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Historical settings poll


Agentorange

Which would you like to see ?  

69 members have voted

  1. 1. Which would you like to see ?

    • Vikings/ Norse
      2
    • Ancient Greece ( Homeric or otherwise )
      15
    • Aztecs/Maya/etc
      4
    • Ancient Middle East
      7
    • Renaissance Europe ( mmm...spelling )
      9
    • Feudal Japan
      5
    • Indian sub continent
      9
    • Byzantium
      7
    • Ancient Celts
      6
    • Dark Ages Europe
      6


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I'm kind of curious, if we had a choice of historical settings which would be the one that most people would be interested in ? Now I haven't stipulated whether it's straight history , high magic history etc. But as a general background what tickles your fancy ? I've left middle ages Europe out as Alephtar Games seem to have cornered the market there. :D I appreciate there's a lot of other choices but these happen to be my faves so there you go. For the record I went for Ancient Greece

Edited by Agentorange
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The historical setting I would like the most would be one about India, from

Vedic times to the Moghul Empire. This is an almost incredibly rich historical

background that has rarely been used for roleplaying games, and it is one

where more research than I am able and willing to do for one of my own set-

tings would be necessary.

A very similar case would be Persia, again a fascinating culture with a very

rich history that has rarely been used as a roleplaying background.

As for European history, I find it very interesting, but only few of it has not

already "been roleplayed" in one system or another, and most of it is of the

kind that I could research myself without too much effort if I wanted such a

setting.

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My favourites would be Ancient Middle East, with Vedic India a close second, followed by post-roman britain c.500-600 AD featuring the kingdoms of Rheged, Strathclyde, Gododdin, etc., and lastly Ancient Meso-America. But that's not to say that I wouldn't enjoy the others. I already have Vikings, so I feel like I'm covered there, and medieval Europe and the Roman era are already well looked after, too, so those would be well down my list.

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BRP God of War for the Win. :D

In all seriousness, Mythic and Classical Greece are two of my favorite historical settings to mess around in. The mythological struggles that shaped the land (war vrs the Titans, Giants and Centaurs) and the historical wars, such as the Pelopenisian War.

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I voted for Renaissance Europe, because anything not dealing with pirates is overlooked to a large extent.

It was a toss up between that and the ancient world. I think the medieval times, fantasy or otherwise, have gotten way too much attention--though it remains extremely fun to play in.

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Two things. ;)

1) A Class last Semester where I compared a couple of the battles in the Peloponnesian War, to the Battle at Helms Deep. :D

2) There isn't a spellchecker on my laptop browser, did I spell Penelopesian right? :confused:

I wonder what you were really thinking of when you wrote this ... :D
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Being a fan of heroic games and settings, I voted for Ancient Greece because that's the sort of blood and gutsy, wide-ranging, mythologically active setting that I like. Taking part in the Trojan War, sailing with the Argonauts or facing off against the Gorgons, that's adventuring.

Ancient India is interesting, but heavily tied up with religion in the early (Bronze/Iron Age) part and very complicated later on, with each era being very different in a way from earlier eras. Indian history seems, to me, to be a continual flux of religions and empires and, as such, seems difficult to do in a single game.

A Vikings setting is coming out, hopefully, with Mythic Iceland, but I'm nor sure if that has stalled.

Nippon is covered with Land of Ninja (RQ3) and Land of the Samurai (Mongoose) and never really interested me. There seem to be a couple of BRP settings based in Cathay and they seem interesting. I prefer ancient/medival Chinese to Japanese settings, but have never really played in them before.

Byzantium doesn't really appeal to me at all. It's a holdover from the Roman Empire, albeit one that lasted for 1000 years, but seems to be a bit of expansion and then a series of wars holding back the tide of continual expansion against it. In religious terms it's even worse, it started Christian and ended up Christian with not much changing in the meantime, except for a falling-out between the Patriarchs and Popes and a few schisms here and there.

Aztecs/mayans etc seems an interesting setting, but one in which there are a number of very distinct cultures at different times. The religions look interesting as well, but how much mileage would you get from such a setting?

Ancient Celts is always a good setting, from pre-Christian Ireland to the Roman Invasion and Romano-Britons, to King Arthur's Celtic Court. Throw in some druidic wierdness and conflicts with Christianity and the Old Ways and you have a setting.

Dark Age Europe is OK, you have post-Roman shennanigans, possibly King Arthur, certainly Charlemagne, the Moorish invasion of Iberia and the movements and changes in the kingdoms. There is some religious tension, between Christian and Muslim, Christian and Pagan and different Christian sects, but not a great deal.

Ancient Middle East only really appeals from an Arabian Nights viewpoint. That would be a really good setting.

Renaissance Europe is OK, lots of little wars, some religious tensions, new sects appearing all over the place and a sense of enlightenment. However, it is extremely magic-light and I like using magic in settings.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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However, there is an interesting setting that has been left over: Ancient Egypt. And it happens to have an out-of-print BRP setting that is just begging to be translated and reprinted.

Do you have a link to a review or reference for this one?

Maybe this is another opportunity for Alephtar Games. :cool:

I recall Palladium also released and Ancient Egyptian game; "The Valley of the Pharaohs". It was once available for free from their web site. However it can now be found on RPGnow.com. The rules show what could be a missing link between RuneQuest and the later Palladium rules systems.

Valley of the Pharaohs - RPGnet RPG Game Index

Japan interests me as well, however I want to try something different to what has gone before. Hence I am also the only one in my chosen category at the moment. :party:

Edited by dragonewt
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I voted Aztec/Maya, though I'd also like to see Ancient Middle East and Egypt. Most of the other settings seem to be covered to some extent already.

Though I voted Aztec/Maya there are actually a number of interesting periods for Central/South America. There is Pre-Columbian, then the Conquistadors, then the Spanish Colonial era, and the wars of independance and revolutions that followed the Colonial era. All of these have gaming potential.

I'd actually always wanted to base a game on Magical Realism (based on the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the like) focusing on the decline of magic and the rise of science. Probably not a setting with broad appeal though.

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I'd actually always wanted to base a game on Magical Realism (based on the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the like) focusing on the decline of magic and the rise of science. Probably not a setting with broad appeal though.

It's the basic idea behind some Steampunk worlds, like the one described in the Arcanum Computer RPG. It is just that all Steampunk worlds are based on Victorian Era Britain. But other settings might fit the basic assumption. Like Renaissance Italy, for instance. Think of Galileo and Leonardo vs. the Inquisition, for instance.

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It's the basic idea behind some Steampunk worlds, like the one described in the Arcanum Computer RPG. It is just that all Steampunk worlds are based on Victorian Era Britain. But other settings might fit the basic assumption. Like Renaissance Italy, for instance. Think of Galileo and Leonardo vs. the Inquisition, for instance.

Queensguard, the Cthulhu-lite Steampunk monograph is set in the 17th c., which I found disconcerting at first, but now find intriguing.

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It's the basic idea behind some Steampunk worlds, like the one described in the Arcanum Computer RPG. It is just that all Steampunk worlds are based on Victorian Era Britain. But other settings might fit the basic assumption. Like Renaissance Italy, for instance. Think of Galileo and Leonardo vs. the Inquisition, for instance.

I was looking for something a bit more subtle than most Steampunk, where the magic is more mystical and spiritual and the science less fantastic. Galileo and Leonardo vs. the Inquisition would be very interesting as well - though in that setting science would be unequivocally the 'good' side.

Help kill a Trollkin here.

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