Bringing the Past to Life
Designing my Roman Empire TTRPG
It’s been a little while since my last update - a mix of holidays and hard work stealing the weeks away! But now, I’m back with some exciting developments and interesting insights. There’s much on the horizon, and much I want to share.
In this post, I want to discuss why history is the ultimate sandbox for storytelling and adventure, and how I intend to do that in my upcoming Tabletop Role-Playing Game Campaign Guide - Caesariensis.
The Magic of History Games
History games aren’t just about learning facts or remembering dates. While they can be incredible educational tools, they offer so much more. With a little bit of creativity, the stories of history can be retold in fresh and exciting ways.
The whole of human history provides us with endless tales and traditions of caution, heroism and tragedy, and our own personal experience exists as an echo through it all. Translating history into a format we’re all familiar with - games - opens up new opportunities to see the past in a whole new light. We have the chance to step into another’s shoes and see the lives that they led long ago. We can explore beyond the pages of a dusty textbook in an older, alien world; navigate every mountain, side-street and fortress as if you actually climb the slopes, shuffle through the bustle and walk the mighty ramparts.
Each quest can take you on the same journeys they took. Their adventures - the dangers and the triumphs - are your own. Games can do all of that and so much more. What better source material do we have than our own origin.
Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) go even further to offer a unique experience, as they invite players to engage through the theatre of the mind. Without flashy graphics or animations, we can rely on our own computational powerhouse - the infinitely creative human mind. Using imagination alone, historic worlds can unfold - not so easily showcased, a unique view for everyone, yet a deeply personal perspective. TTRPGs encourage the deep and conscious connection with history. Through thinking, feeling, contemplating and creating, we can truly play in the past.
The stories of the past can become personal to you, right here in the present, as if you actually lived them. That, to me, is true magic.
Researching and Designing these Worlds
Have you ever wondered how much work goes into making a game? The world, the characters, the action, the encounters - all of it has to be made somehow, by someone’s tireless effort and limitless creativity.
Most studios will split the work between a team of designers, but for an indie game developer like myself, such luxury does not always exist. For the most part (and preferably so, for many developers), we have to design every part of the game ourselves. It’s a warming feeling to know that every aspect of the thing you are passionate about and dedicated to has passed through your fingers alone.
When designing a TTRPG based on history, there are so many new considerations and challenges to the design process that you might not have thought of.
Tools
TTRPGs present the tools to run a game to the Games Master, and they interpret that guidance however they like to their players. Parts of the story that you found critical to the experience may be skipped over and never heard. Characters you spend a lot of time designing may never be found in the world, because the players never chose to go to that town (also the labour of much design work).
This is the nature of TTRPGs. The players are at liberty to do whatever they want within the scope of the GM’s world, and the Games Master can run whatever setting or campaign they like. Sure there should be consistent expectations between the GM and the players… an alien invasion, in the middle of the player’s Roman Triumph, might not go down so well if the players were bought in to a serious historic setting… but ultimately, anything can happen.
The campaigns and systems we create have to facilitate the cooperative storytelling and dynamic, on-the-fly decision making that the table will bring.
Rules
Rules are tricky too. Some games expect players to be rummaging through the books, looking up damage values on giant tables, and otherwise having an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules of the game. It’s a little hard to get invested in the story, immersed in the world, or involved in the combat, when you’re too busy turning pages. I prefer to (but really struggle to) keep the rules simple. You want to solve problems that arise in your gameplay by adding extra rules or entirely new mechanics just to deal with one small thing, but this can quickly bloat your ruleset and make the game really clunky, so be sparing with what you include.
Accuracy
When designing history games, we have even more to consider. First of all, how accurate do you want the experience to be? Ultimately, there will be something you get wrong (probably quite a lot), or something your players assumed that you could never expect them to have heard before. Expecting a pure playthrough, with no historical inaccuracy, is quite a high and mighty doctrine, and who’s to say you yourself would not fall short of such a dictate. Far better then to humbly accept that inaccuracies may occur.
That does not mean however, that we can make up whatever we like. We can, but that would be called fantasy. A historic setting needs to be thoroughly researched to have some semblance of reality. I need to know what the south of France might have looked like 1675 years ago. I need to learn about Roman cities, transport, trade goods, power structures, military operations, etc. I need to know who was in power that the Emperor might have called a friend - even though they explicitly aren’t anywhere stated to be - and whether they’re actually in or near Gaul. I have to decide whether it even makes sense to include a person in the campaign guide if they’re relevant to the story but could never actually appear in a playthrough, especially when I have so much I already need to write about and include. In short, I have a lot of stuff to research.
Communication
But you see, not only do I have to research all of these things - somehow, the Games Master needs to be as familiar with them as I am. I need to communicate all I’ve learned to them, and in a way that they can convey to their players. Should I just write a paragraph or two? Should I make a map or a diagram? Should I give choices for how the game should progress? Or should I weave the history subtly into the narrative and plot and backstories and sidequests and descriptions of the world and the scenery and the character motivations and…?
There’s a truly endless array of possibilities, and the answer is all of them. If I want the campaign to not just feel alive and complete, but to reflect the real history that it is based upon, then I need to communicate my understanding of that history at every possible chance, giving the Games Master the greatest toolset imaginable to portray the world all by themselves.
All of this, and we haven’t even mentioned how the game looks!
