Like I did for 15th century England with Dark Albion, are there any specific cities, regions, and periods in history which you'd really like to see an RPG setting about or heavily-based on?
I always thought Roman era Britain done with the tropes of a classic Western would be a fun setting.
Roman times seems to be really untapped to me.
Although Te Deum Pour Un Massacre already covers the French religious wars of the 16th Century, I wouldn't mind a more fantastical treatment of the same subject. Also, a game in English would benefit my potential players :p.
Canada around the the period of Acadia might be interesting.
In general I'd be happy to see something like the old historical reference series from TSR emerge for 5e D&D.
Most of the rest of the world? :o But I know perfectly well it is only now really being made more accessible. :( I'll just be patient.
(I just saw a 5e D&D compatible product about Ethiopia and its mythologies, so the times are a changin'.) :)
Of Rome, as I am not too interested in much of the already trod stuff. I'd like to see some North African Rome stuff. I mean, ruined & colonized Carthage, the lingering impact of Egypt, Leptis Magna-Tripolitania, the humbling wonders of Malta, the mysteries of the Atlas mts and the Berbers therein, etc. there's so much to work with. However they -- a good 30%?, 40%? of the empire -- are so often reduced to footnotes & afterthoughts when talking about Rome.
- I know Rome has been covered a couple of times. I have never seen Ancient Greece (or the Hellenistic period) handled well. So that would be something.
- Bronze age Greece (Minoans or Mycenaeans) could also be cool.
Colonial America. You have this new world, great unexplored expanse- no one's done much with it.
Quote from: RPGPundit;954074Like I did for 15th century England with Dark Albion, are there any specific cities, regions, and periods in history which you'd really like to see an RPG setting about or heavily-based on?
The Balkan Peninsula of late 7th and early 8th century is the scene of, among others, one of the two major clashes with early Islamic conquest.
Renaissance Italy
Quote from: darthfozzywig;954205Renaissance Italy
You know, that would be kinda cool.
Quote from: RunningLaser;954148Colonial America. You have this new world, great unexplored expanse- no one's done much with it.
Salem World on Drive Thru set in early 1700s alt history.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/208405/Salem-World--Extended-Edition
Ancient Egypt. Particularly of a mythical bent.
I have the Rolemaster Classic, Mythic Egypt. And that book was bad. The writer tried to squeeze Egyptian Mythology through the lense of Tolkien.
OGL Ancients tried to cram Greek and Egyptian Mythology under the same cover. And honestly? It didn't do either of the subjects any favors.
So yeah. i definitely see it as an under-served topic.
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954216Ancient Egypt. Particularly of a mythical bent.
I have the Rolemaster Classic, Mythic Egypt. And that book was bad. The writer tried to squeeze Egyptian Mythology through the lense of Tolkien.
OGL Ancients tried to cram Greek and Egyptian Mythology under the same cover. And honestly? It didn't do either of the subjects any favors.
So yeah. i definitely see it as an under-served topic.
Have you read Zenobia: Aegypt?
The Reconquista and El Cid era. Without fantasy junk added.
Quote from: AsenRG;954218Have you read Zenobia: Aegypt?
Never. I really never heard of that game until your post.
Quote from: Trond;954147I have never seen Ancient Greece (or the Hellenistic period) handled well. So that would be something.
Paul Elliot's
Warlords of Alexander (http://romequest.fronteriza.es/Warlords.pdf) is pretty good for the Hellenistic era. I used it as a sourcebook for my own Hellenistic hack of ACKS (https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Tyche's_Favourites). There's also
Philos Basilikos (http://web.archive.org/web/20061229072721/www.angelwerks.com/GURPS/basiliko2PR.PDF) for GURPS, which is useful as a player guide.
Quote from: Kiero;954221Paul Elliot's Warlords of Alexander (http://romequest.fronteriza.es/Warlords.pdf) is pretty good for the Hellenistic era. I used it as a sourcebook for my own Hellenistic hack of ACKS (https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Tyche's_Favourites). There's also Philos Basilikos (http://web.archive.org/web/20061229072721/www.angelwerks.com/GURPS/basiliko2PR.PDF) for GURPS, which is useful as a player guide.
There is also the Rolemaster Classic, Mythic Greece. Which really was the only memorable sourcebook of that line. But it was really well done.
But the problem with referencing sourcebooks of the past is: Accessibility and current availability. What is currently available of those historical periods now?
What would the pike and shot era be? That seems kinda cool. Pikes.... shot... adventure!
EDIT: Stupid post.
Quote from: RunningLaser;954148Colonial America. You have this new world, great unexplored expanse- no one's done much with it.
I have. Cover art for my
Patriot game, an RPG set in the Age of Reason;
http://imgur.com/a/mC15V
Lately though I have been doing D&D games set in Europe and the Middle East especially at conventions, featuring
The Crusades and the
Crusaders.
Quote from: RunningLaser;954223What would the pike and shot era be? That seems kinda cool. Pikes.... shot... adventure!
Eighty Years War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Years%27_War)? Thirty Years War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War)? English Civil War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War)(s)?
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954216Ancient Egypt. Particularly of a mythical bent.
I have the Rolemaster Classic, Mythic Egypt. And that book was bad. The writer tried to squeeze Egyptian Mythology through the lense of Tolkien.
OGL Ancients tried to cram Greek and Egyptian Mythology under the same cover. And honestly? It didn't do either of the subjects any favors.
So yeah. i definitely see it as an under-served topic.
Take a look at Valley of the Pharoahs from Palladium Books. IIRC is is available in PDF and it is actually a nice little game. Moswtly historical.
A Pike & Shotte RPG could be fun. It does overlap with the Three Musketeers and swashbuckling which have frequently been done, as have pirates. Add to Pike&Shot the War of Austrian Succession, the War of Spanish Succession, and the Great Northern War. Although the WSS didn't have much pike being more early horse and musket.
