Age of Musketeers, anyone ?

[rust]

After a look at rleduc's most useful game template (thank you again for that

tool), I think the setting's system would probably look like this:

Game Options Used

Power Level: Normal

Choosing Characteristic Values (page 16)

- the players should get the characters they want to play

Education/Knowledge Roll (pages 24, 27, 28)

- there are many useful fields of knowledge in this setting, and there may

well be some "renaissance men" among the characters

Cultural Modifiers (page 38)

- the knights from different "Tongues" (nationalities) should have somewhat

different cultures and "specialties" (e.g. the Dutch of this period were not

known for their fencing skills, like the French or Italians, but they often were

excellent sailors or siege engineers)

Aging and Inaction (page 183)

- I am not sure about Inaction, but Aging definitely should happen to older

knights

Complimentary Skills (page 50)

- for all those "skill crossover" situations that happen quite often in my cam-

paigns

Skill Ratings Over 100% (page 175)

- well, the players will probably like that ...

Personality Traits (page 294)

- because I want the characters to act in a "knightly fashion", and I like this

system in the Pendragon RPG

Skills Bonuses: Neither

- like hit locations, this is more detail than I like

System and Combat

Initiative Rolls (page 188)

Attacks and Parries over 100% (page198)

Powers: None

- at least for the player characters, but there may well be the occasional

evil wizard on the other side

Allegiance (page 315)

- the order and the order's religion, of course, although I am not yet sure

whether this would work well with the Personality Traits system - perhaps

I should only use one of the two, not both ?

Cultures

- as mentioned, the cultures of the various Tongues of the order

Professions

- traditionally, the members of a knightly order could be Noble, Priest, Sailor,

Scholar or Soldier, but I will probably change this into a small number of dif-

ferent Knight professions and add a Squire profession ?

Well, this is what I currently think about the setting's game system.

Comments and ideas are, as always, most welcome - Thank you.

[rust]

Some more ideas for the setting itself ...

There will be three classes of members of the order, True Knights (the histori-

cal militant noble monks with their vow of chastity), Lesser Knights (more like

the Pendragon knights, able to marry and have families) and Lay Brethren (all

the non-noble or non-knighted members, like men-at-arms, squires, etc.).

The leaders of the order (Grand Master, etc.) have to be True Knights, the

Lesser Knights (including all player characters, I think) can only be elected in-

to the minor offices (like commander of a unit, leader of a Tongue, etc.).

At the start of the campaign there will be no associated female branch of the

order, because I want the creation of such a Sisterhood as an interesting

challenge for one of the player characters - a female character that travels

with the knights, serves as a "role model" for other women (beginning with a

female squire for her), and is asked by the Grand Master to form a female

order of Lesser Knights because every sword is needed in the defence of the

island.

This could lead to some nice sub-adventures, including a diplomatic mission

to bribe some cardinals and the pope (quite possible in this period ...) to al-

low such a sisterhood against the opposition of the more traditional parts of

the church (including the Dominicans and the Inquisition ...).

As for the time period, the important historical events took place between

1530 (the knights take over Malta) and 1565 (the famous siege).

This is a bit too early for my taste, I very much prefer the technology of the

time around 1600, for example sailing ships instead of rowed galleys, and so

I will change the technology of the setting accordingly.

The structure of the campaign will again be borrowed from Pendragon, with

one or two main adventures and a "winter phase" for each year of game time.

The "winter phase" will give the characters an opportunity to care for their

families, indulge in the order's internal politics and intrigues, carry out their

duties from any offices they were elected into, and do routine service on the

fortification walls or ships - and so on.

[rust]

The "basic knight" of this setting will have this profession:

Knight of the Order

Command

Etiquette (Noble)

Firearm (Rifle / Musket)

First Aid

Knowledge (Religion / True Faith)

Melee Weapon (Rapier)

Parry

Ride

Status

plus one other skill (e.g. Navigate, Strategy, etc.)

Potential alternatives are the professions of Noble, Priest ("Knight Chaplain"),

Scholar, Sailor and Soldier (all slightly modified to fit the setting).

