Hot Spots: Renaissance Florence

[Otto Harkaman]

I think this seems a very interesting but difficult supplement to make attractive to players. Don't you think someone would need some extensive background knowledge of the setting? I was lucky to have briefly visited Florence a couple times through the university I attended and slowly collected books and videos about the city and its inhabitants. I have seen a couple older threads in the forums about this supplement, has anyone successfully run adventures in this setting?

[Otto Harkaman]

The supplement has an impressive bibliography;
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/h...liography.html

I am currently reading Christopher Hibbert, "The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall" I couldn't find the book mentioned by him in the bibliography Florence: The Biography of a City.

Its hard to find adventure/fantasy novels about the city though. Anne Rice has written two novels in her new vampire series taking place in Florence, Pandora and Vittorio the Vampire. I have as yet to read them. Then there are a couple contemporary detective stories by Michele Giuttari, A Death in Florence and The Dark Heart of Florence, which I also haven't read yet.

[Captain Joy]

Originally Posted by Otto Harkaman

…has anyone successfully run adventures in this setting?

I ran my Monster Hunter's campaign in it. No regrets.

[Devil_Dante]

well, a little help could come from assassin s creed 2
it has a lot of italian story. I 'm italian and it s well done
look for the house of Medici and Pazzi's family
that ages are our coolest history

[johndallman]

I've used it in Infinite Cabal, as the residence of a version of Annio da Viterbo who isn't a fraud, but a genuine scholar.

[Phantasm]

I don't use the setting directly, but I always put it on my list of "recommended for flavor" books when I run a game in my own Renaissance Fantasy setting.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Otto Harkaman

Don't you think someone would need some extensive background knowledge of the setting?

Players rarely have background knowledge of any made-up setting, unless it's an adaptation of a known franchise and they happen to be fans. The same solutions for made-up settings work just as well for historical ones.

Hand out a (short!) introductory sheet. No more than three paragraphs and one bullet list, or players will start missing things.
Go over things verbally in the introductory session - explicit exposition, but again in small bites or they'll miss details. Some players learn better by hearing than by reading.
Show players things like cultural details by description. What NPCs do, how they talk, what they're wearing, what things look like, smell like, sound like, etc.

For example, when you're describing what someone's wearing (if it signifies something), throw in a little bit of world knowledge - "he's wearing a jacket in red and yellow, the colours of House Capulet". Require rolls vs Heraldry for specialized things, but just tell them if someone's hat means they're a noble (or a member of a street gang). Nibbles at a time.

Just because it's historical doesn't mean all the GMing tricks stop working.

[Otto Harkaman]

I did find a copy of Christopher Hibbert's "Florence: The Biography of a City" and I am currently reading Michael Mallett's "Mercenaries and Their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy"

Originally Posted by johndallman

I've used it in Infinite Cabal, as the residence of a version of Annio da Viterbo who isn't a fraud, but a genuine scholar.

I didn't know about Annio da Viterbo before, thank you for the information. I have collected several articles about the Platonic Academy and such people as Marsilio Ficinio and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola etc.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Players rarely have background knowledge of any made-up setting, unless it's an adaptation of a known franchise and they happen to be fans. The same solutions for made-up settings work just as well for historical ones.

Hand out a (short!) introductory sheet. No more than three paragraphs and one bullet list, or players will start missing things.
Go over things verbally in the introductory session - explicit exposition, but again in small bites or they'll miss details. Some players learn better by hearing than by reading.
Show players things like cultural details by description. What NPCs do, how they talk, what they're wearing, what things look like, smell like, sound like, etc.

For example, when you're describing what someone's wearing (if it signifies something), throw in a little bit of world knowledge - "he's wearing a jacket in red and yellow, the colours of House Capulet". Require rolls vs Heraldry for specialized things, but just tell them if someone's hat means they're a noble (or a member of a street gang). Nibbles at a time.

Just because it's historical doesn't mean all the GMing tricks stop working.

Excellent advice!

Yes I had noticed Assassin's creed has some connection to Italy, I don't know much about the game though. I see someone has written some novels based on the game?

[Otto Harkaman]

I did find an interesting Italian movie about Renaissance Warfare, The Profession of Arms by Ermanno Olmi 2001
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIi8bRPuKyo

Although a hundred years later hard to beat Batalla de Rocroi in the movie about Captain Alatriste
https://youtu.be/CTYuYxmICGo?t=41s

Fun old campy movie "The Swordsman of Siena" preview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhK-xJk8tVQ