LES LIVRES DE L'OURS

A society of Unlikely gentlemen

TALES FROM THE LAST EMPIRES
By
Kobayashi
Author of e Hard Way, Shell Shock, Dreadful & Obscure, etc.
In the hope that in days to come, other boys and girls whom I shall
never know, may, in the acts and thoughts of their characters and
their companions, find something to help them to reach to what I hold
to be the highest rank whereto we can attain the state and dignity
of English gentlemen.
With apologies to Sir Henry Rider Haggard, go read Allan Quatermain

Layout: David Mystery Man From Outerspace Bercovici

Copyright 2016 by
LES LIVRES DE L'OURS

PREFACE
_______________________________________
is is the year 1895. Five years ago, the city of Atlantis rose again
from the depths of the ocean. At the same time, several portals appeared on Earth and allowed safe passage to Venus and Mars.
Within the next year Atlantis opened diplomatic relations with almost
every nation on Earth. Railways were built to allow travel to Mars and
Venus through the Atlantean portals.
Scientific marvels pop-up everywhere, four-armed martian ambassadors walk the streets of London while Venusian amazons guide big
game hunters through the jungles of their planet. Empires still scheme
and fight among themselves, looking for new technologies to gain the
advantage over their rivals.

WHAT DO YOU PLAY?

Adventurers and explorers, always looking for new scientific discoveries, uncharted territories or lost treasure, to quench their thirst of
knowledge, fortune and fame.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Sherlock Holmes, Nemo and other fictional characters of that era
remain fictional. e heroes are the players' characters.
No magic, no fantasy, this is scientific romance.
e world is hollow and waiting to be explored as well.
Just to make things clear: A Society of Unlikely Gentlemen
is as close to the Victorian Age as D&D is close
to medieval Europe. You have been warned.

TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ

Imagine the adventures of Captain Future set in the 19th century
Inspiration (books): War of the Worlds, most Jules Verne's books, Edgar Allan Poe, Sherlock Holmes, John Carter of Mars, Allan Quatermain.
Inspiration (comics): League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Atomic
Robo, Luther Arkwright.
Inspiration (movies): Screw-on head, Laputa.
Inspiration (TV): Q.E.D.

CREATING GENTLEMEN
_______________________________________
First, let's create a character, this is the fastest way for you to get the
mood of the game. Even if you are going to be the GM you should
create one, just to get familiar with the process. You have two options:

OPTION 1: DO-IT-YOURSELF
Find a profession (like Detective) or an archetype (like Atlantis
survivor) or whatever (Frankenstein's monster).
Name two skills that your character is especially good at.
Find a flaw. is is optional as it can take a few game sessions to find
a good one. Flawed characters are a lot more fun to play (you'll have to
trust me on that one).
Pick a weapon that makes sense for your character (though a nurse
with an elephant gun does sound fun).

OPTION 2: ROLL THE BONES

Let the players roll or pick one on the following table. Give it a try,
otherwise who would have thought of playing a bartitsu teacher, a
thawed-out viking warrior or Jekyll's heir? is will give you most of
the things you need to know about your character:
A profession and sometimes a nationality.
Two skills, these are pretty much self-explanatory, I don't think
there's a need to waste 10 pages to describe them. Both your skills
start at the TRAINED level, meaning they give you a +1 bonus to die
rolls. Players are free to make up new skills for their character if they
wish to, as long as he or she doesn't have more than two skills.
A weapon and its damage dice in parenthesis (ese are merely suggestions as well, change them as you see fit for your campaign).

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

01

STRANDED TIME TRAVELER

Flashes from the future
Strange technology
Strange blade (1D8) or gun (1D6)

02

MINER

Explosives
Underground orientation
Pick (1D6)

03

MECHANIC

Mechanics
Sabotage
Big wrench (1D6)

04

LIBRARIAN

Friends in every library

Find obscure information
Letter opener (1D4)

05

DETECTIVE

Shadowing
Informants
Cane (1D4) or gun (1D6)

06

POLICEMAN

Intimidate
Streetwise
Truncheon (1D6)

07

FOREIGN LEGIONNAIRE
Endure everything
Firearms
Bayonet (1D6)

08

CON-MAN

09

GURKHA SOLDIER Fearless

Mle
Kukri (1D6)

10

SOLDIER

Good at judging people

Silver tongue
Small gun (1D4)

Firearms
Resourceful
Bayonet (1D6)

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

11

RAT CATCHER

Poisons
Small and vicious dog
Club (1D6)

12

REPORTER

I make people talk

I have contacts everywhere
Small gun (1D4)

13

ATTORNEY

Law
Persuasive
Small gun (1D4)

14

BEAST FOLK

Brawl
Hunt
Natural weapon (1D6)

15

MISSIONARY

Fear no Evil
Persuasive
Club (1D6)

16

ARCHEOLOGIST

Ancient traps
Lost history
Whip (1D6) or gun (1D6)

17

BOUNCER

Brawl
Notice troublemakers
Brass knuckles (1D6)

18

EXPLORER

Never get lost

Polyglot
Revolver (1D6)

