Late Antiquity and Medieval d100 Resources

[Urizen]

Aside from my Concept Album of a setting (detailed over in RQ6) I am seriously considering working on a RuneQuest 6 game designed around a historical world of the very early 'dark ages' and the Middle Ages. I will make a list here of what I have accumulated so far, and would like to know if there are any good d100 sources I have missed.

My goal here is not just to find stuff for my own game but to create a reference list for people who want to do historical European roleplaying without having to search Google as much as I did. This list would include everything from late Antiquity into the Renaissance, which is a thousand years, and focusing on BRP.

BRP

Crusaders of the Amber Coast

Merrie England

Mythic Iceland

Pax Romana

Rome: Life and Death of the Republic

Witchcraft

Val-du-Loup

Cakebread & Walton

Clockwork & Chivalry

Diverse & Sundry

Renaissance Deluxe

Call of Cthulhu

Cthulhu Dark Ages

Cthulhu Invictus

Legend

Arms of Legend

Gladiators of Legend

Pirates of Legend

Vikings of Legend

MRQ

Deus Vult & Ex Cathedra

Empires

Stupor Mundi

Pendragon

Beyond the Wall

Book of Knights

Lordly Domains

Noble's Book

Pagan Shore

Pendragon 5th Edition

Saxons!

Time & Time Again: Holy Warriors

Non-RQ Derived Systems

Books I think are good enough depots of information that they could be used for a medieval game, despite being dissimilar in system to BRP.

Burgs and Bailiffs

AD&D 2e: Celts Campaign, Charlemagne's Paladins, the Crusades, the Glory of Rome, Viking Campaign

Ars Magica 5th Edition: Core Rulebook, City & Guilds, Lords of Men

Chivalry & Sorcery, especially the unofficial Redbook editions.

Fief: A Look at Medieval Society from Its Lower Rungs

d20: The Last Days of Constantinople

GURPS 3rd Edition: Arabian Nights, Camelot, Celtic Myth, Middle Ages 1, Religion, Vikings

GURPS 4th Edition Crusades, Hot Spots: Constantinople and Renaissance Florence, Low-Tech and Companions 1-3

Harn Manor

HarnPlayer Player's Guide to HarnWorld

High Medieval

Maelstron, which, oddly enough, is based on the Advanced Fighting Fantasy roleplaying system.

Magical Medieval City Guide and Magical Medieval Europe

Timemaster: Sea Dogs of England and Temples of Blood

Town: City Dweller's Look at 13th to 15th Century Europe

Edited June 8, 2014 by Urizen

[ORtrail]

Wow, seems like a exhaustive list. Covering about a 1000 years seems like a very wide net to cast. A lot changed in Britain from when the Romans left to the 16th century for example. That said, I do have some suggestions for your list. Several time travel games have adventures or supplements covering that time span.

A BRP derived game from TimeLine LTD (of The Morrow Project fame) called Time & Time Again. There was a module produced for it called Holy Warriors that covers the Crusader period in good detail.

Pacesetter had some adventures, such as one about King Arthur, called Clash of Kings. A couple others were set in the 1500s: Sea Dogs of England and Temples of Blood.

Finally, a D20 adventure called The Last Days of Constantinople.

Edited June 7, 2014 by ORtrail

[Urizen]

Wow, seems like a exhaustive list. Covering about a 1000 years seems like a very wide net to cast. A lot changed in Britain from when the Romans left to the 16th century for example.

Thanks for your suggestions, they have been added to the lists.

The width of this net is one reason I have been assembling these resources. I need to research and decide which period I actually want to run it in, so I can break out the appropriate Osprey books when designing Combat Styles [RQ6 will be the core] and setting up maps. Proto-medieval antiquity appeals a great deal, but so does the period of the Crusades; my usual darling is the Renaissance era (articulated plate is fun), but I feel that's been adequately done in Renaissance Deluxe.

It's amazing, considering how influential the ancient and medieval world are for fantasy games, that there's a tremendous lack of content and interest in historical games, even historical fantasy. Not that Pendragon and GURPS Rome don't have their admirers, but considering how many people play in settings that are pretty much cheesy ripoffs of the medieval and antique periods I think it says something about a disconnect between the people who built the fantasy genre and the majority of its players.

Of course, the same can largely be said regarding game masters and players: if players weren't lazy, they'd be game masters.

