Castle Falkenstein is a 1994 steampunk fantasy RPG by Mike Pondsmith, who you might also know as the creator of Cyberpunk, and R. Talsorian Games.

It’s also pretty weird.

To start with, it’s presented more as a novel than a sourcebook. In fact, it is written as a collection of notes and letters by “Tom Olam”, a video game programmer who was summoned/kidnapped through a spell to a parallel world and had a bunch of adventures, then magically sent his journal back to “our” world and to his friend Mike, who published it. The system itself is very light, and most of the 200+ pages are devoted to the story and setting. Speaking of those, how about we start with them.

Setting & Story

The setting of Castle Falkenstein is a parallel version of Earth, where magic exists. It’s also set in the Victorian era, around the 1870s to 1890s – mostly in “New Europa”, but there are mentions of America and Asia as well. “Tom” is summoned by Auberon, the Faerie King, and Morrolan, a Wizard, through an experimental spell to help restore King Ludwig II to his rightful throne of Bavaria/Bayern. This introduction is done in first person, exposited through Tom’s eyes, and before we even know what’s going on in the wider world we are introduced to a conspiracy theory that the “real” King Ludwig is actually dead, and the one on the throne is also an extradimentional version of him summoned by Auberon for unknown reasons. While this isn’t really something that’s honestly that important to the plot, and doesn’t get resolved as a plot point, I think it’s an early sign that this world will be just as full of conspiracies, unknown motives, double-crosses, et cetera as Cyberpunk’s world.

As for the world, while it’s as… exaggerated, I will call it, as Cyberpunk’s, it’s not as dark and gritty. Sure, there’s a massive world war breweing, with Otto von Bismark having allied with the Unseelie Court to conquer the world under Prussia’s rule, and the rest of the continental powers are also quite fond of their expansionism and colonialism, but generally there is a more… romantic spin on the world; mad geniuses, hidden princes, faeries and dwarves, and a bunch of stories come to life. Julius Verne and Sherlock Holmes are real people, and so is Count Dracula and John Carter of Mars but also the Martian invaders from War of the Worlds. It’s a hodgepodge that at some points gets a little bit ridiculous, though perhaps it’s only because at this point we’re all well used to the sort of MCU/Fortnite-style teamups and crossovers and Universes Beyond.

But the thing that i’m trying to say is that the main point of Castle Falkenstein is that the literary fantasy of Victorian era is supposed to be true. Doctor Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, and all the half-scientific ideas that were being written and explored are taken to their endpoints; Charles Babbage has completed and upgraded his Analytical and Differential Machines with the help of dwarven etallurgy and mechanics, Verne cannons protect france form invasion with their immense range, described in-text as the ICBMs of their time, and electromagnetism is the hot new thing that everyone is trying to figure out. There are international criminal syndicates that hold entire cities hostage with pseudo-nuclear bombs and “heat rays” and mind control beams. But all of it just needs the right gentleman with a sword and a bunch of eccentric friends to swoop in from a zeppelin and save the day and the damsel in distress. Its charming, no doubt, but at some points you can see how it’s dated – and how when you try and shove so many things together, it starts to come apart at the seams. It doesn’t, but it’s starting to.

There are some very interesting ideas though. For example, the “cold iron” of the rapidly expanding railway networks is cutting up the world, blocking the magical energies and starting something of a crisis. There are lots of political intrigues between humans, Seelie, and any combination; human nations, humans ans faeries, or between faerie courts. And there are secret societies and magical lore, and flashy affairs and parties and duels of honor and all that.

The System

The system itself is pretty simple, though just as strange as the rest of the book – or, perhaps the better term is unconventional. Instead of a character sheet, players keep a diary from the perspective of their character, writing out their backstory, goals, relationships, adventures, et cetera. You also pick some attributes or skills that you’re good at; the skill level ranges from Poor to Average, Good, Great, Exceptional, and finally Extraordinary. You start with 4 Good abilities and one Poor – if you want to upgrade an ability to Exceptional, you need to get another Poor, with any abilities that aren’t picked defaulting at Average. There is a list of abilities/attributes, but you can also add your own if you’ve got an idea for something that’s not included.

