I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Jules Verne, the British colonial experience, as well as the Old West. I have decided to put together a campaign using Pulp Call of Cthulhu as the base rules and theme, set in the late 19th century. I may start in an Old West setting, but with global awareness and possibilities. Sort of a "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" vibe. I envision an Episode Zero of the player characters, with diverse origins including non-American, gathered at a professor's home at Miskatonic University in Arkham, to be sent to deal with trouble in the American southwest, that will eventually lead them on adventures around the world.

I am aware of Cthulhu by Gaslight, including a possible 7th edition to be released this year. I own Down Darker Trails and its supplements, and also have the Weird Frontiers DCC game. I have lots of general western rpgs and supplements, and own numerous CoC supplements (set in 1920s, of course).

What are some resources or suggestions anyone has for the general Victorian period, outside of the Old West, that I should look into? I have never really explored the universe of Victorian rpgs, whether set in London, Europe, or in America. If anyone has suggestions for Asian and African resources for 1850-1900, I would be VERY interested to hear. I would like my players to be able to not just visit the American West and Victorian London, but also to see colonial Kenya, drink tea in India, and hunt for hidden temples in the Amazon. There certainly is material for 1920's and traditional pulp games, but does anyone know about resources for this earlier period?

I played and ran in some Victorian England Call of Cthulhu, but it was more Lovecraftian horror rather than pulp. The three I know of are:

Cthulhu by Gaslight - a well-written background supplement, with a scenario involving Sherlock Holmes that I disliked, but some might enjoy

Sacraments of Evil - a horror-focused, less pulpy set of six scenarios set in Victorian England. I would recommend them generally for atmospheric horror.

The Golden Dawn - a fantastic campaign set in Victorian England, assuming PCs are members of the historical occult religious group The Golden Dawn. I loved this, and it was the focus of my game, but it might not fit with what you are doing. It is also more horror than pulp, though it could be adapted.

You might benefit from looking into Leagues of Adventure from Triple Ace Games, and the spin-off game Leagues of Cthulhu. A dedicated Victorian pulp adventure game, and both books include decent gazetteers of the Victorian World, which you could mine for setting information. The "Globetrotter's Guide" line of supplements might be worth your time, as well.

https://tripleacegames.net/en-us/collections/leagues-of-adventure
https://tripleacegames.net/en-us/collections/leagues-of-cthulhu

I worked on something vaguely similar last year, but got sidetracked. I started out with Ghastly Affair, an OSR clone, and then did a lot of internet research.

Quote from: GamerforHire on February 25, 2023, 12:29:29 PM
I have always been a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Jules Verne, the British colonial experience, as well as the Old West. I have decided to put together a campaign using Pulp Call of Cthulhu as the base rules and theme, set in the late 19th century. I may start in an Old West setting, but with global awareness and possibilities. Sort of a "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" vibe. I envision an Episode Zero of the player characters, with diverse origins including non-American, gathered at a professor's home at Miskatonic University in Arkham, to be sent to deal with trouble in the American southwest, that will eventually lead them on adventures around the world.

I am aware of Cthulhu by Gaslight, including a possible 7th edition to be released this year. I own Down Darker Trails and its supplements, and also have the Weird Frontiers DCC game. I have lots of general western rpgs and supplements, and own numerous CoC supplements (set in 1920s, of course).

What are some resources or suggestions anyone has for the general Victorian period, outside of the Old West, that I should look into? I have never really explored the universe of Victorian rpgs, whether set in London, Europe, or in America. If anyone has suggestions for Asian and African resources for 1850-1900, I would be VERY interested to hear. I would like my players to be able to not just visit the American West and Victorian London, but also to see colonial Kenya, drink tea in India, and hunt for hidden temples in the Amazon. There certainly is material for 1920's and traditional pulp games, but does anyone know about resources for this earlier period?

I recall that TSR put out a boxed set in the 90s, Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death and other stories, which was set in an alternate Earth ("Gothic Earth") in the 1890s. The distinction is that Imhotep back in the Egyptian Old Kingdom cast a spell which attracted a Cosmic Horror who corrupted the Earth's magic. Perhaps there are things in there which might be useful to you.

While not exactly Victorian and not even 1800´s, this might spark your interest regarding the Asia/Cthulhu sourcebooks as China retained
some of the same aspects in 1800´s and early 1900´s atleast in attire/architecture/attitude and could be mined for ideas:

https://sonsofthesingularity.com/sassoon-files/

Maybe also their French Indochina sourcebooks, though some of the action is beyond WW2 in timeline:

https://sonsofthesingularity.com/journal-dindochine/