In reply to Yaztromo (msg # 1):

There is a television show currently playing which places him in the modern era.  The show is called Elementary starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu.

Well what setting is it? Classic Sherlock Holmes would be historical, but Elementary would be Contemporary. A very grisly murder investigation game would include horror. Sherlock Holmes is one of those broad concepts that need details filled in case by case.

Sherlock (BBC) is also set in a modern setting and is less of a departure from the source material.  Their version of Moriarty is actually pretty amazing.

If you want to be true to the source material? Mystery. Owing to keeping critical information from the reader until Holmes discloses it during the denouement Sherlock Holmes stories don't fit that category very well, but otherwise it fits.

Because of my resources I'd probably use Call of Cthulu (the 1890s books) to simulate this. The Masque of the Red Death books for the Ravenloft setting for AD&D might work pretty well. Those assume that you're interested in staying true to the source material. World of Darkness might be done both as a modern or a historical Holmesian setting while retaining a pretty good feel.

It is Classic Sherlock Holmes (no steampunk, no contemporary, no particularly horror)

The mystery genre doesn't exist on RPoL list. Is it worth adding it?

In reply to Yaztromo (msg # 7):

No, it is not. Most mystery games fit into either historical, contemporary, or horror. Maybe add the strategy genre tag because it relies on reasoning instead of high stats and big swords.

I would do historical with the strategy tag.

I would go with Historical, Western, Strategy.  Historical and Strategy are obvious, Western because some of of the Sherlock Holmes stories had elements common with what we'd now describe as sort of Western -- for instance the Study in Scarlet.  It's basically the same level of technology/sophistication.  John Watson basically lived through "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (Clint Eastwood) before he met Sherlock.

When I see strategy, I suppose it indicates that I will be running a kingdom or country or something similar.

I always suppose that "strategy" is more cerebral than "I make an Int roll to see if I can figure out what X is alluding to."

In reply to Genghis the Hutt (msg # 12):

*smiles*  Well, in a good strategy game, it would mean more than that.   But that probably varies from game to game.

In reply to Yaztromo (msg # 7):

Or you could use Intrigue instead.  :)

And it looks like the categories have been shuffled somewhat.  Western, for instance, is now Frontier/Western.

Yes, there was an extensive discussion about the changes in the RPoL Development forum.  One of the points was that shows like Firefly (and the games based on it) have a definite Western feel without really being a Western, so the tag was changed to Frontier/Western to better accommodate them.

I would say that frontier/western is definitely not for the classic Sherlock Holmes... I'm not sure about strategy either, as Sherlock Holmes is more tactical than strategic... or not?

For people operating outside of a military environment, the difference between tactical and strategic is largely semantic, in many cases.  Almost everyone I know (outside the military) uses the two terms interchangeably.

Well Intrigue is new. I'd use Historical and Intrigue since your game is set in the past and is a mystery game.

This game: link to another game ? Longer reply.

I've gone with your proposal. I'm not sure I put enough strategy in my game to consider it properly in that category.

In reply to Genghis the Hutt (msg # 20):

Yes, that's the forum.  Thread is long since dead, though, since the changes have been finalised.
This message was last edited by the user at 19:02, Sun 13 Apr 2014.

I'd use Arena/Medieval/Anime, and then leave a series of incredibly complicated clues alluding to the fact that it's actually a Sherlock Holmes game.

What about Action/Adventure?

The RPOL definition is "Action/Adventure games are those that focus, at least in part, on physical challenges and/or exploration and puzzle solving. Players will have to use their physical and mental prowess to overcome challenges."

And since I would say that Holmes' investigations would be a form of puzzle solving, and had to resort to fisticuffs when the need arose, it would be fitting as well.

Whenever I think of Victorian-era fiction like Sherlock Holmes, Steampunk is the first genre that jumps to my mind.  Could take a lot of tweaking for your story, though.

Rennaisance-era.
Victorian-Era.
Alternate-History.
Steampunk.
Magical Realism.
Modern, Magical Realism.
Noir (esp. for near-modern or close-to-modern renditions)
Intrigue
Tactical, Crime-Solving
Cerebral.

These are all good terms to define the game genre for a Sherlock Holmes game (yes, I realize not all of these are on the list in RPoL.)

The difference between Tactical and Strategic in a military is actually part of a three-word series: Tactical, Operational, and Strategic.

Tactical: Battalion level (300-1,200 PAX) or below
Operational: Division level (6,000 PAX-ish) or below
Strategic: HUGE, levels and echelons "above reality" or "above God" as it is often humorously called.  This is usually the reference to discussions of battle/planning at the country or "theater" level.
This message was last edited by the user at 07:03, Mon 14 Apr 2014.