Roleplaying games from historical research
Petrus Pontium is a bridge troll who has adapted to Venetian custom. He runs a stick-fighting and wrestling school near the canal end of the Merceria. He rarely defends the bridges during official mob-style matches, but will meet challengers for single combat. When fighting or teaching Petrus wears armor, and carries a shield, weaved from…
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Long ago we discussed Nozick’s Utility Monster and I designed a fallen angel to embody it. I’ve just heard a ghost story by Barry Pain that has a similar feel. Rose Rose is a revener that makes artists work themselves to death. Thanks to Mike Pelton and his Librivox production team for this recording. Statistics…
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When you open a book of Cheshire folklore, Alderley Edge immediately looms. It’s like Sherwood in Nottingham folklore. Time for us to head on in. Here’s a version of the core story. There was a farmer headed to market at Macclesfield to sell a fine, white mare. As he passed Thieves Hole on Alderley Edge,…
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When I was writing Mythic Venice I put in a deliberate error: I mentioned restaurants. Venetians in the period didn’t use them so far as I can tell, they preferred street sellers. Lacking one type of street seller I didn’t mention ombra sellers, so its time to correct that. Venetians like a snack and a…
Read MoreMythic Europe Magazine, the new pdf fanzine for the Ars Magica roleplaying game, is seeking submissions for issue #2. Issue 1 is available at various online sites. FAQ: Deadline: There isn’t one. I’ll collect submissions until there’s sufficient material to release an issue. That’s at least 50 pages of text plus public domain art, but…
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Clark Ashton Smith is one of my favorite authors, but it is difficult to use his material for roleplaying games. The intellectual property for many of his works, in TTRPG settings, is held by Wizards of the Coast. TSR based the module X2, Castle Amber, on his Averoigne stories. It’s a sort of proto-Ravenloft story…
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Our last dive into the “Legends of Longdenale” by Thomas Middleton, collecting folklore sites and monsters for a saga book. Boggarts are sometimes faeries, but here it seems to be a ghost. Thanks to Tony Scheinman and his Librivox production team. T would, perhaps, be difficult to find in all England a tract of country of…
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Our monthly foray into Longdendale to find material for a saga book. There’s a barguest the size of a cow! Thanks to the reader, Tony Scheinman, and his Librivox production team. NTIL the latter half of the nineteenth century there might have been numbered among the curious old buildings for which the township of Godley has…
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Our monthly return to Cheshire, to patch together a saga book. May I offer the ghost of a witch in a ruined cottage? Thanks to Doc DL Martin and her Librivox production team. N the township of Godley, on the fringe of what was formerly an unenclosed common known as Godley Green, stands an old farm,…
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A further link in the chain of stories to create a story book set in Longdendale. Proof of a constant culture of magic in the valley. We have a story that will seem familiar to fans of early Americana. Thanks to RandyReads and their Librivox production team. ONGDENDALE has always been noted for the number of…
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Games From Folktales 