Victoriana

[Dynodragon]

Just bought the 3rd edition of this game that uses the heresy engine, anyone here have any experience of it and/or any advice?

[Aidan305]

My experience is with first edition. I hadn't actually realised that there was now a 3rd edition since the 2nd edition only came out, what, five years ago. I had a brief experience with 2nd edition at a con, but it was with a GM unfamiliar with the system so I can't really say much.

From what I gather then main differences from what I know are a slight expansion of the setting giving more information on the world, and a closer integration of steampunk in to the setting.

The system remains mechanically pretty similar to 2nd edition, which has some pretty solid mechanics with few dice required (Unlike 1st edition which was dice-pool based). Combat is something that you want to be careful around, as it can be fairly easy for a character to be injured from just a few blows so the system works best for investigation-type games.

The setting is the best part of the game. It's in-depth, and has a rich flavour to it. The best description I've heard is Shadowrun transposed in to the Victorian era. As can be imagined from the title, the game focuses less on steampunk shenanigans and more on the actions and interactions of society in the victorian era, focusing mainly around the British empire.

Overall, it's a fun game - one of my favourites.

As to advice, Victoriana as a game should probably be run in a fairly similar manner to a shadowrun game. The characters are not (at least at the beginning) a central part of society but generally working around the fringes being hired for for private investigations or package delivery.
Try to integrate the victorian class system in to social interactions and encourage your players to do likewise. If your party is lower class it's unlikely that a high class NPC will engage with the party directly - they'll send a servant in their place. Likewise, a low class NPC is unlikely to approach a high class party.

Finally, as regards plot ideas, Victoria had the most assassination attempts against her of any british monarch. It's no surprise really that any Victoriana game I've played in featured the party foiling an attempt on her life.