Quote from: Trond;954147...I have never seen Ancient Greece (or the Hellenistic period) handled well. So that would be something.
- Bronze age Greece (Minoans or Mycenaeans) could also be cool.
A "Mythic Greece" setting book is forthcoming for
Mythras (formerly
RuneQuest 6).
Design Mechanism already has "Mythic Britain" (5th-6th C Britain) and "Mythic Rome" (Republican Rome) settings out. I've played in the Mythic Britain campaign, and it's excellent.
"Age of Arthur" provides a nice itteration of FATE for post-Roman Britain. Mostly historical, but it does have magic and a few fantastic creatures.
Hudson's Bay Company vs. North West Fur Company... and stuff around the war of 1812. Lots of factions, wilderness, ties to Napoleonic wars.
Gold rush era Australia, roughly 1850-1900: miners and prospectors, bushrangers (outlaws), State Police ('Texas Rangers'), aborigines, sheep and cattle stations.
The Inca Empire. I'm not even sure why, except that I feel like they're an overlooked civilisation even as far as pre-Columbian American cultures go - those damn Aztecs hog all the attention! :p
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954220Never. I really never heard of that game until your post.
Then you should be glad to find out (http://www.paulelliottbooks.com/free-rpgs.html) that it's even free, along with the core Zenobia and the Ionia supplement:).
And in this case you definitely get more than you bargained for!
Quote from: Baeraad;954294The Inca Empire. I'm not even sure why, except that I feel like they're an overlooked civilisation even as far as pre-Columbian American cultures go - those damn Aztecs hog all the attention! :p
True, that;)!
Quote from: GameDaddy;954230I have. Cover art for my Patriot game, an RPG set in the Age of Reason;
http://imgur.com/a/mC15V
Lately though I have been doing D&D games set in Europe and the Middle East especially at conventions, featuring The Crusades and the Crusaders.
Please keep us posted here about that.
Quote from: Kiero;954254Eighty Years War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Years%27_War)? Thirty Years War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty_Years%27_War)? English Civil War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War)(s)?
Thankee sai:)
I'd go for a slightly romanticized Mexican Revolution with some period- and culture-appropriate folklore/magic mixed in. It should be done using Cakebread & Walton's Renaissance system or something similar.
Quote from: Baeraad;954294The Inca Empire. I'm not even sure why, except that I feel like they're an overlooked civilisation even as far as pre-Columbian American cultures go - those damn Aztecs hog all the attention! :p
Even for the Aztecs there's only one game that managed to produce something playable: the unmatched
GURPS Aztecs. The few other supposedly historical precolumbian settings are suck. Incas would be even more tricky to "get right"; probably a reason why there never was a
GURPS Inca book.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;954293Gold rush era Australia, roughly 1850-1900: miners and prospectors, bushrangers (outlaws), State Police ('Texas Rangers'), aborigines, sheep and cattle stations.
Cool. Would have to be clearly distinguishable from the Old West Gold Rush, though.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;954293Gold rush era Australia, roughly 1850-1900: miners and prospectors, bushrangers (outlaws), State Police ('Texas Rangers'), aborigines, sheep and cattle stations.
I've often thought of running a game set in Gold Rush Australia. When I was still at school there was an Australian TV series that was shown in the UK late in on Sunday evening, it was called 'Rush', and I enjoyed it very much.
Years later I picked up cheaply a book called 'In Defence of Lives and Property, which was essentially just pictures of Gold Rush era weapons. The pictures of the weird and wonderful mix of English and American percussion revolvers and accompanying text about various gunfights, set my gamer pulse racing. I later picked up 'Wild Colonial Boys', which is often quoted as a standard text – it's a fun read, if written in an folky old fashioned style. I assume there are more recent books out there, but they never made it to the UK.
I've done some web research from time to time, but never found a really useful source for the era. I'd like to get a little more intel on what really happened before attempting to run a gold rush game.
Quote from: AsenRG;954297Then you should be glad to find out (http://www.paulelliottbooks.com/free-rpgs.html) that it's even free, along with the core Zenobia and the Ionia supplement:).
And in this case you definitely get more than you bargained for!
It's much appreciated.
I have gone through a lot of books in the past to find a good Ancient Egypt setting. I even own the Nile Empire D20 supplement from Avalanche Press.
But everything up to now I have found lacking.
Revolutionary War in the United States or the American Civil War.
Quote from: Gruntfuttock;954340I’ve done some web research from time to time, but never found a really useful source for the era.
My knowledge of the period is limited to
Quigley Down Under,
The Man from Snowy River, and
Ned Kelley.
The only published game material I found is scenarios for a minis skirmish game - virtually no background whatsoever, just stats for the minis and general point-arrays and victory conditions for the scenario. I also found a
Boot Hill in Australia page which is just a couple of character stats and some republished house rules from
The Dragon, again with next-to-nothing specific to the setting.
Quote from: Gruntfuttock;954340I've done some web research from time to time, but never found a really useful source for the era. I'd like to get a little more intel on what really happened before attempting to run a gold rush game.
Why? I mean, unless you have someone at the table who is an expert on the era
and will be a complete ass about everything you get "wrong", I wouldn't let a lack of data outweigh an abundance of interest.
Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good campaign.
I'd love to see a Colonial American setting, specifically the early years in the 1500's (if Latin America) and 1600's (if North America) when everything was vast and wild.
In fact, I'm planning a D&D campaign that is initially focused around the founding of Jamestown and uses a mix of 3.5, Pathfinder, and 3.0/D20 materials for the game itself. Magic is present and all the core classes are available, but for now, only humans are playable as a race. Players would all start out at Level 1 and be English adventurers fresh off the boat in the wild frontiers of Virginia.
Quote from: Doc Sammy;954385I'd love to see a Colonial American setting, specifically the early years in the 1500's (if Latin America) and 1600's (if North America) when everything was vast and wild. (emphasis added - BV)
Jesusfuckingchrist, what a fucking stupid thing to write.
