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There's a good chance that I could help you with your storyline, but I'm not too well-informed on the Sherlock Holmes world, honestly. I've only read The Hound of the Baskervilles. Let me know what ideas you already have, anything you'd like to incorporate, or a direction you'd be interested in taking this role-play and we can plot it out together. If you already someone helping, I'm fine with that, also.

Good luck!

I like the idea, but you don't have to replicate the same guys. One other idea is to give each a specific set of skills based on what you think you'll need for the task at hand.

Also, not having a specific Holmes means everyone can help solve mysteries, not just have one player make most of the good discoveries. Perhaps the Watson type could do autopsies and make scientific finds, a beat cop or street kid could look for street level information and trail suspects, and a social type like Adler could dig up gossip on people in the more refined social circles.

As for a main villain, the main concept that Moriarity presented could work with someone else; a central, brilliant criminal who acts through others, allowing him to commit crimes without risking being caught himself. As long as someone spins the bigger web, and not every crime is connected, who spins it can be left up to the imagination...

I volunteer to be a highly operatic and wonderfully brilliant criminal, if needs must.

Ellorie Grey: This last bit rather reminds me of Caves of Steel, also by Asimov. I like the idea of the villain(s) using AIs in their crimes- if such technology is commonplace, it would make the masterminds more difficult to track. I also like the idea of using a different villain so we're not too deeply tied to the true storyline and, instead, may adopt the world and ideas. However, I'm not too sure of how well the accidents would work, unless they were very well-executed.

If we would like to include robots and AI into the story, we'll need to decide if they act on their own or at the commands of others. This will help decide some aspects of the story, I think: if the robots are acting on their own, and have superior intelligence, then the story is one of uprising; if the robots act on the command of others, then they're decoys rather than key elements. However, if we do choose to have the robots act on their own, we could avoid the cliches that this entails by coming up with a more unusual storyline. Perhaps the human criminals were manipulated into commanding their robot servants to crime by some superior robot- perhaps the first of its kind to gain free will... Let me know if you'd like to pursue robot-based criminals, and I can help you come up with plots. If the plans are all human, however, I some different questions. First, would there be some over-arching, uniting criminal plot that will end the game, or will the game consist of several increasingly-dangerous mysteries? Second, would the criminals be known to the players, or will they be concealed among us? Finally, would one criminal organization be acting on its own, or would we have the added intrigue of multiple groups?

Also, will this be purely text-based, or are you planning on introducing a more play-by-post feel, with dice-rolling for actions or point-determined traits and characteristics? This could, potentially, work out quite well if properly planned. If you'd rather not, however, I wouldn't oppose.

Myself: I'm leaning more towards robots acting on the command of others. AIs acting on their own is a little too futuristic mand less steampunk for me. For your questions, I originally imagined a main villain, or group of villains, and then a smaller group under their command that works at street level, which brings in the accidents. Our guy Behatzlacha-S said that the accidents would be stuff like falling masonry, etc. etc., like traps. Second, we'll know for sure of one criminal, which is the guy who volunteered Behatzlacha-S. If more people would like to join on the criminal side, I at least would know, but they wouldn't have to be known to the other players. As for one or multiple criminal groups, that depends entirely first on whether more people joined, and if they want to be united or separate. I want to give our guy Behatzlacha-S most of the control and say-so in the criminal aspect of our RP, so I'll talk to him.

I'm open to an action-by-dice RP, but I've never done one before and am not sure how well executed it would be. It seems like something with more thought and planning than I have time for. Not that I won't be committed and thoughtful with a text-based RP, but I'm trying to write 3 research papers, prepare for AP classes, tests, and get ready for college, and I'm sure other players will be busy too. If you can explain to me how it would work, maybe we can have dice for some, but not all, actions.

I feel so loved!
Call me Behatz or S. My username is quite a mouthful, I know.
And I need to update my signature... I sporadically become a tranny. pirate

I'm more used to a text-based roleplay, as I find it more creative and spontaneous than dice- or trait-based. However, I'm open to anything on this.

Whilst I see a future in a side-story of AI-gone-rogue! , I agree with our Princess that robots should function with a minimal level of actual intelligence and follow the commands of others. I think that the players should be aware of the presence of multiple criminals, but to add to the subterfuge of the roleplay many of them will remain shrouded in mystery, so we aren't aware if they are all part of the same brotherhood or each have ulterior motives.

My character would act as the arch-nemesis, I imagine, and so I should be known by the protagonist by name, as well as having some past or other with him/her. Whether or not there will be other crime lords will come to light when people come forwards to join the RP. No doubt, however, that there will be players who side with us criminals and are the assassins/thieves/etc of it.

Inevitably, the main storyline should be put off as much as possible whilst still remaining in the foreground, with the majority of the roleplay consisting of mini-mysteries which may or may not be connected.

4laugh

"...the main storyline should be put off as much as possible whilst still remaining in the foreground, with the majority of the roleplay consisting of mini-mysteries which may or may not be connected."
...it would be more interesting to hide the main plot behind a mask of possible connections in various crimes... I agree.

"We" would most likely be a private detective agency with friends in odd/helpful places, depending on what they players choose. I can imagine many or all of the players being connected somehow, if only by friendship or having worked togeher in the past. We would have to talk it out and see where paths could meet.

Hm... main storyline... I haven't givin it too much thought...Yeah, it's pretty much up for debate.

I hope that you will forgive my double post. I simply find it oh-so amusing that they just released deerstalker caps.