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Old 04-16-2017, 02:52 PM   #1
Anders
 
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Default If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

There are a couple of periods in Swedish history that lend themselves to roleplaying, but I think there are three that haven't been explored (vikings have been done, so I'll skip that).

1) Vendel period, the period before the Viking era. This is a period of consolidation of power and wealth, as can be seen from archeological evidence. In the myths, this is when the battle of Bråvalla, between the Danes and the Swedes, took place. This was a huge battle in which no less than 200 000 people* took part. If you want a Swedish version of the Trojan war, this is where to look.

2) The beginning of the 14th century. There was a family from Östergötland (East Geats) called Bjälboätten, which arguably created the state of Sweden (as opposed to a loose coalition of tribes). Birger Jarl and his son Magnus Birgersson built the Swedish state during the 13th century. At the beginning of the 14th century, Magnus' three sons fought a civil war which ended in the so called Håtuna Games. After that there was peace for ten years, and then another brief civil war starting with the Nyköping Banquet. A period of great turmoil when hardened PCs might make a name for themselves.

3) The 17th century, when Sweden was one of the Great Powers of Europe. We beat Poland, Russia, Denmark (twice) and the German Emperor and gained enormous power, prestige, and wealth... at a staggering cost in human suffering. As a Swedish council member said "we have won land in other countries and laid waste to our own." One of the reasons for our success was a meritocratic aristocracy - again, an opportunity for PCs to climb up the ranks.

* this may be a slight exaggeration. It is doubtful whether the population of Sweden was 200 000 people at the time
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Old 04-16-2017, 03:31 PM   #2
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

I'm not that far from Blackbeard's old haunts, and just across the river are the sites of a major ACW battle and the only successful coup d'état in US history. Blackbeard and maybe the events around battle would be interesting for an RPG, but a race riot that ends with the entire city government resigning at gunpoint not so much.

Going the opposite direction, I've got a sketchy map of what my area might look like in the Fallout universe.
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Old 04-16-2017, 03:38 PM   #3
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

Here? (Southwest Missouri) Most likely US Civil War, probably the guerilla portion.
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Old 04-16-2017, 03:42 PM   #4
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

South Carolina upstate (the I-85 corridor down to Lake Greenwood reservoir)... I'd probably be either US Civil War or American Revolution, though pre-Columbian Cherokee isn't a bad idea either.
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Old 04-16-2017, 04:12 PM   #5
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

I keep looking at the San Francisco Peaks here in Flagstaff -- an ancient stratovolcano with its top blown off -- and thinking what a great Demon Lord's Stronghold dungeon you could make out of it. The volcano is still technically active, though there hasn't been an eruption in 900 years or so.
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Old 04-16-2017, 05:28 PM   #6
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

1. Western game. I tried to start this with Aces & Eights, but that was open-ended and I liked the new HackMaster more. If I find better players, well I'm from Sacramento, so I can do the California Gold Rush and settlement of California quite well.

I should see when the book by Donald J. Pisani on Fremont and squatters comes out.

2. Ran a GURPS Highlander (as in the TV and movie series with Queen as the soundtrack) game set in Sacramento. This would be fun to run again and could even have snapshots of local photos and history as flashbacks.

3. Supers campaign. It's not my default supers setting, but being the state capital of California, a more grounded supers game could work.

4. Mage: the Ascension. You could do this differently in different eras, for we had military bases in vogue at one point and there's always politics. Also, it's close enough to San Francisco and Los Angeles for road trips to the bigger cities as adventures.
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Old 04-16-2017, 05:43 PM   #7
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

I'm in Oregon, so I would be remiss to not mention the famous Oregon trail.

Of course any American campaign could cover pre-Columbian eras and "just" have Native tribes. Though having lacked written records, much of the details about them would have to be cobbled together from conjecture and oral history.

One could have a one off involving this very unusual incident:
https://www.wired.com/2010/05/0505ja...-kills-oregon/
"They are the only World War II U.S. combat casualties in the 48 states."
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Old 04-16-2017, 05:54 PM   #8
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

While I could use the different New Zealnd land wars as seed for a campaign I would probably got forward in time for gaming purposes, distopian futures where the southern hemisphere is slightly better off but is forced to salvage north of the equator seems to be a good fit. Or a more sci-fi Oceania setting could work well.
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Old 04-16-2017, 05:59 PM   #9
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

I've got Motor City to the southeast and Furniture City nearby. Our sand is really good and uniform on the beach so I hear it used to get sold off in bulk to Silicon Valley, though as with most things I can't tell if that was a joke or something that actually happened. My area's big on manufacturing stuff and full of lots of natural resources, I just can't think of anything interesting to do in a game set here.
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Old 04-16-2017, 06:35 PM   #10
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Default Re: If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

Apart from the famous farmer fisticuffs I'd run......eh............uh.....has something interesting and gameable happened in Icelandic history?
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