The indigenous people of the Americas built cities, cultivated land, managed game, and participated in trade networks which spanned the continents. The Americas didn't become "wild" until European diseases killed most of those people off, in greater numbers than the Black Plague, which left post-Roman Europe "wild" for the same reasons.
The Americas were a post-apocalyptic landscape by the seventeenth century, with immune invaders scavenging the ruins and subjugating the survivors. It's a world haunted by ghosts.
I'd love to see more Native American-inspired games out there. One of the campaigns I've always wanted to run is a Totems of the Dead game set in Cahokia. Actual ancient Egypt would be good, too, though there have been so many knockoff versions in games that it feels like it's been overdone.
Vulmea is right. A post-Contact Americas played as Post Apocalypse setting would be something new and different, but it might be hard to find players.
Personally I would like to see a pre-Contact, or very early Contact North Eastern Woodlands RPG. The Iroquois, et al, have rich mythologies, interesting politics, and a dedicated miniatures game (Flint & Feather). IMO they would be a great setting for an RPG.
Quote from: Brand55;954440I'd love to see more Native American-inspired games out there.
Problem with that is: The people of those currently surviving cultures it could and would offend.
It's why I am far more comfortable with fantasy and gaming based on cultures who are long gone. Nobody left of them to offend or provoke.
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954354It's much appreciated.
I have gone through a lot of books in the past to find a good Ancient Egypt setting. I even own the Nile Empire D20 supplement from Avalanche Press.
But everything up to now I have found lacking.
Well, let us know what you think:).
Personally, I find it well-researched, and if you like minimalist low fantasy systems, it should be up your alley.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;954437Jesusfuckingchrist, what a fucking stupid thing to write.
The indigenous people of the Americas built cities, cultivated land, managed game, and participated in trade networks which spanned the continents. The Americas didn't become "wild" until European diseases killed most of those people off, in greater numbers than the Black Plague, which left post-Roman Europe "wild" for the same reasons.
The Americas were a post-apocalyptic landscape by the seventeenth century, with immune invaders scavenging the ruins and subjugating the survivors. It's a world haunted by ghosts.
You just wrote one of the few pitches that have ever made me interested in a Western game;).
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954443Problem with that is: The people of those currently surviving cultures it could and would offend.
Boo-fucking-hoo. By that standard, we would have to eliminate 90% of all the games out there currently. The various bits on religion alone would disqualify a good chunk of the games sitting on my shelf now from ever being played. And it's not like I ever hear any complaints about the atheists in Seattle who like to use Christian elements in their roleplaying and card games.
Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Anima, Armageddon, Dresden Files, Dungeons & Dragons, Deadlands . . . Hell, we might as well all just play Bunnies and Burrows.
Cahokia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia). A pre-Colombian Native American
city.
Quote from: DavetheLost;954442Personally I would like to see a pre-Contact, or very early Contact North Eastern Woodlands RPG. The Iroquois, et al, have rich mythologies, interesting politics, and a dedicated miniatures game (Flint & Feather). IMO they would be a great setting for an RPG.
Hells, yes. We played a 1750s (so late Contact...) Mage: the Awakening game set in New York province, and for me that element was significantly more interesting than all the magical/arcane stuff.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;954437Jesusfuckingchrist, what a fucking stupid thing to write.
The indigenous people of the Americas built cities, cultivated land, managed game, and participated in trade networks which spanned the continents. The Americas didn't become "wild" until European diseases killed most of those people off, in greater numbers than the Black Plague, which left post-Roman Europe "wild" for the same reasons.
The Americas were a post-apocalyptic landscape by the seventeenth century, with immune invaders scavenging the ruins and subjugating the survivors. It's a world haunted by ghosts.
You are correct in the assessment that the Native American tribes built great cities and had vast civilizations, but by the time the English landed in Virginia in 1607, disease had pretty much decimated all that. Just like you said.
And considering the fact that my campaign is centered around a historical fantasy version of Jamestown, well......
Players would start out at Level 1 and be English settlers/adventurers on contract with the Virginia Company of London and the English Crown, and the biggest threat isn't the Natives or even the wild animals and monsters lurking in the Virginia woods, but rather the Spanish, who are at the height of their colonial empire's power and are willing to plunder the fledgling English colony. After all, Jamestown was initially built as a fortified village. And the reason why it was built like a fort was to keep the Spanish out, not the Natives.
In fact, the English really didn't see the Powhatan and Rappahannock people as a threat until 1622, when Opechanacough, brother of the legendary King Powhatan, became the new chief of the Powhatan and declared open war on the English. The English were caught by surprise because they were so concerned about the Spanish (as well as the profits of tobacco farming, as Virginia was established as an economic venture) that they didn't really pay attention to the fact that they were royally pissing off the Powhatan and once John Rolfe and Pocahontas left for London, all bets were off.
Jamestown survived because it was well-fortified, but the outlying farms and settlements that had sprung up around the Tidewater during the 1610's and early 1620's were largely decimated by the Powhatan.
Quote from: Brand55;954450Boo-fucking-hoo. By that standard, we would have to eliminate 90% of all the games out there currently. The various bits on religion alone would disqualify a good chunk of the games sitting on my shelf now from ever being played. And it's not like I ever hear any complaints about the atheists in Seattle who like to use Christian elements in their roleplaying and card games.
Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Anima, Armageddon, Dresden Files, Dungeons & Dragons, Deadlands . . . Hell, we might as well all just play Bunnies and Burrows.
Show some respect.
Do you think Native Americans would be happy with outsiders making up a highly anti-native biased fictional work based on their culture? I don't flipping think so. It's a culture that has already faced too much bigotry and genocide as it is.
It would be just as distasteful as if someone made an RPG based on the Holocaust. Only slanted to the point of view of the Nazis.
Quote from: Kiero;954451Cahokia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia). A pre-Colombian Native American city.
