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Historical roleplaying games?
#1
Any suggestions for historical roleplaying games set in classical or late antiquity?

Has anyone tried Basic Roleplaying [d100] "Rome: The Life and Death of the Republic"? It's before the periods I'm most interested in, but it's got good reviews.
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#2
GURPS is a generic system but the publisher has a pile of very detailed historical settings including Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/historical.html
Author: Bronze Age Military Equipment, Pen & Sword Books
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#3
There might be 1 or 2 videogames out there for it. I know Imperium Graecorum is a mod for Mount and blade Warband, they're doing Byzantium around the time of Heraclius.

There's also a couple of Late Roman mods, Sumo Pars and there's a british one, both for Mount and Blade.

There might be 1-2 Skyrim mods, maybe.
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#4
I tend to avoid GURPS, personally, because of the character creation system, although it depends if the supplement is particularly insightful and/or is adaptable to other rules systems. I can't say for sure about any given BRP, because there are multiple character creation systems.

I'd rather have my character die during character creation, as in Traveller, than spend time staring at a series of point costs, as in GURPS. I can try again in the first, I can't even begin with the second.

I know that in addition to Rome: Life and Death of the Republic, there's a Call of Cthulhu spin-off, but I'm not sure if it can be adapted to historical campaigns instead of the Mythos-based ones.

I think there's a short Savage Worlds adaptation for the Roman Republic and mayhbe the early Roman Empire.
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#5
If you're not averse to AD&D 2nd Edition gaming, there's an out of print supplement, The Glory of Rome Campaign Sourcebook from 1993. One could nitpick the historical inaccuracies, but with a decent Dungeon Master, it's not a bad title. There are also supplements for the Celts, Ancient Greeks and Carolingians.
aka T*O*N*G*A*R
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#6
So BRP Rome arrived today.

Unlike the earlier BRP games [Runequest, Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, etc.] it requires a separate BRP core book. I haven't had time to take it all in and get a sense of how complete it is and how well it works with other systems yet.
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#7
It looks like a very nice reference book. Basic stuff, but gathered in one place. I wish it had more non-player characters, more adventure hooks, and a few starting adventures though.

I'm familiar with some other versions of the system, and that would help me carry the ideas over to other systems, but I'm not sure how much I'm missing without the core book.
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#8
Yay, a roleplaying games thread Big Grin

Not Roman, but ancient Greek: Agon
Awesomely fun, tongue-in-cheek action oriented game, where Heroes compete to be the greatest and write their names in the legend.
The mechanics are light but really great, and If you want to play 300 or Jason and the Argonauts at your table, it is just perfect. It seems that it is just a simple appetizer little game, but it is honestly one of the best thought games I have read and played in years.

I have not played with it, but I hear that Requiem for Rome, a campaign setting for WoD Vampire: the Requiem is really good and interesting. I might give it a try.

Never played neither, but ordered last week after reading a few very goods reviews: Praetoria Prima, a french game where you get to play investigators/spies under the reign of Nero. I am looking forward to test it.
Olivier
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#9
Downloading as I write this: 43AD, "a gritty military-style game with a slice of dark horror", and Warband, its Britons counterpart.

Quote:Characters are Roman soldiers, fighting for the emperor in a hostile land against the battle-hardened warriors of the tribes. This is the visible enemy, but beyond, should the Game Master wish to go there, lay the dark secrets of Britain, the night terrors, the death-bringing spirits of the wild, the night crawlers, the face eaters, the skinchangers and the rest of the monsters and wild things that infest Britain. The tribes themselves live in fear of these malign entitites. But at least they know of their existence! As the legions march into hostile territory, they think their toughest battles are going to be with blue-faced tribesmen. How little they know...

So… I'll go and read it, I'll try to play test it this week and let you know how good is it, but it sure seems great.
Olivier
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#10
Looks like these could be fun. If there's not too much "magic" in the Briton games, it could be very interesting to play both sides.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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#11
Hey, 43AD is my game! In my other job as roleplaying game developer and entire staff of Zozer Games Smile. Took years to write due to all kinds of crazy things happening, but it includes all the gritty goodness I like in my re-enacting, plus some British horror themes and a good dose of realism.

I really hope you like it.....

Quote:Downloading as I write this: 43AD, "a gritty military-style game with a slice of dark horror", and Warband, its Britons counterpart.

Quote:Characters are Roman soldiers, fighting for the emperor in a hostile land against the battle-hardened warriors of the tribes. This is the visible enemy, but beyond, should the Game Master wish to go there, lay the dark secrets of Britain, the night terrors, the death-bringing spirits of the wild, the night crawlers, the face eaters, the skinchangers and the rest of the monsters and wild things that infest Britain. The tribes themselves live in fear of these malign entitites. But at least they know of their existence! As the legions march into hostile territory, they think their toughest battles are going to be with blue-faced tribesmen. How little they know...

So… I'll go and read it, I'll try to play test it this week and let you know how good is it, but it sure seems great.
Paul Elliott

Legions in Crisis
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/17815...d_i=468294

Charting the Third Century military crisis - with a focus on the change in weapons and tactics.
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#12
Quote:Any suggestions for historical roleplaying games set in classical or late antiquity?

Has anyone tried Basic Roleplaying [d100] "Rome: The Life and Death of the Republic"? It's before the periods I'm most interested in, but it's got good reviews.

I own the BRP Rome: The Life and Death of the Republic and the GURPS Imperial Rome books. The GURPS book is an excellent source of broad introduction material to help any campaign. As for the mechanics, GURPS is not something I've played. I only use their books for information.

The BRP game has similar overview material which is really good. The author of the book has gone to great lengths to provide accurate details. In fact that author, Pete Nash, has put out some quality historical role playing supplements in the past. The mechanics are pretty easy and fun. I highly recommend it.
"Great Empires are not maintained by timidity" -Tacitus
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#13
When I ran a late Roman based rpg, I just used Runequest rules without the magic.
Semisalis Abruna of the Batavi iuniores Britanniciani
aka Nick Marshall
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#14
http://romanseas.com/


[attachment=7589]p_0027.jpg[/attachment]

Sea battles and paper models. Buildings and many kinds of ships. The rules are a little complicated, but it seems all those games like that are.

[attachment=7590]p_0012.jpg[/attachment]


[attachment=7591]combat_scene1.jpg[/attachment]


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M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)

Saepe veritas est dura.
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#15
Wow...just wow, those Roman Seas pictures are pretty amazing. Would make any gamer drool. Smile

Nick, Runequest is a great system with many historical supplements. The author I mentioned, Pete Nash, wrote a few of them for the later editions of the game.
"Great Empires are not maintained by timidity" -Tacitus
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