If you ran a campaign in your vicinity, what would it be?

[Anders]

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

[RyanW]

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.

[adm]

Here? (Southwest Missouri) Most likely US Civil War, probably the guerilla portion.

[Phantasm]

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.

[thrash]

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.

[baakyocalder]

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.