Hells, yes. We played a 1750s (so late Contact...) Mage: the Awakening game set in New York province, and for me that element was significantly more interesting than all the magical/arcane stuff.
I know what you mean. People tend to be surprised when I say I don't even need the Mythos in CoC games, because cultists are more interesting:D!
Well, at least all of your games stand a chance to be written some day;).
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954455Show some respect.
Do you think Native Americans would be happy with outsiders making up a highly anti-native biased fictional work based on their culture? I don't flipping think so. It's a culture that has already faced too much bigotry and genocide as it is.
It would be just as distasteful as if someone made an RPG based on the Holocaust. Only slanted to the point of view of the Nazis.
Who said anything about it being negative? You made that up all on your own. And you can stop right there with the logical fallacies because we aren't talking about anything remotely resembling a pro-Nazi Holocaust game. I don't think anyone in this thread is talking about wanting to see FATAL: The (Insert Culture of Your Choice) Edition.
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954443Problem with that is: The people of those currently surviving cultures it could and would offend.
It's why I am far more comfortable with fantasy and gaming based on cultures who are long gone. Nobody left of them to offend or provoke.
I prefer games that are well-researched and fairly presented, that way the only people offended are ignorant douchebags and moral busybodies.
Quote from: Tristram Evans;954469I prefer games that are well-researched and fairly presented, that way the only people offended are ignorant douchebags and moral busybodies.
What this guy said
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954443Problem with that is: The people of those currently surviving cultures it could and would offend.
It's why I am far more comfortable with fantasy and gaming based on cultures who are long gone. Nobody left of them to offend or provoke.
And just which cultures would those be? Vikings, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Romans, Classical Greeks all have surviving decendants today, some of whom are quite passionate about their culture and history. Certainly anything after the year 1000 has the potential to provoke and offend, and probably a lot earlier than that.
You may not care or be offended, but there are plenty of people who take their culture and history seriously.
And that is leaving aside the long gone cultures whose practices and mores were offensive by Modern sensibilities.
I love it when white folk assert their liberal bona fides by asserting how offended they are on behalf of the rest of us who, y'know, need mighty white liberal knights to protect us.
Quote from: 3rik;954326Even for the Aztecs there's only one game that managed to produce something playable: the unmatched GURPS Aztecs.
I have that one, actually. And it certainly makes for a fascinating setting, but I still want Incas. It's the principle of the thing! Or something. :p
Quote from: 3rik;954326Incas would be even more tricky to "get right"
How so?
Quote from: Brand55;954440I'd love to see more Native American-inspired games out there.
I know of one called
Ehdrigohr, which has an unusual setting if nothing else - there's stuff like giant worms hibernating beneath the ground and any person or animal who sleeps on the land above them becomes possessed by demons that makes them shiver and jitter while slowly mutating into monsters, people building cities on the backs of giant tortoises, and just generally a lot of interesting weirdness with a definite non-European flavour to it. I got the feeling that I would probably like it more if I knew the first thing about American Indian cultures, though, since then I'd recognise which ones different nations in the game were inspired by and have an easier time keeping track of them - and of course the rule system is FATE, and FATE gives me a headache.
Quote from: Tristram Evans;954469I prefer games that are well-researched and fairly presented, that way the only people offended are ignorant douchebags and moral busybodies.
Quote from: Doc Sammy;954495What this guy said
+1 to that, really.
Quote from: DavetheLost;954501And just which cultures would those be? Vikings, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Romans, Classical Greeks all have surviving decendants today, some of whom are quite passionate about their culture and history. Certainly anything after the year 1000 has the potential to provoke and offend, and probably a lot earlier than that.
You may not care or be offended, but there are plenty of people who take their culture and history seriously.
And that is leaving aside the long gone cultures whose practices and mores were offensive by Modern sensibilities.
Also, that, except that people who start to object to the practices and mores of other cultures probably aren't really interested in playing them;).
Quote from: Matt;954530I love it when white folk assert their liberal bona fides by asserting how offended they are on behalf of the rest of us who, y'know, need mighty white liberal knights to protect us.
I'm white, but I was once considering whether I should punch a well-meaning liberal who decided to be offended on my behalf because of something that mostly existed only in his head:D!
Quote from: AsenRG;954539I'm white, but I was once considering whether I should punch a well-meaning liberal who decided to be offended on my behalf because of something that mostly existed only in his head:D!
I feel that way about skinny bastards who whine about "fat-shaming." Especially given that they seem to have spawned an entire subculture of assholes who holler about how gross I am just to spite
them. Like, thanks a bunch, guys! :p
ETA: On actual topic - I think that any fictional depiction that a) tries to be at least somewhat accurate and b) presents the people of a certain culture
as relateable human beings is not only not a problem, but is actively a good thing.
Polynesia? Maori culture and myths? There are a _lot_ of them I can tell you, and its good RPG fodder. Go and watch The Dead Lands for a primer.
The Napoleonic era - Barry Lyndon and all that make it seem that there is a good scope for a band of Irish rovers.
Biblical history - there was a D20 setting book from Green Ronin if I recall, but not a lot.
Also, I do think that Classical Greece is something that is actually quite underrepresented in fantasy gaming still too - notwithstanding Lords of Olympus. Where is the Classical Greek D&D 5E setting, for example? I am looking forward to Pete Nash's Mythras supplement though.
Quote from: DavetheLost;954501And just which cultures would those be? Vikings, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Romans, Classical Greeks all have surviving decendants today, some of whom are quite passionate about their culture and history. Certainly anything after the year 1000 has the potential to provoke and offend, and probably a lot earlier than that.
You may not care or be offended, but there are plenty of people who take their culture and history seriously.
And that is leaving aside the long gone cultures whose practices and mores were offensive by Modern sensibilities.
I prefer to stay in the realm of myth. I don't like referencing actual history. Because it is bound to offend.
And yes. I am very aware of actual practicing Norse in the United States.
