Victorian Carriages- Wrap Up

After a few weeks of dry descriptions and history, this last post focuses on using carriages in adventures. The specifics of carriage models shouldn’t lead to long descriptions at the table and players afraid of anachronisms. These details are here to give players strategic choices, quickly immerse the party in the world around them, and inspire adventures or obstacles.

Bare Minimum Details

You don’t always need to explain the differences between a Stanhope and a Tilbury. At the bare minimum, when players need detail, the following questions can be answered on the fly:

How many wheels does the carriage have?

Do the passengers sit in an enclosed carriage or are they out in the open?
How many horses pull the carriage?

Where does the driver sit?

How many passengers can ride the carriage?

These answers are more than enough for the average session. The period detail should inspire play, not hinder it.

What’s in a Name?

Quite a few of the carriages in the last few posts were named after people of high station. The inventor may have named their carriage after their patron, or the man in the street saw a person of high standing riding one. In either case, naming a plot device after a public figure could add wrinkles to an adventure.
Lady Hangrove hates having a dangerous carriage known by her name. An Etiquette or High Society test prevents a conversational faux pas.

The party needs to track down the originator of an esoteric spell from “Sir Belsohn’s Book of Goetic Manipulations”, do they waste the effort finding Sir Belsohn’s ghost or do they need to check guild records for Sir Belsohn’s research clerks?

Best of all, if your gaming group can take a joke, the player character with the highest social standing could get all the credit (or blame) for the party’s heroic feats.

Adventure Ideas

While some carriage owners have the knowhow to fix their vehicles, many rely on carriage makers for structural or superficial repairs.
If mysterious persons escape the player characters in a damaged carriage, a player character with Drive Carriage, Craft (Carriage), or Ad Hoc Repair, could track down its manufacturer and check if it’s in for repairs.  They may even find out who brought it in.

In any finely tuned machine, such as a carriage, a touch of sabotage can bring everything to a crashing halt. Nearly sawing through wheel spokes or rim, detaching springs, casting Botheration on a draft horse, slightly bending or inducing some friction to the axel, and tightening the horse’s collar to impede its breathing, could all limit a carriage’s ability to move.

A hansom cab roves around London serves as an office for a well connected criminal fixer. He knows everyone, and everyone trusts him. His cab travels the route every day. Anyone wanting his services can hail his cab and give the passphrase.

Many young gentlemen belong to Driving Clubs devoted to the joys of racing and driving your own carriage. A particular driving club has been plagued by a rash of carriage accidents. The victims are all the oldest sons of wealthy homes.

A cab company provides transport to some of the best clientele in town. Their carriages are also present at many crime scenes. Is the company, a cabbie, or a fare to blame?