As for the Personality Traits, I think they will start more or less like this:

Chaste [50] / Lustful [50]

Energetic [50] / Lazy [50]

Forgiving [50] / Vengeful [50]

Generous [50] / Selfish [50]

Honest [60] / Deceitful [40]

Just [60] / Arbitrary [40]

Merciful [50] / Cruel [50]

Modest [60] / Proud [40]

Pious [60] / Worldly [40]

Prudent [50] / Reckless [50]

Temperate [60] / Indulgent [40]

Trusting [50] / Suspicious [50]

Valorous [70] / Cowardly [30]

The players will probably be allowed to "switch" up to 25 points during cha-

racter creation.

The traits the order expects from its members will probably be Honest, Just,

Modest, Pious and Temperate, and knights need a somewhat above average

value in these traits to be accepted into the order.

And, of course, all knights have to be far more Valorous than Cowardly to en-

ter a fighting order.

During the game the traits will determine whether a knight has a chance to be

chosen for a task of high prestige or a promotion within the order.

To be eligible, he will probably need a total of 500 in the five traits expected

by the order and Valorous, and none of the unwanted traits (all on the right

side above) should be above 60.

By the way, the ranks within the order will be Serjeant (non-knighted, e.g. a

squire), Serving Knight, Knight Officer, Knight Commander and Knight Bailli (the

latter commands one of the seven "Tongues" / national sections of the order).

The more exalted leadership positions (e.g. the Grand Master) will not be open

for player character knights - at least not at the beginning of the campaign.

[Atgxtg]

I guess rust has returned...en guarde!

[rust]

I guess rust has returned...en guarde!

Yep.

[rust]

And here the Seven Tongues of the order, their areas of responsibility and

their two cultural skills (bonus + 10 % each):

Tongues and Grand Priories

on Malita each Tongue is commanded by a Knight Bailli

Danish Tongue

Grand Priories Denmark and Sweden

Responsibility: Finances and Trade of the Order

Cultural Skills: Appraise, Bargain

English Tongue

Grand Priories England, Scotland and Ireland

Responsibility: Fleet of the Order

Cultural Skills: Artillery (Cannon), Navigate

French Tongue

Grand Priories Bourganeuf, France, Saint-Gilles und Toulouse

Responsibility: Infantry of the Order

Cultural Skills: Etiquette, Firearm (Musket)

German Tongue

Grand Priories Bohemia, Upper and Lower Germany

Responsibility: Administrators and Planners of the Order

Cultural Skills: Command, Knowledge (Law)

Italian Tongue

Grand Priories Messina, Barletta, Capua, Rom, Pisa, Lombardei und Venedig

Responsibility: Diplomats and Theologists of the Order

Cultural Skills: Knowledge (Religion / True Faith), Persuade

Polish Tongue

Grand Priories Poland and Hungary

Responsibility: Cavalry of the Order

Cultural Skills: Missile Weapon (Bow), Ride

Spanish Tongue

Grand Priories Aragon, Catalonia, Castile and León, Navarra and Portugal

Responsibility: Artillery of the Order

Cultural Skills: Artillery (Cannon), Melee Weapon (Rapier)

The Tongues are almost the historical ones, I only "united" the various Tongues from France, because

the players probably would not have known where to put countries like Armagnac or Auvergne, and I

gave the Polish and Hungarian knights their own tongue instead of treating them as a part of the German

Tongue.

The cultural skills are mostly the result of a thread on my German "home forum" Fundus Ludi, where I as-

ked for proposals for "typical" national cultural skills.

A very interesting comment came from a German-Polish historian, who informed me about the Polish no-

ble cavalry of the period, armed with composite bows and sabres - some nice colour for the setting.

There is some more material for this setting now, but unfortunately all of it is in German ...

Only the very long Equipment List is still in English, because I borrowed it from the 7th Sea RPG and mo-

dified it only slightly for this setting, for example by changing the currency into Scudi and Centavos.

Edited September 2, 2009 by rust

[rust]

As for the Barbary Pirates, a first attempt looks like this:

Barbary Pirate

Climb

Dodge

Firearm (Musket)

Grapple

Melee Weapon (Scimitar)

Pilot (Boat)

Swim

plus three of:

- Artillery (Cannon), Command,

Language (other), Listen, Spot

... which is basically the BRP Sailor profession with minimal changes.

Arms

Curved Sword (Kilic/Scimitar)

Composite Bow

Musket

Armour

Lamellar Armour (but at sea ?)

Conical Helmet

Since I could not find any mention of different skills or equipment for the Ot-

tomans, Arabs and Berbers, I currently assume that they were more or less

identical - but this can change with more information on the subject.