Quote from: Brand55;954450Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, Anima, Armageddon, Dresden Files, Dungeons & Dragons, Deadlands . . . Hell, we might as well all just play Bunnies and Burrows.
(http://i.imgur.com/jSC2yao.png)
Quote from: Darrin Kelley;954571I prefer to stay in the realm of myth.
So, appropriating the religious traditions of other cultures, and bastardizing them into adventures celebrating modern toxic masculinity, where primarily white player characters hunt down, kill, and take the stuff of mythical animals symbolizing aspects of a minority culture's most sacred beliefs.*
* - I see the appeal of this SJW stuff, its so easy to spout off pretentious nonsense that sounds condemning but is actually a bunch of wank.
Quote from: Shipyard Locked;954572(http://i.imgur.com/jSC2yao.png)
Peta needs to hire some better looking bunnies
Quote from: TrippyHippy;954551Polynesia? Maori culture and myths? There are a _lot_ of them I can tell you, and its good RPG fodder. Go and watch The Dead Lands for a primer.
The Napoleonic era - Barry Lyndon and all that make it seem that there is a good scope for a band of Irish rovers.
Biblical history - there was a D20 setting book from Green Ronin if I recall, but not a lot.
Also, I do think that Classical Greece is something that is actually quite underrepresented in fantasy gaming still too - notwithstanding Lords of Olympus. Where is the Classical Greek D&D 5E setting, for example? I am looking forward to Pete Nash's Mythras supplement though.
Polynesian would be cool.
An rpg based in the Napoleonic era without any fantasy elements would be cool too. The Sharpe novels kick ass.
Ancient Babylon or Summeria, even heavily fantasized, seems like an era nearly untouched by RPGs and rife with possibilities.
(http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/sumerian.jpg)
God kings passing on programmable knowledge of civilization to the populace. The Ziggurat of Ur. Lu-Gals (Giant-man military kings). Lagash and the 62 Lamentation Priests. Apsu, the reverse-world beneath the primordial sea that gave birth to Tiamat. Marduk, slayer of the Old Gods. Erishkigal, chaos queen of the underworld. Anunnaki space-gods.
Quote from: Baeraad;954535I know of one called Ehdrigohr, which has an unusual setting if nothing else - there's stuff like giant worms hibernating beneath the ground and any person or animal who sleeps on the land above them becomes possessed by demons that makes them shiver and jitter while slowly mutating into monsters, people building cities on the backs of giant tortoises, and just generally a lot of interesting weirdness with a definite non-European flavour to it. I got the feeling that I would probably like it more if I knew the first thing about American Indian cultures, though, since then I'd recognise which ones different nations in the game were inspired by and have an easier time keeping track of them - and of course the rule system is FATE, and FATE gives me a headache.
I've actually got the Ehdrigohr PDF sitting on my hard drive but it's well down on the list of games I need to read. The setting seems really intriguing, from the quick scan I gave it, but I'm fairly lukewarm to FATE. So if I ever did anything with it I'd have a lot of work to do to turn it into something more palatable. The only FATE game I've ever buckled down and run was Dresden Files because I'm a huge fan of the books and FATE actually works pretty well to emulate them.
We had a thread not too long ago where a few other games got mentioned, too: http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?35454-Any-Native-American-Campaign-Settings (http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?35454-Any-Native-American-Campaign-Settings)
Quote from: Tristram Evans;954592God kings passing on programmable knowledge of civilization to the populace. The Ziggurat of Ur. Lu-Gals (Giant-man military kings). Lagash and the 62 Lamentation Priests. Apsu, the reverse-world beneath the primordial sea that gave birth to Tiamat. Marduk, slayer of the Old Gods. Erishkigal, chaos queen of the underworld. Anunnaki space-gods.
I don't know as much about ancient Babylon and the myths/legends/theories about it as I probably should but I would be all over that game if it had a good system attached.
From what little I know of Sumeria, I read Gilgamesh in high school and did a little wargaming of the period, it would make a great subject for an RPG. It is almost as chock full of weird monsters as D&D is.
Quote from: Baeraad;954535How so?
The more fragmentary nature and smaller volume of knowledge we have concerning the Incas. I think there would've been a
GURPS Inca book if it could be done. Unfortunately there isn't. It'd make for a fascinating and very unique setting.
I'd like to see some more material for Imperial Rome and Feudal Japan, though both of those eras have been covered before by D&D, GURPS, and countless others.
If I wasn't pre-occupied with a billion different ideas for campaigns, I'd love to run a Roman-themed fantasy campaign using Big Eyes Small Mouth First Edition.
There's Mythic Rome for Mythras and 43 AD for early Roman Britain. There are the MRQ2 supplement about Japan during Heyan, The Blossoms Are Falling covering the same period for BW, and Sengoku for Japan during Sengoku.
How much more do we need?
Late Roman Empire, or Late Antiquity, never seems to get the coverage it deserves.
Quote from: darthfozzywig;954205Renaissance Italy
The Republic of Darokin (http://www.dmsguild.com/product/16982/GAZ11-The-Republic-of-Darokin-Basic?it=1) Known World gazetteer is a fantasy version of Renaissance Italy as struck me as excellent when I first read it but that was a long time ago now.
Quote from: Voros;954104Roman times seems to be really untapped to me.
Well, there's Servants of Gaius. And a couple of other Roman games.
Is it any good? There's a CoC setting in Roman Times although I don't think the era fits CoC as well as Gaslight and the Dark Ages.
Quote from: Voros;955297Is it any good? There's a CoC setting in Roman Times although I don't think the era fits CoC as well as Gaslight and the Dark Ages.
I kind of agree with you. One of the reasons that 1920s works so well for horror is that you are just playing an average joe in a world that modern enough to be comfortable and familiar, but just different enough to feel strange and unsettling. As you go farther back into history, into pre-modern times, players start to react to the setting as if it is fantasy - a natural response for many rpgers. This is especially true of Cthulhu Dark Ages where you start to add swords, the feudal system and other common fantasy elements. These periods can be great for gaming, but aren't exactly quintessential for the CoC vibe.
