[For Non-Brassy's Players]

Background

This event takes place in August 1876, in a Victorian Europe different from that which you will find in our history books. To summarize the most important differences:

	Prince Albert never died. He was extremely ill from typhoid for a time and, as a result, lives mostly in seclusion. But he did survive, and is now co-ruler with Victoria.
	Some supernatural elements and magic exist, although they are very seldom visible because of the danger of being charged with heresy. This danger naturally varies from one country to another.
	Technology is considerably more advanced. Steam powered conveyances, such as the famous steam-powered Ostrich, are commonplace among the wealthy. Inventors are working on various other modes of technology, including steam, electricity, and clockworks. Clockwork curiosities are also common is most wealthy houses. The most obvious example of advanced technology are the Brassy's Men, a creation of Dr. Pietr Brainerd, which serve as a sort of "palace guard" for Victoria and Albert. The Brassy's Men are the first automata which are not only indestructible, but also independently reasoning creations. Other technology, including construction equipment and public transport, have benefited greatly from harnessing steam power more efficiently. Germany has both commercial and military airships and England is starting to build its own fleet. Alas, while steam technology is becoming common, the number of people with a mastery and understanding of utilizing such technologies is still frighteningly small.

There's far more information than is relevant to this event about the Brassy's Men universe, specifically London, here. The background pertinent to this event:

	In February this year, Russia took possession of the small, mountainous Baltic country of Morovia, ostensibly invited by certain members of its royal family to protect it from predation by one of the other powers due to its unusual mineral riches. A stream of refugees has since left Morovia, claiming the Russians are simply looting the country.
	The scourge of air piracy which preyed indiscriminately upon shipping for the past few years seems to have ceased.
	A chemical cure has been found for the Blight which devastated so much of the crops across Europe. For regions growing crops like wheat, their recovery has been relatively rapid. However, regions dependent on crops such as grapes or olives have been much harder hit. In France, for instance, one third of the vinyards were utterly destroyed by the Blight.
	England, despite having claimed that their "palace guard" of Brassy's Men--impervious brass automatons--were created incapable of harming the populace, has now unveiled some with weaponry integrated into their limbs and which killed a dozen rioters in February. There has been a great outcry, both in England and abroad, against the immorality of creating such a device and the likelihood that England intends to use these infernal inventions against other nations.
	Rumour has it that the secret behind the Brassy's Men has been discovered: Dr. Brainerd has been by some means effectively "harvesting the souls" of poor unfortunate convicts ostensibly deported to Australia and using them to power his unholy creations. Whether this is true or not, it is a fact that Dr. Brainerd has since been arrested, leading some to wonder who will be taking over his treatments of the King's recurring symptoms.
	France, Germany, Russia, and Sweden, along with other nations, have begun economic sanctions against England, due to allegations of egregious treaty violations on England's part. Both side have been engaging in a great deal of saber-rattling. The French in particular claim that they have casus belli to justify an attack on England. There have been any number of letters to The London Times--both both sides of the aisle in Parliament, interestingly enough, decrying the actions of the nations in imposing sanctions, and war truly seems imminent. And that is a frightening prospect, given the unknown number and lethality of England's Brassy's Men.

1876 Europe in the Brassy's Men Universe

Monaco is a tiny country (less than one square mile, in fact!) on the coastline of France. On the above map, it is just east of Nice, a few miles west of the Italian border. Morovia appears along the Russian coast of the Baltic, opposite Sweden.

Scenario

It is August 5th, 1876. England has succeeded in the unthinkable--uniting the other major powers against her--and the world is holding its breath in anticipation of war. Governments have used the latest technologies to produce new and horrifying ways to kill not just soldiers this time but civilians as well, and tensions are running high. Many fear what the world will be like in the aftermath of such a conflict, fear that the world as they know it will no longer exist.

So they flock to Monte Carlo: The idle rich looking for one last taste of their beloved luxury...the desperate looking for a last chance to swim before the tide of war sweeps them under...the displaced whom the tide has already taken.

The Casino is open for business!

Game Elements

Live-action roleplaying games, or LARPs, come in many shapes and sizes. For this particular game; you can expect:

	*Historical AND non-historical elements.* Kerry's done quite a bit of research on the Casinos of the period, and much of the background on Monte Carlo is genuinely historically accurate. Some characters we've included are historical personages, such as the owner of the Casino and the Prince and Princess of Monaco. However, our twisted imaginations took over from there. The Monaco Government Tourism Office and Convention Authority would be unlikely to permit some of our plots in an event which they sanctioned. :)
	*Casino gaming.* You can't spend an evening in a famous casino without playing some casino games! There'll be tables operating with various period games of chance (in some cases, using simplified rules). Several characters will be Casino staff, including croupiers and dealers. These characters will NOT be tied to their tables all night--we will have a schedule for the tables so you won't spend more than twenty minutes at a time running a table. Because we need these roles to run the Casino, we will be doing everything that we can to ensure that if you have one of these characters, you will have plenty of plot and plenty of reason for other characters to interact with you outside of your Casino duties.
	*A Ball.* By which we mean "a formal dance", not merely "a really good time." If you've never done English country dancing before, but you can generally tell your left from your right and aren't hopeless at following directions, you should do fine--the steps and patterns are taught before each dance, and the caller prompts you while you're dancing. It's a lot of fun, and really adds a lot to the period experience.
	*Weird science.* The technology present in the Brassy's universe could be described as "steampunk": it includes some technology which was invented later in real life than this time period, and some technology which has never existed at all. And we're sure you'll all be absolutely shocked if the weird science included in this event has any Whately-esque elements to it, hmmm?
	*Mature themes.* The average Victorian tourist planning a visit to Monte Carlo or Biarritz or Baden Baden told their family and friends that they were "going for the waters." Spas with "medicinal baths" were a health fad, and casinos tended to spring quickly up in the proximity of spas, to give the wealthy idling for their health something to do with their hands and their money. Naturally, a number of other vices followed in the wake of the casinos, but because Victorian sensibilities prevented these vices from being a topic of discussion, the Spa and Casino at Monte Carlo didn't acquire the same sort of reputation for licentiousness that has because generally ascribed to Las Vegas. This meant that while "going for the waters" was used literally and innocently by many Victorian travelers, for others it was a euphemism for sexual peccadilloes and other indulgences.
	*Be mechanics-light.* While the Brassy's campaign uses a mechanics system for combat, weird science, the supernatural, business investments, etc., this event won't be using any of them. [Frankly, Gail can't GM 'em because she doesn't understand 'em.] We'll be providing our own simple rules for combat and gambling.