The differences between the cultures will probably be more visible in the

"fluff" part of the setting than in the rules, I think.

A major problem are the ships used by both sides. While the historical ones

would be various types of galleys, I just do not like them and have almost

no idea how they were handled and used in combat. Therefore I decided to

"go unhistorical" by most of a century and give the knights galeasses (almost

early frigates) and the pirates chebecs - both sailing ships with auxiliary oars

instead of predominantly rowed ships. This enables me to draw on my little

knowledge of naval warfare in the Age of Sail and to describe and "referee"

any naval operations in a somewhat more plausible way.

Ideas and comments would still be most welcome.

[Atgxtg]

Based on Columbus7s ships, I believe there were more than galleys around in the 16th century anyway. Early ships were smaller and simplier than thier latter counterparts. Most Eurpoean ships would have been squared rigged.

As for cultures, don7t forget to include analogs for the native peoples, like the Awak and Carib tribes. Come to think of it, it could be interesting to bend history a bit, and have the native cultures still at the height of their culture/power.MAybe even has both the Aztec and Mayan cultures floruishing, and a strong Amerind nation to the North.

THrow in magic and it could become quite exotic..

[rust]

Thank you very much.

I am not yet sure if and when the campaign could move away from the Medi-

terranean (so much to do and suffer there ... >:->), but it is indeed a very

fascinating idea to send the knights on some (for example "papal") mission to

the New World.

[Atgxtg]

The campaign doesn't have to go to the New World, the New World could come to it. For instance, some NPCs could be3 introduced. This could lead to some interesting situations with the Knights encounting strange religion and/or magics.

Templars might even consider "trading notes".

Another possible addition could be Monacco. Technically, it existed as a colony since well before the time in question. Or even Cathars, if you want to assume that they weren7t wiped out in the setting. This could lead to a somewhat weakened France split by Reglion-even more so than was the case historically.

Edited September 4, 2009 by Atgxtg

[rust]

The campaign doesn't have to go to the New World, the New World could come to it.

But of course - and I did not even think of this ... :shocked:

Thank you very much for that idea, I really overlooked it completely. :thumb:

Some of the Portuguese or Spanish members of the order may well have been

to the New World before they joined the order, especially with the life as a

conquistador or a member of a knightly order as two of the very few "career

opportunities" of a younger son of a noble family.

And they may also have brought something with them, from a native servant

through some artefact up to strange and potentially heretical ideas (an ex-

treme example could even include the belief in human sacrifice ...).

Yes, there are lots of ways to use this to add some interesting colour to the

setting and campaign.

As for the more local "natives", I intend to "establish" some strange cult on

Malita (my fictional Malta's name), connected to the ancient stone age tem-

ples that really exist on Malta.

Since the Christian god "proved unable" to protect the island population from

the pirates, they have turned to almost forgotten (or newly invented) rituals

at those ancient temple ruins.

When the knights find out about this, they have a serious problem: On the

one hand, they cannot tolerate such pagan heresies, but on the other hand

they cannot risk to alienate the population by prohibiting them - someone

has to keep the hotheads of the order away from the problem while imple-

menting a "soft" strategy to win the islanders' trust and "re-convert" them.

But this is just a rough idea for some "sideline adventure", I am not yet sure

what to make of it.

[rust]

For this setting I will most probably need some mass combat rules for the

major land and sea battles between the order and its allies and their va-

rious opponents.

A search on the Internet led me to two likely candidates for mass combat

rules, both covering the right period and both "quick and simple" enough to

keep the "big battle" in the background while using the BRP rules for the

characters' activities during the battle.

The land battle rules are "A Glorious Victory":

The Armchair General - Renaissance Wargame Rules

The sea battle rules are "Capitana":

http://www.rulesdepot.net/page6.html

I have to admit that it could have influenced my choice that both systems

are free ...

However, if someone knows a system that might work even better (e.g. a

mass combat system for BRP, if such a thing exists), please let me know

- Thank You.

[rust]

Apart from the rules for mass combat mentioned above, the background of

this setting will also require some rules for the development of Malita island.

The ability of the order to wage war, the defensive strength of its island ba-

se, the options for the missions of the player characters and much more will

depend upon the island's economy and the order's finances.

