Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Baker Street Irregulars
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Baker Street Irregulars Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
This set contains ten mysterious cases which it will be up to you to solve.
For each case, you'll have a series of leads to follow, a map of London, a directory, and the local press.
You also have a list of informants which contains some very qualified people who will assist you in your research (medical examiner, criminologist, etc.).
Armed with all these elements and with your imagination, you'll walk the streets of London looking for clues which will allow you to solve the enigma and answer a series of questions about the case. But nothing's ever as simple as it seems, and you will have to be wise if you don't want to be ridiculed during your final confrontation with Holmes!
Will you surpass the master?
Contents
Map of London
This map is a simplified version of the city of London during the Victorian era. In your investigations, you will use this map to explore London, find leads, and verify alibis.
London is divided into areas – North West (NW), West Central (WC), South West (SW), East Central (EC), and South East (SE) – which are delineated by blue lines and the Thames. Then, each area is divided into numbers matching the addresses of people to be questioned. These divisions are used in the books as section titles and in the directory. For example, Hyde Park is 95 NW and Buckingham Palace is 35 SW.
The house blocks marked in red represent specific places (e.g. the British Museum), those marked in black represent police stations and the yellow ones represent all the other places you can visit in your investigation. As the addresses are applied to house blocks, a character can, for example, be located at 62 EC – which is also the address of the Hotel Dacre – without living in the hotel. The places (a house, a building, a store, etc.) may change ownership from one case to another.
There is a travel time scale in the corner of the map. This scale allows you to check suspects' walking speed only and thus ascertain their alibis. Carriage rides will generally be faster.
London Directory
This booklet presents the addresses of people living in London. Thus, when players wish to meet someone, they can consult the directory to find their address and then head over to that address by reading the corresponding lead. To simplify the game, the address system uses the map's division system. Thus, for example, Sherlock Holmes' address (which will be found in the directory under "Holmes, Sherlock") is 42 NW. If the players want to head over to Holmes' during the case, they must therefore read chapter 42 NW from the current case.
Note: found in the directory, in addition to the standard alphabetical list, are entries by profession.
List of Informants
This list offers Sherlock Holmes' recurring informants, as well as their addresses. These informants will be able to help you in most cases, some being more useful than others depending on events.
Newspapers (10)
For each case, you will have at your disposal the newspaper of the day in which you will sometimes find ads or articles setting you on new leads. From investigation 5 through 10, you will also be able to use the newspapers published on an earlier date (from the year 1889).
Case Booklets (10)
These ten booklets contain the ten cases you will have to solve. The cases are sorted by date and are all structured the same way:
- Introduction: in this text the title and date of the mystery are presented to you, as well as the details of the case (generally during an interview at Holmes').
- Leads: this part of the text represents all of the leads (organised into sections, one for each area of the map) which you may follow during your investigation. By following the leads and making the right deductions, you will be able to solve the mystery offered by Holmes. Each lead corresponds to a geographic area (see Map of London and Directory). The leads are sorted by area and, in each area, the leads are sorted in ascending order. The illustrations which accompany the text are purely decorative.
- Questions: as soon as you think you have solved the case, you will be faced with two series of questions. The first series is always in direct relation to the case. The second series will allow you to score additional points for other mysteries or puzzles you may have come across.
- Solution: Holmes will detail for you the way he unravelled the threads of the case.
Note: Questions and solution are printed upside down at the end of the booklet.
- Score: in this final section (located in the envelope placed at the end of the booklet), you'll get the answers to the questions and will tally your final score, which you'll then compare to Holmes'. It is common knowledge that Holmes is unbeatable. But do not despair, you might surprise yourself!
Game Setup
- The players choose a case they all agree on. For practical reasons, we suggest that the cases are played in chronological order (notably to avoid finding clues in the newspapers which may spoil the surprise, and in so doing, the fun). Case 10 holds resolution elements about cases 5 through 9 and must be played last.
- The map of London is placed in the middle of the table.
- The London directory and the list of informants are placed near the map.
- The players also place nearby the newspaper whose date matches the case's.
Important: as of case 6, players also place nearby all 1889's newspapers predating the case.
- The players may choose to grab blank sheets of paper and pencils to keep notes during the investigation.
Note: the players may delegate the task of keeping notes to a specific member of the group.
- A player is chosen as the "lead investigator". That player takes the booklet, reads the case's introduction text, and the game begins!
Game Overview
The players all cooperate to solve the case.
The game plays over a series of turns.
The lead investigator chooses a lead from the current case (they can for example declare: "I want to go visit the crime scene," find the address in the directory and go there).
If the lead doesn't exist in the booklet (meaning there's no corresponding paragraph in the current case for the location the player wanted to visit), the player simply chooses another lead.
When they have found their lead, the player reads the paragraph out loud, then notes that this lead has been followed. Their turn is now over.
Note: to keep intact the pleasure of discovering the answer, avoid looking at the other leads on the page you're reading!
They then pass the book to the player sitting on their left, who becomes the new lead investigator and chooses in turn a lead of their own.
The players continue this way, until they believe they know the solution to the enigma.
The players can follow as many leads as they want, but on their turn a player can only read a single lead.
Newspapers, already visited leads, directory: on their turn, all of the players have a free and unlimited access to the directory as well as the case's newspapers. They can also reread the leads already visited as much as they want.
