I’m going to have time next year to run a historical game, the kind that requires plenty of GM reading and research… so I’m starting the reading now. This will be a realist game for history wonks, reenactors and theatre nerds.

Two settings have interested me for a long time:

• The 17th C Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, setting of novels and film (With Fire and Sword; The Deluge; Taras Bulba). Political and military intrigue, wilderness journey, black powder, Winged Hussars, Cossacks, Tatars, cannon, sword duels, carousing, swashbuckling mayhem. Ruleset will be Stara Szkola, fast and brutal.
  
  
• Special Operations Executive in WWII Western Europe. Players take the role of partizans, resistance fighters and SOE operatives. Reconnaissance, sabotage, spying, assassination, smuggling POWs, punching Nazis. By comparison to the above, this will be a more brooding game that requires careful planning, spycraft and quick wits. Ruleset will be Set Europe Ablaze, simple mechanics.

I can only do one. Between the two settings, keen to know where player interest lies.

Also keen to hear if people have experience with either of these game systems.

Likewise if you have resources or recommendations for books and media.

I'd take either, but my question would be "what's your tolerance for setting newbies"? I mean, I know a little about the Commonwealth, but if you told me to just start improvving based on my knowledge, it wouldn't be super realistic. That said, I'd favor the Commonwealth, just because I haven't seen it done before and I also happen to have the rules.

The Commonwealth is definitely the more difficult of the two settings from a context perspective, because anglophones generally aren't familiar with it and there aren't a ton of low-barrier english language resources. The books are there, but they're heavy-going 19th C novels.

For setting newbies, the lowest barrier to entry are the movies, if you can get your hands on them. Links for a few below. There are also a couple video games that are historically accurate--Mount and Blade: With Fire and Sword, and Hellish Quart.

Period movies set in Western Europe like Cyrano de Bergerac (the Depardieu version) and the Three Musketeers can also give you a bit of insight. There were many Western European mercenaries employed by the Commonwealth and its adversaries, Germans, mainly, and a surprisingly large number of Scotts. So familiarity with period Western Europe will carry over.

Since I'm planning a 2025 start, you'll have time to read one or more of the novels! Free access in Archive.org, and some free audio book recordings on Librivox.

Movies:
Ogniem i Mieczem (1999) https://archive.org/details/ogniem-i-mieczem-odc.-3
Potop (1974) https://archive.org/details/potop_202104
1612: https://archive.org/details/1612Russia
This message was last edited by the user at 12:14, Thu 26 Sept.

I am super keen on both concepts.

I have not heard of either system, let alone played or own them, but I'm willing to playtest them.

I'd be interested in the first one. I even speak a little bit of Polish (hopefully more in the next few months!)

There is a Polish game set in that the Commonwealth period: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...a_(role-playing_game)
This message was last edited by the user at 09:20, Thu 26 Sept.

In reply to Jon Canuck (msg # 3):

Awesome movies, but it has been many years since I saw them!

In reply to BFink (msg # 6):


Yes, I'm aware of it. One of the most popular RPGs in Poland, co-authored by a famous author of period novels. Sadly none of them translated from the Polish. I would love to find a copy if only to google translate the source material :)

Interested in both potential settings. Already know a smidge about the Special Operations Executive and own Set Europe Ablaze. Will need to bone up on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and acquire Stara Szkola.

Thanks for your responses, everyone. This has helped clarify things for me. There is ample interest in both games, with a little more interest for the Commonwealth setting.

However, there’s a huge difference in the time needed to develop the two settings. There are existing RPG sourcebooks for the resistance setting, and none for the Commonwealth. Likewise, tons of websites and books on WWII resistance, and very little on the Commonwealth (in English, at least).

Given that the barriers for players and GM are lower for a WWII game, and that the Commonwealth game will take much more time to develop, I’ll start building the resistance game now, for opening in the coming weeks.

I’ll keep gathering source material and resources for the Commonwealth game with the aim of putting together  a player primer on Early Modern Eastern Europe. I’ll look to do that game in future, maybe late 2025 or early 2026. Those of you who expressed interest, I’ll rMail you when that game is getting closer.

Those of you who want to punch Nazis, please click the link below, where we can discuss more detail on setting and characters.

link to another game

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 03:28, Sat 28 Sept.