19

TRAMP

No one sees me
Scavenging
Small knife (1D4)

20

BIG GAME HUNTER

Carousing
Hunting
Hunting rifle (1D8)

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

21

YOJIMBO

Mle
Notice
Katana (1D8)

22

MUSICIAN

I hear what you don't

Play (instrument)
Cane (1D4)

23

BUTLER

Etiquette
Stealth
Club (1D6)

24

LUMBERJACK

Rough living
Singing
Axe (1D6)

25

BARTENDER

Brawl
Read people
Truncheon (1D6)

26

PHYSICIAN

Diagnose
Observant
Scalpel (1D4)

27

MEXICAN RURAL Shooting

Tracking
Rifle (1D8)

28

DRAGOON

Mle
Riding
Sabre (1D8)

29

ASSASSIN

Disguise
Poisons
Weapon of choice (1D6)

30

INSPECTOR

Informants
Interrogation
Gun (1D6)

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

31

STEAM MAN

Art or Science of choice

Unnatural strength
Metal fists (1D6)

32

REVIVED CADAVER
Pick another profession
by using a D30 and add:
Crushing strength (1D6)

33

FLESH GOLEM

Endure
Flashes of past lives
Crushing strength (1D6)

34

JEKYLL'S HEIR

Forbidden chemistry
Used to hide (no pun intended)
Hyde form (1D8)

35

STEAM CYBORG

Pick another profession by using

a D30 and add:
Implanted gun (1D6)
or blade (1D6) and any
cosmetic changes you'd like

36

MUMMY

Unnatural patience
Vast knowledge
Khopesh (1D6)

37

ANARCHIST

Explosives
Persuasive
Revolver (D6)

38

STRANDED SPACE ALIEN

Alien martial arts
Science
Alien nerve strikes (1D6)

39

ESCAPIST

Escape any bound

Pickpocket
Cane (1D4)

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

40

FACTORY WORKER Endure

Use machines
Club (D6)

41

UPLIFTED APE

42

MODERN NEANDERTHAL
Endure
Hunt
Obsidian blade (1D8)

43

ATLANTEAN AMBASSADOR
Persuasive
Polyglot
Orichalcum sta (1D6)

44

ATLANTEAN SLAYER
Dark beasts knowledge
Mle
Atlantean sword (1D8)

45

THAWED-OUT VIKING
Navigation
Mle
Trusty axe (1D8)

46

VENUSIAN PRIESTESS
Intimidate
Limited telekinesis
Bone sta (1D6)

47

ATLANTEAN GLADIATOR
Brawl
Show-o
Orichalcum knuckles (1D6)

48

MARTIAN SEER

Born acrobat
Scientist or Fine arts
Sta (1D6)

Limited telepathy
I saw that coming
Mindblast (1D6)

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

49

MARTIAN WARRIOR
Intimidate
Mle
Red steel blades (1D8)

50

VENUSIAN AMAZON
Hunting
Survive
Dinosaur bone bow (1D6)

51

FORMER CULTIST Frightening gaze

Persuasive
Sacrificial dagger (1D4)

52

NURSE

First aid
Unshakable
Club (1D6)

53

FIREMAN

Avoiding danger
Stop a fire
Fire-axe (1D8)

54

INVISIBLE MAN

Chemistry
Silent
No weapon (too visible!)

55

BOXER

Boxing
Iron will
Heavy fists (1D6)

56

SAILOR

I've been everywhere

Navigation
Knife (1D4)

57

ALIENIST

Read people
Unshakable
Cane (1D4)

58

BURGLAR

Breaking and entering

Stealth
Blackjack (1D4)

1D100
59

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

ANTIQUES DEALER
Persuasive
Smuggling
Sword cane (1D6)

60

ANTHROPOLOGIST
Anthropology
Observant
Cane (1D4)

61

INTELLIGENT DINOSAUR
Sciences or Fine Arts
Track
Big maw (1D8) or Horn (1D8)
or Tail (1D8)

62

APACHE SCOUT

63

ASYLUM ATTENDANT
Restrain
Used to craziness
Truncheon (1D6)

64

LAKOTA WARRIOR Mle

Stealth
Tomahawk (1D6)

65

DOCKER

Endurance
Use rope
Docker's hook (1D6)

66

PAINTER

Nightlife
Painting
Small knife (1D4)

67

PASHTUN WARRIOR
Firearms
Poetry
Rifle (1D8)

Nobody surprises me
Pathfinder
Bowie knife (1D6)

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

68

SPIRITUALIST

Lying
Special eects
Cane (1D4)

69

BARTITSU TEACHER
Influent students
Unarmed fighting
Bartitsu moves (1D6)

70

GUNFIGHTER

71

NEW YORK GANGER

Intimidate
Streetwise
Hatchet (1D4)

72

CHINESE DOCTOR Chinese medicine

Kung fu
Wing Chun (1D6)

73

ACTOR

Acting
Disguise
Fake pistol (no damage)

74

ASTRONOMER

Astronomy
Concentration
Telescope (D4)

75

SPY

A thousand faces
Breaking and entering
Derringer (1D4)