That said,
I recently completed a short Cthulhu Invictus campaign that was pretty awesome. It was set in the late republic in Carthage, a century after it had been destroyed, when a new city was being built on the ruins (48 BC). So you have this merchant/pirate colony and new provincial government, set amidst the ruins of the seat of this once great empire that worshiped strange and monstrous gods (Phoenician gods are a great fit for the mythos). Chasing cultists and fabled treasure led the characters deep into the Sahara and to the lost city of the Garamantes (literally considered to be troglodytes by the Romans because of their underground dwellings and water systems), and then into West Africa, then east across the continent. Once recovering the treasure, the party had planned to head back to civilization via the Nile to Egypt, but the party died (or ran off screaming into the desert) in a climatic battle against the servants of Nyrolathotep in Nubia. It was almost a sword and sandals type of game with strange civilizations, sinister cults, monsters (African fauna) and the overtones of cosmic horror. Playing in imagined African kingdoms was a great change of pace. I kept it as historical as I could given that we know very little about sub-Saharan Africa in the period - and that there was a bit of magic, curses, and alien gods in the mix.
Anyway, Pete Nash's "Rome" Monograph for BRP is recommended, especially if you are not a historian. It is densely packed with useful historical info useful for gaming in ancient Rome, and it is pretty system neutral. If you are a historian of the ancient world (many of whom are gamers), it might be a bit redundant, but it is still a great read.
The Cthulhu Invictus books aren't bad, but aren't as deep historically as "Rome." They do go into more detail about cults, monsters, and other fantastic elements.
Quote from: 3rik;954326Quote from: Black Vulmea;954293Gold rush era Australia, roughly 1850-1900: miners and prospectors, bushrangers (outlaws), State Police ('Texas Rangers'), aborigines, sheep and cattle stations.
Would have to be clearly distinguishable from the Old West Gold Rush, though.
Yes and no. Sure, Bolivia isn't the United States, but Butch and Sundance still find banks to rob. I think it's the blend of exotic and familiar that would make 'Wild West Australia' appealing.
Another idea for a setting is Central America and the Caribbean during the 19th century: filibusters, Knights of the Golden Circle, banana republics, generally taking over tropical countries for fun and profit.
Did anyone mention Northern Crown? That's a Colonial America d20 campaign setting that's been done in a mythic way. It's pretty good, but doesn't cover western USA at all.
Really, a mythic Wild West guide that wasn't Deadlands inspired, would be great!
Robofrance 29
Lately I have been doing some reading in the history and culture of the Northwest Native Americans (Mostly Western Washington up to Alaska), and in the process integrating some bits into my DCCRPG campaign. The Tlingit culture (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlingit) and surrounding cultures make for an interesting 'ecosystem' setting.
Quote from: Madprofessor;955377Anyway, Pete Nash's "Rome" Monograph for BRP is recommended, especially if you are not a historian. It is densely packed with useful historical info useful for gaming in ancient Rome, and it is pretty system neutral. If you are a historian of the ancient world (many of whom are gamers), it might be a bit redundant, but it is still a great read.
Thanks for the recommendation, the African adventure sounds awesome.
I think it would be cool to adapt Orson Scott Card's Mormon fantasy version of pre-contact North America in books like Seventh Son and Red Prophet in the Tales of Alvin Maker series.
Quote from: Voros;955450I think it would be cool to adapt Orson Scott Card's Mormon fantasy version of pre-contact North America in books like Seventh Son and Red Prophet in the Tales of Alvin Maker series.
They could fight the Xenu aliens from Scientology
Quote from: DavetheLost;954442Vulmea is right. A post-Contact Americas played as Post Apocalypse setting would be something new and different, but it might be hard to find players.
I'm planning something like this.
Colonial Brazil, january 1641: Portugal just got independent from the Habsburg-controlled Spain (Iberian Union went from 1580, after King Sebastian of Portugal disappeared during the battle of Alcácer-Quibir in Morocco, to 1640, with the rise of the Brigantine dinasty). The portuguese-controlled lands (Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Porto Seguro) depends on sugarcane plantations. Lots of petty noble landholders and bureaucrats. Also some crypto-jews and outlaws.
The Dutch controlled a vast area in the Brazilian northeast, with Maurisstadt as capital. Lots of jews, artists and artisans around.
The african kingdom of Palmares was a rising power in the northeastern hinterlands (in 1670 there were 50 thousand runaway slaves in Palmares). Smaller settlements of runaway slaves existed pretty much everywhere, but not for long.
In the southeastern uplands (around what is São Paulo city today) there were numerous villages largely inhabited by people of mixed portuguese-Tupi descent (whom I'll probably call brasilianos), nominally catholic but tupi-speaking (ah, the Jesuits!), who raised cattle, raided native tribes for slaves, and explored the brazilian central plateau looking for gold and diamonds, and who kinda despised the "european portuguese" (whom they call Emboabas, the feathered-feet, because they wore boots).
And, of course, there were still native people around: the Tupis all along the coastline, the Guaranis in southern Brazil and Paraguay (who were strongly influenced by the Jesuitic missions), and the Jê-speaking hunter-gatherers in the drier hinterlands.
Then, all of a sudden, the ships from the Old World stopped arriving. Chaos ensues. Technology is slowly being lost, as Portugal have put heavy restrictions on manufacture in its colonies. Plantations are abandoned, as there is nowhere to send its products.
Right now I'm trying to decide how long after the loss of contact I'll set up the beginning of the campaign, and how the political and economical landscape will look like. Also, trying to decide which kind of adventures I could present to the players. I'm inclined to go heavy on politicking: the portuguese trying to assert their power over the brasilianos and african former slaves, with the help of some Tupi tribes (with whom they made several alliances since the first contact) and maybe the Dutch. But who knows whether the Dutch would go along with this, or rather seek the alliance of Palmares, or even the Brasilianos, to strike down the portuguese?
