Gundobad Games

 Gundobad Games is a gaming blog written by "a professional ancient/medieval historian who teaches at the university level."

I really like this one because it blends ancient and medieval history with gaming.  It's fun as well as educational.  He's currently discussing Merovingian Gaul/France and how to build a campaign around it.  In the past he's covered creating quick histories for a campaign, archaeology and rpgs, the decline and fall of civilizations and more.  Check it out here.

The Future and the Past

I've bought two PDFs over the past several weeks.

The Future:

White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying

Yep, I did it.  Seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens got me in the mood for some good old fashioned SF roleplaying.  Never mind the fact that I own WEG Star Wars (1st and 2nd edition as well as a pdf copy of REUP), Traveller, BASH! Sci Fi Edition, Thousand Suns, Tales of the Space Princess, Stars Without Number, Rogue Space, Cosmic Patrol, HardNova 2 and Star Ace.  Plus more generic games such as D6 Space and Mini Six, amongst other, even more generic games.  Nope, I needed a new game and what do you know, DriveThru was having a gm's day sale.  I've given it a read-thru and I like what I see.  It is definitely old-school with its class based, Vancian magic d20 system.  However it is open and flexible in that way that I like.  The classes have been tweaked to fit SF.  Various SF sub-genres are covered briefly with suggestions on how to modify it to better fit each sub-genre, including what classes to leave out.  It appeals to me in the same way the B/X does.  Simple, yet with many possibilities.

The Past:

Blood & Bronze

Oh, I was excited about this one.  An RPG set in a fantasy bronze age version of Mesopotamia.  So, cool! I have been thinking about getting Valley of the Pharaohs but haven't pulled the trigger yet.  And I thought this would be cooler.  Well, I'm disappointed.  The book has evocative art but let me down in other ways.  First, the way the material was presented seemed a illogical and confusing to me.  Concepts were referred to but not explained until later and then sometimes not very clearly.  The system itself seems ok.  It relies on d6s, count successes, for combat and skill checks and a d20 for saving throws.  It also has a simple skill system with each skilled based on one of the six attributes, which go no higher than 12 for most characters.  It has a setting section that was interesting but seemed really sparse to me.  And no included adventures.  Overall, where White Star sparked my imagination, Blood & Bronze just let my sit there listlessly.  Which is a shame for an ancient history guy like me because I was so looking forward to a pseudo-historical game tailored specifically for the Bronze Age.

Would You Like a Little Salt With That?

An unfortunate truth is that I rarely play the games that I love, or any others.  There is always something going on.  I'm tired from work or I get off to late.  I don't have a day off.  My gaming group (i.e. my two boys) has homework to do or they are playing video games.  Video games are actually a biggie.  It's hard to compete with video games.  So, I was thinking of ways to actually get them to play as well as minimize prep time for me.  I have also been looking at Mazes & Minotaurs again lately.  The Bronze Age calls to me.  So, I had an idea.....

It's not a new idea for me but I like it.  I think I will run a saltbox campaign.  Here's the setup.  (Though I originally thought of this for Mazes & Minotaurs, I may end up changing systems.)

Ten years ago the king of Thena established a colony across the wine-dark sea.  He chose a leader who planted it on the northern coast of the Umbrian Sea to the east of Umbria.  Though the colony is politically independent, it has maintained ties, particularly commercial ties, to Thena and the king.  However, no ships arrived during last year's sailing season and the king is concerned.  So he decides to send one of his trusted nobles to investigate.  The characters are part of the noble's party.  What role they play depends on the class they pick.  A spearman could be one of the ten soldiers the king sent for the leader to command.  A noble could be the companion and assistant to the leader.  A barbarian noble would be the noble's bodyguard.  A priest or sorcerer could be the nobles secretary and be used as a supernatural assistance.  And I don't think either of the boys would choose a nymph to play.  The noble is also given the use of a pentekonter and its crew.  Interesting NPCs could include the captain and first mate, certain crew members of dubious worth, etc.

After they set off on their voyage they are soon struck by a vicious storm.  (What caused the storm?  Was it completely natural or has the expedition somehow offended a god?  Perhaps someone skimped on the sacrifices?)  They survive the two day storm intact but now have no idea of their position.  The will soon stop at an island, either by choice or because of short supplies.  And the adventure begins.  Each session could consist of a different island and a different challenge.  If I run out of inspiration I can always use the random island generator in M&M or the one in Agon.  Then, after several adventures or sooner if they lose interest they can finally reach their destination and have to deal with what ever is going on there.  Perhaps the Umbrians took umbrage at the colony's presence.  Or a roving band of northern barbarians are attacking the city.  Or some supernatural force is affecting them.  Or stasis has taken hold because of feuding factions.  There are any number of possibilities.

What do you think?  Any suggestions or criticisms?

Egyptian Inspiration

Some random images from around the interwebs to inspire a Egyptians sword & sorcery game.

I inserted two photos that my wife took.  Can you tell which are hers?

And, finally, one of the reasons warriors fight.

Thursday Inspiration

This inspiration post is inspired by a post on campaign settings over at B/X Blackrazor. One of his campaign ideas is a Bronze Age based game.

If you are interested in some literary inspiration you might try First Heroes, short stories about the Bronze age edited by Harry Turtledove.

Barbarians of Mycenae

I was reading through my copy of Gurps Greece the other day when it struck me. Heroic/Homeric/Bronze Age/Mycenaean Greece would be a great setting for Barbarians of Lemuria. Think about it. The heroes of the time were larger than life, kick butt types. Think of Hercules or Achilles. Or they could be extremely wily as Odysseus was. Most of them did not use magic directly though some used magic-type items. The items the gods lent Perseus fall into this category.

Also you could scale the level of fantastic to suit your tastes. You could play it almost strictly "historical" by having inter-kingdom conflict, trade and social interplay be the main focus of the game. You could include realistic depictions of the sources of the myths. The origin of the centaur myth comes to mind. Or you could take it up a notch to include some of the real creatures faced by various heroes. I'm thinking of the Nemean lion, the various boars and bulls, the terrible birds, etc. Real creatures made particularly fierce or nasty. Or you could take it up another level by including the non-realistic creatures such as the Minotaur or the hydra. And finally you could have a full blown fantasy world including meddling gods, an array of monsters, and weird demi-humans. Or you could mix-and-match to taste.

Has anybody thought of this in connection with Barbarians of Lemuria? Has anybody created stats for Greek heroes? How would you stat up Hercules, for example? Any thoughts, comments or suggestions?

I also posted this on Rpg.net here.