The Bronze age

[Stabatha]

I run a campaign loosely based on a bronze aged world. There was some decent info on designing campaign worlds in different eras. However I have had to slash and burn lots of armor , weapons and other Items.
The current campaign has spiraled a little out of control, as I tried a little of everything, and ended up with a hodgepodge of anachronistic settings and equipment.
I chalk most of this up to being a new gm with high hopes. However I have learned a vast amount of what not to do next time around. As much as a bronze aged world ( with a Greek theme ) still interests me, I am beginning to wonder if a Roman themed world would make my job as a Gm a little easier.
That way I could incorporate more cultures and equipment to make my players happier.

So does anyone have any good advice on running a homebrew game world? Also is there any good open content out there with a decent bronze age theme to make my life a little easier?

[Seldriss]

I would recommend these books from Green Ronin:
- Eternal Rome (Romans)
- Hamunaptra (Egypt)
- Testament (Israel and other civilizations)
- Trojan War (Greece)

[Stabatha]

sweet stuff , thanks much :)

[Bilbo Bang-Bang]

I will get you a run down on arms, equipment, and a couple other things this weekend. I have a couple of sources to work from.

[Seldriss]

And if you can get access to some old AD&D stuff, I would also recommend these campaign sourcebooks, commonly known then as the green books:
- Age of Heroes (Greece)
- The Glory of Rome
- Celts
- Vikings

[DrDew]

Seldriss wrote:

And if you can get access to some old AD&D stuff, I would also recommend these campaign sourcebooks, commonly known then as the green books:

- Age of Heroes (Greece)
- The Glory of Rome
- Celts
- Vikings

Yeah. I've never seen the first two but I've used the Celts and Vikings to help flesh out my homebrew world.

I should pick up those other two though 'cause I have an Empire of Dwarves based loosely on medieval Roman culture.

[cranewings]

The Greek world was build with Egyptian know how, probably back when it was populated by blacks if you are going to believe Herodotus. Across the sea you have Anatolia which is a hodge podge of different cultures, ruled by Persia, a nation of free people from so many walks of life that it makes the United States melting pot look pretty plain. North Africans, Germanic barbarians, Spaniards and Greeks all had different fighting styles and weapons. The Royal Road of Persia leads all the way to China during and interesting part of its history.

I don't know how into history you are but you can really populate the heck out of your game world with different arms, armor, and fighting styles.

One thing I think is a decent way to play it is make a list of the weapons and armor each culture you are including has, and then make the heaviest available as good as plate.

Hoplite Armor: Helm, Greaves, and a Bronze Curias could be AC +8 or +9. Make Persian scale for the Companions / Immortals +5.

The last two games I've run have been set in the Bronze or Iron Age. I love it.

[cranewings]

Seldriss wrote:

And if you can get access to some old AD&D stuff, I would also recommend these campaign sourcebooks, commonly known then as the green books:

- Age of Heroes (Greece)
- The Glory of Rome
- Celts
- Vikings

I've got the whole set of those books. They are really amazing as a jumping off point to getting your world running.

[cranewings]

Stabatha wrote:

So does anyone have any good advice on running a homebrew game world? Also is there any good open content out there with a decent bronze age theme to make my life a little easier?

Give me your email and I can send you my game world notes. They might help.

[Stabatha]

cranewings wrote:

Give me your email and I can send you my game world notes. They might help.

You can hit me up at [e-mail] any notes will be appreciated.

I am a bit of a history buff , having read about 10-12 books on the time period , not including the Iliad & the Odyssey. Right now I have crafted a home brew with a real mid to early bronze age feel. I have tried to evoke a dawn of civilization feel. So far it's a lot of fun.
The problems I have is the need to remove a number of Items and equipment , or at the very least scale them back.
That being said, it is still a fantasy game and I like mixing in other elements.
As a gm I have only just started to find my voice and play style. There is just so much fun stuff in the core books, I want to tell a engaging story while keeping my players options open. Some of my early ideas have crashed and burned ( eliminating the volume of coin for example )
Plus I don't have the time to rewrite the core books.

[Bill McGrath]

There's a book by Sean K Reynolds called The New Argonauts, which was originally written for 3.5 I think. It's a set of variant rules and guidelines for running games in the style of the Greek myths; might be of some use.

[Lagdufn]

I'm currently going to be running a game in the bronze age and would love to see your notes if possible. [e-mail].
Thanks

[x9ss]

Dotting this for future reference.