Also, it will feature low-level magic and mythology.
(Actually, there was this brazilian RPG, "O Desafio dos Bandeirantes", published around 1991 or 92, with a fairly similar premise. The system was terrible, though)
Quote from: SapaInca;955464(Actually, there was this brazilian RPG, "O Desafio dos Bandeirantes", published around 1991 or 92, with a fairly similar premise. The system was terrible, though)
It does have good setting and background information, if I remember correctly - I used it as a resource for my
Flashing Blades campaign a few years back.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;955506It does have good setting and background information, if I remember correctly - I used it as a resource for my Flashing Blades campaign a few years back.
Yes; even though it was not strictly historical, the feeling of the setting was pretty close to what was going on in south america in the 17th century.
Quote from: Tristram Evans;955460They could fight the Xenu aliens from Scientology
I think we may have a hit idea there.
Quote from: Black Vulmea;955402Yes and no. Sure, Bolivia isn't the United States, but Butch and Sundance still find banks to rob. I think it's the blend of exotic and familiar that would make 'Wild West Australia' appealing.
Another idea for a setting is Central America and the Caribbean during the 19th century: filibusters, Knights of the Golden Circle, banana republics, generally taking over tropical countries for fun and profit.
Now I wonder what is the topic that made the Knights of the Golden Circle to start a filibuster in a banana republic and how it will help them to take over, but it's bound to be a fun scenario;)!
Quote from: Tristram Evans;954592Ancient Babylon or Summeria, even heavily fantasized, seems like an era nearly untouched by RPGs and rife with possibilities.
(http://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/sumerian.jpg)
God kings passing on programmable knowledge of civilization to the populace. The Ziggurat of Ur. Lu-Gals (Giant-man military kings). Lagash and the 62 Lamentation Priests. Apsu, the reverse-world beneath the primordial sea that gave birth to Tiamat. Marduk, slayer of the Old Gods. Erishkigal, chaos queen of the underworld. Anunnaki space-gods.
I was just about to say "something Mesopotamian". AFAIK,
Puerta de Istar is like that, but it's only available in Spanish.
Quote from: Premier;955984I was just about to say "something Mesopotamian". AFAIK, Puerta de Istar is like that, but it's only available in Spanish.
There is a LULU title I just bought called Blood and Bronze set in a mythological Mesopotamia. It's pretty minimal in both rules and setting, but I'm a sucker for anything in the ancient world. And didn't Necromancer games have a d20 Mesopotamia supplement that was supposed to be pretty good?
Quote from: Madprofessor;955987There is a LULU title I just bought called Blood and Bronze set in a mythological Mesopotamia. It's pretty minimal in both rules and setting, but I'm a sucker for anything in the ancient world. And didn't Necromancer games have a d20 Mesopotamia supplement that was supposed to be pretty good?
A couple of years ago I bought Necromancer's Ancient Kingdoms: Mesopotamia on the strength of that reputation, and *loathed* it. Here's the review I posted on DTRPG:
QuoteQuite the disappointment. I'd heard good things about this as a setting, but it's only 1/4th poorly-edited setting material, with its game rules not power-balanced anywhere near where a sensible or typical 3.5 campaign would be (in my view). One canonically bad edit: the map doesn't contain half the cities described, and half the cities on the map aren't described. Two regions are given random encounter tables - but why? Again, one of them isn't even labeled on the map, although its general vicinity is alluded to in the text. Why those regions and not any of the many others? The book is heinously inconsistent; in just three paragraphs about the legal systems of Mesopotamia it manages to completely contradict itself. Editing matters!
The remaining 3/4ths is an adventure which at least tries to lay out a sandbox. It fails for classical 3e statblock bloat reasons. For example, the nominal homebase gets one page of description. The faction most commonly met there, who presumably will be the source of most social interactions, still has more space allocated to statblocks and combat statistics than description and hooks. The next faction, the Brotherhood of Kalab, gets three pages: half a page of art, a third of a page of description, a quarter-page of adventure hooks, and 2 pages of detailed combat statistics.
Any setting influenced by the real world that doesn't provide a bibliography or suggested readings loses a star in my book, dropping this from POOR to outright BAD. They allude to so many things in their setting, but leave me to start from scratch when I want to better understand the history to bring them into my campaign.
I meant to reply to this days ago but I fell down a rabbit hole when I started looking up the Mongol Invasion of Rus' partly because I have a big binder with my family history which goes back the settlement of Kievan Rus by the Varangian Prince Oleg of Novgorod. The rabbit hole went deep, even looking up things like how Old Norse loanwords got into the Russian language because the Kievans originally spoke an Eastern Dialect of Old Norse before they were nativized into speakers of Old East Slavic. The main suggestion here though isn't the Viking Proto Ukrainians but the Mongol Empire and the Expansion thereof in the 13th century. Yes I was reminded of this thread from Pundit's recent Break article.
The Expansion Period covers almost the entire 13th Century so you have a good amount of leeway to work with. Still, the Invasion of Rus would make for some good authentic gaming, and the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223 might be a good place to start.
Quote from: Krimson;956539Still, the Invasion of Rus would make for some good authentic gaming, and the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223 might be a good place to start.
One of my two favorite scenes in Eisenstein's
Ivan the Terrible is the siege of Kazan, so you could also approach this from the other direction, with the Russians pushing back Tatars, Nogais
&c in the 16th century.
Someone mentioned Biblical times a while back. I actually had an idea one time about a game about Old Testament heroes, trying to keep the Chosen People virtuous and free in the face of foreign tyrants, demonic forces, prideful kings and the stubborn habit of the common people to start breaking commandments as soon as you leave them alone for five minutes. I had gotten as far as sketching up the four basic character classes of Prophet (good at dealing with crowds), Judges (good at dealing with individuals), Champions (personal combat skills) and Leaders (battlefield command skills) before I realised that actually, I was just a little bit afraid that there might actually be a hell. :p Well, that, and I realised that it would take more historical and biblical research than I actually wanted to do.
