Historical fantasy

[weasel_fierce]

so I've been thinking of doing a historical fantasy game, ala Poul Andersons "the broken sword". Set around the viking age (800 to 1000 ) with the various historical cultures and peoples, but with a mythic edge.
The woods have elves and trolls, there's dragons, sorcery and witchcraft, that sort of thing.

Magic would go along these lines:

Divine magic is more or less what it is. People who spend the time, dedication and sacrifices to their god will manifest the qualities of their deity (a viking warrior getting the berserk spell f.x.) or simply be the recipient of miracles (a christian knight healing the injured). It wouldnt really be considered "magic" by anyone, though it'd be rarer than in default RQ.

Rune magic comes from "items of power". These can take many forms.. dwarf made rune items (for a norseman), pieces of holy text or saintly artifacts. Or artifacts of elder ages. Its all a question of what you believe in. Having a splinter of the Cross is good luck.. and lo and behold, it gives you the protection spell.

Sorcery would be the only "real" magic, in the sense that everyone knows its magic. It'd be the fringe stuff. Outcasts, renegades and esoterics. That also explains why no professions get it from the start.


I'd propably include the folk magic from the Glorantha players guide too, to reflect basic superstition and folklore.

Thoughts, ideas or whatnot, either about the magic, or about using MRQ as a historical set ?

 

[soltakss]

Sounds good. Could you write it up as you go along and publish it on the web somewhere? The RQ Alternate Earth Group would be interested in the campaign setting.

I'd use shamanism for Finns, Lapps and people from Siberia/North America if your campaign goes that far.

Having magic from magical items is a good idea as it restricts magic use. Folk magic is good for small charms and little helping spells.

RQM is a good rules-set for a historical game as it provides detailed backgrounds, as long as they are written up. Stupor Mundi has shown that it works for Medieval Europe. Hopefully the Samurai supplement will show that it works for Medieval Japan as well.

 

[weasel_fierce]

yeah, I want magic to be present, but somewhat infrequent. Most importantly, most people wont consider it "magic" as such.

I'll have to reread shamanism and see if I can make sense of it, but yeah, for finn's and lapp's, I'll definately pull that out.

I'll need to talk to my players once we finish the current game (Godlike by Stolze and Detviller) but its a project I've had in my head for a long time.

 

[Loz]

Hopefully the Samurai supplement will show that it works for Medieval Japan as well.

Actually, it'll fail in that regard, because its set in the Heian period, so pre-Medieval, pre-Feudal. But with a little jiggery-pokery you could run Tokugawa/Sengoku era.

 

[RosenMcStern]

Well, my thoughts on the subject have been widely expressed in Stupor Mundi, but here is another couple of comments.

For the 800-1000 timeframe, do not forget to refer to the old AH Vikings supplement for RQ3. It has a lot of interesting ideas. It also suggests that the Norse religion has a substantial shamanic component, or at least it had it in the beginning. I would add shamanic traits to many religions in that timeframe, not limited to Lapps and Finns.

Be careful with objects of power. Holy relics were commonly encaseed in holy items in the Dark Ages, and the finest swords often had a relic in the hilt. But I would not handle this as a Rune. It would certainly not work with Islam, which was expanding very fast in Europe at the time.

I am 100% with you about Divine Magic and Sorcery, instead. However, there is no reason to prevent a character from starting as a sorcerer, especially if we get the "official" instructions in Deluxe RQ. Historically, astrologers were considered powerful wizards (see the description of Michael Scot and Guido Bonatti in Stupor Mundi) and the. Michael Scot was even offered a bishopric at one time, and everyone believed he was a conjurer of otherworld entities.

And above all, have a good campaign!

 

[atgxtg]

You might want to hunt for a copy of RQ Vikings. It did pretty much the same thing, but with RQ3. NO doubt some of it would be useful and adaptable to MRQ. The ship/sailing rules and thestuff on Norse monsters and religion in particular.

 

[weasel_fierce]

I'll think about sorcery a bit more. Maybe make detection/divination type of spells "legally" available, but other types of sorcery is kept in the dark

 

[zozotroll]

I am currently doing a fantisy Pirates game. I am useing shaminism as quasi Voodoo/ Native magic. I may soon allow a divine caster as a docter/healer.

