How do you run effectively run historical campaigns? [Archive] - Wizards Community

How do you run effectively run historical campaigns? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
KJW
11-30-07, 11:17 AM I consider myself a pretty good DM, but the one area I consistently bomb is running historical campaigns. I have tried d20 Past, Space 1889, Cthulu, and the like and my consistent problem is communicating the time period. So besides writing a thesis on a time period how can one easily communicate a time period as a GM? I recently got Tibet the RPG and I know my wife would love to try a duet campaign in it, but if I do a historical campaign I want to get it right.
RalofTyr
12-04-07, 06:46 PM Read those, "Day in a life" books.

For instance, if you want to run say, Cthulhu, read books about the lives of people in the 1920s. I'm thinking of running a vampire game that spans hundreds of years that goes from Chaucer England to Elizabethian England. I've read several books on Chancer's England and Elizabeth's england. They're fairly easy to find at the local library.

One important aspect is that you have to be interested in and enjoy the time period you are RPGing.
DebiHuman
12-10-07, 08:45 AM I consider myself a pretty good DM, but the one area I consistently bomb is running historical campaigns. I have tried d20 Past, Space 1889, Cthulu, and the like and my consistent problem is communicating the time period. So besides writing a thesis on a time period how can one easily communicate a time period as a GM? I recently got Tibet the RPG and I know my wife would love to try a duet campaign in it, but if I do a historical campaign I want to get it right.

It sounds like your players aren't getting the time period. They may need more hand-outs. One thing you might consider is copying parts of a relevant book and black-out the DM material to give to your players.

It really depends on the time period. For 1890s What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew summarizes that time period. Castle Falkenstein also has a lot of that time period flavor.

A Tibetian campaign sounds like a lot of fun but knowledge intensive. Stuff that would have been common knowlege is necessary for the Players to know too.

One of the fun things about the 1890s is that there are so many cool characters both fictional and historical and you can blend the two. For a nifty into to your Tibetian campaign, have your players watch the movie Lost Horizons. The history lesson should be FUN not just a list of who's-who.

Debby
KJW
12-11-07, 09:33 AM Thanks for the replies this has been helpful. One question I have though, and this is probably where I flub more than not, is language. How one speaks is important to setting the mood of a campaign, I remember the old al-Qadim setting for 2nd Edition and using some of the phrases they provided was quite useful in setting the flavor. So where can one go to get help in this regards, be it Victorian or Tibetan? I will be compiling a list of resources for historical campaigns and anything would be useful.
DebiHuman
12-13-07, 09:09 PM Some people are better with accents than others. In my humble opinion, don't worry if the accent proves more than you are comfortable with. Once the players and you have watched something that resonates, it will not be at all necessary to worry about language. Sometimes the feel of a campaign can be done with very little. A few pictures can do it a lot better than dry text.

Debby
crazy_monkey1956
12-14-07, 11:26 AM It strikes me that the key to running any historical based campaign is accurate knowledge. More than any other style of gaming, this one requires research.
KJW
12-14-07, 12:13 PM Some people are better with accents than others. In my humble opinion, don't worry if the accent proves more than you are comfortable with. Once the players and you have watched something that resonates, it will not be at all necessary to worry about language. Sometimes the feel of a campaign can be done with very little. A few pictures can do it a lot better than dry text.

Debby

I have long given up on accents, besides a good R2 astromech and an annoying British accent I have nothing. :) I agree less is more, but figuring out what is key can be hard. So at a minimum what does one need to make a historical campaign work?

It strikes me that the key to running any historical based campaign is accurate knowledge. More than any other style of gaming, this one requires research.

