Forgotten Futures
Encyclopedia
Forgotten Futures is a role-playing game
created by Marcus Rowland to allow people to play in settings inspired by Victorian
and Edwardian science fiction
and fantasy
(i.e. Steampunk
). Most of its releases begin with these stories then add background material to explain the settings (often as alternate worlds
whose history diverges from our own), adventures, and other game material.
Rowland is believed to have pioneered the concept of shareware
tabletop role-playing games with this system, although there were earlier shareware computer games with role-playing elements. Users can download the rules from his web site, buy a subscription that entitles them to Forgotten Futures CDs, or buy a copy of the published version of this game. The CDs are also good sources for science fiction books and other period material whose copyright has expired. A proportion of his income from the game is donated to cancer research charities.
Currently several versions of the rules are on line (complete and summary versions in HTML and PDF, and a German translation in PDF), along with a sample adventure set in a Victorian Channel Tunnel
, plus eleven game collections (source material plus background worldbook, adventures, etc.), with an expanding collection of additional resources on line and on the CD-ROM. The rules and sample adventure have twice been published in print; in brief form as a booklet given away with Arcane Magazine in 1997, and at full length by Heliograph Inc. in 1999.
Forgotten Futures II: The Log of the Astronef: A comprehensive guide to the exploration of the Solar System in 1900 AD. Based on George Griffith
's Stories Of Other Worlds, it contains six stories, the illustrations from their original publication, a worldbook taking the story forward to 1920, a spaceship design spreadsheet, five adventures, plus the novelisation A Honeymoon In Space. The fiction and worldbook were briefly available in print from Heliograph Inc.
Forgotten Futures III: George E. Challenger's Mysterious World: Adventures with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's scientific hero, including the full text of The Lost World, "The Poison Belt
", "When The World Screamed
", The Land Of Mist, "The Horror of the Heights
", and "The Disintegration Machine
", a worldbook, four adventures, and a wargames scenario.
Forgotten Futures IV: The Carnacki Cylinders: Horror and the supernatural in Edwardian England, including the original text and illustrations for William Hope Hodgson
's "Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder
", a worldbook with rules for magic and the Ab-natural, three adventures and two long outlines, a story-telling card game, etc.
Forgotten Futures V: Goodbye Piccadilly…: The destruction of London, as seen by a variety of authors around the end of the 19th century. Contents include two long adventures, numerous adventure outlines ten stories and articles, etc.
Forgotten Futures VI: Victorian Villainy: A source collection for melodramatic adventures, including three plays, the novel A Bid For Fortune by Guy Boothby
, some of E.W. Hornung's Raffles
stories, and more.
Forgotten Futures VII: Tsar Wars: Based on the late 19th century novels of George Griffith
, Tsar Wars is a setting for the struggle between the anarchist Terror and the forces of oppression in the early 20th Century, and the return of the Tsar's heir to the utopia of 2030 AD. The novels were briefly in print from Heliograph Inc.
Forgotten Futures VIII: Fables and Frolics: Based on the fantasies of E. Nesbit
, FF8 is a role-playing game set in a world of childhood magical adventures. Includes three novels, 23 short stories and some autobiographical articles by Nesbit, also rules for magic, life as a Victorian/Edwardian child, adventures, etc.
Forgotten Futures IX: It's My Own Invention: Adventures in the worlds of weird science and engineering. Includes two novels by George Griffith
, articles and stories by several authors, and game worlds based on flight (and a war on the supernatural), automata and calculating engines, space travel, and time travel.
Forgotten Futures X: The Tooth and Claw Role Playing Game: A licensed RPG based on the novel Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
, set in a world with Victorian-equivalent technology which has a separate dragon nation. Player characters are dragons. The game is published in PDF and HTML versions, and is illustrated by Sue Mason
and the author. It includes background material, revised rules catering for dragon characters, two adventures, and adventure outlines.