Discussions: of course, the players can discuss as much as they want to talk about the case or to debate the next lead to follow. But if there's a disagreement between them about their next destination, it's the current lead investigator who has the final word.
End of the Game
The players can decide to stop following leads as soon as they want to. They then move on to the "Questions" section of the case and answer the two series of questions given to them.
Players then head over to the "Solution" section and one of them reads Holmes' conclusions out loud. Finally, the players open the envelope to evaluate their score and compare it to Holmes'.
Score
To tally their scores, the players add the points obtained by answering the questions, then total up the number of leads they followed. Then, they compare this number of leads to the number of leads followed by Holmes.
Note: some leads are considered to be "free". These are given at the end of the "Solution" section of each case. If the players have followed some of these leads, they do not count them among their followed leads.
If the players have followed more leads than Holmes, they subtract 5 points from their score for each extra lead. If they've followed fewer leads than Holmes, they add 5 points to their score for each fewer lead. They obtain their final score this way.
Example: the players have followed 8 leads and scored 95 points by answering the two series of questions. They realise that Holmes has, for his part, finished the case with 6 leads. As they followed 2 extra leads, they deduct 10 points from their score and finally only score 85 points.
Holmes
The players may then compare their score to Holmes'. Holmes' score is always 100 points. Defeating the Master is clearly hard, but not totally impossible!
- Score of 30 or less: sometimes, even good investigators fail. Review the game tips, and maybe you'll do better next time!
- Score from 35 to 65: you solved most of the case. Holmes thinks you're clearly ready to take on more!
- Score from 70 to 95: congratulations! Only Sherlock Holmes could find fault with your performance, but you have proven yourself as an excellent investigator!
- Score of 100 or more: you are one of the very few to have surpassed the master in his field. Maybe tales of your investigative feats will be passed on to the generations to come...
Special Rules
Campaign
- Cases 1 through 4 are separate and can be played in any order. You will only need the day's newspaper to solve the case.
- Cases 5 through 9 are related to case 10 and should be played before the latter (preferably in chronological order).
Important: ALL 1889's newspapers predating the case may be used in the investigation.
Use of Letters
- During your investigations, you will be asked to circle specific letters (which you can do behind the list of informants provided in the box).
- These letters are specific to each case in an independent way and give access to some of the booklet leads.
- As you can always re-read a lead you previously followed, if you re-read a lead that asked for a circled letter (that you did not have at the time), and now you have that letter, you can immediately read the new text and it will not cost you an additional lead (unless stated otherwise).
Tips for Beginners
If this is your first game, read these tips before you start!
For each investigation, the following items are available to you:
Case Booklets: this is where you'll have the most information about your case. Feel free to re-read specific sections, those that seem mysterious or worthy of interest, and to recount in your own words the facts that are reported to you. If people or places are mentioned, try to find the addresses in the Directory (if, of course, it concerns central London).
The London Map: do not hesitate to follow on the map what you are told (when the street names are given to you for example): this allows you to create context, to check the coherence of the testimony and possibly to identify points of interest nearby (hotel, theatre ...). The numbers on the map represent a block, which means that several people/places can be found there. If you are given an incomplete address (for example, 95 Park Lane), this still corresponds (for simplification purposes) to the block number 95 and allows you to find more quickly in which neighbourhood the street is (here NW).
The Directory: if you find addresses in the E, S, and QP neighbourhoods, you will not be able to visit these leads (unless stated otherwise). When a suspect's profession is clearly identified (barrister, doctor, etc.), look in the Alphabetical List for the home and in the List by Category for the profession. Familiarize yourself with these categories. You might want to look for example the hospital, train station, or even the nearest dentist to a place or on the road to a suspect. You might also want to read a paragraph to deepen a thematic association. Obtain official information on a foreign national: why not go to his embassy? You cross path with a notorious alcoholic... so visit the nearest pub. A poison has been used? Maybe a hospital or chemist's could provide you with more information…
The Newspaper of the Day: the newspaper can give you addresses (in addition to the Directory), context articles for your case, but it also has ads which, depending on your progress and circumstances, could prove to be useful. Do not hesitate to pass the newspaper from hand to hand and read it regularly.
For cases 1 through 5, only the newspaper of the day will be useful. From case 6 and up, pre-dating newspapers can sometimes contain relevant information (these are still the 1889 newspapers). If you feel stuck, quickly read these newspapers to see if an article or ad has anything to do with the current case.
The Informants: beyond the indicated or suggested leads in the introduction, an informant can be an interesting starting point (if of course, it makes sense going to him). Keep in mind everyone's profiles. Is it about an aristocrat? Langdale Pike certainly has something to say! Need an encyclopaedic research? Go visit the London Library. A suspect moves very quickly through London... Maybe he has taken a carriage? The Central Carriage Stables may have the answer.
Are You Stuck? the informant Sherlock Holmes (42 NW) will give you useful tips for your investigation. If you feel that you can no longer progress in the investigation, read the case questions. You are probably closer to the solution than you think.
For your first games, don't worry about your score or the number of leads you followed. The greatest satisfaction is to understand the scenario!
The second set of questions will especially reward the most seasoned investigators who took the time to read more leads.
Credits
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