76

THUGGEE ASSASSIN
Disguise
Stealth
Garrotte (1D4)

Carouse
Riding
Revolver (1D6)

10

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

77

SURGEON

Not afraid of blood

Surgery
Scalpel (1D4)

78

OFFICER

Firearms
Tactics
Revolver (1D6)

79

INUIT HUNTER

Arctic survival
Hunt
Harpoon (1D6)

80

SIOUX SHAMAN

Drug use
Persuasive
Ceremonial knife (1D4)

81

PROFESSOR

(Subject)
Persuade or Intimidate
Cane (1D4)

82

YAKUZA

Gamble
Intimidate
Knife (1D4)

83

BUTCHER

Not afraid of blood

Slice and dice
Cleaver (1D6)

84

WRITER

Observant
Writing
Fountain pen (1D4)

85

ZULU WARRIOR

Mle
Tactics
Iwisa (1D6)

86

GRAVEDIGGER

Fight the undead

Unshakable
Shovel (1D6)

11

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

87

DILETTANTE

Friends in high places

I've read about that
Cricket bat (1D6)

88

BUSINESSMAN

Finance
Persuasive
Small gun (1D4)

89

ACCOUNTANT

Boring conversation
Focused
Metal ruler (1D4)

90

SAMURAI

Mle
Not afraid to die
Katana (1D8)

91

CIRCUS STRONGMAN
Feats of strength
Putting a good show
Bulging muscles (1D6)

92

STAGE MAGICIAN Magic tricks

Pickpocket
Cane (D4)

93

PHOTOGRAPHER

Photography
Notice
Camera stand (D6)

94

NINJA

Mle
Silent shadow
Ninjutsu moves (1D6)

95

COSSACK

Born on a horse
Mle
Shashka (1D8)

96

VAMPIRE HUNTER Mle

Vampire hunting
Crossbow (1D6)

12

1D100

PROFESSION

SKILLS AND WEAPON

97

NAVAL OFFICER

Mle
Ship tactics
Cutlass (1D6)

98

WRESTLER

Acting
Intimidate
Wrestling moves (1D6)

99

INDIAN YOGI

Ignore pain
Mesmerism
Chakram (1D6)

00

SHAOLIN MONK

Impressive stunts
Numbing rhetoric
Shaolin kung fu (1D6)

SOME FLAWS
If you lack ideas for your character flaw you can check the following
list to inspire you:
Do no trust westerners

Proud

Not the stealthy type

Don't trust technology

Lost outside the monastery

Sti upper lip

Aloof

Trust no one

Nobody notices me

Used to solve problems with

violence

Rival

Prove I'm the best at what I do

Too many blows to the head

Superstitious

Strange nightmares

Lack of empathy

Planning is for cowards

Bravery

Curiosity killed the gentleman

Mammals feel weird around me

Death before dishonour

Jaded

Shady deals

13

Always find a peaceful solution

Knows only war

Outsider

Compulsive liar

People don't trust me

Sucker for a pretty face

Rough manners

Insignificant bookworm

Saving history at all costs

Known by the police

Will do anything for a scoop

Weak lungs

At the bottom of the social ladder

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

NATIONALITY: that's up to you. Sometime it is self-evident (a samurai
is probably Japanese and a Cow-Boy is probably american). A long
time ago, RPGs where a reason to go roaming through history books,
keep that tradition alive! ose professions that need a few explanations can be found below:
ATLANTEAN: Atlantean characters in my campaign are serpent men,
because serpent men are cool.
ATLANTEAN SLAYER: in their dark past, Atlanteans did some very
nasty experiments which went really wrong. e monsters they created
still roam in the wilderness. You have been tasked to eliminate these
foul beasts.
BARTITSU TEACHER: you teach a martial art which is mash-up of
several fighting styles, from jujutsu to savate. Yes I know, Bartitsu was
only made available to the public in 1898, but the thought of a Victorian Bruce Lee is just too cool to let go.
BEAST FOLK: half-man, half-beast, you are the result of a forbidden
experiment. Roll 1D6, 1: bear, 2: badger, 3: pig, 4: tiger, 5: frog, 6: fox.
Have you escaped? Were you freed by the authorities?
FLESH GOLEM: the man hidden behind the Baron Victor Von Frankenstein character was right after all. Intelligent dinosaur: seems they
did not get all extinct, and they managed to evolve as well. You can
picture them as Silurians from the Doctor Who series or as in eodore
Rex (yes, that movie you won't watch again even if it was the last

