Why Arcanacon 1800's?

Many and varied are the roleplaying games which are set in the 19th Century, from the time of Napoleon, through the end of feudal Japan, the Wild West, the time of the bushrangers and into Victorian England.

The 1800's were the times when steam ruled the world, when the British Empire outlawed slavery, the era of the Opium Wars, of Dickens and Florence Nightingale, when Levi Strauss makes denim pants, when a pharmacist invents a headache drink called "Coca-Cola", and when Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of London.

If you've played 19th Century roleplaying games, you've probably stood on the shores of swamps on Venus, fought the Mythos by the light of a flickering gas lamp, tore apart the Bunyip...or tried to save them, and sailed the treacherous waters of the Californian Maze. You might have walked into town, heading for fame or Boot Hill. You might have frolicked with faeries while writing your memoirs of your adventures in the Alps.

Of course, we have more reason than this to want to celebrate the 1800s at Arcanacon. For one thing, it's Arcanacon 18. But far more importantly, our Special Guest this year at Arcanacon is Shane Lacy Hensley, who is the creator of Deadlands, the Weird West Roleplaying game.

In the world of Deadlands, history has diverged from the world that we know. The American Civil War drags on. California does not exist - instead you can stand on the shore of Arizona Bay and look west to the Great Maze, where miners hunt not for gold, but for Ghost Rock, a strange substance which burns many times hotter than coal, and can be used to fuel weird technology like robots and flying machines. Deadlands has its occult side too - rumours fly from all four winds of strange monsters in the wilderness, and the dead rising from their graves and walking the earth.