Revisiting the Renaissance-Era TTRPG

If we’re friends in the real world – or are familiar with my odds and ends projects from my tabletop gaming blog – you’ll know that one of my White Whales for years now has been a historical TTRPG set in the chaos and change of late 1500s Europe.

As the Rebels or Beggars site and social media can testify to, the era is a rabbit hole of interests to me. While I’ve wanted to find a way to translate what fascinates me so into a tabletop experience, I’ve always felt wildly uncomfortable and insecure about my knowledge of the era and ability to do justice to it.

It began as an OSR-inspired d20 hack, then evolved into two variations of a more narrative-driven and abstract game (influenced by Fate Core, City of Mist, and Pendragon) before my insecurities – in my own skills and in any product-market fit for a niche historical TTRPG – saw me put the project to the side.

And this isn’t to mention the two-ish different attempts at a narrative miniatures skirmish game, one of which saw a fair bit of playtesting and self-promotion.

All that to say is it occupies a complicated space in my mind.

But I’m tinkering with the ideas again, trying to find a sweet spot between historical fidelity and ease of play – particularly for those would-be players who aren’t the history nerds that I am.

Updates may be coming soon. Maybe.