# Is there a Medieval role-playing-game that does NOT have any fantasy elements? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 30, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254 "2009-03-30T03:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/1 "2009-03-30T03:41:35Z")
I would really like to play a Medieval role playing game for PC. The problem is, I’m not sure if any such game exists. There are many “swords and armor” type RPGs, but they all have some kind of fantasy element - wizards, dragons, elves, orcs, whatever. I have NO interest in any of that. I just wonder if there is a roleplaying game for PC where you play the role of a Medieval knight, upgrading your weapons and armor and killing a lot of bad guys, with no “fantasy” content. It doesn’t even need to be historically accurate. Does any such game exist? ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Keen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Commander\_Keen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Keen)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/2 "2009-03-30T04:08:43Z")
There aren’t a whole lot, but [Mount and Blade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_and_Blade) comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/3 "2009-03-30T04:25:22Z")
Yeah, I have that; it’s fun for a while, but repetitive as hell, and has NO coherent plot or story. I wonder why nobody can be bothered to make a realistic Medieval RPG? ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/4 "2009-03-30T06:10:29Z")
Because your character would die? ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/5 "2009-03-30T10:43:27Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Because your character would die? …ingloriously from tuberculosis? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/6 "2009-03-30T11:26:38Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Yeah, I have that; it’s fun for a while, but repetitive as hell, and has NO coherent plot or story. > > I wonder why nobody can be bothered to make a realistic Medieval RPG? Hard to see how a single individual would cope with no special powers. He’s got to travel on his own, despite wild animals, bandits and feuding kingdoms. He’s got to earn the trust of the locals to get income. He’s got to cope with disease and maintaining his equipment. Then what sort of adventures can he have, dealing only with organised human communities? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/7 "2009-03-30T11:27:26Z")
Darklands is along those lines but there are some fantasy elements that creep in. It’s very tightly focused on thirteenth century Germany. The major fantasy elements are that there is satanic power in the world, the Catholic church has real power to do something about it, and alchemy actually functions. There’s no reason that “your character would die” in such a setting; it just requires a different set of expectations in the design. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/8 "2009-03-30T13:19:23Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Then what sort of adventures can he have, dealing only with organised human communities? Well, you know, things did happen in the real middle ages, even without elves. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/9 "2009-03-30T14:46:06Z")
> [@glee](#): > > Hard to see how a single individual would cope with no special powers. > He’s got to travel on his own, despite wild animals, bandits and feuding kingdoms. > He’s got to earn the trust of the locals to get income. > He’s got to cope with disease and maintaining his equipment. > > Then what sort of adventures can he have, dealing only with organised human communities? Well, Mount&Blade pulled it off just fine, including all the elements you just described. (You’re completely alone at first, but you can build up gigantic raiding parties of more than 100 men, including “heroes” with specialized skills.) And that game had no fantasy whatsoever. So it CAN be done. The problem is that Mount&Blade had no coherent story whatsoever, and one-dimensional characters. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/10 "2009-03-30T14:52:39Z")
There’s Avalon Hill’s _Kingmaker_, although that’s only a role-playing game in the sense of “if I were the leader of the House of Lancaster, how would I win the Wars of the Roses?” Great game, though. [Wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingmaker_(board_game)). There was also a computer version, but I’m afraid it’s abandonware now. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/11 "2009-03-30T14:55:40Z")
Hmm, I don’t think I know a computer RPG that would be strictly medieval, but I do know metric fucktons of pen & paper historical RPGs (Pendragon was nice. It did feature some Arthurian folklore, but you could totally ignore it and have a perfect Dark Age historical campaign). There’s Assassin’s Creed, which is not an RPG, but is a visually stunning representation of the high middle ages. Oh, and features lots of stabbin’. And of course, there’s a lot of strategy games, like Medieval Total War, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis or Lords of the Realm (if you’re not put off by VGA graphics and messing around with DOS, check out the first Lord of the Realms. Brilliant, brilliant game.) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/12 "2009-03-30T16:22:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I wonder why nobody can be bothered to make a realistic Medieval RPG? Realistic? "It has been three days since the Baron’s men took the last of your shriveled turnips. You are hungry. The Abbot says you must work in his fields again today. On Saturday you can work your own plot, if you can borrow a digging stick. You still owe 340 shillings (or equivalent in barter or labor) in taxation. Your buboes have swelled." ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/13 "2009-03-30T17:00:02Z")
