Most of the great advances of the Renaissance were at the end of a long chain of ideas originating in the Classical World of ancient Greece and Rome. But there were also some key innovations which seem to be derivations of another, far less well understood context – the indigenous or “barbarian” cultures of the …
Rezeß (“Rezess”) – The Medieval Art of Compromise Read More »
After 3 years, Codex Guide to the Medieval Baltic Volume II is now available!
To get an idea of how we got here, you can check out the forum post A brief history of the Codex Martialis. Below we will describe the road ahead for Codex vis a vis 5th Edition and the Old School Revival, and a new gaming resource we are planning to release. So when will …
Albrecht Dürer, St. Eustace There is a lot of online buzz these days about “historical gaming”. Historical games can provide a greater sense of immersion, and a very rich and interesting environment for your players to explore. But there are also many challenges that come with that type of campaign, and some of them are …
Note: This is a revival of a post I originally wrote on ENworld back in 2008. It has been updated, consolidated, and revised for 2021. One of the biggest challenges for historical fencers, gamers, authors, and anyone drawn to the pre-industrial world, and particularly the medieval world, is the confusion engendered by our schizoid perception …
One of the things that comes up as an issue with both computer and tabletop RPG’s is the level of violence and the assumptions that go with that. A certain very large RPG company states that a “standard game session” (whatever that means), should consist of about 5 combat encounters, balanced to the players ability …
Since the earliest days of table top role playing games, grappling or unarmed combat more generally has always been a somewhat tricky part of fighting. Some systems were wildly complex involving percentile dice and many tables to consult, many were ignored or discarded. Codex Martialis seeks to make this ‘up close and personal’ part of …
Grappling With Grappling: How to Implement Grappling in a Tabletop RPG Read More »
In 2008 we put the sword of the Renaissance fencing master into the hands of desktop RPG gamers. Today, we put the grimoire of the Renaissance magus in your hand. Codex Superno is an historically based sourcebook for magic, including Cantrips, spells, talismans, amulets, alchemy, herbal medicine and automata. It also outlines a spell failure …
