It surprises me sometimes that there hasn't been more of this.

Have you ever run a game set in the Roman Empire or a fantasy equivalent?

I find the Republic much more interesting than the Principate, but even then the Hellenistic era that precedes the Roman rise to power is even more interesting still. Straight history appeals much more than fantasy pastiche of history, which is lazy and shallow for the most part. The real thing is much deeper and more evocative, and you're actually learning real things when you do your research.

I wrote a hack for ACKS to set it in 300BC (Tyche's Favourites), just after one of the biggest battles of the era when a new even keel was being sought between the powers of the day. Ran a game of it too, the PCs were a group of mercenaries hired to sort out Massalia's militia who then found themselves enmeshed in the local politics.

I've run a couple of games set in Republican Rome using Mythic Rome. It was a political game with the players being friends and allies of a contender for Aedile. Ran it at Seven Hills last March and again for UK Games Expo in June. Well received on both occasions.

I'm about to start (later this year) a short campaign set in the period after Alexander (4th/3rd C BCE) with the players being Greeks in the service of one of his Successors.

Many of my games are historically based. Last year I ran a weekend long game set in 1944 where the players were agents going after V2 rocket sites and happened to come across Mythos-y stuff as well. I've run several games set in the early part of WW2 with a similar premise (something non-Mythos-y to start then things go bad). A couple of years back I did a game based on Guns of Navarone, that classic of Saturday TV viewing of my youth.

I've just finished running 10 weeks of a semi-historical game using every trope from the fantasy films of Ray Harryhausen, great fun.

Mythic Rome (for Mythras/RuneQuest 6 as it was) is one of the best individual supplements I own. I've only ran it with a handful of one-shots though - but I'd like to do a sustained campaign sometime.

There are fantasy elements in there, but it's got a excellently researched historical grounding too. And now I've just picked up Mythic Constantinople too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rQDtjaCY8A

I've done both. I hope to return to it soon when I have a spare moment because it is one of my favorite types of settings (whether it is directly historically or a Roman-inspired analog). I find it is different enough but still familiar enough that most players fall into it pretty easily (and the bits that need to be explained are pretty easy to understand). The last time I ran this kind of campaign was probably back in 2014 so I would need to shake off some rust and refresh my knowledge a bit on the finer details. Personally I like the early empire period. That is partly due to greater familiarity but also I just find that time more appealing.

I, Claudius remains a great model for politicised role-play campaigns, regardless of the era.

Quote from: TrippyHippy;1014678I, Claudius remains a great model for politicised role-play campaigns, regardless of the era.

It is definitely one of my favorites.

Quote from: TrippyHippy;1014678I, Claudius remains a great model for politicised role-play campaigns, regardless of the era.

Plus you get to imagine playing as Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Brian Blessed, Patrick Stewart, John Rhys-Davies, etc. (or Siân Phillips, Fiona Walker, Patricia Quinn, Margaret Tyzack, etc., depending).

Mythic Greece seems like it would be a more fertile ground for fantasy gaming than Rome.

Quote from: fearsomepirate;1014688Mythic Greece seems like it would be a more fertile ground for fantasy gaming than Rome.

If you want to go mythic have a lot of similar legends and stories. The Aenid has a lot of cool things that could be drawn in. Pomponius Mela also has a lot of material to draw on. Especially if you are doing a fantasy analog, you can take as many of the legendary and mythic elements and crank them up as much as you want.

Quote from: TrippyHippy;1014678I, Claudius remains a great model for politicised role-play campaigns, regardless of the era.

Meh, politics of the Principate are boring. It's standard dynastic stuff you see in any regular fantasy game.

In the Republic, you had elections; men bankrupting themselves for the chance to pillage a province and restore their fortunes. Offices only lasted a year, so these were regular occurrences and lots of posts to fight for.

I don't think the Roman era will make it high enough on the priority list before I croak.  Before I do that game, I want to run a quasi-historical fantasy game set between the fall of Rome and the emergence of Charlemagne.

There are two excellent supplements for Rome: the BRP one (I think Mythic Rome is the current version, the one I have is Rome: Life and Death in the Republic) covering the Republic, and GURPS Imperial Rome, focusing on the Empire.  I'm a GURPS partisan, but both books are good and I'd recommend them both.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1014650It surprises me sometimes that there hasn't been more of this.

Have you ever run a game set in the Roman Empire or a fantasy equivalent?

Yes the first TFT game I played in was set in a fantasy Rome, pretty cool.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1014650It surprises me sometimes that there hasn't been more of this.

Have you ever run a game set in the Roman Empire or a fantasy equivalent?

Zenobia, 43 AD, Mercator and Mythic Rome for Mythras are enough for me:).
Though looking at this list, I detect a definite Paul Elliott vibe;).