So the new Maelstrom Companion has come out, and, having been given a free copy I'm very impressed. I've always liked that game, and the MC goes a long way to fixing the problems with the mechanics the original system had.

So now I'm left dreaming dreamy little dreams about running a Tudors game. The question would be, what would be the right kind of campaign to run in Tudor England during the reign of King Henry VIII?

There's tons of possibilities, so share some of what you'd want in that kind of game, if you were a player.

RPGPundit

This was originally thought up for an Elizabethan Campaign, but it should work for Tudors without a problem.  That is, if you want to edge out of a true historical game.

Original post: http://www.strolen.com/content.php?node=1377

The Order of The Lost

The Order is an odd order. It is a knightly order that does not require its members to be knights, or even noble. It is a small order to be sure, but no list of its members exists. It seldom appears on the rolls (the list of orders in the kingdom) and has an entry only in the master indexes of heraldry - yet is not found in lesser indexes. Even with all these strange elements, the "leader" of the order can sit in the Crown's council and even ask for private meetings with The Crown, his Council, and the High Priest of several sects.

The Order of the Lost is an order whos purpose is the laying to rest of ghosts, destruction of vampires, the banishing of daemons (and the "removal" of those that summon them), and "the calming of thy strang and mythical" (per the ancient scrolls), to protect the Crown and the Peoples of the Land. The members are mostly soldiers, (some noble and some common), priests, and the occasional odd member (thieves, rogues, and the odd magiker). All these people have in common is surviving a deep brush with "thy strang and mythical" and having skills that someone in the order found (or thought) was useful. The order operates in "squadrons" of four to ten, each squadron runs independently. Leaders of said groups loosely know a few of the others. There is a shadowy council pulled from those leaders (or the contacts of those leaders), but little comes down from the council.

The member of the order insist on secrecy. Good people do not speak of spirits, demons, vampires and such, lest they call such evil and chaos to them. The members might face fear and potential disgrace if people knew they interacted with them. In addition, if their identities were generally know, the greater monsters (and those that summon and traffic with them) would hunt them... rather than the other way around.

To be honest, this group and others like it, tend to be my "default campaign".... supernatural action/ investigation without sanity blasting.

Quote from: MoonHunter;298546This was originally thought up for an Elizabethan Campaign, but it should work for Tudors without a problem.  That is, if you want to edge out of a true historical game.

Original post: http://www.strolen.com/content.php?node=1377

The Order of The Lost

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To be honest, this group and others like it, tend to be my "default campaign".... supernatural action/ investigation without sanity blasting.

I've been running this exact campaign - well, the name of the order isn't the same - for a couple of weeks with Blood Games II. I'm afraid this isn't what Pundit was thinking about though. He's pretty firm with the "Historical" in the thread title.

-clash

Some historical fiction that at various points has made we want to play in the period:

John Arden: Books of Bale - rather good novelisation of the life of the RW Henrician playwright turned Protestant propagandist and ultimately Anglican Bishop Henry Bale - If Shakespeare in Love had been written by someone with balls it might have been like this.

Lawrence Norfolk: The Pope's Rhinoceros - set in 1490s Italy (with various side-trips to the Baltic and Africa) rather than Tudor England and featuring the misadventures of a pair of rogues who are basically much stupider, uglier and unluckier versions of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser - has a very RPG-feel (assuming your GM is both a sadist and a genuine scholar of the period and that your players don't mind playing omni-incompetent characters) and the anticlerical in Pundit should really enjoy it.

Amin Malouf: Leo the African - again right period but set in Mediterranean and Muslim world, account of a Granadan Moorish exile and his wanderings - gentle and rather melancholy.

Luther Blissett: Q - cracking good novel of religion, corruption, revolution, intrigue and vengeance taking in the German Peasant's Revolt,  Anabaptist Munster and decadent papal Rome - real gritty Warhammer vibe (would love to set a Munster Commune in say Bogenhafen).  

Not in the same literary league but also enjoyed Memoirs a Gnostic Dwarf by David Madsen - yet again set in Italy rather than England though.

All of the above are largely supernatural-free and mostly realistic - although Madsen and Norfolk both have mystical elements.

And of course if you haven't read the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini run out and get it - no other contemporary book (other than perhaps Simpliccisimus which is from the next century) catches the texture of life in both the court and the gutter as well - and Cellini would make a great NPC patron or villain - can just visualise him popping up Belloc-like to snatch the precious Maguffin and make off with it.

I'd probably want my campaign tied to events of the time, especially the religious chaos caused by the Reformation in England, and the political chaos caused by Henry's marital events.

I could see the PCs as agents, spies, mercenaries and assassins for different factions/individuals of note in these conflicts.

RPGPundit

Perhaps the events surrounding the Pilgrimage of Grace? Rebellion, religious warfare, betrayal - kinda has it all.

You could wind it back to the reign of Henry VII and put people into the War of the Roses.

Quote from: The Shaman;298591Perhaps the events surrounding the Pilgrimage of Grace? Rebellion, religious warfare, betrayal - kinda has it all.

Strange you should say that....the Pilgramage of Grace will be covered in a book that has already started preparation!  
The events of the middle part of the 16th Century are perfect for RPG's.  There is warfare, banditry, espionage, religious turmoil, petty empire building, scientific progress, supernatural goings on etc

I think I'd probably start around the time just after the divorce with Catherine of Aragon, when it still wasn't at all clear that this whole thing wasn't just a momentary whim of Henry's, and yet at the same time it seemed like the influence of the Reformers was growing daily, but with a strong catholic resistance.  Then you'd get to play out the back and forths between the catholic and reformer factions as Henry himself went from woman to woman, and favorite to favorite in his court.
This being Maelstrom for the system, the players would likely to not be at that level of court (except possibly for Nobles) but to be at that "second tier" of the people depending on court-patrons and their fortunes or misfortunes: the Boleyns, the Howards, Cromwell, etc. etc.

RPGPundit

Quote from: bottg;298702Strange you should say that....the Pilgramage of Grace will be covered in a book that has already started preparation!  
The events of the middle part of the 16th Century are perfect for RPG's.  There is warfare, banditry, espionage, religious turmoil, petty empire building, scientific progress, supernatural goings on etc

Great minds yadda-yadda . . .

Have you considered something based in Westward Ho! or The Dark Frigate? A little later than the Pundit had in mind, but could be lots of fun.

We are actually looking into lots of possibilities for sourcebooks, adventures etc.  I am quite taken with the idea of doing a light hearted adventure to be honest.  It is a little bit later historically, but i don't see that as a major problem.