I badly want to do a campaign similar in tone to Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but not in the setting of Westeros.  Low to no magic, political maneuvering, backstabbing, romance, house rivalry, etc.  Non-human races are a possibility but I might be possibly inclined to do an all human setting.

Which of the following games would you use for this? These are the current games I'm considering.

Houses of the Blooded
Sword Chronicle
Fantasy AGE
13th. Age

Fantasy Age is the only one on that list I've even heard of.

Sword Chronicle. It's the Game of Thrones TRPG without the name and setting.

Quote from: Batjon on December 25, 2022, 08:08:53 PM
I badly want to do a campaign similar in tone to Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but not in the setting of Westeros.  Low to no magic, political maneuvering, backstabbing, romance, house rivalry, etc.  Non-human races are a possibility but I might be possibly inclined to do an all human setting.

Which of the following games would you use for this? These are the current games I'm considering.

Houses of the Blooded
Sword Chronicle
Fantasy AGE
13th. Age

Exalted. Remove Exalts and you have a good basis for a fantasy setting.

BX D&D With the magic and all else toned down as needed.

When someone says they want to run a game that is inspired by Game of Thrones, I take that to mean they want to go heavy on the politicking and intrigue, and lighter on the dungeons and the dragons. If so, then the way I see it, what you want is a skills-based low-fantasy game, preferably one with multiple different ways to build a socially adept character. Some options:

Warhammer Fantasy RPG: This would probably be my pick, actually. Similar late medieval/early renaissance setting to GoT (albeit with guns), multiple social skills (Charm, Bribery, Haggle, Gossip, etc), and an in-built social class system. It's not for nothing that a several of the most famous WFRP modules are intrigue/social adventures. The cons I see are 1) you'd probably have to modify the character creation a bit, if you want to have all your characters be tied in with the great noble houses, and 2) you might have to cut magic out entirely, since the magic is pretty heavily tied into the WFRP setting. You could use whatever edition, but I'd probably go 2nd over 4th, because I like the professions better.

Maelstrom: This is a game I just bought (I think because someone mentioned it here), so I haven't read it much yet. But it's another skills based low-fantasy game. This one is designed to be set in a slightly fantasy-d up version of the real world. The original version is set for 15th or 16th century England, but there are separate versions for the Anglo-Norman period, and for Ancient Rome. It's intended as an investigative game, but I think you could use it for politics just as well. It shares the issue with WFRP that it intends the players to mostly be regular people, but the magic system would probably work better for what you have in mind.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/667/Arion-Games/subcategory/1684_4422/Maelstrom

Clockwork and Chivalry: A BRP based game set in a steam-punk(ish) version of the English Civil War. I'm not too familiar with this one, but it's another low-fantasy skills-based early modern game with an emphasis on politics and civil war.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/97899/Clockwork-and-Chivalry-2nd-Edition-Core-Rulebook

Shadow, Sword & Spell: This would be an outside-pick recommendation for if you want to run your game in more of a sword-and-sorcery setting. This is another one I just purchased, but I suspect it's going to become one of my favorite fantasy games. Human-centric sword-and-sorcery game with a good skill list and a much more straightforward core mechanic than it's chief competitors. It's a bit higher magic than my other recommendations, but I think you could strip the magic out without hurting the game in any significant way. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214272/Shadow-Sword--Spell-Second-Edition

EDIT: I went and had a look at the Drivethru page for Sword Chronicle. Just based on the table of contents, it does look like it's purpose-built for what you're trying to do, and meets all the criteria I'd want for that kind of game, so with the caveat that I haven't actually read it, yeah maybe just go with that.

I think 13th Age is out on the magic level.

Quote from: ForgottenF on December 26, 2022, 09:40:49 AM
Shadow, Sword & Spell: This would be an outside-pick recommendation for if you want to run your game in more of a sword-and-sorcery setting. This is another one I just purchased, but I suspect it'd going to become one of my favorite fantasy games. Human-centric sword-and-sorcery game with a good skill list and a much more straightforward core mechanic than it's chief competitors. It's a bit higher magic than my other recommendations, but I think you could strip the magic out without hurting the game in any significant way. 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/214272/Shadow-Sword--Spell-Second-Edition

I think Shadow, Sword, & Spell is a good choice. The human-centric nature is a good match. There is more magic, but it's not integral to the system, especially with the S&S focus as something PCs must have.