The Forgotten Futures Compendium: Two long adventures, Curse of the Leopardmen by Alex Stewart
and The League of Extraordinary Geometers (a crossover with The Original Flatland RPG) by Marcus Rowland, plus adventure outlines based on Victorian and Edwardian advertising by Marcus Rowland. PDF only.
Forgotten Futures XI: Planets of Peril: A 1930s pulp SF setting based on the stories of Stanley Weinbaum, sent to registered users on November 20, 2010, on line from December 20, 2010. Published in PDF and HTML versions and including most of Weinbaum's SF, three long adventures, and details of the worlds and technology of the setting.
In Preparation - Forgotten Futures XII: Empire of Earth: Announced with the release of FF XI, FF XII will be a setting based on Victorian stories of interplanetary and interstellar travel and warfare, primarily "The Struggle For Empire" by Robert W. Cole
The Original Flatland Role Playing Game: Originally published in 1998 as an 'extra' on the Forgotten Futures CD-ROM, and relaunched as a stand-alone PDF with additional material in 2006, this game uses a streamlined version of the Forgotten Futures rules adapted to the setting of Edwin A. Abbott's
Flatland
. Characters are living 2D shapes such as triangles and hexagons. The game includes rules, three adventures and four adventure outlines, a wargame by Matthew Hartley, a long section on the 'science' of Flatland which attempts to explain aspects of the world and its natives, and the original book. It is sold as a charity project in aid of Médecins Sans Frontières
(Doctors Without Borders).
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
created by Marcus Rowland to allow people to play in settings inspired by Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
and Edwardian science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
(i.e. Steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
). Most of its releases begin with these stories then add background material to explain the settings (often as alternate worlds
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
whose history diverges from our own), adventures, and other game material.
Game System
The base system uses three characteristics (Body, Mind, and Soul) and a range of skills; points are used to purchase characteristics and skills based on one or more of the characteristics. Skills and characteristics are used by opposing them to a target (such as a difficulty number, an opponent's skill or characteristics, etc.) using a 2D6 dice roll. Subsequent revisions to the rules add options including a Magic characteristic, melodramatic character traits, and other complications, but the core system remains unchanged.Rowland is believed to have pioneered the concept of shareware
Shareware
The term shareware is a proprietary software that is provided to users without payment on a trial basis and is often limited by any combination of functionality, availability, or convenience. Shareware is often offered as a download from an Internet website or as a compact disc included with a...
tabletop role-playing games with this system, although there were earlier shareware computer games with role-playing elements. Users can download the rules from his web site, buy a subscription that entitles them to Forgotten Futures CDs, or buy a copy of the published version of this game. The CDs are also good sources for science fiction books and other period material whose copyright has expired. A proportion of his income from the game is donated to cancer research charities.
Currently several versions of the rules are on line (complete and summary versions in HTML and PDF, and a German translation in PDF), along with a sample adventure set in a Victorian Channel Tunnel
Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel is a undersea rail tunnel linking Folkestone, Kent in the United Kingdom with Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais near Calais in northern France beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. At its lowest point, it is deep...
, plus eleven game collections (source material plus background worldbook, adventures, etc.), with an expanding collection of additional resources on line and on the CD-ROM. The rules and sample adventure have twice been published in print; in brief form as a booklet given away with Arcane Magazine in 1997, and at full length by Heliograph Inc. in 1999.
Versions
Forgotten Futures I: The A.B.C. Files: Set in Kipling's 21st century airship utopia. Contains the text of "With The Night Mail" and "As Easy As A.B.C.", a worldbook, an adventure, a spreadsheet of airship data, and numerous illustrations. This was the first and by far the smallest of these collections, since at that time the game was distributed on 720k disks; subsequent releases were on 1.44mb disks then CD-ROM.Forgotten Futures II: The Log of the Astronef: A comprehensive guide to the exploration of the Solar System in 1900 AD. Based on George Griffith
George Griffith
George Griffith , full name George Chetwyn Griffith-Jones, was a prolific British science fiction writer and noted explorer who wrote during the late Victorian and Edwardian age. Many of his visionary tales appeared in magazines such as Pearson's Magazine and Pearson's Weekly before being published...
