D&D General Brancolonia Italian Spaghetti Fantasy 5e?

[Alby87]

I played in a 5e game that used a bunch of specifically Sicilian folklore that was a lot of fun. Particularly because I knew so little of that folklore. Creepy witches and their familiar scout thing. Cursed werecows where we figured out the curse to break it.

Wow! Where you did your DM found material about it? I don't remeber a lot in Brancalonia core (maybe is in a expansion?) As a Sicilian, I know there are a lot of good folklore and legends in my island, but a good RPG book would be fantastic (Just to say, my home town name means pratically "Holy Mary of wolves land", it is a story that writes by itself XD)

 

[Distracted DM]

At $13 it's absolutely worth it.

It's a tongue-in-cheek low-fantasy setting that's grubby without being grimdark.

From the core book: "First of all, the players and Condottiero should keep in mind that Brancalonia does not take itself too seriously: its setting is low-fantasy, sleazy, and ironic. Characters that are overly heroic, evil or ruthless, and clichés typical of high fantasy, sword & sorcery, or grimdark, could be decidedly out of place. The ideal characters in this game are lackadaisical braggarts, riotous soldiers, shirkers, gold-hearted swindlers, likeable scoundrels, impoverished aristocrats, pompous eggheads, and resourceful hobos."

You play as mercenaries in a mercenary company trying to earn some gold and retire before dying.

"Companies (and consequently Bands) are often hired by villagers, merchants, nobles, and warlords for all sorts of odd jobs: generally illicit, dangerous tasks that nobody else wants.

And that's on a good day...

On a bad day, there are curses, demons, witchcraft, monsters, and double-crosses to contend with.

There’s got to be a catch if people resort to hiring Knaves, right?

Bands and companies also ensure a smooth exchange of players and characters, casual play, one-off sessions, and progress in rank and level."

I wanted to get this to the table, but I got burned out on 5E before I managed it. There's lots of good stuff to mine even if you don't want to run the game/setting as is. At $13 it's a steal.

Just sayin' that overgeeked is spot on here. It's so worth the buy.

One note, the game caps out at.. I think level 6? Once you've E6'd, it has some features that you can purchase with XP over time.

 

[dave2008]

Sounds interesting - purchased!

 

[Parmandur]

I seem to recall when it came out there was an extremely aggressive guerilla marketing campaign, and some cool art.

 

[Xamnam]

I'm stuck on the "Who do I know I could get excited to play this" problem, but I've been lowkey interested in it ever since watching

 

[Voadam]

Wow! Where you did your DM found material about it? I don't remeber a lot in Brancalonia core (maybe is in an expansion?) As a Sicilian, I know there are a lot of good folklore and legends in my island, but a good RPG book would be fantastic (Just to say, my home town name means pratically "Holy Mary of wolves land", it is a story that writes by itself XD)

No idea where he got his info. I assume a book he was reading or online stuff that sucked him in and he thought was fun inspiration for the later part of his campaign.

I specifically did not research into it so that stuff like figuring out how to break the were cow curse would be an in game experience.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Do you remember 1970 Bud Spencer&Terence Hill comedy spaghueti Western "They call me Trinity"? (I advice it, it's very funny). To get an idea, Brancolonia is like the fantasy version of "They call me Trinity" or at least that would be the intention.

The crunch hasn't been designed to be used in the rest of settings.

 

[Dioltach]

Do you remember 1970 Bud Spencer&Terence Hill comedy spaghueti Western "They call me Trinity"? (I advice it, it's very funny). To get an idea, Brancolonia is like the fantasy version of "They call me Trinity" or at least that would be the intention.

The crunch hasn't been designed to be used in the rest of settings.

That brings back memories. Wasn't there a sequel? "Trinity Is Still My Name"?

 

[Muso]

Very nice setting and set of rules. I strongly suggest to give it a try.

 

[briggart]

That brings back memories. Wasn't there a sequel? "Trinity Is Still My Name"?

Yep. IMO, it’s almost to the same level of the first one.

A couple of other movies which could be useful inspiration for Brancalonia:

The Incredible Army of Brancaleone

And its sequel:

Brancaleone at the Crusades

They are basically the movie version of every D&D campaign I’ve ever played in