For this part of the setting I intend to use the rules from Mongoose's Rune-

quest Empires, which seem to fit almost perfectly well.

They describe a state almost like a character, with a series of stats and ca-

pabilities that enable it to interact with other states and to develop over ti-

me, and it also has rules for governing a fief, and even for building stuff like

town halls, palaces, churches and fortifications.

A first look at the stats and capabilities of Malita shows that this island is

almost a "basket case", almost unable to finance itself, and completely un-

able to serve as an economic base for the order.

This means that the order will have to empty its "war chest" and to rely on

its various national priories to keep going and to develop the island up to a

point where it produces more money for the order than the order has to

spend to keep and develop it - even a few major loans may be necessary to

build fortifications, buy ships and thelike.

I am not yet sure how to "translate" this background situation into the ad-

ventures of the player characters, except that their superiors will answer a

lot of their proposals with "Not enough silver in our coffers ...".

Apart from that, many thanks to Terry Whisenant for the BRP character crea-

tion Excel sheet in the download section !

With the dozens of NPCs this setting will require, the sheet really helps to stat

them out without going mad after the first dozen or so.

[Agentorange]

As for the time period, the important historical events took place between

1530 (the knights take over Malta) and 1565 (the famous siege).

This is a bit too early for my taste, I very much prefer the technology of the

time around 1600, for example sailing ships instead of rowed galleys, and so

I will change the technology of the setting accordingly.

.

Alas and alack I'm afraid you don't get off that easy. Galleys and galleases continued to be a feature of naval warfare in the Med right through until the 18th century, indeed it wasn't until 1617 that the first battle was fought where sailing vessels comprised most of the combatants. Galleys continued to be major combatants until about 1650 ish though their use declined extremely rapidly after that. Even so the Spanish, Venetians and Turks had galley units in the 18th century, though this was in a very minor way..

Sorry

[rust]

Alas and alack I'm afraid you don't get off that easy.

Yes, I know, I am slowly coming to terms with historical reality ... :ohwell:

While I can "move" a bit towards galeass / early frigate and chebec, I am

still deep within "galley territory", for example the Capitana naval combat

system mentioned above has not a single "non-galley" among its ship types.

It seems my problem came from a confusion of "Atlantic" ship types and "Me-

diterranean" ship types of the period, but after reading more on the subject

I have now to accept that using "Atlantic" ships in the Mediterranean instead

of galleys would seriously damage the "period flavour" of the setting.

So, yes, it will be galleys.

[rust]

For those of you who use Runequest Empires, this is a first attempt at

the stats for Malita:

Realm Statistics

Cultural Background: Maritime

Government: Theocracy

Realm Characteristics

Military (Mil) 20

Law (Law) 16

Size (Siz) 3

Communication (Com) 17

Religion (Rel) 17

Wealth (Wth) 10

Realm Capabilities

Commerce 38

Dogma 43

Espionage 25

Government 48

Warfare 62

Culture 37

Technology 36

Diplomacy 58

Loyalty (Spain) 33

Loyalty (Papal State) 33

Attitude

Temperament: Defensive

Stance: Open

The SIZ is too high, but 3 is the lowest value allowed by the system, so I

decided to count the members of the order at its priories all over Europe as

inhabitants, too, and leave it at 3.

Otherwise, I think the stats are acceptable, although I will probably do some

fine tuning.

The finances of the order proved to be a minor nightmare, because I had to

convert between and juggle with the wealth points of Runequest Empires,

the Silver Pieces of Runequest, the other Silver Pieces used for the price list

I "borrowed" from 7th Sea, and the Scudi I had started the setting with.

Currently the conversion looks like this:

1 Wealth Point = 1.000 RQ-Silver Pieces = 150.000 Scudi

[rust]

Well, and that's it for now. :cool:

The framework of the setting is almost finished (general background, rules,

major NPCs, first maps ...), and I now have about 25 pages of material.

The next step will be to read through all the reference material, which will

not happen before we go on vacation (finding out whether the mountains

of Montenegro really are black ...), and afterwards to adapt the framework

to my newly gained knowledge about the historical background.

Finally there is the "soft" part of the setting (what people call "fluff") to

write, together with one or two introductory adventures.

Since I do not expect any of this to happen in the near future, this thread

will now go to sleep for a while.

Thank you for following this first design phase of the setting, and if you ha-

ve any comment or idea, just post it here and wake up the thread.