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:
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_iBDQOXCHTEU/S-tP32f8zyI/AAAAAAAAAqw/PU3-UgtWkIg/s1600/wanderer.jpg)
It is tempting to look at print Sword of Cephus as a real Wanderer, making even making the additions.
I ordered Sword Chronicle by Green Ronin, since it uses the same system as the Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) RPG they did, which I played in the past. It is tailor built for this kind of thing.
However, I did recently see and became intrigued with Reign by Greg Stolze. It seems like it does this same sort of thing. The new 2nd. edition from the Kickstarter is now available on DTRPG. Does anyone know anything about it? Is it good? Can it do this type of game well? I know very little about it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/418934/Reign-Rules?src=hottest (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/418934/Reign-Rules?src=hottest)
not to be that guy, (i use D6 for everything if its not D6 I'm not shilling for it) but have you considered Pendragon at all? I cannot help, am powerless, to NOT steal heavily from Pendragon if there is going to be any knights or chivalry at all, in fact, in the current "come up with a way for us to use our ad&d books within your beloved D6 system please" endeavor, I have stolen Greg Staffords genius trait system as a method of interpreting ad&d alignment, i will attach pic from current character sheet build to illustrate. Pendragon would imho (if you are not such a cool guy that you would use D6 as its clearly the best system ever devised for anything ever and might in fact cure aids if taken rectally) do game of thrones or even robin hood if you wanted. The 4th edition has magic rules if needed and they are what a greyhawk player would probably call low magic.
Anyway I had to dump one trait to get the numbers right, chose chaste/lustful because i figure that could fit under a couple of the others like prudent/reckless. But this is a devious way to track and enforce alignment on greedy little gnomish bastards I reckon.
I know its not on your list in OP, but consider Pendragon, it's got plenty to steal from, as does Dark Albion, if you are going for that medieval politic aesthetic, as a much of the research and adaptation is already done for you when they put those works together in the first place. I would also steal heavily from rules cyclopedia or acks for domain management, maybe birthright as well.
Gold-book BRP.
What about actual Song of Ice and Fire RPG - now renamed Sword Chronicle: Feudal Fantasy Roleplaying, powered by the Chronicle System.
Quote from: Batjon on December 29, 2022, 07:38:38 PM
I ordered Sword Chronicle by Green Ronin, since it uses the same system as the Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) RPG they did, which I played in the past. It is tailor built for this kind of thing.
However, I did recently see and became intrigued with Reign by Greg Stolze. It seems like it does this same sort of thing. The new 2nd. edition from the Kickstarter is now available on DTRPG. Does anyone know anything about it? Is it good? Can it do this type of game well? I know very little about it.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/418934/Reign-Rules?src=hottest (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/418934/Reign-Rules?src=hottest)
I never played Reign itself, but I did run some games using One Roll Engine. It's an interesting system that you have to play first to really 'get it'. If your players are all willing to invest time into learning the system it's good, but I found with a split of player types, from those who want to know the system well before they use it to those who don't want to spend too much time learning it, it's not a great fit.
I'm also not sure how great the domain rules are. It got a lot of attention simply for having them, but I'm not sure if people were happy because the rules were good or just because they existed.
Quote from: Wrath of God on January 15, 2023, 10:17:50 PM
What about actual Song of Ice and Fire RPG - now renamed Sword Chronicle: Feudal Fantasy Roleplaying, powered by the Chronicle System.
I ordered it and have it in-hand now. It is the way I'm going to go with the concept.