So, after much discussion, we settled on a campaign...




GAME STYLE
Cinematic (1 part), Realistic (3 parts)
Hack (1 part), Thesp (3 parts)
Schtick (1 part), Drama (3 parts)

WHAT HAPPENS
Action / Fights (3) – "What we do in life, echoes in eternity."
Building (2) – possibly more, as the game will be political.
Character (4) – who you are and who you know is more important than what you know! (That's politics.)
Character Power (1)
Destroying (2) – possibly more, as the game will be political.
Exploration (1)

HOW IT'S DONE
Combat, Communication, Intrusion, Persuading

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
What does it mean to be a Roman citizen, when the Senate is corrupt and indecisive, Generals march on Rome to abolish it, when a Republic is an Empire, when some are free and some are enslaved?

This campaign will be fictional-historical, that is, it will use history as a basis for its story, but it will not use historical figures. It will be realistic in theme, and will have combat, honour, deceit, intrigue and treachery. Characters will begin as mere plebeians, but will by association with greater men rise, and their actions will determine the fate of the Republic and the Empire.

So far, two of the three players have made characters, but of course they may change a bit, we just did outlines last night.

My idea is that the PCs will begin as lackeys and assistants to their patron, Titus Longinus Vestinus. He will be a man of some wealth, having followed the  cursus honorum to various posts, and of middling influence. I thought that I would do away with the historical figures of Caesar, Pompey and the like, so that the players will have no preconceptions of events and people. But I'd put in similar people and factions. I'd also have to condense events a bit.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm interested in all ideas - and some links I can throw at my players to give them a feel for the setting, what was daily life like, etc.

Oh, that's another one I would love.  What system did you settle on?

Have you picked a time period or is that what you are asking for? I assume Empire since you mention it but consider the time of the Republic, especially the  time of Sulla, one of my favs.

Well, if the Empire it is, some good periods would be early or just before Contantine's rise to power. A power struggle between several people over who will be the Caesar and lesser Caesar. Good stuff. (link)

Also, if set in Rome itself, you can bring a number of points to bear but grain was very important and could make or break a Senator or wealthy patrician. Ostia will be an important subject to research for such a campaign.

Sounds liek fun. Enjoy!

Bill

You could just try to set it in a period of history that isn't as well known as Caesar's was; either the republic or in the post-julioclaudian empire.  If you want a period where there's a lot of opportunity for warfare and political conflict where everything suddenly goes all to shit, you could pick the "Year of the Four Emperors" (69 AD, just after the death of Nero).  Alternately, the final days of Domitian's reign would be another good choice, or the chaos after the death of Commodus.

Note that anytime before the late 2nd century, its virtually impossible that anyone from the plebs could really rise up to a really high position in Rome (with a few notable exceptions like the freemen advisors that Claudius had, etc).   Equestrians had slightly more mobility, granted (consider the influence that Agrippa managed to attain to, or how far Sejanus or Macrius Turbo got), but in general the social structure was pretty stratified up until the end of the "Five Good Emperors" period.

RPGPundit

The books I, Claudius and Claudius the God are fun reads, and if you've got anyone who likes historical fiction, it might help to get them into the mood.

Sounds seriously cool.  As to era, you're clearly thinking of the Late Republic--I guess my suggestion might be to consider the era of Gracchi or Marius and Sulla, since they provide the same issues that you are interested in but haven't been worked over as extensively in movies, TV, fiction, etc.  And the Republic might have died with Sulla, had he been so inclined.  Another option would be to use Caesar's era but to focus on goings-on away from Rome itself.

As for websites, here are a few that might be useful:

Rome: Republic to Empire is the website for a course on 'Ancient Rome in Film, Fiction, and Fact'.  It provides some information on events and people in the era and on social history/daily life topics.

Roman Gladiatorial Games, a perennial topic of RPG interest--another teaching website.

Pomepeian Households, a companion site to a book on the subject, gives useful floor plans.

Ostia: Harbour City of Ancient Rome provides lots of information on this intriguing site--check out particularly the many computerized reconstructions of the town's buildings.