14

movie on earth). My preference goes to Dr Dinosaur in the Atomic

Robo comics.
INUIT HUNTER: during the 19th century, the Western Arctic suered a
population decline close to 90%. You are one of the survivors. You
might want to know who or what killed your people. Or maybe you
don't care. Invisible man: willingly (or unwillingy), you used the invisibility formula and became completely invisible. Of course you have
to be naked to be perfectly invisible which can sometimes be dicult.
JEKYLL'S HEIR: you are able to turn into a stronger, fearless and
amoral version of yourself. ough Doctor Jekyll never existed, a scientist took its name as his nom de plume.
MARTIAN WARRIOR: I'm thinking big, green, four-armed martian.
Your mileage may vary.
MEXICAN RURAL: a member of Mexico's mounted police force.
MODERN NEANDERTHAL: yes, they weren't extinct after all. Surviving in some remote spots all over the world and thriving in their cities
of the Hollow Earth.
MUMMY: you are probably the mummy of a pharaoh's lesser servant
(bodyguard, priest). But you are immortal, so things are not that
bad.
NURSE: you should read about Florence Nightingale.
PASHTUN WARRIOR: you come from Afghanistan and usually follow
Pashtunwali which can be (badly) summed up as a strict code of
conduct.
REVIVED CADAVER: you don't need to sleep, eat or drink (and in fact,
you can't). But you still need to dream which makes you a heavy narcotics user.
SAMURAI: yes, we know, the samurai caste was abolished in 1873 but
many of them were sent abroad to learn about western science and
technology. So we will still call them samurais.
THAWED-OUT VIKING: for some reasons, you fell into the North sea
and froze. Fortunately modern science (and english tea) has brought

15

you back to life. Time to bring back some viking honour to this soft
world!
TIME TRAVELER: you come a from a time when Darkness rules and
humans are cattle herded by inhuman masters. You still have dark visions of the future in your sleep which can be useful or detrimental.
UPLIFTED APE: your character is an ape with the intelligence of a
human being. It may be the result of a scientific experiment, a freak of
nature or phenomenon called the reverse Greystoke Roll a D6, 1: Gorilla, 2: Baboon, 3-4: Chimpanzee, 5-6: Orangutang.
VAMPIRE HUNTER: the vampires are creatures from another dimension. You have been trained by a religious order to track and kill these
foul creatures. Just as a side-note: these vampires don't fear crosses,
garlic or even sunlight. But they don't like being shot in the face at
point blank range.
VENUSIAN AMAZON: tall, athletic and ready to kick ass. Her bow is
made from the bones of dinosaurs who preys on them in the jungles of
Venus. An amazon has to kill a dinosaur to make her bow.

AND NOW, ATTRIBUTES!

A character is made up of the following attributes:
BRAWN: overall physical fitness and strength
DEFTNESS: agility and dexterity all nicely round-up in a nice package
NERVE: willpower and discipline are the valued qualities of a true gentleman
WITS: do you have a sharp tongue and an ability to make a quick decision?
You got 2 points to assign to your attributes.
What does the numbers mean?
SCORE

DESCRIPTION

Decent

Good

Excellent

16

Of course you may want to assign attribute scores that fit your character's profession. But it could be interesting to know why a circus
strongman has only a BRAWN of 0: was he faking it? Has he fallen ill?
As long as it makes sense to you, it's all good.
HIT POINTS
ese represent a character's ability to avoid damage. ese are equal
to 10 + BRAWN or NERVE. When they reach 0 the character is
wounded.
DEFENCE
e character's DEFENCE score is equal to 9 + DEFTNESS

17

THE RULES
_______________________________________
Here, then, are the rules of the perfect roleplaying-game as we play at
an ordinary table. We will keep things simple, allowing us to eliminate
all sorts of tediums, disputable possibilities, and deadlocks from the
game (with apologies to H.G. Wells).

ROLLING DICE
Whenever a character tries to do something and there is a chance of
failure, just roll the dice:
2D6 + relevant attribute 7
If a character possesses a skill relevant to the action at hand, he gets a
+1 if he's TRAINED and a +2 if he's an EXPERT with that skill.
If a character's flaw is relevant, the character is not getting any bonus,
whatever the source of the bonus is. e player just rolls 2D6 and tries
to get a 7 or better.

STEADY POINT
When a player uses a character's STEADY point, he succeeds at his
task, whatever that was, with the best possible result (in combat that
means he does maximum damage). e GM may award STEADY
points when a player puts his character into trouble by using his flaw
or any other action that makes the game more enjoyable for everybody.

HOW WELL DID I SUCCEED?

If this question arise during play, consider a result of 7 to 10 as decent
and anything above 10 as excellent.

SOME THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

Before any roll is made, make sure both you, the GM, and the player
doing the roll have a clear idea of what will happen whether the roll
succeeds or fails.
Success is the easiest thing to determine, as most of the time it is simply what the player wants his character to accomplish.

18

Failure, on the other hand, can be a bit tricky: you don't want a bad die
roll to stop the game dead in its tracks.
A common problem: Do I find a vital clue for my investigation?.
An appropriate answer: If you fail, you will still find it but attract unwanted attention.
Bottom line: characters' actions have consequences, and in the case of
failure, they should put them in trouble. is is more an art than a science but the more you play, the easiest it will become.

IN COMBAT
It is time to introduce a few rules to make sure violent episodes in your
games are resolved swiftly.

INITIATIVE
is game uses group initiative: one of the players rolls 1D6, the GM
does the same, the group with the highest result goes first.