As for how you use your abilities, this is where things start to change. Castle Falkenstein does not use dice; instead, it relies on cards for randomness. You get a standard pack of playing cards, including the Jokers, shuffle it, and deal each player 4 cards – including the GM. When you attempt a “Heroic Feat”, you take your skill level at the corresponding attribute, which has a numerical value; Poor is 2, Average is 4, Good is 6, and so on until Extraordinary at 12. Of course, that on its own might not be enough to meet the target number the GM sets for your check, and this is where the cards come into play; you can choose to play one or more cards to add their value to your check – but only if they have the correct suit. You see, each ability also has a suit; Typically, physcial abilities like Athletics or Fencing are Clubs, intellectual abilities like Education or Tinkering are diamonds, social abilities like Connections and Social Graces are spades, and mental abilities like Courage or Charisma are hearts. Don’t worry though – if you don’t have a card of the given suit, you can instead spend 2 cards of different suits and it will count as the suit you want. Alternatively, you can spend a card of a different suit, it will just count as only a +1 instead of its value.

So there’s an element of both greater and lesser randomness; you can choose what cards to use so you can overcome a bad roll, but you have limited resources so you have to ration them properly. In addition, the players aren’t the only ones with cards; I mentioned the GM also has a hand, and they can play their own cards to increase the difficulty of a check. There are some additional rules for Wounds and Health – with an interesting system, because though all wounds decrease your health by 1, dropping you unconscious at 0, not all of them heal at the same rate. They are divided into Blows and Wounds – blows heal in hours, while wounds heal in days. Well, there is another type of injury; female characters can be shocked by things like foul language or a tight corset, which causes a “shock” injury that heals in minutes. But still, it’s something that does feel, let’s say, somewhat dated.

Overall, it’s a system leaning more towards the narrative and cinematic aspect – in fact, the first suggestion on how to play is to go for a full real-life experience: dress up, bring props, and so on, going for a live-action roleplaying experience. There are also additional rules for weapons, magic (which uses a second deck and lets players be more creative with their spells, instead of having a set list of them), vehicles, and “Infernal Devices”.

Layout & Art

The layout can be a bit wonky at times. For most of the book, it alternates between single-column/full page and double-column, with images inserted to the sides or in the middle, though it never becomes hard to read or follow. However, in a larger scale, since it is writter in a more literary style, it can be hard to look for stuff related to the setting. Thankfully the PDF has the chapters separated, and though you’ll have to go back and forth a bit, it’s nothing unforgivable.

Despite what you can say about Castle Falkenstein though, be it about the story, the system, or the layout, I can’t deny that it has some amazing art. It looks like the illustrations on old storybooks, with lively colors (at least on the first part – then becomes black and white, but still great) with some pages completely occupied by art (though some of these pages also have text, which might become a bit hard to read – yellow letters in a light blue background that at some points is almost white means you have to squint a bit, but it’s a sacrifice i’m willing to make).

Final Thoughts

Castle Falkenstein is a fascinating book. Would I play in its setting and world? Probably not. This sort of steampunk fantasy isn’t my number 1 pick, though that’s of course a matter of personal preference. Would I use its system? Also probably not. Sure, it’s lightweight and very simple; but the use of cards, while interesting, has its issues. There are better systems to use for tabletop – though admittedly it’s a nice system for LARPing, as the physical cards are easier to hold and use than rolling dice. Though there is a version of Castle Falkenstein adapted for GURPS, it’s also not the one we’re discussing here.

What do I think of it, in the end? Well, I think it’s very charming, and fascinating, and a piece of TTRGP history – it’s also a bit dated, and at times confusing to read. It’s not quite a novel, but also not quite a system, but also both. I think that, if this review made it sound interesting, you should definitely get it – because it’s something different and you’ll enjoy reading it, if not necessarily running it. And you can also get it in physical form as well!

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