17th Century Mulligan

As many of you know, I've been working on abortive attempts to put together a role-playing game campaign for the last few years. This time, I've got my ducks in a row to land this baby. (Is that mixing metaphors?)

The Game System

I decided that the most popular role-playing systems (D20, GURPS, et. al.) were insufficient for this game. During my trip to Hawaii, I started to work on my own combat system. When I returned, I set about investigating whether someone had already invented teh combat system I was inventing. As luck would have it, the answer is yes; it's called The Riddle of Steel. What separates it from other systems is 1) detailed, realistic combat rules (which is a vast oversimplification, as it's realism can itelf be "cinematic" or fantistical), and 2) a character development system that puts strong emphasis on the character's defining motivations and spirit.

The Setting

The game will begin in England in the year 1603, at the time of the death of Queen Elizabeth. Many heroes of the Elizabethian age are dead and gone: Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins, Robert Devereux (Earl of Essex), and William Cecil (Elizabeth's minister). The most famed Englishmen alive at the time are Sir Walter Raleigh, Francis Bacon, and William Shakespeare (whose career is at its zenith). Somewhat less well known, yet crucial figures include Robert Cecil, Charle Blount (Lord Mountjoy), and George Clifford (Earl of Cumberland).

Jame VI of Scotland is poised to take the English throne as James I. (But will he?) There are no English settlements in North America -- the first colony failed. (Will the second succeed?) Henry Hudson's voyage is still six years in the offing. (But will someone get there first?) The Gunpowder Plot is two years away. (Will it succeed?)

The Player Characters

There are no character classes. The mechanics of creation primarily consists of assigning priorities to physical and mental attributes, professional abilities, martial proficencies, gifts and flaws, and (key to this setting) social class and wealth. Also, a character's predilection to concience, faith, passions, drive, and luck are selected. Particular detail is lavished on martial proficencies. In this game, any boldness may well have to be backed up with steel, and there will always be a risk of grievous wounds or death anytime it comes to blows. But, mark well, fortune favors the bold.