Romans from BBC History--this emphasizes Roman Britain, but has numerous short essays on topics like Romanization, the fall of the Republic, gladiators, the cursus honorum, the army, etc. written by experts.  Nice graphics too.

Livius: Articles on Ancient History--a one-man encyclopedia of ancient topics, written by a Dutch historian.  Especially strong on areas beyond Italy.

De Imperatoribus Romanis, an online encyclopedia of Roman emperors.

Perseus Digital Library, a great resource for online versions of classical texts, in the original and in translation.

I just started reading "The Fall of Rome" by Bryan Ward-Perkins who seems to have some interesting theories of the way Rome went down (apparently not that peacefull, i.e. it really _fell_). Dunno how respected he's in scholar's circles, but at least it's an interesting background for a campaign. Keeping Rome's values against the encroaching Germanic barbarity.

Quote from: SosthenesI just started reading "The Fall of Rome" by Bryan Ward-Perkins who seems to have some interesting theories of the way Rome went down (apparently not that peacefull, i.e. it really _fell_). Dunno how respected he's in scholar's circles, but at least it's an interesting background for a campaign. Keeping Rome's values against the encroaching Germanic barbarity.

I think the book is a fairly brilliant defense of reality against the marxist post-modernist re-interpretations of the barbarian invasions as a "peaceful transition" or worse, a "liberation" from the evils of imperialism.  Fuck that. It was nothing short of the death of the light of the world.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditI think the book is a fairly brilliant defense of reality against the marxist post-modernist re-interpretations of the barbarian invasions as a "peaceful transition" or worse, a "liberation" from the evils of imperialism.  Fuck that. It was nothing short of the death of the light of the world.

RPGPundit

Eh, Terry Jones did some good stuff arguing not so much for peace or liberation but simply that there was more than one perspective and that we get our history largely from one side.  That does ring true, for all I think Rome was a thing of glory that doesn't mean the other competing cultures really were just barbarians as we now understand that term.

I offered the players Fate, the two who were present said, "we want something more concrete", and preferred GURPS 4e. So I guess it won't be as thespy as I originally imagined.

PC creation will be,

• Tech Level 2
• [50] total
• up to [-30] in Disadvantages; low Attributes count as Disadvantages
• up to [-5] in Quirks
• No Exotic or Supernatural traits
• Will and Per are separate from IQ, and cost [5] per level each.
• A background of some kind will grant +2CP, except the one which most impresses me which will get +4CP
• A Roman-theme character image gets +2CP, any other image +1CP.
• Tying your character by background to another PC grants +1CP, by Dis/Advantage (Ally, Dependent, etc) to another PC grants +1CP.
• Vestinus is available to you as a Patron (appears often, appears on 9 or less) [10].
• Vestinus is available to you as a Duty (fairly often, appears on 9 or less, not usually hazardous) [5]. Of course he may be the source of a Sense of Duty, etc.
• Your Status may be -2 (Slave) [-10], -1 (Italian, freedman, or son of slave) [-5], 0 (Citizen of Rome, present or past legionary)
• , or 1 (born to Equestrian class, former or current Legion officer) [5], or 2 (born to Patrician class) [10]. I recommend being at least Status 0
• if you hope to have your guy advance at all.

• Your patron, Titus Longinus Vestinus, is a man of the equestrian order. (That was basically the middle class; it was the Patricians (born with silver spoon in their mouth types), the equestrians (wealthy enough to own horses), and the plebians (commoners!) Of course there were also slaves and women but they don't count.)
  
