RPGs similar to Deus Vult?

[mandrill_one]

At this point in time, iI think we can all agree that Legend is on indefinite hiatus, and with it one of my preferred settings, Deus Vult.
Can someone point me out to other RPGs that have a similar tone, (pseudo)historical setting and focus? I'm a fairly busy and unimaginative DM, so having a lot of available, ready-to-play scenarios and/or campaigns is definitely a plus!

Thanks to anyone who cares to answer!

Roberto

 

[soltakss]

Merrie England: Robyn Hode is a supplement for Revolution D100, published by Alephtar Games. It is a continuation of the Merrie England series (Age of Eleanor and Age of Chivalry) but ported to Robyn Hode. A third is general Medieval England Background, a third is rules and a third is for the Robyn Hode campaign. It should give you what you want, as it is a more generic medieval England supplement than Deus Vult. You can probably use Deus Vult with it with very few changes.

Having said that, I am the author, so am probably biased. Also, Revolution D100 is a slimmed down ruleset, compared to legend, but with some aspects that make for a more complex game. It is as compatible with Legend as Mythras, RuneQuest or BRP would be.

It doesn't have the secret order of monks, nor the medieval religious special forces vibe in the same was as Deus Vult, but would provide a good platform from which to hang a Deus Vult campaign.

 

[soltakss]

Just been at Alephtar's stall at UK Games Expo and Merrie England:Robyn Hode looks very nice indeed. We are there all weekend, so pop in if you are passing.

 

[mandrill_one]

Hi soltakss!
Thank you for the info on your book(s); I'm an old customer of Alephtar, I like their games very much, so I'll definitely try Robyn Hode!
However, when I tried to find it (and Age of Eleanor and Age of Chivalry) on the web I found nothing:
- The links in your "buy it" page (http://www.soltakss.com/merrieengland/MerrieEnglandBuyIt.html) return a "page not found" (Cubicle 7) and an online casino (YourGamesNow);
- Neither Alephtar website (http://www.alephtargames.com) nor Alephtar's page on Drivethru have any Merrie England books/PDFs listed.
Can you point me out to any valid link to buy the books you cited (including Age of Chivalry)? BTW, I'm only looking for PDFs, I don't have any room anymore for paper books in my home...

Best,

Roberto

 

[Verderer]

I've used Stupor Mundi (RQ2) and Val du Loup (BRP) to enlargen my medieval setting which uses Deus Vult too. They both have some supernatural elements which tie in nicely with Deus Vult if you want your monks chasing some local cults, nephlim etc.

Never got around getting the source book on Baltic crusades, don't recall its name right now.

But those are more or less using the same system or its variant. For a totally different system, I think Ars Magica would be usable, dunno know if it's still around?

 

[medievaladventures]

Can you point me out to any valid link to buy the books you cited (including Age of Chivalry)? BTW, I'm only looking for PDFs, I don't have any room anymore for paper books in my home...

Here is the Robin Hood link:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/213676/Merrie-England-Robyn-Hode?

 

[mandrill_one]

Thanks to everyone who chimed in with other info; Robyn Hode is definitely in my "to buy" list (now that it's available on Drivethru...).
I never heard of "Val du Loup", and it's definitely VERY interesting.
If someone has other suggestions, the more the merrier!

Roberto

 

[soltakss]

Thank you for the info on your book(s); I'm an old customer of Alephtar, I like their games very much, so I'll definitely try Robyn Hode!
However, when I tried to find it (and Age of Eleanor and Age of Chivalry) on the web I found nothing:
- The links in your "buy it" page (http://www.soltakss.com/merrieengland/MerrieEnglandBuyIt.html) return a "page not found" (Cubicle 7) and an online casino (YourGamesNow);
- Neither Alephtar website (http://www.alephtargames.com) nor Alephtar's page on Drivethru have any Merrie England books/PDFs listed.

The old Merrie England books are out of print. This is because the RuneQuest and Basic Roleplaying Licences were of limited duration and were not given the chance to renew, I believe. Thay are sometimes available as second hand books, but I have no links for them.

I forgot about that page and will amend it to include Robyn Hode and specify that the others are out of print.

Can you point me out to any valid link to buy the books you cited (including Age of Chivalry)? BTW, I'm only looking for PDFs, I don't have any room anymore for paper books in my home...

MedievalAdventurers has very kindly supplied the link, thanks.

 

[mandrill_one]

The old Merrie England books are out of print. This is because the RuneQuest and Basic Roleplaying Licences were of limited duration and were not given the chance to renew, I believe. Thay are sometimes available as second hand books, but I have no links for them.

What a pity!
Can you elaborate on the contents of these books? If I understand correctly, Age of Chivalry was a new, expanded edition of Age of Eleanor. How much of RH contents is superimposable to these older books?

Thanks again,

Roberto

 

[soltakss]

What a pity!
Can you elaborate on the contents of these books? If I understand correctly, Age of Chivalry was a new, expanded edition of Age of Eleanor. How much of RH contents is superimposable to these older books?

The Age of Eleanor http://www.soltakss.com/merrieengland/ME_AOE_TOC.TXT and Age of chivalry http://www.soltakss.com/merrieengland/ME_AOC_TOC.TXT Tables of Contents can be found in these links.

Age of Chivalry is an extended form of Age of Eleanor. I planned on producing several supplements for ME:AoE, but ended up rolling them into one big book.