The is no hell in the Old Testament so no worries.
Quote from: Voros;956556The is no hell in the Old Testament so no worries.
On the other hand, shaving your beard means you don't get into heaven.
Mythic Russia is intended for the Heroquest modern-Glorantha, but has a lot of nice setting material and feel for a fantastic medieval Russia game.
Quote from: Naburimannu;956590Mythic Russia is intended for the Heroquest modern-Glorantha, but has a lot of nice setting material and feel for a fantastic medieval Russia game.
Yes, this is one of the most fantastic RPG culture references I've ever come across.
Quote from: Voros;956556The is no hell in the Old Testament so no worries.
Yeah, but it's still part of Christianity, and for some reason I got an entirely irrational sense of blasphemy from it. It's weird, I've written fiction about Heaven and Hell, including some where God is explicitly evil and that never bothered me at all, but the idea of
statting up the Prophet Elijah made me feel like I was finally going too far. Don't ask me to explain it. :p
Quote from: Tristram Evans;956563On the other hand, shaving your beard means you don't get into heaven.
Perfectly fair. Shaving is a horrible thing to do to an innocent beard. :cool:
Pretty sure Judaism doesn't believe in a heaven, that we get to go to anyway, either. Folk forms of Judaism of course probably do though.
I think an Old Testament setting could be cool, hard to pull off as there's not a lot of truly fantastic material post-Eden, except for God zapping people to death of course.
Quote from: Voros;957036I think an Old Testament setting could be cool, hard to pull off as there's not a lot of truly fantastic material post-Eden, except for God zapping people to death of course.
It'd definitely be a low fantasy setting with the PCs as more or less the only real "magical" people around - but that sort of thing can be fun, if the mundane world is sufficiently detailed and interesting. Which is of course where we run into my "oh man, this would be
so much work!" problem. ;)
Quote from: Baeraad;957048It'd definitely be a low fantasy setting with the PCs as more or less the only real "magical" people around - but that sort of thing can be fun, if the mundane world is sufficiently detailed and interesting. Which is of course where we run into my "oh man, this would be so much work!" problem. ;)
Why would you assume that the PCs would be more magical than everyone else;)?
Quote from: AsenRG;957060Why would you assume that the PCs would be more magical than everyone else;)?
Because my basic idea was that they'd be Old Testament heroes, i.e. the sort of folk who did go around working miracles?
Quote from: AsenRG;957060Why would you assume that the PCs would be more magical than everyone else;)?
As I recall from OT Studies, there is a full range of deities and their own magic/miracle sets. The prophets of Baal and Asheroth, the Priests of Molech and a plethora of Cananite ideas that can be used. Dagon of the Philistines is a great set of strange for use. I've worked on and given up several times on an Old Testament setting. Would be nice if it was done right
Quote from: Voros;957036Pretty sure Judaism doesn't believe in a heaven, that we get to go to anyway, either. Folk forms of Judaism of course probably do though.
I think an Old Testament setting could be cool, hard to pull off as there's not a lot of truly fantastic material post-Eden, except for God zapping people to death of course.
That would depend on the sect the Hebrew followed. New Testament had them down to Pharisees and Sadducces one believed in heaven reward and Angels, the other did not. But that's a topic for another thread.
Is there an RPG about Korea's Three Kingdoms period? That'd be fun. A rather neglected place, even in places that give nominal nod to its existence (Kara-Tur's Koryo from Forgotten Realms).
Quote from: rway218;957182As I recall from OT Studies, there is a full range of deities and their own magic/miracle sets. The prophets of Baal and Asheroth, the Priests of Molech and a plethora of Cananite ideas that can be used. Dagon of the Philistines is a great set of strange for use. I've worked on and given up several times on an Old Testament setting. Would be nice if it was done right
To be sure, but in the Old Testament none of those other deities are presented as working genuine miracles, right? I mean, I can't claim to have read the whole thing, but all the parts I've read or heard of make a big deal out of the Israelite God being the only one who's actually going around doing things, with that usually coming as a nasty surprise for any foreigners who trust their own gods to protect them against Him.
Though I guess it's often left vague whether the foreign gods are simply not real, or if God is just so much more badass than them that He can effortlessly block their attempts to help their own followers... Either way, the idea I had was that the world was simply entirely mundane except when and where God chose to intervene.
The other religions are presented as having sorcerers (http://biblehub.com/nasb/exodus/7.htm) who can also do miracles, but of course their miracles fail hard in front of God's Power;).
Quote8Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
9“When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’”
10So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the LORD had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.
12For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
13Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
So no, the world in the Bible isn't "mundane apart from God". That's a much later idea, and would leave any of the people at the time of the Old Testament, Jew and non-Jew alike, dumb-founded and probably ready to doubt your sanity:D.
I am seriously considering running a Vampire: The Masquerade game set in New York City circa 1978, when NYC was nearly bankrupt and a crime-ridden hellhole. The Big Rotten Apple.
Three points of divergence will be kept in mind....
1. Revised Edition never happened and never will happen. Demon: The Fallen is declared non-canon
2. No personal horror, this game is not for whiny crybabies or people who enjoy Type O Negative unironically
3. The Sabbat never controlled New York City in this continuity, but they are trying to take over NYC in the 70's.
I would like to see something Sumerian too. One thing that I hadn't considered before is that while there may be many wild creatures/monsters running around and strange and exotic tribes dotting the landscape, this wouldn't necessarily be a "post-apocalypse" setting. There is no predecessor civilization that left ruins and treasure laying around (unless, of course, you posit that there was one to add that element to the game.) This would be an age of exploration and discovery as you learned about the world and all of its mysteries.
I do have Blood and Bronze but for some reason it left me cold.
Quote from: Doc Sammy;957591. . . people who enjoy Type O Negative unironically
Hey! My wife and I had our first dance to "Love You to Death," man.
;)