ATTACK
Attacking is pretty simple business:
2D6 + DEFTNESS the target's DEFENCE score
A particularly brutal (or angry) character may use BRAWN instead of
DEFTNESS for a mle or brawl attack.
If a character possesses a skill relevant to the action at hand, he gets a
+1.
If the attacker beats or equals the target's DEFENCE score: it's a success, he inflicts his weapon's damage.
A double 6 on the attack dice mean he inflicts maximum damage
with his weapon.

HIT POINTS AND WOUNDS

Once a gentlemen's HIT POINTS reach 0, he is wounded. A wounded
character cannot benefit from any bonus to his rolls. e player has
now a choice: his character can go on fighting or go down. If he keeps
fighting, any additional damage he receives will kill him outright. If he

19

goes down, he may still be conscious and even talk, but he is not able
to fight anymore.

RECOVERY
After a character gets a chance to rest a few minutes, he recovers all
the hit points he lost. A wound must be treated by another character
(a WITS check, only one per wound). A failure means the character
will stay wounded until the next game session. If he is wounded again,
he dies.

20

BOLD DISCOVERIES AND SCIENTIFIC MARVELS

_______________________________________
ese are the things the adventurers will search and hopefully discover. Each one comes with three elements:
What? is describes the eects of the discovery.
Where? Tells you where the characters will find it.
Who? e person who owns this specific object or knowledge.
If you plan to be a player, you shouldn't read this chapter as it will ruin
your enjoyment of the game.

BOLD DISCOVERIES
BREATHING METHOD
What? is trick will allow you to hold your breath for 10 minutes.
Where? In northern India, near the Himalayas.
Who? A yogi named Bamakhepa. He will teach this technique only to
someone who will free his village from the menace of a group of thuggees led by a dark yogi.

THIRD EYE
What? Developing your inner third eye will allow you to see the invisible (as long as you stay focused).
Where? Near the Khorum-Dag mountain in Siberia.
Who? Aiga, a Siberian shamaness hunted by the Okhrana, the Tsarist
secret police who thinks she can predict the future.

ART OF ESCAPE
What? No regular restraints can hold you know.
Where? New York City
Who? Joseph Rinn, an american stage magician (and coach of a young
Harry Houdini). He is currently under threat by several fake psychics

21

he has debunked. But there is a true psychic who would like to get
rid of Joseph Rinn as well, only know as the Dark Veil.

ROUGH AND TUMBLE

What? A martial art born in the southern United States. Pretty violent and very ungentlemanly. is lets you do 1D8 damage with
your bare hands. But if there is a witness to the fight, you lose all your
STEADY points.
Where? Virginia.
Who? A man nicknamed the scotsman. He will teach his art only to
someone who will accept to marry one of his daugthers. (so the tradition stays in the family). One of his sons may teach it for money if
someone takes him to Atlantis (but that wouldn't seat well with his
father).

SHAKESPEARE'S LOST PLAY

What? e text of Cardenio, one of Shakespeare's late plays that has
been lost. Some people would pay a huge amount of money to get
their hands on it. And many would pay to see it played on stage.
Where? Somewhere on the Moon.
Who? Francis Audran, the Emperor of the Moon (see chapter A
WORLD FOR UNLIKELY GENTLEMEN, page 36).

SCIENTIFIC MARVELS
ALIEN POWER SOURCE
What? is strange box, adorned with strange alien runes, powers any
electrical device in a 90' radius, indefinitely.
Where? e box is currently powering the doomsday machine of
Doctor Abermass. It is currently located in some Lemurian ruins in
the amazon forest.
Who? Doctor Abermass thinks that technology is corrupting mankind. He built a bomb that will cause amnesia on a worldwide scale,

22

leading Man to a new Stone Age, where he will rule the world with
the help of a few sympathisers.

BULLETPROOF FABRIC
What? is will give you an armor of 1 against damage (except against
atlantean weapons). ere's enough fabric to equip two people.
Where? is was made in a secret atlantean laboratory hidden in the
mediterranean sea.
Who? e scientist who invented this fabric was killed by the
genetically-altered spiders he created. e old laboratory is infested
with them. If the atlanteans hear of this they'll try to destroy everything related to this research.

CHARLES BABBAGE BRAIN

What? As it says on the tin, this is Charles Babbage brain, encased in
a jar made of atlantean metal, which is capable of (limited) flying (just
picture Professor Simon Wright from the Captain Future anime).
Where? In Egypt, in a secret base not far away from Luxor, built inside a buried pyramid.
Who? Charles Babbage is currently the prisoner of a Lemurian who
wants to use Babbage's latest dierence engine to crack an Atlantean
code.

LOST ATLANTEAN PORTAL

What? is portal leads to another world, far from the solar system. It
has activated as the others and a small group of aliens has slowly
started to infiltrate inuit society.
Where? Somewhere near the arctic pole. where the invaders have
taken the appearance of an inuit tribe. ey are feared by other tribes
and said to eat human flesh.
Who? e other inuit tribes call the invaders the Tuurngait. e
Tuurngait have fled their homeworld where they are hunted as well.
ey are a parasitic form of life who can only reproduce by absorbing
other life forms.