[SDLeary]

To be honest, you might be better off getting a book of non-fiction and then just rolling your own, but of course it depends on how much detail you want and your chosen starting area of Europe. Each of the base BRP systems has its own focus. Dark Ages focuses mainly on Frankia around 1000AD, and does a good broad job, but doesn't give much detail. Invictus includes a lot of detail, but is much earlier than the period you are looking at. Pendragon and supplements add a 12th-14th C Chivalric tone which is sometimes difficult to pry out if you are not careful.

Any of the systems could work fine though. Just a decent amount of setting work for the chosen period.

SDLeary

[Urizen]

To be honest, you might be better off getting a book of non-fiction and then just rolling your own, but of course it depends on how much detail you want and your chosen starting area of Europe.

SDLeary

I own some history books on the subject, but there is a difference: RPGs focus on stuff that tends to be encountered while playing an RPG, whereas history books aren't constrained by such practical motives. It would be as simple as a google search and some copy-paste to get accurate maps, personalities and military affairs in a defined period and place (say, Brabant) but there are always little bits of characterization and focus that make the RPG books useful in this respect. A specific example would be the background tables in HarnWorld and Chivalry & Sorcery, which can be easily adapted to BRP.

Each of the base BRP systems has its own focus. Dark Ages focuses mainly on Frankia around 1000AD, and does a good broad job, but doesn't give much detail. Invictus includes a lot of detail, but is much earlier than the period you are looking at. Pendragon and supplements add a 12th-14th C Chivalric tone which is sometimes difficult to pry out if you are not careful.

I definitely agree that there are bits and pieces that really affect the tone. I will probably not be using magic (or, like Pendragon and some Chivalry & Sorcery campaigns, making it a GM-only affair) and that's something I need to look out for, I don't want to get into LeFey or Nyralathotep on accident. I will be using RuneQuest 6, and I actually already own most of the books I listed. I tend to buy RuneQuest-based systems on general principle, because it's not too much monkey-work to make them fit together (Hell, BRP BGB basically is someone doing this with the Chaosium branches).

Any of the systems could work fine though. Just a decent amount of setting work for the chosen period.

And that's exactly what started this sort-of scattershot pile of books/pdfs I've assembled before me, I want to progressively refine the elements I'm interested in and then choose the time period that best suits/fits/contains them.

[Questbird]

You have most of the sources I know of for BRP. I know you listed some of the Harn books already but really those are a pretty good repository of mostly RPG-focused medieval research. Even though Harn/Lythia is not medieval Europe, its creators have pretty much researched that period to a large extent as inspiration. I would also give a cheer to Cthulhu Dark Ages and Crusaders of the Amber Coast for historical BRP. A good non-gaming resource is the Dictionary of Chivalry by Grant Uden (though I'm not sure if it's still in print).

[SokMunki]

Palladium's "The Compendium of Weapons, Armour & Castles" may be useful.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Compendium-Weapons-Armour-Castles/dp/091621138X

[soltakss]

That sounds like a good list. Have a look at the Alternate Earth look in my signature, as that lists what I think is available for BRP/RQ/Legend/D100 Alternate Earth supplements.

[Urizen]

Palladium's "The Compendium of Weapons, Armour & Castles" may be useful.

I've had that book since 1997, heh. It is a good bit, though.

[Darkholme]

By any chance, does anyone know of a BRP 3-Musketeers-France style supplement? Or perhaps one regarding the Mongolians or Ireland in different time periods than the fantasy mashup of things from 6th century to 15th century for Pendragon's Pagan Shore (maybe an earlier mythical Ireland, or a late dark ages Ireland, or a renaissance Ireland)? How about some stuff on Italy/Greece in different time periods? I also notice a lack of Egypt stuff. 

 

And of course, if someone could wrangle up the license for it, I would be very happy with a detailed Hyborian Era or Middle-Earth world guide. Those count as ancient pre-history, right?

 

I have the hardcover MRQII Vikings (Vikings of Legend, but hardcover and full sized). It was quite an interesting read.

 

I can see myself getting some of these books just for the interesting reading while on the toilet.

[SDLeary]

There was a supplement in the works (3rd party) for Eastern Europe and Asia under the Mongols, but I'm not sure of the status of that project.

 

SDLeary

[cjbowser]

I just turned in one mostly historical manuscript and am working on the follow up as I type this.

[Zit]

 Or perhaps one regarding the Mongolians

 

A supplement about Inner Asian nomads (Mongols and others) is currently beeing proofread.

[Darkholme]

A supplement about Inner Asian nomads (Mongols and others) is currently beeing proofread.

Good to hear. That sounds like a product I want to read, and one which I would be nowhere near qualified to write.