I would also recommend Reign as it has built in faction and organization rules and a pretty straightforward system in the OneRole Engine. The newest edition is just finishing a KS and should be available to the general public next month. The older generic (no setting) version, Reign: Enchiridion is here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?keywords=Reign&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

I'd be real tempted to try this with Amber diceless, minus the magic

Honestly, I would suggest Fantasy AGE.

Quote from: Batjon on December 25, 2022, 08:08:53 PM
I badly want to do a campaign similar in tone to Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but not in the setting of Westeros.  Low to no magic, political maneuvering, backstabbing, romance, house rivalry, etc.  Non-human races are a possibility but I might be possibly inclined to do an all human setting.

I suspect that you will shoot down the idea, but all of the above have been regular features of my Traveller/Cepheus Engine games.

Quote from: jeff37923 on December 26, 2022, 09:18:04 PM

Quote from: Batjon on December 25, 2022, 08:08:53 PM
I badly want to do a campaign similar in tone to Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but not in the setting of Westeros.  Low to no magic, political maneuvering, backstabbing, romance, house rivalry, etc.  Non-human races are a possibility but I might be possibly inclined to do an all human setting.

I suspect that you will shoot down the idea, but all of the above have been regular features of my Traveller/Cepheus Engine games.

There is a fantasy Cepheus Engine supplement now, if memory serves.

Mini-six Bare Bones.  With one addition.  More on that at the end.

It's the classic Star Wars D6 rules, just simplified a bit.  Four Attributes instead of six, and a new way to run the combat turn called Static Defense.  Really, all you do are pre-calculate the average roll you would make when defending, write those down, and thus eliminate half of the dice rolling in a fight to speed up gameplay.

The reason I suggest this system is because it's free to download the rulebook, and it's not a system that relies on magic.  It's much more a skill system with no classes. 

Now here is the addition I love.  It's called Dueling Blades by Griffon Publishing.  It's a short, 4 page set of alternate combat rules for sword dueling when using D6 rules.  I love them.  It's basically an opposed roll of the two duelists, and the margin of success determines one of four outcomes.  A non-damaging forced movement across the terrain, a stun, a wound, or a critical hit that the GM gets to decide what it will be. 

If you take out magic, you may want some interesting sword duels to spice things up by occasionally switching to dueling rules. 

Quote from: PulpHerb on December 27, 2022, 11:05:05 AM

Quote from: jeff37923 on December 26, 2022, 09:18:04 PM

Quote from: Batjon on December 25, 2022, 08:08:53 PM
I badly want to do a campaign similar in tone to Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but not in the setting of Westeros.  Low to no magic, political maneuvering, backstabbing, romance, house rivalry, etc.  Non-human races are a possibility but I might be possibly inclined to do an all human setting.

I suspect that you will shoot down the idea, but all of the above have been regular features of my Traveller/Cepheus Engine games.

There is a fantasy Cepheus Engine supplement now, if memory serves.

Sword of Cepheus. I'm pretty sure that a second edition is coming out soon.

Quote from: jeff37923 on December 27, 2022, 02:31:55 PM

Quote from: PulpHerb on December 27, 2022, 11:05:05 AM

Quote from: jeff37923 on December 26, 2022, 09:18:04 PM

Quote from: Batjon on December 25, 2022, 08:08:53 PM
I badly want to do a campaign similar in tone to Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, but not in the setting of Westeros.  Low to no magic, political maneuvering, backstabbing, romance, house rivalry, etc.  Non-human races are a possibility but I might be possibly inclined to do an all human setting.

I suspect that you will shoot down the idea, but all of the above have been regular features of my Traveller/Cepheus Engine games.

There is a fantasy Cepheus Engine supplement now, if memory serves.

Sword of Cepheus. I'm pretty sure that a second edition is coming out soon.

That's it. I remember looking at it and being disappointed it didn't have "Barony" generation rules in the "Cities and Adventures" book like that mock-up of a "Fantasy Traveller" called Wanderer promised:



It is tempting to look at print Sword of Cephus as a real Wanderer, making even making the additions.