23

EXPERIENCE
_______________________________________
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's fan

At the end of each adventure, a character earns 1 skill point. He can

use it to learn a new skill, or to be become an EXPERT in a skill he
already has.
Depending on the number of adventures he went through, a character's reputation grows, as well as his attributes and hit points.

ADVENTURES

REPUTATION

BENEFITS

Humble adventurer

1 attribute point, 1 steady point

Seasoned traveller

+3 hit points

Veteran explorer

1 attribute point, 1 steady point

10

True gentleman

+3 hit points

15

Extraordinary
gentleman

e character is knighted

24

BASE OF OPERATIONS
_______________________________________
e Nautilus was piercing the water with its sharp spur, after having accomplished nearly ten thousand leagues in three months and a half, a distance greater than the great circle of the earth.
Jules Verne, Twenty-thousand leagues under the sea

Here you will find the means to build a base of operations for your
group of adventurers. Players can define it before the campaign begins
but it's better if they earn it through play. at can make a good objective for their first adventures.

WHAT KIND OF BASE?

How will your base look like? Consider the following choices:
A SUBMARINE
A ZEPPELIN
A TRAIN
A WALKING CASTLE
is will give the characters a place to sleep and a mean of travel, but
that's it. From now on, they will have the possibility to seek enhancements for their base.
Each base can have a maximum of five enhancements and they should
be acquired through an adventure. eir description follows the model
of the BOLD DISCOVERIES AND SCIENTIFIC MARVELS chapter.

ENHANCEMENTS
PORTABLE GYMNASIUM
What? e means to keep you fit wherever you may go., allowing the
characters to gain 2 HIT POINTS.
Where? e Royal orthopaedic hospital of London.
Who? Gustav Ernst, a gymnastic machinist as he calls himself.

25

MARTIAN HEALING PODS

What? ese pods heal any wound in five minutes.
Where? e plans for these lay somewhere in the Forbidden zones of
Mars.
Who? Aldar is a martian engineer who is trying to get access to the
ruins of an old martian city. He's not the only one

ATLANTEAN ELECTRICITY CANON

What? A powerful weapon to zap your enemies around.
Where? In Mexico City.
Who? Parthena, an atlantean engineer who fled the city for obscure
reasons (she was trying to discover who was hiding in the city of the
Gods, see chapter A WORLD FOR UNLIKELY GENTLEMEN, page 34).

WIRELESS TELEPHONE
What? is device will allow you to send and receive phone calls anywhere in the world.
Where? A small garage near Paris.
Who? Albert Dufaud. One of the first engineer to go to Atlantis. He
suers from nightmares where he's abducted by strange beings and
experimented on. In fact he was used as an early experiment by the
true masters of Atlantis and is now a sleeper agent.

e final version of the game will come with a lot more options (a butler? An alternate mode of propulsion? etc.). So if you liked the game,
let me know!

26

EQUIPMENT
_______________________________________

WEAPONS
Some references to help you figure the killing power of any weapon
the characters may lay their hands on.

WEAPONS

DAMAGE

Derringer, knife, sap, bare hand

Pistol, rapier, martial arts moves, cleaver
Claymore, rifle, atlantean gun, fire axe, katana
Machine gun, atlantean battle rifle
No weapons that powerful so far

D4
D6
D8
D10
D12

PARDON ME SIR BUT WHERE IS MY ARMOUR?

I'm afraid we left it in the 16th century. Make use of cover and don't
run in the open.

HOW MUCH GEAR CAN I CARRY?

You are able to carry (5 + Brawn) important objects on you. More
than that and you won't be able to run.

HOW MUCH IS THIS?

As the main purpose of this game is not to portray the day to day
shopping of the characters, economics will be greatly simplified. All
price are given in pounds (), shillings (S) and pence (d).
As a rule thumb, most people use pennies (train tickets, meals,
beers) and shillings (clothes, a seat at the opera, a big knife).
Meaning coins are way more used than banknotes. To give you a
(very) rough idea, a labourer earns 100 a year (while the upper classes
get 1200 a year). A revolver costs 4, a rifle 6. A car costs around
500.

27

_______________________________________

ANTAGONISTS

2/0/0/0

1/1/0/1

1/1/0/0

3/1/0/0

0/1/0/2

0/0/1/2

ATLANTEAN GUARD

BLOODHOUND

CROCODILE

ELOHIM

HORLA

B/D/N/W

ABHUMAN

and HIT POINTS.

DEFENCE score;

10

10

10

10

DEFENCE

ATTACK bonus and associated damage in parenthesis;

BRAWN, DEFTNESS, NERVE and WITS score;

11

10

13

11

11

12

NOTES

+2 Psychic blast (D6) Invisible

+1 Elohim gun (D6)

+1 Bite (D8)

+1 Bite (D4)

+2 Sword (D6)

+1 Club (D6)

HP ATTACK* (DAMAGE)

Here you will find a selection of critters, aliens and brutes the characters will very likely have to face. In the table
below you will find an antagonist's:

28

9
9
9

0/1/1/0

1/1/0/0

0/1/1/0

3/0/0/0

0/2/0/1

3/0/0/0

2/1/0/0

2/0/1/0

1/1/0/0

2/0/0/0

POLICEMAN

SOLDIER

STEAMBORG

STEEL NINJA

STONE GOLEM

10TH PLANET CULTIST 1/0/1/0

2/0/0/0

OFFICER

THUG

TIGER

VAMPIRE

VENUSIAN AMAZON

WARRIOR

12

11

12

12

12

11

13

10

13

11

11

11

11

12

*Don't forget to add the relevant attribute to the attack bonus.

