There are lots and lots of medieval RPGs, even some that are set in the renaissance which is the same time frame as the beggining of the Age of Discovery, but the focus is always in something else completely.
I want an RPG where you play as a genoese explorer in 1450 that is being funded by he crown of Portugal to form an expedition of intrepid (or desperate) sailors and adventurers from all across the known world to venturr into the unknown to bring gold and glory to the their master or die trying, facing sea monsters, pre-historic creatures and demi-human savages in these foreign lands that no man stepped before. Is that too much to ask?
Seriously, they didn't have a clue of what really existed in what is America, Oceania, south of Africa, etc, etc, and they had barely set foot onthe open ocean too. You could easily make an alternate history world where everything is different and more magical and alien.
Am I wrong and there are games sort of like that?
No
Honor + Intrigue. By default it's 17th century, but it pretty comfortably steps back to the 15th and 16th. Obviously it effects what guns are available, and smallswords weren't a thing yet, but that's about it.
H+I is indeed good and it has a bunch of mechanics that could be used as they are or with just a few tweeks to represent this era, but you would need to use just the mechanical skeleton and write a whole new game still.
>you would need to use just the mechanical skeleton and write a whole new game still.
I'm not sure how you come to that conclusion.
Mostly you'd just need different duelist styles because the rapier was still cut and thrust rather than being mostly thrust.
Bro I don't want to sound like a jerk but as I said, everything is different.
The historical background is night and day, we are talking about a mostly still medieval world of feudalism, knights, crusades, powerful catholic church, crude gunpowder weapons, super early beggining of modern mapping and sailing, no printing press, hanseatic and italian traders, etc, vs a globalized world of super powerful european national states where everything is pretty much already discovered, mapped and conquered, sailing is on another dimension, guns are on another dimension, the social structure is different, there are global markets and actual capitalist companies, etc. Probably forgot to mention a lot of important differences but in many ways the world in the 17th century is closer to our world than to the 15th century world.
If you're looking for a gazeteer or really detailed mechanics to distinguish things like ships or guns more than they already are, then there's probably something GURPS in this flavor.
This level of autism demands that i recommend GURPS to you. It is truly and unironically what you want
Lamentations of the Flame Princess may fit, or Helvéczia maybe.
Do you have a copy of Helve? D&D is not really my cup of tea but I'm eager to read anything that could even remotely inspire me.
Thanks bro, will give it a reas. I'm specially curious on the ship travelling mechanics.
Well, a 17th century swashbuckling RPG has pretty much nothing to do with a 15th century exploration RPG in pretty much every possible way.
Yeah I've been working on a game like this for about a month now, just making it to play with my bros since It's something that interests me and I can't find anything already made anyway...
Helvéczia is in the O-S-Rchive.
Couldn't find it there
Reading it now, it has indeed a looooot of information. Dunno if it isn't just a bunch of made up crap tho, because I'm on the first pages and they are already confusing a caravel with a nau or carrack.
Yep, I'm going to steal some classes and a bit of the spice for sure from WHFRP.
I searched for a couple minutes but I'm not even going to try to find this pdf, it is not going to happen lol.
Helvéczia is in the EMDT folder
Thanks again brother!
Only sort of related but there's Traveller 1700 which is traveller's multi week jumps replaced with ships taking weeks to get places.
It's colonial america but might be a good place for idea if you're looking.
I just really like Traveller.
Its a great setting. I have thought about playing or running a game like that. Historical or quasi-historical settings have a lot of potential imo. The problem is that they can become reddit if you handled properly.
GURPS Aztecs
GURPS Low-Tech series
GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses also has rules for surveying a newly-discovered land (triangulating).
I have played GURPS for years but I'm kinda over it right now. I see GURPS as decent source material but that's it, the books are a bunch of dry ass lists of things. I skimmed through the ones anon mentioned again anyway.
Read this too. It's alright but has indeed nothing to with the OPs premise, as I suspected. It's a colony simulator.
H+I is the only vaguely similar thing mentioned so far... RIP.
Are you looking for a setting then? Because many rpg systems will be able to handle such a game with minor adaptations if any at all, but there is no such specific setting available for you. You will have to use relevant bestiaries based on mythological creatures and make things up yourself.
If it's a system you need, then Riddle of steel, or it's spiritual successor Song of swords sounds up your alley with it's autistic detailing of 15th century arms and armor.
Welp, what I really want is both together, for a setting like this to truly shine it would be based to have specific navigation and exploration mechanics.
And Riddle of Steel is unplayable. It has this nice novel idea that others can be inspired by to make functional games and that's it. Song of Swords on the other hand is an abomination. Mechanically it only manages to complicate things EVEN FURTHER than they already were in TRoS, while at the same time managing to have the gayest, ugliest and most plastic book/lore/setting you could imagine.
I have a list of reference books that I'm using to build my RPG (with a little comment on what is good in that book/system/setting that I should imitate or be inspired by) and SoS is the only thing listed there as a what not to do hahahah.
the best you can get is OSR thrn
The 2E AD&D supplement "Of Ships and the Seas" has rules for sailing and all sorts of ocean info
This book is actually pretty good now that I read some more, lots of cool ideas for naval combat.
And some pretty weird stuff mixed in, pircrel
so whats the reason for elves, and even sea elves not being as functional as humans under water?
Is it cause elves are teinks or are huma s water elementals?
What is this from? I'm guessing 3.5 since I'm not sure Anguiliians show up in any other edition.
2e
Huh. Didn't know they were older than 3e. Neat regardless.
Literal tsr d&d.
> I want an RPG where you play as a genoese explorer in 1450 that is being funded by he crown of Portugal
anon, that exactly is renassance. thats exactly warhammer fantasy rpg level stuff. if not slightly after.
even has lustria and the new colonies.
I'm going to read this Lustria thing. But WH in general is just in the same time frame more or less, but the focus and tone is completely different. Kinda like Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade which is set in the 15th century also but the focus is underground mage shit.
Still, probably has a lot of material I could use in some way, thanks.
Makes sense if you want more historical/lower fantasy. Though a lot of warhammer is relitively low fantasy and has the sort of stuff of old worlders (Euros) colonizing foriegn lands and getting into fights with Araby pirates (Arab-turks) and trying to find pasages to ind(ia). A lot of it deals with that sort of NOT! earth stuff, but there is of course more fantastical things too like deamons and dark elves. Which you could just skip over.
geezeranon here. I remember seeing it, but I don't remember ANYONE who's ever played it.
7th Sea?
Imma check it out. But as far as I remember 7th Sea was kinda meh besides also not being about exploration and being on another time.
But maybe I'm wrong about some of these things? I'll see...
That book is very dense with information but you can tell most of it is pulled straight out of the authors ass on the spot lol, I doubt that even whoever created that chart could explain his reasoning
There's nahui ollin, a spanish tabletop rpg set during the exploration and conquest of the americas. Made by the same people behind aquelarre
7th Sea, kinda