Healing has been the biggest problem with low magic. It just doesnt seem like pirates without a few fights, but with neither magic, nor modern medicine, people spent a fair bit of time healing up. That may be historical, but not as much fun as it could be.

Whne almost nobody has magic, a little bit can go a long way.

 

[Utgardloki]

An interesting note about 1000 AD.

The pope who was elected at that time, Sylvester II, was rumored to have consorted with a succubus named Meridiana. I've been thinking of ways to work her into the historical narrative, but Sylvester II, originally Gerbert of Aurillac, was a man ahead of his time, so I've imagined Meridiana as a benevolent being who gave him guidance and instruction.

Gerbert of Aurillac lived from 945 to 1003 AD.

Even if your campaign is set before Gerbert's time, it is possible that the mythical legends described on his wikipedia page are around, such as Meridiana and the Nine Unknown Men.

 

[weasel_fierce]

thats interesting stuff. Im kinda figuring there'll be plenty of behind the scenes dealings, witchery and demonic alliances. All good stuff

 

[arnon]

Healing has been the biggest problem with low magic. It just doesnt seem like pirates without a few fights, but with neither magic, nor modern medicine, people spent a fair bit of time healing up. That may be historical, but not as much fun as it could be.

Whne almost nobody has magic, a little bit can go a long way.

You could do something similar to what Skull & Bones did from the d20 pirates: Increase healing rate dramatically.

 

[RosenMcStern]

I'll think about sorcery a bit more. Maybe make detection/divination type of spells "legally" available, but other types of sorcery is kept in the dark

Absolutely. Note that you can use also the Augury skill from Legendary Heroes, but that does not fit very well into Christianity or Islam because it involves a living sacrifice.

 

[soltakss]

I'll think about sorcery a bit more. Maybe make detection/divination type of spells "legally" available, but other types of sorcery is kept in the dark

Absolutely. Note that you can use also the Augury skill from Legendary Heroes, but that does not fit very well into Christianity or Islam because it involves a living sacrifice.

Well, theologically, Christian rituals do not need living sacrifices as Christ did away with sacrifices by sacrificing himself, so the sacrifice has already been made.

But, that aside, there's no reason why you can't just say that Augury for a particular religion does not need a living sacrifice or substitute an alternative method. You might read entrails or clouds or flames in a fire or anything.

 

[weasel_fierce]

But, that aside, there's no reason why you can't just say that Augury for a particular religion does not need a living sacrifice or substitute an alternative method. You might read entrails or clouds or flames in a fire or anything.

or simply pray for clarity or whatnot. I had forgotten about Augury, thanks!

 

[SnowDog]

Sorry for the sort of threadthievery but where are the rules for shamanism? I am slowly building my own (fantasy) world that will very likely run on MRQ. One part will be very much like a medieval Finland where Christianity is slowly being rooted by analogs of Swedes, Danes and Germans.

In that regard what kind of magic "Christians" would have?

 

[weasel_fierce]

Shamanism I'd propably try to decipher the spirit magic from Cults of Glorantha 2, and work from there.

Christians wouldnt have "magic" as such (at least they wouldnt think so) but devout and proper folk may exhibit miracles (divine magic in game terms)

 

[Mikko Leho]

Christians wouldnt have "magic" as such (at least they wouldnt think so) but devout and proper folk may exhibit miracles (divine magic in game terms)

I feel this would oversimplify things as most Christians in the middle ages would acknowledge the power of witches, cunning-folk, diviners and such.

 

[weasel_fierce]

thats where folk magic (from the glorantha players guide) comes in though. As far as I figure it anyways, obviously its all preferences

 

[SnowDog]

OK, I have to check out that book. I suppose spirit magic wasn't in the companion or in some of S&P articles...

As Christianity is totally seral number filed off in my setting, could the rune magic be applicable? I mean most of the people who have this new religion come from countries whose ancestors were Vikings in our world (yes, Germans didn't use runes but this one's still only an adaptation). This would be extremely limited and maybe those runes would represent some sort of relics?

 

[weasel_fierce]

yeah, I think that would be really cool. Real world christians were all about relics and whatnot, so that'd be very appropriate.

Im sort of wondering about an idea where many of these relics propably have disputable origins, but are, in fact, runes as we understand them in RQ. The myths just sort of build up around them over years.