10

10

11

10

10

10

1/0/1/0

MORLOCK

10

2/1/0/0

MARTIAN ASSASSIN

29

Regenerate

Armor (2)

+1 Spear (D6)

+2 Bow or Sword (D6) -

+1 Claws (D6)

+2 Claws (D6)

+1 Knife (D4)

+1 Dagger (D4)

+2 Punch (D8)

+2 Katanas (D8)

+2 Metal fists (D8)

+1 Rifle (D8)

+1 Truncheon (D6)

+1 Revolver (D6)

+1 Futuristic gun (D8) -

+3 Swords (D8)

Now a few words to describe each antagonist, as they should be more

than a few numbers jotted down on a piece of paper.

ABHUMAN
ese mutated and deformed descendants of atlantean slaves now
roam the hollow earth, still carrying their original purpose: to hunt
and destroy enemies of the atlantean people (basically: everyone else).
is is one of the dirty little secrets of Atlantis the elders of the city try
to hide

ATLANTEAN GUARD
Trained as the guardians described in Plato's Republic, fierce with
enemies and gentle with familiars. ese men and women are well
armed, well educated and will, politely, make sure you stick to the visitor's area of the city. When sent abroad they act swiftly and eciently
and are often ordered to leave no witnesses.

BLOODHOUND
e best scent hound you will ever find and a gentleman's best friend.

CROCODILE
Up to 23 feet of muscle and teeth capable of tearing you apart in the
blink of an eye. Very fond of trespassers and lost gentlemen.

ELOHIM
Descendants of the atlantean rulers of the hollow earth. ey basically
think they own the place and that the people from the surface are, at
best, evolved monkeys who stopped throwing feces at each other, but
barely.

30

HORLA
Lasts survivors of an alien species who arrived in our world through an
atlantean portal (now closed). ese invisible creatures are drawn by
hatred and associate themselves with violent people, feeding on their
acts and pushing them (subconciously) to more acts of violence.

MARTIAN ASSASSIN
Martians have avoided waging costly wars by relying on arenas and
assassins to solver their disagreements. And who knows who might
disagree with the characters?

MORLOCK
ese creatures came from the future, thanks to a malfunctioning atlantean gate. ey now try to prevent a certain future from happening.
It proves dicult as atlanteans are hunting them and saying to everyone these are monsters who try to conquer the earth.

OFFICER
e time of purchased commissions is gone and it is now possible to
rise in the ranks through seniority and merit (in the british army, at
least). Nonetheless, most probably come from a wealthy and well established family.

POLICEMAN
Enforcing the laws of his country. Which isn't very popular at the
time.

SOLDIER
So many Empires means you had the opportunity to fight in almost
every corner of the world.

31

STEAMBORG
e results of the infamous experiments of Francis Audran, the Emperor of the Moon (see chapter A WORLD FOR UNLIKELY GENTLEMEN, page 36). Part-man, part-machine, all hate!

STEEL NINJA
Commissioned form Mars by the Emperor of Japan, here are the unforgiving assassins of the Rising Sun. ough they appear to malfunction from time to time (1 chance on 12).

STONE GOLEM
ese creatures were designed by the Atlanteans as their city main
workforce. ey are often used in security roles as well.

TENTH PLANET CULTIST

People who claim they hear the voice of the Tenth Planet. Her arrival
will mark the end of Humanity and only the servants of the Tenth
planet will survive. e only thing they'll say to you? She's coming.

THUG
Violent, greedy and dim-witted people can be found anywhere in the
world.

TIGER
Somewhere in Nepal, a bengal tiger is supposed to have killed over
400 people. Will it add the characters to its list?

32

VAMPIRE
ose infected by the alien V-virus become supernatural predators
thirsty for human blood. eir only weaknesses are sunlight, decapitation and high caliber weapons. ey can regenerate 3 HIT POINTS per
round.

VENUSIAN AMAZON
e warrior women of Venus are fierce warriors but also have a strong
sense of honour and duty. Friendship is sacred to them.

WARRIOR
In the remote corners of the world, these brave men ferociously defend
their people.

33

A WORLD FOR UNLIKELY GENTLEMEN

_______________________________________
You can find informations about the late Victorian age online or in a
library. Here we will try to describe the changes Atlantis brought to
the world since 1890. As always, you can change things as you see fit
to make the setting your own. is section is for GMs only.