Robyn Hode contains some of the core from ME:AoE and ME:AoC, together with new Revolution D100 rules and the Sherwood Campaign for Robyn Hode and his Merrie Men.

 

[The King]

At this point in time, iI think we can all agree that Legend is on indefinite hiatus, and with it one of my preferred settings, Deus Vult.
Can someone point me out to other RPGs that have a similar tone, (pseudo)historical setting and focus? I'm a fairly busy and unimaginative DM, so having a lot of available, ready-to-play scenarios and/or campaigns is definitely a plus!

Thanks to anyone who cares to answer!

Roberto

If you have some skills in French, there is an old RPG called Miles Christi where you can play Knights of the Templar Order during the Crusades. it is historically very detailed. They acted as a kind of police force in the Middle-East, trying not to stir any war, defending pilgrims and, in the game, fighting against evil supernatural forces. It is quite hard to find but is worth it (here is a summary: https://rpggeek.com/rpg/2628/miles-christi).
The rule books also has a very comprehensive bibliography on the subject.
There was even a sourcebook on the Hashshashins (Assassins).
The system was played without dice but with cards.

 

[The King]

You can also use the contents and scenario for Cthulhu Dark Age (or 1000 AD).
The German Publisher Pegasus Spiele has done some material for the game, including scenario and 2 big sourcebooks (one on the Middle Age, the other on the Crusades).
All are available on drivethrurpg.

Concerning the English edition, I only know of a sourcebook but you can also find some material through the MULA (MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION) monographs from Chaosium which offer some scenarios and setting for this period: https://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/CoC:MULA_Monographs


I also hear of a Spanish RPG called "Aquelarre" where you play inquisitors during the witch hunt in Medieval Spain. Though this is a fantasy game, there are lots of historical facts included. I'm not sure but I think the rulebook was translated in English.
Some info about the game and its supplements: https://rpggeek.com/rpg/10076/aquelarre-3rd-edition
Wikipedia dedicated page: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquelarre_(juego_de_rol)


As you can see, playing RPGs implies sometimes to know some foreign languages as well.

 

[The King]

I read somewhere that there should be soon a second edition of Cthulhu Dark Age (for CoC 7E) with a setting in the Severn Valley in UK.

As both the Deus Vult and Cthulhu rules share the same roots this shouldn't be too difficult to adapt one to the other.

 

[mandrill_one]

Thanks, The King! Your suggestions are very useful!
I already own Aquelarre, Miles Christi and Dark Ages Cthulhu, and I am planning to play the first one soon.
I'm Italian, and when I was a boy I learned to read English through RPGs, so the idea of using games written in some foreign language is quite familiar to me. In fact, I plan to play Aquelarre from the Spanish edition and Miles Christi from the French original; however, I'm much less familiar with both of these languages than with English, so I'll need a lot more preparation...
Didn't know that Dark Ages Cthulhu had some books written in German, maybe I'll try to learn some German too.

Best,

Roberto

 

[The King]

In German, there were 2 books for Cthulhu Middle Age:
- Mittelalter (Middle Age): http://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Mittelalter(Setting)
and
- Kreuzzüge (Crusades): http://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Kreuzzüge_(Quellen-_und_Abenteuerband)

Both are now out of print but are available as PDF on Drivethrurpg which is somehow an advantage because you can have the text translated. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/3445/Pegasus-Press/subcategory/5806_10374/Cthulhu

Pegasus also released PDF-only files for this period which are essentially scenarios.

 

[soltakss]

I'm Italian, and when I was a boy I learned to read English through RPGs, so the idea of using games written in some foreign language is quite familiar to me. In fact, I plan to play Aquelarre from the Spanish edition and Miles Christi from the French original; however, I'm much less familiar with both of these languages than with English, so I'll need a lot more preparation...

You would probably love Stupor Mundi, roleplaying in the Kingdom of Sicily under Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

 

[mandrill_one]

You would probably love Stupor Mundi, roleplaying in the Kingdom of Sicily under Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Yep, I have it!
I never got to play it due to the lack of published adventures. I don't want to learn yet another set of rules for play and setting, just to have to invent new adventures as well.
But this setting really, really interests me. Now, if I just managed to use the new Paladin game from Nocturnal to also play Stupor Mundi...
8)

 

[The King]

Which period do you play in the middle age? Just the time before, you have the dark Ages and the Arthurian Legends.
In this field there is also Mythic Britain from The Design Mechanism which uses RQ6/Mythras rules, that is a further version of Legend. Nothing prevents you from adding a dark touch, especially during those times of rivalry between Pagans and Christians.

 

[RosenMcStern]

Yep, I have it!
I never got to play it due to the lack of published adventures.

One does his best to fill half of the book with scenarios, and then user comment is "not enough published adventures"

The miniscenario The Hounds of Adranos is for an older version of Stupor Mundi but you should probably be able to find it somewhere. Perhaps even on DTRPG. Or PM me, it is free so I can send it to you.

All scenarios in Merrie England (all editions) are highly compatible with Stupor Mundi.

Crusaders of the Amber Coast was intended as a sequel for Stupor Mundi. It is out of print but you should be able to find a copy somewhere. It contains eighty pages of adventures, enough to run a one-year-long game.

The Conspiracy Theory is basically Stupor Mundi in modern times. It is free to download, look for it on DriveThruRPG.

Plus we might have a surprise for you next year