OSR Ancients

WillInNewHaven · September 02, 2018, 11:37:57 PM

Quote from: JeremyR;1054469Sumerian-Babylonian-Akkadian. In a lot of ways, that was the original sword & sorcery setting.

And it would be nice if Arrows of Indra got any sort of support.

I'm playing in a Sumerian etc. campaign via Google Hangouts. Good GM and other players. I don't love the rules (MYFAROG) but it's not a big problem.

Toadmaster · September 03, 2018, 06:13:34 AM

Ancient Russia would be interesting. I bought Mythic Russia for Heroquest even though I don't play Heroquest. I'd buy a well done OSR game in a similar setting.

There are enough similarities to Western European mythology to be familiar but enough differences to feel new.

Philotomy Jurament · September 03, 2018, 11:12:02 AM

Quote from: Kiero;1054888Paul Elliott's Warlords of Alexander is set only a generation before this in 274BC.

You know, that's the second time Warriors of Alexander has been pointed out to me. Some years ago I worked up an Anatolia ~250 B.C.E. campaign. After I'd done all the grunt work, somebody brought WoA to my attention. I downloaded it, skimmed it, wondered "how the hell did I miss this," and then forgot about it. (Had I run across it, earlier, I probably would've just used it and its time/setting, rather than doing my own thing set a decade or two later.) Thanks for the reminder! It seems well-researched.

Kiero · September 03, 2018, 02:05:41 PM

Quote from: Philotomy Jurament;1054991You know, that's the second time Warriors of Alexander has been pointed out to me. Some years ago I worked up an Anatolia ~250 B.C.E. campaign. After I'd done all the grunt work, somebody brought WoA to my attention. I downloaded it, skimmed it, wondered "how the hell did I miss this," and then forgot about it. (Had I run across it, earlier, I probably would've just used it and its time/setting, rather than doing my own thing set a decade or two later.) Thanks for the reminder! It seems well-researched.

BRP doesn't particularly appeal to me, but as a ready-made sourcebook it's really good. I say that as someone with a fair amount of lay knowledge of the period, I've been a developer on Europa Barbarorum II for several years and can lay hands on real historians.

tassander · September 04, 2018, 03:39:05 PM

Quote from: Steven Mitchell;1054505A fantastical version of Rome right before it falls.

That's pretty close to what I've recently started working on: the province of Raetia during Commodus' reign, for Adventurer Conqueror King.

If you're interested, here's one of the most important blog entries via google-translate: Orcs and Etruscans

And another one, with two HEXMAPS! Everybody likes hexmaps, right? Hexmap des Bayerischen Waldes

There are quite a number of other blog entries about this campaign - everything's in German, though. However, Google Translate seems to work quite well, so it might be worth checking it out.

Also: Hi everybody!

ArrozConLeche · September 04, 2018, 04:05:01 PM

Quote from: RPGPundit;1054444What pseudo-historical setting from the Classical or Ancient world would you want to see as an OSR game or setting book?

Iberia before it was conquered by the Romans. I don't really know much of anything about it, except one bit where it was said the people there traded ore with the Carthaginians, I think.

Philotomy Jurament · September 07, 2018, 09:41:56 AM

Quote from: ArrozConLeche;1055078Iberia before it was conquered by the Romans. I don't really know much of anything about it, except one bit where it was said the people there traded ore with the Carthaginians, I think.

That's a good one. It might be most interesting in the period when Carthage was establishing colonies on the peninsula and coming into conflict with the Greeks.

Also, the post-Roman period would be interesting, although that might be considered more medieval than ancient.

Kiero · September 07, 2018, 09:56:42 AM

Quote from: ArrozConLeche;1055078Iberia before it was conquered by the Romans. I don't really know much of anything about it, except one bit where it was said the people there traded ore with the Carthaginians, I think.

Before or after the First Punic War? That changes the tenor of Carthaginian influence in Iberia, where the Barcid faction turns its attention to exploiting Spain, rather than looking to Africa and Sicily.

As a slight aside, Christian Cameron's Poseidon's Spear (third in a series, but perfectly good standalone) has a jaunt through 5th century BC Spain, France and Britain, looking for the source of tin. Some of it is anachronistic (Carthaginians present in far greater strength and more established then they were that early), but it's otherwise a great read. Ripe with RPG-able inspiration.

ArrozConLeche · September 07, 2018, 11:31:53 AM

I know very little about the history of the area, other than a reference I vaguely remember to a "king." It might have been this: https://www.red2000.com/spain/primer/tartessos.html

Looking at the Wikipedia timeline, it might be interesting to play during first contact with the Phoenicians or when they start abandoning their colonies. I think any period where there is major change to the status quo that involves a well known ancient civilization would be potentially cool, so that's likely going to be Iron Age (going by that timeline).

RPGPundit · September 11, 2018, 03:21:00 AM

I would really like seeing a very historically decent but fantasy-heavy setting based on China at the decadent end of the Shang Dynasty just before their overthrow at the hands of the Zhou.