WHAT DO THE PLAYERS' CHARACTERS KNOW?

e world looks about the same as ours in the late 19th century: the
world's empires are still at each other throats: British, Ottoman, Russian, Japanese You name it, everyone's an emperor.
Atlantean technology, traded or stolen, changed things, for the best
(communications, transports, medicine) and the worst (more ecient tools of warfare).
Atlantis is a wonderful city, a utopia reminiscent of ancient Greece. It
is seen by most people as a force of good, though many question the
hidden price of all the marvels unveiled by the atlanteans. A Humanity Liberation Army has even been created to learn more about the atlanteans. ey are described as a group of dangerous terrorists (and
unfortunately they do sometimes act like one).

ENTERS ATLANTIS
Since its appearance in 1890 Atlantis brought several changes in our
society.
ATLANTEAN SOCIETY
e city of Atlantis looks like a paradise but there are some things that
outsiders find strange. e true rulers of Atlantis, the city's elders live
in a secluded part of the island called the city of the Gods. e more
promising members of atlantean society are selected to serve the elders
in their city and are never seen again except for a few Oracles passing on the elders' wishes. It is said that some Earth scientists went
there as well and never returned.

34

TECHNOLOGY
Atlantean technology is far more advanced than what exists in the 19th
century (and for that matter, the 21st century). Heat rays, flying planes
looking like manta rays, laser pistols, etc. Nonetheless, Atlantis armies
are small. ey cannot send troops everywhere and take control of the
Earth, there are simply not enough atlanteans to do that. Which
means Atlantis best weapon is

DIPLOMACY
Atlantis has declared itself a neutral state. It accepts to share some of
its technological knowledge only with countries who accept some very
specific conditions: stop (or start) a conflict, introduce more egalitarian
laws, send some artists to Atlantis, stop certain research From the
outside Atlantis is mostly seen like a benevolent force.

SPACE AND BEYOND

THE PORTALS
Atlantis controls all portals. Some portals have even been displaced to
allow for a more practical use (one of them is at Waterloo station for
example). A portal leads only to a specific place and it appears some
portals still remain to be activated.
e opening of portals has discouraged all scientific research aimed at
space travel. But some scientists still think Humanity should develop
its own means of travel, not depending on the atlanteans good will

MARS
e martian civilisation is divided between rivalling city-states. eir
history talks about a time, thousands of years ago when they had to
fight invaders using giant tripods. One clan is planning to fight the
others by using lost technology lying around in the forbidden zone.
Who knows what they might awaken there A tripod manufacturing

35

plant? A genetically engineered disease? After thousands of years, no

one remembers the atleantean invasion, the martian legends only mentioning invaders who came to conquer the red planet.

MOON
e atlanteans had a scientific installation on the Moon, in a vast underground city. Unfortunately it was taken over by a nano-virus that
changes all life forms into cyborg zombies. e portal leading to the
Moon was destroyed and the whole thing is one of those nasty little
secrets the true atlanteans try to keep hidden. Unfortunately for them,
a french engineer, Francis Audran managed to built a rocket and reach
the Moon. He's now the hive mind of a whole army of cyborg zombies, trying to build enough rockets to go back to Earth.

VENUS
e atlanteans tried to eradicate the people of Venus by releasing a virus which made all men insanely violent against women. Just to survive, the women had to kill all men. Knowing, at the time, that the atlantean technology was responsible for that, the surviving venusian
women destroyed all traces of it and banned it. e first Queen of
the amazons was in fact a scientist who found a way for the women to
have children without needing men. Now an amazon just chooses
when she wants to get pregnant. As on Mars the role of the atlanteans
in Venus history has long been forgotten. Unknown to the amazons,
there is a hidden shelter full of venusian men (still infected) waiting to
be discovered.

SECRETS, OLD AND NEW

e creatures that rule Atlantis from the City of the Gods are not
human. ey are a dying reptilian species who tried to rule Earth a
long time ago. ey were opposed by the people of Mu and Lemuria,
as well as the martian and venusian people.

36

e ensuing war led the atlanteans to hide in the depths of the Atlantic ocean while their opponents barely survived on the surface, their
civilisations reduced to ashes. e martians and venusians buried all
portals they could find. All the major battle sites on their homeworld
have become what is now known as the forbidden zones.
After thousands of years of hiding, the true atlanteans have brainwashed their human servants and created the illusion of the benevolent atlantean empire. ey will try to build an empire once again, but
in a more subtle way, turning humanity into their new slave army.

It is for you, dear reader, now to get a table, some friends and some dice, and
show by a grovelling devotion your appreciation of this noble and beautiful
gift of a limitless game that I have given you.
Apologies to H.G Wells.

37

A society of
Unlikely gentlemen

NAME
PROFESSION
REPUTATION
ADVENTURES:

FLAW

ATTRIBUTES

SKILLS

KNOWN

Maximum=10+Wits

+1

EXPERT
+2

WEAPONS & GEAR

Maximum=5+Brawn

_______________________
_______________________
DEFTNESS
_______________________
_______________________
NERVE
_______________________
WITS _______________________
_______________________
BRAWN

DefenCe

(8+Deftness)

HIT POINTS
(6+Brawn)

_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
Check: attribute + skill + 2D6 7

Notes
Wounded? _________________
_________________
No Bonus!
_________________
_________________
_________________

Your Companions
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________
_____________