Mystery Realistic or Fantastic? Medieval campaign

[jatay3]

This isn't Traveller but it is Gurps. I am reading Gurps Russia where it tells about realistic campaigns
where the generally agreed natural laws our in place and a type of fantasy campaign where the history is assumed to be true as far as it goes but we assume that the fairy tales are true.
How about this? The GM doesn't tell which it is but only tells that it might be either. This way the players are kept guessing.
This is a good way to play Medieval people, any kind of Medieval people not just Russians. operating in a world where knowledge is limited and much that was once assumed turns out to be false-and vice-versa. Imagine: OK Marco Polo I'll take that stuff about desert ghosts and all that-but paper money? Hah!. For that matter it would work in other settings besides Medieval, Ancient Greece or China for instance. The idea would be to sumulate as much as much as possible the actual ignorance people would have to deal with in such a setting-by making the players temporarily ignorant.

 

[womble]

Personally, I think it helps conjure up an atmosphere of superstition if you tell the players it's real, and that there really are pixies and Baba Yaga. After all, the characters they're playing honestly believed in that kind of thing. You can justify some fudgy dice mods in a gane that is actually "realistic" by associating the successful interpretation of superstitions as affecting the confidence of the characters.

I think it'd take some work to maintain the illusion in play (without hving the setting actually include fantastical elements), because you'd be dealing with (hopefully) relatively sophisticated, analytical, cynical C21st denizens, so as a ref you have to keep the woods dangerous, dark and mysterious. Not impossible with the right preparation and mindset, though.

 

[jatay3]

I think it'd take some work to maintain the illusion in play (without hving the setting actually include fantastical elements), because you'd be dealing with (hopefully) relatively sophisticated, analytical, cynical C21st denizens, so as a ref you have to keep the woods dangerous, dark and mysterious. Not impossible with the right preparation and mindset, though.
-------------------------------
You know where I think this would work really well? Have the players be Medieval Venetians. The Venetians were just as canny and rational as modern people: thats how they made all that money. They just had less knowledge.
Thus there would be know need for change in mindset.

 

[phil644441]

This is basically how Ars Magica (Atlas Games) proceeds. History is as it was but with Magic inserted. Great gaming setting. Great magic rules. Lousy system otherwise.

AK