstein rules variations, a shocking move for purist players as it involves the use of DICE!

In brief, there is a pot of chits representing the four card suits and jokers. Players draw four chits and then play a chit (or more) to carry out a Feat (action). If the chit is the same suit as the Ability it provides 2D6 and if it doesn’t match, it provides one point. Jokers are wild and automatically give a score of twelve! The dice are rolled and the score added to the Ability score as in normal play. There are, as in all of the Falkenstein Variations, a range of additional tweaks included in the booklet. These allow you to adapt the Six-sided variations to your own campaign style.

We decided to try it out in our group. I will admit that I was a little concerned that it might change the flavour of the game slightly.

It did not.

The Variation was quickly understood and actually speeded up play. Those who were less confident with the game’s card system made chit & dice roll decisions more quickly than they did with cards, allowing us to get on with the action.

The Six-sided Variation has been well thought out to produce similar results to the existing card rules, making them fully interchangeable. So in future games, I, as Host (GM), will allow each of my players to choose to use cards or dice according to their own preference (as long as they stick to their choice for the whole adventure).

Another useful and clearly explained set of optional rules for Castle Falkenstein. It can speed up your game and will be of particular use with existing gamers who are trying Falkenstein for the first time. As it has enhanced our game playing experience, I have to give it a full five stars.