's Stories Of Other Worlds, it contains six stories, the illustrations from their original publication, a worldbook taking the story forward to 1920, a spaceship design spreadsheet, five adventures, plus the novelisation A Honeymoon In Space. The fiction and worldbook were briefly available in print from Heliograph Inc.
Forgotten Futures III: George E. Challenger's Mysterious World: Adventures with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's scientific hero, including the full text of The Lost World, "The Poison Belt
The Poison Belt
The Poison Belt was the second story, a novella, that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about Professor Challenger. Written in 1913, roughly a year before the outbreak of World War I, much of it takes place—rather oddly, given that it follows The Lost World, a story set in the jungle—in a room in...
", "When The World Screamed
When the World Screamed
When the World Screamed was a story written about Professor Challenger by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in Liberty Magazine, 25 February-3 March 1928.-Plot summary:...
", The Land Of Mist, "The Horror of the Heights
The Horror of the Heights
"The Horror of the Heights" is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in Strand Magazine in 1913.-Sypnosis:The story is told through a blood-stained notebook discovered on the edge of a farm in Withyham. The notebook is written by a Mr...
", and "The Disintegration Machine
The Disintegration Machine
The Disintegration Machine is a very short story written by Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in Strand Magazine in January 1929. The story centers around the discovery of a machine capable of disintegrating objects and reforming them as they were...
", a worldbook, four adventures, and a wargames scenario.
Forgotten Futures IV: The Carnacki Cylinders: Horror and the supernatural in Edwardian England, including the original text and illustrations for William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson
William Hope Hodgson was an English author. He produced a large body of work, consisting of essays, short fiction, and novels, spanning several overlapping genres including horror, fantastic fiction and science fiction. Early in his writing career he dedicated effort to poetry, although few of his...
's "Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder
Carnacki
Thomas Carnacki is a fictional supernatural detective created by English fantasy writer William Hope Hodgson. Carnacki was the protagonist of a series of six short stories published between 1910 and 1912 in The Idler magazine and The New Magazine....
", a worldbook with rules for magic and the Ab-natural, three adventures and two long outlines, a story-telling card game, etc.
Forgotten Futures V: Goodbye Piccadilly…: The destruction of London, as seen by a variety of authors around the end of the 19th century. Contents include two long adventures, numerous adventure outlines ten stories and articles, etc.
Forgotten Futures VI: Victorian Villainy: A source collection for melodramatic adventures, including three plays, the novel A Bid For Fortune by Guy Boothby
Guy Boothby
Guy Newell Boothby was an Australian novelist and writer.-Biography:Boothby was born in Adelaide, son of Thomas Wilde Boothby, who for a time was a member of the South Australian Legislative Assembly. Guy Boothby's grandfather was Benjamin Boothby , judge of the supreme court of South Australia...
, some of E.W. Hornung's Raffles
A. J. Raffles
Arthur J. Raffles is a character created in the 1890s by E. W. Hornung, a brother-in-law to Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Raffles is, in many ways, a deliberate inversion of Holmes — he is a "gentleman thief," living in the Albany, a prestigious address in London, playing...
stories, and more.
Forgotten Futures VII: Tsar Wars: Based on the late 19th century novels of George Griffith
George Griffith
George Griffith , full name George Chetwyn Griffith-Jones, was a prolific British science fiction writer and noted explorer who wrote during the late Victorian and Edwardian age. Many of his visionary tales appeared in magazines such as Pearson's Magazine and Pearson's Weekly before being published...