Caesariensis and the New Directions
Caesariensis is my Tabletop Role-Playing Game. Specifically, Caesariensis is the general setting - the later era of the Roman Empire. Death of Constans is the first campaign in this setting. It ties the players into the assassination plot against the Emperor Constans in 350 A.D., which in reality was a successful attempt. With Constans dead, the Usurper Magnentius marched to Italy to claim the allegiance of his new Empire. This campaign has players either trying to track down the Emperor to kill him, or trying to protect him from the would-be assassins.
I’ve been working hard to design this game for just under a year, splitting my focus between a few game ideas and the launch of Donne Caestrum as a business and online presence. As I alluded to in the previous section, there’s a lot that goes into making a game like this that even I hadn’t considered, and I want to make my games really valuable and content-rich, which means a lot of work.
Caesariensis reached an important milestone in April, with three major showcases released to present just how far the designs had come. There was a long way to go, and there still is, but progress has been made.
I realised though that I couldn’t rely on just showing off my work at every opportunity. As much as that is the way nowadays - to bring people along for the journey and reveal a lot of the process - I do need to keep some of what’s to come under wraps. Not to mention, I’m still really unknown, and cannot expect people to support and potentially fund a project, without anything tangible to see and experience here and now. Cue the modules!
Caesariensis won’t be finished tomorrow, this is just reality. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t give something to the players, and I have a lot of exciting things lined up for release.
I needed products that people would be happy to buy - large enough to have value, but much smaller than Caesariensis itself, to be able to release lots of them quickly. They needed to be related to Caesariensis: either as expansions to the kind of content that comes in the main campaign; additions to the game to help players play and Games Masters create and tell the stories; or as their own, self-contained experiences that use the same themes, research and world design. I needed things people could print and play, that could be brought to the table quickly and easily.
I have called these the Pre-Release Modules.
Upcoming Releases and how to Support
In the next few weeks, the Pre-Release Modules are going to be released bit by bit. Along with them, there is an offer available until the 1st July. If you purchase any of the Pre-Release Modules or a Subscription to the Patreon at any paid tier, you will get Caesariensis: Death of Constans for free when it eventually comes out (Prototype version and full release).
Also, Patreon subscribers at any paid tier are able to get any of the Pre-Release Modules as they release for free, and any Prototype versions of Caesariensis for free as well. I want to give as much content and reward for any support I get and make it as worthwhile as possible.
Here’s a breakdown of my planned releases, though some of these are not necessarily guaranteed to come out. Even if the design is mostly complete, I need to ensure a level of polish and quality. I’m trying to ensure that you don’t necessarily need Caesariensis: Death of Constans to get value out of any of these Modules, which I believe is very important. Obviously however, for some Modules, they will be far more valuable when the set is complete.
Be on the lookout for the official announcements!
Death of Constans Adventure Pack - 12x One-page One-shots set alongside the Caesariensis: Death of Constans Campaign. Richly detailed scenarios that have you unravelling secret cults, investigating murder plots, exploring the wilderness, breaking out of prison, debating, restoring peace, running errands, quelling rebellions and exposing corruption. They can be integrated into your campaign, or played separately.
Item Card Pack - a TTRPG Handout Tool, 39x thematically appropriate Items for the Caesariensis: Death of Constans Campaign. I tried out a new art-style for these that better suits my skill level, and some of them I’m really proud of. Each item comes with details for integrating them into the world, an indication of the Latin name, estimated values and rarities, an image and in most cases, a mechanic or ability that fits within the Caesariensis ruleset.
Caesariensis Character Designer - a TTRPG Toolkit for developing characters (as a Player or Games Master), with a Quick Design guide, Lite and Full Rules Character Sheets, Roman Name roll-tables, and a number of Prefab Characters to print and play as. A great resource for new TTRPG players, and useful for experienced players too.
Ludus Gladiatorius - a Print and Play Rogue-like Game! Step into the Arena and fight through 100 waves, armed with nothing but a dice, decision making, and a few pieces of paper. Earn rewards for the waves you defeat as you solve the enemies weaknesses and perform for audience favour.
Death of Constans Faction Packs (Imperials and Usurpists) - two Expansion Packs for Caesariensis: Death of Constans, that provide a whole campaign structure for getting further involved with either side of the conflict. Each Pack comes with a roster of unique characters, a batch of 18 Quests and 15 repeatable Tasks, rewards for progressing the faction and developing their presence in the region, and lots of background information about the lore - real history and imagined story - of the supporters of Emperor Constans and the Usurper Magnentius.
Battle Maps Packs - Potentially, a regular release of 5 new Battle Maps each month. These are a TTRPG resource to bring the scenarios of your campaign world to life in a visual way (especially for combat). If I can make these to the appropriate quality, they will be a fantastically valuable addition to your table.
The Constantinian Dynasty Chart - I’ve released a handful of charts before (the Coelling’s of the Dark Ages, the Celtic Kings of Britain before the Romans, and a Timeline Chart of British history from Prehistory to the end of the Roman era). I want to release one for the Constantinian Dynasty to go along with Caesariensis: Death of Constans, but we’ll have to see.
And maybe some bonus content I won’t announce just yet.
If any of this is appealing to you, then please consider showing your support for Donne Caestrum, and taking advantage of the limited offer. After the 1st of July, you will no longer be eligible for Caesariensis: Death of Constans (when it releases) for free with your Module or Patreon purchase, so the time is truly now!
Big projects like these don’t happen in a vacuum. They’re a labour of love, a long process, and also a collaborative effort. I cannot do this without your support! Whether it’s sharing my work, giving your feedback, or becoming a part of the journey with your subscriptions, everything that you can do is incredibly valuable.
If you’re as excited as I am about what’s coming, now is the perfect time to subscribe and stay tuned! Thank you so much for reading. Let’s make history together.