Admittedly, I'm reading Daniel Defoe's lesser-known Memoirs of a Cavalier, which is about a young English gentleman who fights first in the Thirty Years War, then is embroiled in the civil wars back home.

It would seem, to me, to be a ripe time for the usual sort of adventuring type behaviours, not least because there were mercenary companies around and about which make an idea PC organisation. There were also lots of local associations organised to fight and irregular warfare away from the standing armies too. The PCs as a troop of dragoons seems a pretty viable means of them getting involved in lots of things and having mobility too.

Anyone done something like this? Are there any games (besides pastiche like WFRP) that are set in this era?

Quote from: Kiero;818086Anyone done something like this? Are there any games (besides pastiche like WFRP) that are set in this era?

Clockwork & Chivalry might be worth a look. It's a historical-fantasy take on the English Civil Wars.

Honor+Intrigue covers that period. The old Flashing Blades system was set in that period and was designed to include characters as soldiers in companies and regiments in battle.

I'm running Honor+Intrigue set in 1620s Europe. Last year the PCs were instrumental in defeating the Spanish at the Siege of Bergen-op-Zoom.

I've always thought that the D&D 2e supplement A Mighty Fortress was one of the best of the "green book" historical series.  I've seriously considered using it to do a historical-ish 5e campaign set in England during the Civil War - in fact it was one of two ideas I pitched for my current campaign.

-TGA

Quote from: misterguignol;818108Clockwork & Chivalry might be worth a look. It's a historical-fantasy take on the English Civil Wars.

Or check out their generic black powder era /age of sail game Renaissance:

Renaissance Deluxe
Renaissance - D100 black powder SRD

Back in the day, I greatly enjoyed GDW's En Garde and FGU's more comprehensive Flashing Blades.

GURPS Swashbucklers and ICE's Pirates book are both nice. Privateers & Gentlemen had fine naval combat rules, but the role-playing rules set seemed half baked.

I'd like to do a 17th-18th c. North American campaign someday, but players with that interest seem uncommon.

Thirty Years War certainly presents a lot of opportunities, but for me it's too unpleasant a situation for extended role-playing; YMMV of course.

I never got around to playing the fantasy game (featuring magic and centaurs) Lace & Steel, but the cardplay mechanics looked interesing.

Not yet, but Flashing Blades campaign is definitely on my bucket list.

Quote from: Phillip;818154Thirty Years War certainly presents a lot of opportunities, but for me it's too unpleasant a situation for extended role-playing; YMMV of course.

That is a comprehensible opinion. But at the same time, with the Simplicissimus as a primary source, you have the opportunity to run the whole war as a very black comedy.

Quote from: Phillip;818151I'd like to do a 17th-18th c. North American campaign someday, but players with that interest seem uncommon.

Fans of Sleepy Hollow might be interested.

I have played several campaigns set in the period, in England and North America, as well as the Caribbean.

-clash

Quote from: Kiero;818086Anyone done something like this? Are there any games (besides pastiche like WFRP) that are set in this era?

Well, I suppose 7th Sea counts as a pastiche. However, there is All-for-one Regime Diabolique (2010), Bloode Island (1999), Buccaneer (1979), Capitan Alatriste (2002), Crimson Cutlass (1979), En Garde (1975), Flashing Blades (1984),  Gloire (2006), Honor+Intrigue (2005), Lace and Steel (1989), Pirates & Plunder (1982), Run Out the Guns (1998), Skull & Bones (2003), Skull and Crossbones (1980), Swashbuckler (1998), Taste My Steel (1982), and Witch Hunter: the Invisible World (2007) - plus notable supplements like A Mighty Fortress for AD&D (2nd ed) and GURPS Swashbucklers.

Of these, I've only played Lace and Steel as a one-shot, but I've also played a short campaign of 17th century superheroes and GMed Call of Cthluhu set in the English Civil War, along with various other one-shots.

I think taking part in ongoing wars is tough for a typical RPG campaign, but there are a lot of scenarios and campaigns that can happen with war as the backdrop.

Don't forget the Rolemaster At Rapiers Point c. 1993 by Iron Crown Enterprises, Inc.

For less historical and more fantastical there is Colonial Gothic ca. 2007, MIB 1625 (GURPS Musketeers in Black), Mousquetaires de l Ombre, and of course the Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane.

Play a bit of tabletop minis skirmish gaming - the English Civil War is particularly good because most of the action is set at a local level.  Village against village,neighbour against neighbour, father against son.  There are relatively few massive battles.

As a bonus, since you're in England, there is usually a wealth of local Civil War history to build the game on.  Several key minor battles occurred within a 20-mile radius of where I live: a desperate blocking action against the Northern Royalist army at Gainsborough; Winceby, where Cromwell and Fairfax fought together for the first time, and several battles at Newark to control the main north road.

But documents exist at an even more local level - which local landowners declared for Parliament or the King, allegiance marks carved in the doors of local churches, local events.  Read the letters of the besieged Brilliana Harley, controlling the defence of her home while her husband was away fighting, to get a feel for how personal these events were.

And witchfinders...

God's Fury, England's Fire by Michael Braddick and The English Civil War: A People's History by Diane Purkiss both do a decent job of describing the period beyond simple descriptions of battles.