GangBusters RPG (TSR) Historical Gaming Discussion

[Silver Moon]

I fully agree. The DM should never feel chained to actual historical events, that was the main problem with the TimeMaster RPG. My Western is historically-based but clearly with D&D races, spells, magic and deities it is in no way meant to be a representation of the real world. Similarly with GangBusters, I plan to retain the module's name of Lakefront City rather than Chicago to make it very clear from day one that this is an alternate reality.

 

[The Shaman]

I fully agree. The DM should never feel chained to actual historical events, that was the main problem with the TimeMaster RPG. My Western is historically-based but clearly with D&D races, spells, magic and deities it is in no way meant to be a representation of the real world.

In the case of Wing and Sword, the deviations from history are a bit more subtle. I'm incoporating a couple of historical "what ifs?" such as the timing of the ceasefire during Operation Musketeer in 1956 (allowing for a battle between the Anglo-French paras and Egyptian regulars at El-Qantarah that never occured in the actual campaign) and the Legion paras participating in Operation Ecouvillon in Western Sahara in 1958.

I'd guess that for most gamers "historical" in a gaming context is more about capturing the feel of a time and place more than recreating a specific event, though that's certainly possible to do, particularly for a one-shot. The Battle of Coffeyville and the OK Corral scenarios in Boot Hill come to mind, and you could certainly use GB to play out the killing of John Dillinger outside the Biograph, or the Battle of Barrington with Baby Face Nelson.

Similarly with GangBusters, I plan to retain the module's name of Lakefront City rather than Chicago to make it very clear from day one that this is an alternate reality.

I remember the module with the city ward from GB - very cool set-up!

 

[Silver Moon]

I'm incoporating a couple of historical "what ifs?"

The basis for the Western entire campaign's history is a historical what-if. As I'm using D&D pantheons rather than Christianity the major division in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries wasn't Protestant vs. Catholic but was instead Clerical Magic vs. Wizard Magic. In the 19th century Italy, Greece, England, Scandinavia, Germany and the United States are pro-clerical magic (worshiping either the Roman/Greek, Norse or Celtic pantheons) and view wizard magic as witchcraft while France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, South America and Central America are pro-Wizard magic countries that discourage religious worship.

The Battle of Coffeyville and the OK Corral scenarios in Boot Hill come to mind

We did OK Corral but it turned out to be a whimper instead of a bang. But the shooting of Virgil and Morgan Earp and Wyatt Earp then going on the warparth against the Cowboy Gang went pretty-much as it did in the history books. In the current module I also did the great Tombstone fire of 1882, using the biography of Tombstone's former mayor and newspaperman John Clum as my historical template.