 

I once again mention I would also be interested in stuff on Historic/Mythical Ireland, Ancient/Mythical Greece, and Ancient/Mythical Egypt. Perhaps also Ancient/Mythical Persia, or an Arabian Nights Persia, or an Arabian Nights Sinbad. I didn't see any supplements on those topics, if anyone is looking for a niche that has not been covered.

[cjbowser]

I once again mention I would also be interested in stuff on Historic/Mythical Ireland, Ancient/Mythical Greece, and Ancient/Mythical Egypt. Perhaps also Ancient/Mythical Persia, or an Arabian Nights Persia, or an Arabian Nights Sinbad. I didn't see any supplements on those topics, if anyone is looking for a niche that has not been covered.

Hmm...One of those is nearing the top of my to-do list. I wonder which one it is? Could there be a clue in some years old Pegasus-Spiele magazine? Perhaps.

[Zit]

There used to be a French RPG called Légendes, with settings in ancient Egypt, 1001 nights (pretty well made) and ancients celts. Could be adapted to d100 (it used a roll-under d20 system comparable to the d100) but you have 1- to find them and 2- to read French. Quite a challenge.

http://www.legrog.org/jeux/legendes#L%C3%A9gendes+Celtiques

[Darkholme]

There used to be a French RPG called Légendes, with settings in ancient Egypt, 1001 nights (pretty well made) and ancients celts. Could be adapted to d100 (it used a roll-under d20 system comparable to the d100) but you have 1- to find them and 2- to read French. Quite a challenge.

http://www.legrog.org/jeux/legendes#L%C3%A9gendes+Celtiques

Hmm. Well, I took french immersion up to grade 9. I haven't used it much since, so my french speaking is crap, but if someone passes me french text, I don't have any trouble reading it. So for me at least, the only real trick would be finding them.

[daelstrom]

Good to see HarnWorld and Chivalry & Sorcery mentioned!
​I used to collect many of the games of the late 80s as reference materials including Harn,C&S, Space opera,Many white Dwarf articles before it became a warhammer brochure, as well as low budget publications that were just filled with tables and charts. Modifying the values to these helps you get the period locked in your mind, and can help you understand what the society prioritises - obviously survival is more tenuous in the Dark Ages than being in a stable empire (and the economy is vastly different too!)

My favourite period of history would fit in here nicely - Post Roman, pre Anglo Saxon domination of Britain. Romanised tribes of Celts, dealing with the oncoming waves of vikings, without the anachronistic ideals of Mallorys version of King Arthur.

 

Nennius, a Welsh monk writing in the late-eighth century, compiled a history that describes a ‘dux bellorum’, a war lord, called Arthur who led the Britons in 12 battles against the Saxons some three hundred years earlier. The ancient annals of Wales date one of Arthur’s battles, the Battle of Mount Badon, to the year 518.

 

I see 'King Arthur' originally as a 'title' (One theory  - it was a war chiefs title, award to the most capable leader of binding the tribes together - modelled on the ideals they learnt from the romans - like a centralised effort against invaders) and I reject a lot of the later 'romanticised' additions to the tales (Lancelot, Gawain, and most of the plots - seems just like GRR Martin, Mallory was influenced by the War of the Roses too!). That way players don't know the story, but they may recognise the environment.

Getting back to your resource information, the most useful sources from world building I used in my early GM'ing came from schoolbooks. The basics of Sociology & Demography can be used to make 'rules' like the population density of different historical groups (Hunter gatherers vs farming, tribal groups vs empires), and geography for believable terrain & weather. For example - did you know that the world population growth slowed between 500 to 900 AD! Be interesting to highlight this fact within gameplay

I broke these down into basics like - In the period the game is held, [W] farmers could farm [X] acres of land, growing enough of crop [Y] for themselves and [Z] other people.
They didn't have to be super accurate or scientific, but just a rationale to use rather than just using random encounters or meaningless places to sell dungeon booty.
I even plotted out (roughly) tectonic plates to make a rationale for some geographic features (mountains, volcanoes, valleys) which with other geographic data was used to make believable weather patterns. Trust me though - this was never too detailed - just enough so I could justify certain aspects, as well as being an inspiration for more game elements (need a cataclysmic event to remove a city? tectonic faultlines can be handy!)
 

As the Dark Ages were very different to the days of empire previously or the feudal period that came after, these differences would highlight the period better - but if anything, I would recommend reading (or googling) history books 0r documentaries - I definitely recommend watching Terry Jones "Barbarians" to enlighten your perception of the so called Dark Ages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Jones'_Barbarians