The Tabletop Historian's Guide to the Middle Ages
I’m writing a new book!
Games like Dungeons and Dragons let you roleplay characters against a backdrop of historical fantasy, with characters and archetypes drawn from Arthurian legend or Tolkienesque myth.
But have you ever wanted to play something more… medieval?
The Tabletop Historian’s Guide to the Middle Ages is a guide to the wild and wonderful real world of the Middle Ages, with classes, lineages and opponents drawn from medieval history and fiction. It’s a guide for DMs as well as players for injecting a bit more history into their gaming session, and will help you ground your worldbuilding in reality.
Or, want to get weird with it? Well then you’ve come to the right place, as this book will include sections on the monsters and mayhem dreamed up by medieval authors, including encounters from medieval heroic romances, epic medieval voyages into the unknown, and absurd creations lurking on the edges of your medieval maps and manuscripts.
FAQ:
What RPG system(s) is this for?
From the jump I am writing this with D&D 5th Edition in mind, and the classes, lineages, and monsters in the book will be written to be legal in that ruleset. That said, there will be loads of information that should make everything in this book adaptable for systems like Fate, Powered by the Apocalypse, or your favorite system.
Is this a full campaign setting?
Not exactly. I was impressed by the flexibility offered in Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, where the authors offered a flexible system for DMs to create settings appropriate to their campaign. I’m doing the same; so if you want to set your campaign in a strictly-historical version of 1345 France, you can do that. If you want to set it in a world of medieval legend and romance, you can do that too.
What will this cover?
“The Middle Ages” is a time period that can apply to any place in Asia, Africa, and Europe (and even beyond) from the year 500AD-1500AD.
That’s too much history for one book.
So this book will start with the part of the Middle Ages I know best: Western Europe, from the years 1000AD-1500AD. And if this one sells well, I’m looking forward to working on subsequent books on other parts of the Middle Ages (both in time and in geography).
When is it coming out?
I don’t know yet, though I’m glad you’re excited! There’s a lot to do: finish the draft, find illustrator(s) to collaborate with, get it playtested and edited, find a publisher (or Kickstarter). You know the drill!
In the meantime, if you want to keep in the know about how it’s going, sign up for the newsletter below! There you’ll learn all about the progress I’m making, what I’m researching at the moment, and some early tips and tricks for making your campaign more medieval!
