Chivalry & Sorcery question

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

Which version or book of C&S had the cool info on medieval settings? I remember seeing someone post about this--how C&S had awesome material for this that could be used for any RPG system--and want to know which book/edition this was, more on what it contained in regards to this subject and where to find the book. Please help. Thanks!

 

[Ron]

C&S first edition have it and it's very cool. I found a pdf file of the text (no illustrations or layout) in hotline. It says that it is an authorised copy, but I couldn't find it anywhere else.

Can anybody confirm if the current (fourth) edition still have the first edition information of medieval life?

 

[SHARK]

Greetings!

Well, I haven't even seen the "4th Edition" yet, but I do have the Chivalry & Sorcery Game Master's Handbook, 3rd Edition, copyright 1997, Highlander Designs. This book is good, providing lots of detail. I found it to be a worthwhile purchase.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

 

[mmadsen]

I recommend the 3rd-edition Chivalry & Sorcery Gamemaster's Handbook. I also recommend Pendragon and its supplement Lordly Domains.

 

[Thorvald Kviksverd]

I give a hearty second to mmadsen's recommendation.

Mythic Europe for Ars Magica might also be worth a look.

 

[mmadsen]

Is anyone else surprised by how little the DMG explains about feudal (or ancient) society?

 

[hong]

Is anyone else surprised by how little the DMG explains about feudal (or ancient) society?

I'm not.

D&D has never been about creating complex, believable societies, or emulating historical or even fantastical reality. World-building in D&D (and this is especially emphasised in 3E) is really about _setting a stage_ where the actions of the characters can be played out. Everything in the DMG is subordinated to this task. Hence the extensive treasure tables, but no lists of day-to-day wages for various occupations; the random encounter tables but no discusion of ecologies or geography; and so on. You don't need to know how much a bartender makes per month to slay dragons, nor do you need to know how many cows/precious stones/virgin sacrifices that dragon eats.

This is entirely in keeping with the philosophy that "the game comes first" that permeates 3E. And really, it's not that far removed from what you'll find in the canonical sources for fantasy. Nowhere in LOTR or the Silmarillion is there any deep discussion on the political and human geography of Middle-Earth, for instance. You won't find any statistics about average weekly earnings, tax rates, etc. Nor will you find any essays about social structure, political organisations and infighting, etc. What is there is sparse, and only exists to the extent necessary to provide a backdrop to the main events. Translate this to a game setting, and 3E's approach is exactly the same.

 

[hong]

(friggin' double post)

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

I just got HarnManor and HarnWorld and those answered most of my questions as to what feudal life was like and how its society functioned, even in a fantasy context with magic and monsters. It's ridiculous how little of this is explained in D&D (any edition).

 

[TruffleGrubber]

Being a Hârniac myself, I would strongly recommend the "Life in a Medieval ...." series of books by Joseph and Frances Geis. Life in a Medieval Village is the only one I've read all the way through. I recently acquired the rest and am currently starting Life in a Medieval Castle.