Dresden Files RPG Setting

[Kaurne]

Our gaming group has recently fallen in love with the Dresden Files RPG. We simply love it. And having already played two campaigns, we decided to do something different.
We live in England, and so make our games set there, which offers a different perspective to the American setting of the books. We decided we would make a campaign set during a different time period to the books, in England of course. And so we each decided we would come up with a proposal for a city, before returning to the group, discussing it, and then voting on the best idea.
My idea was to set it in London in the late 1890's, and the 1900's (decade), as a real different setting. Problem is, the only idea I could come up with about this period was a couple of Kemmler's disciples putting some finishing touches on their plan for WWI.
So I am looking for ideas. What kind of adversaries (in broad terms)? who are the major players? what involvement do the white council have?
I appreciate any contributions you can make. Thanks.

[Talyn]

Man, I love the Dresden Files - though I haven't read the RPG books yet.

Late 19th century Britain, you say?

In the last decade of the 19th century, mysticism and spiritualism was making a comeback among the Victorian upper crust in a big way. In the Dresdenverse, that means that Talented amateurs, the ones who told fortunes and talked to the dead, have suddenly become much-desired among the circles of the wealthy. You could make an entire campaign out of navigating the social circles of the Wealthy and Weird, especially if it turns out that this resurgence in being able to speak with the dead is related to the Kemmlerite spirit-world agitation you mentioned.

(See the Grave Peril novel for supernatural spirit-agitation.)

Alternately, almost everything written by H.P. Lovecraft was set during the time period you want to play in - so why not have the War on Necromancy distracting the White Council badly enough that mid-range warlocks and black magicians start operating openly, building cults and turning them into magical batteries as they delve into the mysteries of the Outsiders, recklessly dooming the world in their search for Ultimate Power.

If you wanted something a little more action-y, you could have the Denarians manipulating the wars of the Empire for their own personal gain, as they attempt to give Prince Edward one of the silver coins and/or subvert the Church of England with their vengeance-crazed, coruppted Zulu warriors?

Seriously, anything by H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Edgar Allen Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Byron, Yeats, Mary Shelley, and Arthur Conan Doyle can be turned into a Dresden Files adventure with a little tweaking. Don't be afraid to play up the fears of the time - the Industrial Revolution was a hairsbreadth away from becoming a Socialist Revolution, even as the Empire was breaking apart, war was starting in Europe, and vast social upheavals were shaking the globe!

[PopcornMage]

I suggest looking for some of the RPGs set in this time period. For Faerie Queen and Country is one that you could get cheap, but there are others. Space 1899 maybe??

If nothing else, you can get a number of actual maps of cities.

[Jayabalard]

The various forms of werewolves (especially Hexenwolf) would be appropriate.

Thoughts:

The Faerie Courts would be mostly unchanged from the beginning of the Dresden series
Similarly for the vampire courts; possibly Black court would be most active in England (Red and white seem to be more heavily in the americas)
The White Council: some of the current members would still be involved, especially the current senior council members. McCoy is over 300 years old (though he wouldn't have been senior council at that point).

[Kaurne]

I know that Bram Stoker published in 1897, so the Black Court might still have large numbers - maybe a plot could be about aiding some amateur vampire hunters.

[ninja_penguin]

even better, help protect Stoker and get the book published.

[Eldan]

Actually, if you want to include Lovecraft, a lot of what he wrote about would be Outsiders in the Dresden Files. So the Gatekeeper would have a lot to do. So do it the other way round: major Outsider activity lets Kemmler's disciples prepare themselves. Though, with that name, he was probably german (prussian, at the time, I guess).

Also, this is still the time of colonialism, so you could have creatures from the colonies stalking around in London. Rakshasa from India. African spirits. Chinese demons.

[Kaurne]

Now that you mention it, I remember JB mentioning in an interview Lovecraft was onto something the same way Stoker was - so the Great Old Ones etc probably are Outsiders.

As for White Court, I though House Skavis, who feed on despair, would be a great idea - considering the amount of poverty around, maybe despair is London's defining emotion. In fact, maybe we could be discretely assigned to protect Lloyd George as he is starting the Liberal Reforms

[ninja_penguin]

Also, you can easily dredge up demons or weird fey things that would fit in just fine in Resident Evil or Silent Hill, once you let your imagination go.

[hamlet]

I'm going to go a little against the grain here and suggest, instead, Yorkshire in 1980, though only for a mature, adult group for obvious reasons.

Watch Red Riding once or twice to get ideas. It struck me as an excellent setting for a Dresden RPG game.

[Jayabalard]

even better, help protect Stoker and get the book published.I like that one a lot... I hadn't even thought about the publish date of that book. The black court would be in their prime.