{"id":3357,"date":"2010-12-08T11:15:16","date_gmt":"2010-12-08T17:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/?p=3357"},"modified":"2014-04-19T20:52:56","modified_gmt":"2014-04-20T01:52:56","slug":"users-guide-the-historical-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/roleplayerschronicle.com\/?p=3357","title":{"rendered":"Users Guide: The Historical Genre"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following article is a continuation of the Genres in Gaming<\/a> series of articles written to help players and GMs determine which games are available within the genres they want to play. The lists of systems contained throughout or by no means exhaustive. All game systems are listed within the sub-genre as I understand from the knowledge I have. If they are improperly categorized, please post a comment further explaining what the sub-genre should be and why.<\/p>\n

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Historical is not just a setting for it is a setting and the way in which the mechanics are developed around that setting or how the setting affects the people, places, or background of the system as a whole. With this in mind, Alternate History sits at a crossroads between the Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror genres by tying them together in interesting new ways and placing this grouping within a Historical setting and building many of the mechanics around this setting and how it affects the different genres.<\/p>\n

(True) Historical<\/strong><\/p>\n

True Historical based systems or settings stick to the facts (or as close to them as possible) and attempt to make the game feel as realistic as possible.\u00a0 This is often done through a pain-staking amount of research into the lives and events of the people within that time period. The background of the setting tries to perfectly mimic historical facts while the mechanics try to replicate how life was lived or how day-to-day events occurred.\u00a0 Equipment must match that of the times along with minute details like currency, travel methods, communication, and even how people dressed.<\/p>\n

These ideas are always dependent upon the historical reference being recreated.\u00a0 Some things become less important while other things become not important at all.\u00a0 Military tactics in a Civil War game may be a lesser point of concern while in a World War II game they become quite important.\u00a0 Each setting will be unique in what becomes important and what doesn\u2019t have an in-game effect.\u00a0 But as you may find, a fully fleshed-out Historical system could cover all aspects of that period while a simple sourcebook or supplement only offers the most important.\u00a0 I will not be distinguishing between these two.<\/p>\n

The following systems are representative of (True) Historical and may have numerous published supplements. Each one is noted as the game system, game setting (where applicable), publisher, and historical period displayed as: System \u2013 Setting (Publisher) Historical Period.<\/p>\n