Renaissance World War One

[doomedpc]

I've just finished a OneDice World War One game. Here is the blurb:

 

"OneDice WW1 is a role-playing game set against the backdrop of the Great War of 1914-18. A global conflict, costing millions of lives, the war involved the mobilisation and shattering of the mightiest of armies ever assembled. It was fought on a previously unimaginable industrial scale. Whether you want to play as one of the front-line combatants in the mighty conflict or as a civilian, spy, medic or journalist, all the rules you need are in this book.

There are additional “skins” for adding Occultish Horror and Endless War twists to the world, along with a bunch of adventure seeds to get you started playing quickly.

Whether an enthusiastic recruit, a jaded veteran, or a non-combatant on a special mission – it’s time to enter the grim and dangerous world of OneDice WW1."

 

Would there be any love for a D100 Renaissance version?

[Vorax Transtellaris]

Would this be the "Dieselpunk WW1 but with occult aspects" setting you mentioned in

[Mysterioso]

I think a d100/Renaissance rule set for the First World War would be good. 

 

However what would be great would be to see Renaissance develop a solid rule set for the Wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.  Two books would be great: one for land (Scarlet Pimpernel and Sharpe essentially*) and one for sea (Aubrey and Maturin essentially**)  This seems easier in some ways than the First World War as Renaissance Deluxe already closes with the Napoleonic time period.  OTOH, rules for ships, etc. are needed.

 

(Is there another rule set for this? Yes, two (GURPS and one with cards) but neither are d100.  Can things be pulled from elsewhere?  Yes, but, in all honesty, I don't think everyone is as Talmudic*** with various d100 rule sets as some posters here and thus there would be some that would be willing to pick up such a work rather than culling through the BGB, Blood Tides, and who knows what else (and still not getting something as well done as a Cakebread and Walton product).)

 

*Some rules for Russians would be nice too.

**Actually Hornblower might be better for action and avoiding the need to develop rules for playing stringed instruments whilst eating toasted cheese.

***Please take this an acknowledgment of awe with a slight wink

[soltakss]

Sounds good.

 

Would there be any love for a D100 Renaissance version?

 

Yes, that would be very useful - we don't have anything from that era for the D100 family.

[michaelsbagley]

To add to Mysterioso's comments, something land based and Napoleonic, could and would also port well to late period North American Colonial adventures, as found in the War of 1812. Even with a Napoleonic nautical themed book, it could add the scope of the various battles on the great lakes, and the privateering that went on with both sides of the North American War of 1812.

[Mysterioso]

To add to Mysterioso's comments, something land based and Napoleonic, could and would also port well to late period North American Colonial adventures, as found in the War of 1812. Even with a Napoleonic nautical themed book, it could add the scope of the various battles on the great lakes, and the privateering that went on with both sides of the North American War of 1812.

Supposedly Colonial Lovecraft is being developed (with a proposed Kickstarter for later this year) which should scratch that itch (though it will not be straight BRP as one reason it has been held up is everything CoC is now getting held up with shifting to 7e CoC.)  In a dream world Colonial Lovecraft would have been released in a Renaissance Deluxe edition as well so as to work with the Dark Streets material C&W have already developed.

 

BTW, for something slightly earlier C&W have also released two Rogers Rangers scenarios.

[michaelsbagley]

I do have both of the Rogers Rangers scenarios, and love them both. But the F&IW is as different from the NA War of 1812, as the Seven Years War is from the Napoleonic wars.

The prevelent technology of flintlocks is the main similarity... culture , clothing and warfare changed pretty dramatically in the intervening 50-60 years.

A CoC sourcebook might be okay, but one of the reasons I love the Renaissance rules so much is they lend themselves to historic/semi-historic play so we'll.

[Julich1610]

An odd coincidence.  I was in France last September near the Marne at Chateau-Thierry where my grandfather had fought with a field artillery  regiment in the 42nd division; I have inherited his campaign medals.  There is a great book called War Bugs, written by Charles MacArthur (who also wrote the screenplay of Wuthering Heights).  He fought in the same regiment during the Great War which began 100 years ago last year, so it was like a narrative of my grandfather's experiences in France.  MacArthur said of Chateau-Thierry (I took my nephew to the battlefield so that he would understand that if his great-grandfather were under one of the crosses in the American cemetery, we wouldn't be here today)   that the smell of bodies was so bad in the July sun that the men wore gas masks for "common decency". My grandfather jumped into a crater in No Man's Land when the shelling started.  It still harbored a little mustard gas (smelled like garlic, they said - once the Americans thought a group of passing Italian soldiers who had just finished their dinner were a gas attack and put on their masks!).  He permanently lost partial vision in one eye after a few seconds in that crater.

 

So this is close to home.  A Renaissance version would be welcome!  Look forward to reading and gaming this! 

[jux]

I don't think WW1 setting is so great. Savage Worlds have their weird wars settings, but to me they are just ... weird.

 

It's not that I don't like history, but if I want to be immersed in actual history, I have tabletop war-games for that. RPG-s are more about characters and adventure - I don't think there needs to be a separate game dedicated to this scenario. Published adventures, with updated gear/profession tables - yes, why not!

 

Speaking of separate Renaissance setting, I would really like a modern horror game like Fear Itself. Renaissance already has great sanity mechanic - so all it needs are modern gear/profession tables and some guidance how to use that book. It could also be more flexible with optional degrees of grittiness, supernatural, monsters, etc.

[General Kong]

I would love a WW1 setting, but I would prefer one that is not Dieselpunk or another Cthulhu setting with dardardly Germans trying to summon the Old Ones to get to Paris. That has been done to the death. Rennaissance big asset is historical roleplaying without or with downplayed "special" features - Clockwork & Chivalry is believable enough and some kind of a "weird war" setting but still very historical and not over-the-top.

 

So, give me the trenches, but spare me ghouls and Reichswehr Wizards.

[doomedpc]

Yeah, I don't think it would get the "weird war" treatment in the same way as Clockwork & Chivalry, because that isn't the starting point (unlike for C&C, where the starting point was a "what if"). I'd probably use the OneDice structure, and produce a more vanilla WWI rule set, perhaps with some added fantastical and "what if" options at the back of the book.

[Ghostwriter]

I just wanted to say I absolutely can't wait for this one. Any updates?

[Mankcam]

I would love to see a First World War setting for BRP, this would be great.

Having an occult edge or dieselpunk options would be pretty good as well, but not essential