• Since magistrates and Senators are not allowed to engage in trade, Vestinus owns land, where he breeds fine horses - he takes the "equestrian" part seriously.
• He was born in Rome itself in AUC626 (years since foundation of Rome; 753BCE is 1AUC).
• He was a military tribune, beginning as a decurion (leading a troop of cavalry), under Marius in Numidia in 646AUC. At the time, Marius' quaestor (legion paymaster and administrator) was Sulla. It was Marius who as one of the Consuls undertook the reforms of the legions which gave them their "modern" look. Vestinus stayed with Marius for some years, fighting also the campaigns in the north of Italy against the Teutons and Cimbri, which ultimately gave Rome Cisalpine Gaul; it was in Gaul that he advanced to centurion.
• In 654AUC Vestinus, with an injury preventing a lot of riding, took up a training position in a recruiting camp near Ostia (the effective port of Rome). In 658AUC he resigned from the legions.
• In 660AUC Vestinus was made a quaestor of Rome (financial administrator). His wealth was now such that
• In 662AUC came the Social War (basically an argument about whether people outside Rome could be Roman citizens or not), where Marius and Sulla fought against the Italian cities and won (after three years). Vestinus did not serve, but supplied horses to the legions at his own expense.
• 665-672 AUC came the Civil War between Marius and Sulla, where Sulla became the first ever General to have his troops march on Rome itself and make himself its master. Vestinus served again under Marius, this time as Centurion Princeps in one of his legions. The war went back and forth, but eventually Marius died and Sulla was Dictator. Sulla's Dictatorship was bloody, the Proscription lists seeing 1,500 equestrians, Senators and their families slain and their property seized; Vestinus was regarded as "non-political" and so managed to escape proscription. Vestinus was one who kept quiet in this time, supporting Sulla's reforms but not how they had been carried out; for this he often feels shame. Sulla reformed the constitution, putting the Senate on top. After two years he resigned as Dictator, disbanding the legions. A few years later he died.
• Now it is 680AUC. Vestinus, 54 years old, now desires to make a bigger impact on Rome, and improve it. His next step is to be elected as Aedile; these magistrates supervise public works, temples and markets, and public games.
• Vestinus has a wife, Iulia (24), a daughter Iulia Minora and a son Gaius (32).
• He is patient, loves his horses, is indifferent to his wife, loving of his daughter and scornful of his son, a moderately able orator, and perhaps overly cautious in tactics and politics. He has his own opinions on how best to arrange the Republic, but has kept these largely to himself, since before all he places its stability.

On the whole patrician thing--by the time that we're dealing with, they were no longer the upper class as such.  Patrician/plebeian status was merely a question of birth.  The senatorial elite had been open to plebeians for centuries and a number of top families in the last century of the Republic were plebeians.  In fact, it was something of an advantage politically to be a plebeian, because only they could serve as tribunes of the people, an important office.  Publius Clodius Pulcher got himself adopted into a plebeian family in 59 BC precisely so he could hold the tribuneship.  Patrician families were greatly over-represented among the elite (the nobiles) but there were some rather poor and uninfluential patricians as well.

[/pedant]

Was going to get all pedantic too, but I've been out-pedanted!

-clash

I did not say anything about plebeians being excluded from public office. I simply said that it was a social advantage to be from a higher social class, and a disadvantage to be from a low one, and that these facts would be expressed in game terms, the Status Dis/Advantage in GURPS.


As you can see here, there were 12 positions for plebeians in the first course, yet 22 for the others. After that, there were another 12 which both could compete for (though sometimes these would be split along class lines, too). So, a few thousand upper class guys are going for 28 positions, while a few hundred thousand plebeians were going for 18 positions (the census of 668AUC gave 463,000 Roman citizens, that of 684AUC gave 900,000). Simply on the basis of probability of being able to reach a certain position, it's a social advantage to have been born in the upper classes.

What an rpg system does is that it deals with probabilities, with what's likely. In the Roman Republic at this time, it was a social advantage to have been born to an equestrian background, and a greater social advantage still to have been born to a patrician one. And so in this particular game system, we express that in terms of Advantages and Disadvantages which we pay for.

The plebeians who achieved high positions were remarked on. Even the patrician and equestrian men whose families didn't have a political history were remarked on. Cicero was a "new man" because no-one in his family had been Consul before. Things which are remarked on - which are remarkable - cost points in GURPS. So the PCs if they want to enter politics can either spend points of Status, or spend the same number of points on Public Speaking, Bribery, Intimidation, Fast Talk, Allies, Contacts and so on.

Clash, you should spend less tiome being pedantic and more time answering your emails!

That's my line of thinking too; just because Plebs could technically rise up to high station, doesn't mean that they were able to often. Except for periods of intense crisis, there was relatively very little social mobility in this period of the Roman world.

RPGPundit