So true, but I don't know if historical gaming is an abnormality in that. The fact is that most good GMs have done a lot of research for their campaigns, just not the same way. A fantasy D&D campaign is inspired by all the fantasy books, movies, and mythology you studied. A modern d20 campaign is inspired by your knowledge of the world. I find that the divide between good and bad GMs is often knowledge of the real world not their game mastery or creativity, a GM who doesn't understand how people think will never be able to run realistic NPCs or scenarios. The trick with historical campaigns is that we have not done the research and need to start anew, unless we are doing a time period we were interested in as a hobby. That is the obstacle.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
KJW 11-30-07, 11:17 AM	I consider myself a pretty good DM, but the one area I consistently bomb is running historical campaigns. I have tried d20 Past, Space 1889, Cthulu, and the like and my consistent problem is communicating the time period. So besides writing a thesis on a time period how can one easily communicate a time period as a GM? I recently got Tibet the RPG and I know my wife would love to try a duet campaign in it, but if I do a historical campaign I want to get it right.
RalofTyr 12-04-07, 06:46 PM	Read those, "Day in a life" books. For instance, if you want to run say, Cthulhu, read books about the lives of people in the 1920s. I'm thinking of running a vampire game that spans hundreds of years that goes from Chaucer England to Elizabethian England. I've read several books on Chancer's England and Elizabeth's england. They're fairly easy to find at the local library. One important aspect is that you have to be interested in and enjoy the time period you are RPGing.
DebiHuman 12-10-07, 08:45 AM	I consider myself a pretty good DM, but the one area I consistently bomb is running historical campaigns. I have tried d20 Past, Space 1889, Cthulu, and the like and my consistent problem is communicating the time period. So besides writing a thesis on a time period how can one easily communicate a time period as a GM? I recently got Tibet the RPG and I know my wife would love to try a duet campaign in it, but if I do a historical campaign I want to get it right. It sounds like your players aren't getting the time period. They may need more hand-outs. One thing you might consider is copying parts of a relevant book and black-out the DM material to give to your players. It really depends on the time period. For 1890s What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew summarizes that time period. Castle Falkenstein also has a lot of that time period flavor. A Tibetian campaign sounds like a lot of fun but knowledge intensive. Stuff that would have been common knowlege is necessary for the Players to know too. One of the fun things about the 1890s is that there are so many cool characters both fictional and historical and you can blend the two. For a nifty into to your Tibetian campaign, have your players watch the movie Lost Horizons. The history lesson should be FUN not just a list of who's-who. Debby
KJW 12-11-07, 09:33 AM	Thanks for the replies this has been helpful. One question I have though, and this is probably where I flub more than not, is language. How one speaks is important to setting the mood of a campaign, I remember the old al-Qadim setting for 2nd Edition and using some of the phrases they provided was quite useful in setting the flavor. So where can one go to get help in this regards, be it Victorian or Tibetan? I will be compiling a list of resources for historical campaigns and anything would be useful.
DebiHuman 12-13-07, 09:09 PM	Some people are better with accents than others. In my humble opinion, don't worry if the accent proves more than you are comfortable with. Once the players and you have watched something that resonates, it will not be at all necessary to worry about language. Sometimes the feel of a campaign can be done with very little. A few pictures can do it a lot better than dry text. Debby
crazy_monkey1956 12-14-07, 11:26 AM	It strikes me that the key to running any historical based campaign is accurate knowledge. More than any other style of gaming, this one requires research.
KJW 12-14-07, 12:13 PM	Some people are better with accents than others. In my humble opinion, don't worry if the accent proves more than you are comfortable with. Once the players and you have watched something that resonates, it will not be at all necessary to worry about language. Sometimes the feel of a campaign can be done with very little. A few pictures can do it a lot better than dry text. Debby I have long given up on accents, besides a good R2 astromech and an annoying British accent I have nothing. :) I agree less is more, but figuring out what is key can be hard. So at a minimum what does one need to make a historical campaign work? It strikes me that the key to running any historical based campaign is accurate knowledge. More than any other style of gaming, this one requires research. So true, but I don't know if historical gaming is an abnormality in that. The fact is that most good GMs have done a lot of research for their campaigns, just not the same way. A fantasy D&D campaign is inspired by all the fantasy books, movies, and mythology you studied. A modern d20 campaign is inspired by your knowledge of the world. I find that the divide between good and bad GMs is often knowledge of the real world not their game mastery or creativity, a GM who doesn't understand how people think will never be able to run realistic NPCs or scenarios. The trick with historical campaigns is that we have not done the research and need to start anew, unless we are doing a time period we were interested in as a hobby. That is the obstacle.