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Is there a #ttrpg system that you think would be best for running a game in a historical setting?
I am thinking something along the lines of Ivar the Boneless and his siblings invading England.
I'm not looking to relive WW2 btw, I could find more interesting history in my sock drawer. If I wanted another book about Churchill I'd look on my Dad's bookshelf. Just kidding! But no seriously looking for something a little more out there than WW2.
Also no magic! Kinda looking for realism here.
@The_Dyer_Consequences Here's the secret to running historical games well, which runs counter to the common understanding: avoid mechanics. The more mechanics that there are, the more exist to fly in the face of what you know about history and the way the world works.
You want something fiction-forward, strongly narrative, and very likely mechanics-minimalist.
(cont)
Let's start with the most bizarre suggestion first: #Microscope
https://lamemage.com/microscope/
Yes, I'm very aware that it doesn't have a resolution mechanic other than essentially what you say happens. This works greatly in your favor if you want to tell stories about groups of people or about exploring parts of histories.
Microscope is an obvious call. But what people don't recognize is that it is really good for zooming way in and following individuals or families or even items throughout a historical period.
You don't have to worry about the dice coming up with something nonsensical. Everybody at the table knows what's sensible. They know what kind of thing is unlikely to happen in a historical context. That's why they're playing a historical game; they want that feeling. Empower them to do so.
For example: let's say you wanted to follow a family throughout their experience in the invasion of Ivar the Boneless. No problem. Set up your opening period and your closing period , and start filling in between.
- Halvaar the One-Eyed Establishes the Family Farmstead
- Gudmund Ice-Tongue Establishes the First Family Farmstead in England
Why do they have those names? What happens between?
Play to find out.
(cont)
I want something less broad-scale and more focused in, but still with great flexibility. Same author: #Kingdom .
All of the players at the table are part of the same community. It might be a literal kingdom. It might be the inhabitants of a village in England being invaded by Ivar the Boneless. It might be a war band of Vikings.
They all have a defined relationship to one another, and there are other people in the community beyond themselves that are affected by their decisions and actions.
Threats to the situation come along and they have to decide how to deal with them or how things go awry in the process. Kingdom really requires that you have players who are willing to speak up about inherent conflicts and lean into them — not conflicts between players, but conflicts between intents and effects. It's an absolutely fantastic game, which doesn't get nearly as much discussion as it deserves.
(cont)
@lextenebris wow these are awesome suggestions, thank you very much I think this is the way to go, I think I now just need a group of players, unfortunately I have like one friend who would be interested and he's more of a WW2 guy, which as I've mentioned just ain't me AND he's a lawyer so he's too busy for my silly ttrpgs usually, but I'm sure I'll figure it out, somehow.
@The_Dyer_Consequences You'll notice that a few of the games which I have brought up are playable solo or with small groups. In fact, pretty much everything I've put on the table is best with at most three or four people. There's no reason not to take fewer, quite frankly.
Ironsworn you can play alone.
The important thing is to play. Everything else is at best tertiary. The more you play, the more you find things that you want to be enthusiastic about and share with other people as part of your relationship with them, and that is how you find other people who want to play with you.
@lextenebris thanks I definitely think that the part about just playing is a very good point. I definitely think I'm looking for a group though, I have nothing against playing solo but personally I love the social aspect of ttrpgs and telling a story with my friends.
@The_Dyer_Consequences Then your next move is to go find some people who are excited about playing together in a historical context. Settle on that context, figure out what mechanics speak to you, because since you are the one who is the most excited about pursuing this, they really need to be a facilitator. And then just start banging it out. There's nothing to do for it but to do it.
But don't think that you have to have a full table of eight people before you can start throwing some dice and having a good time. A lot of people get caught up in "I don't have a group" and never get around to "I want to play," and that is a bad place to get stuck.
If you want to play, play. If that means you're playing alone until you have some stuff put together you want to show to other people, have that lonely fun.
If you want to sit and scribble some notes and ideas to put something together and that is fun to you, that's play. Have that lonely fun and enjoy it.
The key is just to play.
@lextenebris oh believe your talking to a guy that's dming 4 DnD groups. I know how to find players, and I play quite a lot I just need to find interested, available players for this type of game, but I'm sure I'll figure it out, not that I even have that much time, but I'm planning for a future where I do have that much time and the right group.