, Tsar Wars is a setting for the struggle between the anarchist Terror and the forces of oppression in the early 20th Century, and the return of the Tsar's heir to the utopia of 2030 AD. The novels were briefly in print from Heliograph Inc.
Forgotten Futures VIII: Fables and Frolics: Based on the fantasies of E. Nesbit
E. Nesbit
Edith Nesbit was an English author and poet whose children's works were published under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children, several of which have been adapted for film and television...
, FF8 is a role-playing game set in a world of childhood magical adventures. Includes three novels, 23 short stories and some autobiographical articles by Nesbit, also rules for magic, life as a Victorian/Edwardian child, adventures, etc.
Forgotten Futures IX: It's My Own Invention: Adventures in the worlds of weird science and engineering. Includes two novels by George Griffith
George Griffith
George Griffith , full name George Chetwyn Griffith-Jones, was a prolific British science fiction writer and noted explorer who wrote during the late Victorian and Edwardian age. Many of his visionary tales appeared in magazines such as Pearson's Magazine and Pearson's Weekly before being published...
, articles and stories by several authors, and game worlds based on flight (and a war on the supernatural), automata and calculating engines, space travel, and time travel.
Forgotten Futures X: The Tooth and Claw Role Playing Game: A licensed RPG based on the novel Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
Jo Walton
Jo Walton is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2002 and the World Fantasy award for her novel Tooth and Claw in 2004. Her novel Ha'penny was a co-winner of the 2008 Prometheus Award...
, set in a world with Victorian-equivalent technology which has a separate dragon nation. Player characters are dragons. The game is published in PDF and HTML versions, and is illustrated by Sue Mason
Sue Mason
Sue Mason is a British illustrator of science fiction fanzines and other works. She has won two Hugo Awards.- Background :Mason claims to have been thrown out of Sunday School at the age of 12 for wanting to be The Morrigan when she grew up...
and the author. It includes background material, revised rules catering for dragon characters, two adventures, and adventure outlines.
The Forgotten Futures Compendium: Two long adventures, Curse of the Leopardmen by Alex Stewart
Alex Stewart (writer)
Alex Stewart is a British writer, who also goes by the pseudonym Sandy Mitchell, best known for his Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 novels, including the Ciaphas Cain series....
and The League of Extraordinary Geometers (a crossover with The Original Flatland RPG) by Marcus Rowland, plus adventure outlines based on Victorian and Edwardian advertising by Marcus Rowland. PDF only.
Forgotten Futures XI: Planets of Peril: A 1930s pulp SF setting based on the stories of Stanley Weinbaum, sent to registered users on November 20, 2010, on line from December 20, 2010. Published in PDF and HTML versions and including most of Weinbaum's SF, three long adventures, and details of the worlds and technology of the setting.
In Preparation - Forgotten Futures XII: Empire of Earth: Announced with the release of FF XI, FF XII will be a setting based on Victorian stories of interplanetary and interstellar travel and warfare, primarily "The Struggle For Empire" by Robert W. Cole
Robert William Cole
Robert William Cole was a British author who wrote early science fiction and future war fiction. Cole's works, long out of print and very obscure, can be found at the British Library. They include the following:...
The Original Flatland Role Playing Game: Originally published in 1998 as an 'extra' on the Forgotten Futures CD-ROM, and relaunched as a stand-alone PDF with additional material in 2006, this game uses a streamlined version of the Forgotten Futures rules adapted to the setting of Edwin A. Abbott's
Edwin Abbott Abbott
Edwin Abbott Abbott , English schoolmaster and theologian, is best known as the author of the satirical novella Flatland .-Biography:...
Flatland
Flatland
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "A Square", Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture...
. Characters are living 2D shapes such as triangles and hexagons. The game includes rules, three adventures and four adventure outlines, a wargame by Matthew Hartley, a long section on the 'science' of Flatland which attempts to explain aspects of the world and its natives, and the original book. It is sold as a charity project in aid of Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
(Doctors Without Borders).