HISTORICAL CAMPAIGNS

[Zsong]

There is a difference between recognizing a periods limitations and idiosyncrasies to make a campaign more realistic and courting current controversy. Limitations that are indiscriminate like lack of penicillin or reliable communication generally don’t cause offense. They fall evenly and don’t lead to a genera feeling of grievance now.

On the other hand if you’re including racism in an rpg game I have to question why? IF these things act as a backdrop and they’re events you’re hearing about then I can see it being relevant to place the campaign in time. However is your character reacting to these events? Commenting on them as a citizen of those times would have commented? Or are they acting them out? Insisting the driver stops the bus because a black woman is sitting in the wrong seat... because that’s what their character would have done? It’s a minefield.

Now in the privacy of a person’s basement they can say what they like to who they like. However on a public forum I’m not interested in people justifying how they like acting out racist fantasies because it’s accurate. That included listening to the DM describe how they act them out to players who are pretending to oppressed. It’s not cool to get your Thursday night kicks acting out the scenario of three locals beating up a young man because he whistled at a woman. Even if the PC is that young man. It is deeply distasteful.

There is so much history that is fascinating and challenging, it mystifies me why people would want to act out the very worst elements of human nature. There are far more interesting tension... war vs peace, technology vs agriculture, urban vs rural, changes in transport, discovery, meeting new cultures (on an equal footing), history of law, history of medicine, development of archeology, development of anthropology, the age of sail, piracy, founding of democracy. Etc etc. I’m pretty sure leaning into 1900’s racism is fairly unnecessary for a historical game.

Or maybe they are just living in a community that is racially and ethnically homogenous. There used to be many of those in America. And still are in many places outside the urban.

 

[TheSword]

Or maybe they are just living in a community that is racially and ethnically homogenous. There used to be many of those in America. And still are in many places outside the urban.

To be fair, my post probably 30% snark on the back of a sh**y day. I should have been far more constructive and loaded less implied criticism and assumption about how this would be ran at the table! Sorry for that.

 

[TheSword]

If people want real world suggestion for a time period in which to play. Britain post fall of the Roman Empire 500-1200 AD. Conflict between Britons, Saxons, Danes, druids, the rapidly expanding Christianity, invasions and the founding of England.

Bernard Cornwall has written two great series...

The first starts with Winter King... and over three books gives a historical fiction version of the Arthur Legend set in 500AD. It’s really very good. Deals with post Roman Britain. A dying old religion. Saxon invasion.

- The second series is The Last Kingdom which looks at the Saxons reeling from Danish Invasion sweeping down from Northern England. Raiding, politics, myths, heroes, the founding of England. There’s also a Tv series that does a decent job of recreating the novels on screen.

 

[Zsong]

If people want real world suggestion for a time period in which to play. Britain post fall of the Roman Empire 500-1200 AD. Conflict between Britons, Saxons, Danes, druids, the rapidly expanding Christianity, invasions and the founding of England.

Bernard Cornwall has written two great series...

The first starts with Winter King... and over three books gives a historical fiction version of the Arthur Legend set in 500AD. It’s really very good. Deals with post Roman Britain. A dying old religion. Saxon invasion.

- The second series is The Last Kingdom which looks at the Saxons reeling from Danish Invasion sweeping down from Northern England. Raiding, politics, myths, heroes, the founding of England. There’s also a Tv series that does a decent job of recreating the novels on screen.

I could not begin to explain how great those books are to read. Bernard Cornwell is great. And the last kingdom is a basis I use for many campaigns and for detailing my settings. I have not read the third book. It has been years since I read them. There are like 12 or 13 books in the series.

The winter king is a must read for detailing an arthurian inspired setting. I use it a lot.

 

[zarionofarabel]

If people want real world suggestion for a time period in which to play. Britain post fall of the Roman Empire 500-1200 AD. Conflict between Britons, Saxons, Danes, druids, the rapidly expanding Christianity, invasions and the founding of England.

Bernard Cornwall has written two great series...

The first starts with Winter King... and over three books gives a historical fiction version of the Arthur Legend set in 500AD. It’s really very good. Deals with post Roman Britain. A dying old religion. Saxon invasion.

- The second series is The Last Kingdom which looks at the Saxons reeling from Danish Invasion sweeping down from Northern England. Raiding, politics, myths, heroes, the founding of England. There’s also a Tv series that does a decent job of recreating the novels on screen.

The Last Kingdom is a fantastic show!

 

[TheSword]

The Last Kingdom is a fantastic show!

Yeah it does a good job of capturing the characters and and the drama.

 

[TheSword]

I could not begin to explain how great those books are to read. Bernard Cornwell is great. And the last kingdom is a basis I use for many campaigns and for detailing my settings. I have not read the third book. It has been years since I read them. There are like 12 or 13 books in the series.

The winter king is a must read for detailing an arthurian inspired setting. I use it a lot.

Glad you like them too. I think Winter King, Enemy of God, and Excalibur are just excellently written books, very clever. I particularly like how magic is framed in the book with characters unsure if it is the spirits, coincidence or science... or all three. It also captures something that Bernard Cornwall does particularly well... Consequences. Very few of the really bad things that happen are pure chance. They usually arise out of some past choice coming back to haunt them.

Im not sure if you’ve seen them, but he also wrote a trilogy called Harlequin based on a Longbowman in the 100 years war. A version of the grail quest that is excellently done.

There is also the classic Sharp novels which cover huge areas of the Napoleonic Wars.

Anyone looking to run a historical campaign could do worse than reading one or all of these as a series.

 

[TheSword]

I should say the audio books for these on Audible.com are excellent too. Really good narrators!

 

[Bilharzia]

The Mythic Britain campaign for Mythras/RQ6 has a similar character to the Cornwall Arthurian series

 

[Eltab]

Testament is a 3e-era supplement set in the Biblical era. It has enough cultural material / fluff to permit playing a Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian, or any of the cultures in / near the Promised Land and not be a two-dimensional stereotype.

It is part of the Mythic Vistas series, which includes a Trojan War -era Greek supplement whose title escapes me at the moment. Theros gave me vibe-echoes of that earlier book.