why not europe?

[alsih2o]

castles and alchemists, knights in shining armor and barbarians galore- this whole schmear we play with is basically inspired by medieval europe. so why not use it as a setting?

there are already maps available, gritty is built right in, factions are already decided- it is a prebuilt setting, but i never hear of anyone using it.

has someone released Europe: Gritty D20 and i just missed it?

with unknown lands, available sea travel, built in crusading points and all that is available through legend i think my next campaign will be set in europe. i need a date, and after that it seems that nearly everyhting else falls into place rather easily.

am i just now grasping the obvious that everyone else has had a handle on, or is the greatest overlooked resource ever?

 

[Sixchan]

Isn't Ars Magica set in Europe?

As for using Europe, I believe I have done a few games in Fantasy D20, and many more in D20 Modern.

Europe works well as long as you don't want magic.

 

[Orias]

I played D&D in a distorted warped Europe sort of time setting, with the major religions of the Celts, Egyptians, Greeks, Nordics, & various other groups all existing very prominent simultaneously in a Dark Ages styled Europe.

Granted this was back in 2E.

That, & Ars Magica & Mage: The Sorcerers' Crusade are good Europe non-d20 settings.

 

[johnsemlak]

I think the answer to that question has always been that while D&D is loosely based on medieval europe, real-world issues make it very difficult to base a fantasy world (with Magic, multiple gods, spell casting clerics, etc) too closely on Medieval Europe.

It just gets too complicated, I think, trying to reconcile historical Europe and a fantasy Europe. A clean break from the real world allows much more freedom for fantasy.

I haven't had a chance to look at A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe. Perhaps this book provides the answer to making Europe a fantasy setting.

 

[Tonguez]

Earth 1066 (D20)
A Magical Medieval Society (D20?)
Harn
Ars Magica
GURPS (various)

 

[johnsemlak]

The various historical supplements for 2e tried to do this. There was one for the Crusades, the Vikings, Ancient Rome, the Charlemagne period, etc.

 

[Golem Joe]

Sounds like you need to track down a copy of the old Dangerous Journeys setting, The Epic of Aerth. Or better yet, the Lejendary Earth Gazetteer and it's first suppliment, Noble Kings and Dark Lands (which covers Europe and Africa). Both settings present the ancient world as a Renaissance-era Mid-/High-Magic fantasy campaign. Both are pretty much system neutral. So while you won't get oodles of prestige classes or crunchy bits, you won't have to do any conversion work to make it fly.

If you have the Necropolis module from Necromancer Games, you already have an idea of what Aerth was like (Khemtic is simply Aegypt with a name change).

 

[johnsemlak]

Ah, many people say the Warhammer Fantasy RPG provides the best European fantasy setting.

 

[johnsemlak]

Or better yet, the Lejendary Earth Gazetteer and it's first suppliment, Noble Kings and Dark Lands.

Are those supplements for the Lejendary Adventures game system by Gygax?

 

[Tsyr]

As mentioned, Ars Magica, GURPS books, etc. Also, Pendragon. The entire "Dark Ages/Crusade" line for White Wolf.

And I've played in homebrew D20 games set in various sorts of mythical europe.