Suggestions wanted: Adventure set in Medieval Italy

aco175 · Mar 25, 2019

gladiators and Colosseum fighting. Take pictures of the cool sites and add them to the NPC interactions and shops for visiting. A good fight night can be fit to your needs and players can come and go if you meet or lose people. Not sure on if you are touring with a group or working there and stationary, but something flexible to your needs would be great in case you wanted to go see sites and only played for a couple hours on a train or such.

robus · Mar 25, 2019

Numidius said:
In Italy we had a pre roman civilisation, the Etruscan, which left many Necropolis (city of the dead, dungeon-like huge cemeteries all over northern and central Italy). The principal God of Hell and Afterlife, was Mantus, hence the name of the city of Mantua (Mantova) after him.
So, Pope Leone the (not yet) Great, sends the Pcs to the big Necropolis of Cerveteri (30 miles north of Rome, on the coast) to find the McGuffin of Mantus, hidden in the depth of the city of the dead, long gone, and now full of undead creatures, monsters, whatever, then bring it to Rome and defeat the army of Attila, which, IRL was very superstitious, but had an entourage of sages from Greece and Europe to advise and teach him. Now that I think about it, maybe Attila himself wants the Etruscan God artifact, and only the Pope knows where it lies buried. I suggest to use the Real map of Cerveteri Necropolis, in the adventure.

Love the idea of Etruscan tombs as an entry to a dungeon adventure. And perhaps a nearby monastery, fearing that the Christian god has foresaken the world (and allowed the Black Death to occur) has switched allegiance to Mantus and is trying to gain his favor (in nefarious ways - kidnapping children from the village for ritual sacrifice?)

I don't want to kick off anything too big - it's just for 2 or 3 evenings after all. But I think that's given me a great starting point. Thanks!

robus · Mar 25, 2019

aco175 said:
gladiators and Colosseum fighting. Take pictures of the cool sites and add them to the NPC interactions and shops for visiting. A good fight night can be fit to your needs and players can come and go if you meet or lose people. Not sure on if you are touring with a group or working there and stationary, but something flexible to your needs would be great in case you wanted to go see sites and only played for a couple hours on a train or such.

We're staying in one place so should be able to keep a group together

. Thanks for the suggestions.

Numidius · Mar 25, 2019

robus said:
Love the idea of Etruscan tombs as an entry to a dungeon adventure. And perhaps a nearby monastery, fearing that the Christian god has foresaken the world (and allowed the Black Death to occur) has switched allegiance to Mantus and is trying to gain his favor (in nefarious ways - kidnapping children from the village for ritual sacrifice?)

I don't want to kick off anything too big - it's just for 2 or 3 evenings after all. But I think that's given me a great starting point. Thanks!

Sounds nicely grim

Some pics for the ambience:

A few medieval fortified villages on the hills around Rome/centre Italy and the Necropolis of Banditaccia* in Cerveteri**

*big bad banned bandit
**ancient Caere (vetera Caere in latin)

robus · Mar 25, 2019

[MENTION=6972053]Numidius[/MENTION] - fan-freaking-tastic! So evocative. It's like you're reading my mind

I picture the monks using stone from the tombs to enhance their monastery accidentally incorporating some arcane relic into the altar that has now been activated and is possessing the abbot and causing the change of allegiance.

Numidius · Mar 25, 2019

robus said:
[MENTION=6972053]Numidius[/MENTION] - fan-freaking-tastic! So evocative. It's like you're reading my mind I picture the monks using stone from the tombs to enhance their monastery accidentally incorporating some arcane relic into the altar that has now been activated and is possessing the abbot and causing the change of allegiance.

Glad you like those pics. I'm from Rome, so... proud also

Btw, Mantus had a wife goddess: Mania, maybe it is her behind the evil happening...

https://esoterx.com/2013/05/23/the-...and-mania-celebrity-couple-of-the-underworld/

Wiki page for Mantus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantus

Numidius · Mar 25, 2019

Etruscan tombs

Libramarian · Mar 27, 2019

Kidnap the Archpriest is an OSR adventure loosely based on the real historical kidnapping of Pope Martin I by order of the Byzantine Emperor Constans II.