Making the Next GameCola RPGCast – Part 2

Is it possible to make a tabletop RPG campaign out of a game about a dancing detective? Wait, that's not right...

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My first attempt at testing out a tabletop RPG was a failure, but I had another game up my sleeve: Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. That was a semi-popular board game produced in 1982, which was turned into an FMV game for the Sega CD in 1991. The game can be played with up to eight players, and it centers around Sherlock Holmes’ quest to become a ballerina.

No, wait, it’s the game where he solves mysteries. Sorry, I get those confused.

Sherlock Holmes is Best Ballerina

I don’t have the original board game. In fact, all I have is my semi-detailed walkthrough for the Sega CD version. But since those are very close to DM notes, I tried out a tabletop play of Case #3.

The first problem we ran into was the fact that there are too many characters to keep track of. The game is overloaded with dozens of irrelevant people. I think they did that so the box art could boast that the game has over 100 characters!

The second problem was the plot. Which I half-forgot. The player started inquiring into things which aren’t covered anywhere in the game, such as, “What did the accused eat at dinner, before falling asleep?” I had no idea how to answer.

So we gave up on that, and I just did a session of Nancy Drew: The Captive Curse instead. I know the set-up of that mystery better than the Sega CD ones. The player proceeded to goof off, and they made Nancy break up with her boyfriend. The end.

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About the Contributor


From 2007 to 2016

Michael Gray is a staff writer for GameCola, who focuses on adventure games, videos and writing videogame walkthroughs.

12 Comments

  1. So this is all leading up to a Nancy Drew-themed D&D podcast, right? …Because that actually sounds like a terrific idea.

    1. I suppose that could work! I would probably make it a Nancy Drew / Hardy Boys D&D podcast. That way, there can be three players instead of just one.

      “Roll an intelligence check. Oh, too low! You don’t find any clues at all.”

      1. You mentioned in the last one that you would have people solve puzzles via dice-rolls; would it be possible for them to just solve the puzzles with the power of their minds? Like, they (the players) investigate the scenes, find clues and try to piece them together to figure out what happened?

        …I think I just invented five-minute mysteries, but still.

        1. Top-secret insider info: I’m planning an RPGcast of my own that won’t involve dice at all. Won’t be ready anytime soon, but definitely before the end of the year if all goes according to plan.

          1. I WANT IN. Jeddy said it’s okay. I mean I didn’t ask him, but I’ll fire him if he says “no”, so.

        2. I would probably try to split it up, 50-50. Puzzles involving inventory items have to be solved by the players. All other puzzles require die rolls to solve.

  2. If we’re doing a Nancy Drew RPGCast next, then after that can we do a Phoenix Wright RPGCast? Now THAT would be awesome! OR… (Pause, for effect) …a MegaMan RPGCast!

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