You can make it Realistic, OR lacking in Fantasy Elements, OR not at all Medieval. Pick two. Other posters have mentioned why. It really doesn’t matter is you pretend your character (with 250 hit points, Grandmaster swordsman, and the Masterwork Plate Armor of Grand Smith Bartley) is mundane . He’s not. When you can take 30 arrrows to the chest and kill a dozen men (and the enemy always has hordes waiting to be killed off) you’ve tossed reality out the window. Mount and Blade is still grossly implausible, just in a different way. Which is why they have fantasy elements. Why _not_ appeal to a larger audience and open up the gameplay? ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/14 "2009-03-30T17:18:36Z")
There was one I played some time ago that I put aside for being way too boring. It was all about the knights and as I recall it really tried to teach you history and be accurate. I don’t recall there being any magic…lemme see if I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/15 "2009-03-30T17:24:49Z")
NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!! (I know. Sorry. A pox on myself) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/16 "2009-03-30T17:25:56Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Realistic? > > "It has been three days since the Baron’s men took the last of your shriveled turnips. You are hungry. > > The Abbot says you must work in his fields again today. On Saturday you can work your own plot, if you can borrow a digging stick. > > You still owe 340 shillings (or equivalent in barter or labor) in taxation. > > Your buboes have swelled." Heh. Or the other way around : "Marvin claims Borgo has stolen one of his pigs. However, Borgo claims he only did it because Marvin put a curse on his leeks. What will your judgement be, m’lord ? Your bethroted, Azinga of Berchtesgaden, has just arrived at the castle’s gates. She does not speak a word of English, and looks like a cross between a dog and a giraffe. May you live happily ever after. The wound you have suffered during the last turney has started oozing and festering. -1 Charisma. The castle’s last cat has been roasted. Your belt is starting to look very tasty. The siege continues." ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/17 "2009-03-30T18:35:49Z")
Lol! I don’t know about you, but I think I would enjoy playing that game! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/18 "2009-03-30T19:22:51Z")
I think I found it! It was Arthur’s Knights - Tales of Chivalry. The magic and stuff is limited to what people believed in those days. I don’t remember much about it but I got really bored midway through. > [@](#): > > Though Arthur’s Knights: Tales of Chivalry boasts that the keyboard controls allow for more exactitude in maneuvering, the controls can often pose tiresome problems instead of advantages. The precision necessary to gain entrance to parts of the game can sometimes prove hard to achieve and thus takes a bothersome amount of time. The game also is strictly non-action: the player never actively partakes in battles. When a fight is initiated with a given enemy, the game goes into autoplay and will show Bradwen winning or losing depending on whether or not he possesses the necessary implements for a victory. The gameplay also proceeds in a highly direct, RPG manner. Run one errand, and have access to another. On the other hand, Arthur’s Knights has beautifully-rendered graphics and highly realistic sounds. Traveling through a forest, one may hear an assortment of sounds including running water, the laughter of fairies, birds chirping, and animals growling. However, it becomes very disgruntling when the magificently-detailed environments cannot be fully interacted with and explored due to the large amount of interphase blocking in the game. Nonetheless, the plot of the game is, on average, sufficiently inriguing to keep one playing. Personally I hated it, but I play games for that element of magic and other-worldliness. You may like it better. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/19 "2009-03-30T20:25:37Z")
Here’s another: > **[Joan of Arc](https://www.gamespot.com/games/joan-of-arc/)** > > Find reviews, trailers, release dates, news, screenshots, walkthroughs, and more for Joan of Arc here on GameSpot. It’s base don Joan of Arc. I remember playing a demo a long time ago and I don’t recall any magic being involved. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/20 "2009-03-30T21:05:33Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Here’s another: > [http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/joanofarc/index.html](http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/joanofarc/index.html) > > It’s base don Joan of Arc. I remember playing a demo a long time ago and I don’t recall any magic being involved. From the screenshots, it looks more like a Dynasty Warriors-like beat’em all than an RPG though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254.md?page=2)