Needless to say, as a Winter Wolves role-playing game, Roger Steel is different. The stats are there alright but, like a skeleton, well-buried beneath fully developed characters that are three-dimensional ... at least in psychological terms.


Playing a named and sexed character, with a defined past might seem like being forced to spend a week with a total stranger. Who knows whether you'll even like each other, let alone get along well enough to solve a complete mystery? But just as in real life, stuff that's happened in the past, mistakes that have been made, do not have to define your future. What happened in Calcutta stays in Calcutta ... and who knows, if Ann believes firmly enough, may never have happened at all.

As we know, the heroine Ann has been sent away by her family to end a love affair which they did not approve (times and social mores being different then). The Ann of the past is angry, bitter, love-lorn. Meanwhile, the hero, her brother Arthur, has been ripped away from the excitement of the big city to some backwater town just because his big sister fell in love with the wrong chap yet again.
It's been a long train-ride from the humid tumult of Calcutta to the austere, intoxicating beauty of Kashmir. When you join the siblings and their friends in a picturesque square in Srinagar, the past is past. Shocking events are about to propel the four into an unimagined future where their lives will collide with those of strangers they will have to rely on for their very survival.
Whether Ann clings to her lost love, forsaking all others however charming they might be; or has almost forgotten him already and is eager for new and exciting experiences, of the heart or otherwise; or is simply focused on getting her brother back and sees those around her as means to an end, who need to be managed like so many servants to do her bidding, is entirely up to you.
Whether Arthur finds new purpose in the aftermath of the kidnapping; is excited by the adventure and drama and romance of having six mysterious strangers as company; or has to be dragged kicking a screaming to rescue his sister and sees those around him as buffoons to be played in order to get his way, is entirely up to you.
As with a novel, you have no choice as to the characters you will encounter; but unlike a novel, you will have a fine degree of control both over the character you choose to play, whether Ann or Arthur, and how you relate to, or manage, those around you. About whom, incidentally, we'll be learning more shortly ...