Try this as a combo:

the Poldark books:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poldark

or the TV show: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3636060/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07pn8mz

or the great Moonfleet novel: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10743

a ruleset like Renaissance
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/103994/Renaissance-Deluxe?src=hottest_filtered
and/or Dark Streets, set in grimy London 1749:
https://www.rpgnow.com/product/156813/Dark-Streets-2nd-Edition--Core-Rulebook

or Colonial Gothic
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=colonial+gothic&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

and adventures like:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/132145/The-Case-of-the-Missing-Professor?src=hottest_filtered
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/104258/The-Mystery-of-Shirdley-Hall?src=hottest_filtered
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145205/The-Breaking-of-Spring?src=hottest_filtered

Quote from: RPGPundit;1069839I think the Regency would mainly be good for some kind of occult/conspiracy RPG.

I know Kiero tends to run pure history, but this sounds like my cue to rave over "Freedom & Necessity" by Steven Brust & Emma Bull - an epistolary novel set in 1849 at an intersection between the aristocracy, the revolutionaries, and the occultists.

I think you can have occult conspiracy in a historical game (it is actually quite period for the 18th and early 19th centuries) - it's just that the magic doesn't work!

Practitioners either:

A - Know it's all bullshit, but do it for the social connections/fun /sex.

B - Persuade themselves that the magic is working because they need it too (coincidence works to this) or think that it has failed as they did it wrong and study harder.

C - Know it's real because they are stark staring mad.

Quote from: Gruntfuttock;1070131I think you can have occult conspiracy in a historical game (it is actually quite period for the 18th and early 19th centuries) - it's just that the magic doesn't work!

Practitioners either:

A - Know it's all bullshit, but do it for the social connections/fun /sex.

B - Persuade themselves that the magic is working because they need it too (coincidence works to this) or think that it has failed as they did it wrong and study harder.

C - Know it's real because they are stark staring mad.

I do like the lunatics and/or charlatans explanation of magic in a historical setting.

You can have magic as mind/self altering with purely scientific explanations for the kind of stuff Pundit has on his blog. Even curses and blessings can work through purely psychological effects.

While The Ghastly Affair has some useful bits and pieces in it, as someone used to ACKS, their approach to the economy leaves me rather cold:

QuoteGhastly Affair is meant to replicate the events of Gothic novels - a completely accurate portrayal of late 18th century economics is not really the point.

Sorry, but that isn't good enough. All it takes is some thorough research and extrapolation to do a sound job of getting realistic prices, and that does a lot to underpin a historical game. Especially in an era where money was critical. Everyone above a certain stratum knew how much they were worth, what a comfortable living was and how much would mean you'd struggle.

What if the PCs become managers or even owners of an estate or a business? There are plotlines or even entire campaigns that could be centred around salvaging a declining estate or rescuing a failing business. Sidestepping the numbers because they're unglamorous diminishes the game.

Quote from: S'mon;1070145You can have magic as mind/self altering with purely scientific explanations for the kind of stuff Pundit has on his blog. Even curses and blessings can work through purely psychological effects.

True, there's some mileage in that as well, though I'd limit "real" magic that has any genuine sort of effect to an absolute minority of practicioners.

The Regency was also the setting of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell. A great fantasy magic set in a more modern era novel.

The threat of the "reds" (ie Radicals) was very real, I just learned about the Radical War in Scotland, something I didn't even know about, plus the Cato Street Conspiracy, where a group plotted to murder the government.

There was a GURPS supplement which featured a page each on "how to be a Celt" and so on, which I thought was really good. A game in this period could do with something similar on "how to be an aristocrat", "how to be a middling sort", "how to be from the lower orders". For players who really aren't conversant with how stratified society was, and the expectations upon people presenting themselves as a particular class, it would be helpful to know whether you're consciously rebelling against the strictures on someone of your quality.

As an aside, I'm now reading James McGee's Hawkwood series, about an ex-Rifleman turned Bow Street Runner, which seems an obvious option for a Player Character in the right sort of game. Though he's implying they were all tipstaffs, which I'm not sure was true.