# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/21 "2009-03-30T21:13:32Z")
Heck, if it was paper and pencil RPGing you wanted, there’d be no reason not to use D&D - just run an absolutely magic-free campaign with no fantastic creatures. There wouldn’t be much point playing anything but a fighter, a thief or maybe a modified bard (monks just have too many fantastic elements built into them). Or if you wanted a more realistic simulation, try the RuneQuest system with no magic, and be prepared for your first fight to end in maiming 'cos those location-based combat systems generally end in the loss of an extremity or a killing body blow if you _don’t_ have magical healing to hand. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/22 "2009-03-30T21:20:52Z")
Not an RPG, but maybe still of interest to you: Crusader Kings by Paradox Interactive. You play a feudal lord over a domain in medieval Europe. It’s a mostly strategy game, but characters do have personal attributes. You can play it to strictly optimize your realm, but I had fun role-playing it instead. You have courtiers and relatives and heirs to deal with, plus your neighbors, liege, and vassals to interactive with. It should be pretty cheap to buy now. As for a more traditional RPG, you might look into mods to Oblivion. That game is highly customizable. It quite possible someone has developed a no-magic mod. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/23 "2009-03-30T21:28:28Z")
> [@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." > [@Kobal2](#): > > 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." You guys just made me laugh out loud. A lot. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/24 "2009-03-30T21:44:00Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > 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’. Assasins Creed is Fun, I’ll give you(particulary the stabbing, but also the running(and more stabbing)) but it’s not terribly historical accurate. That and it pretty much relies on the concept of a genetic memory interpretation machine to pull off. And then there’s the “Pieces of Eden”. Yeah. Just those… ---
**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, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/25 "2009-03-30T21:48:48Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Heck, if it was paper and pencil RPGing you wanted, there’d be no reason not to use D&D - just run an absolutely magic-free campaign with no fantastic creatures. There wouldn’t be much point playing anything but a fighter, a thief or maybe a modified bard (monks just have too many fantastic elements built into them). Or if you wanted a more realistic simulation, try the RuneQuest system with no magic, and be prepared for your first fight to end in maiming 'cos those location-based combat systems generally end in the loss of an extremity or a killing body blow if you _don’t_ have magical healing to hand. Or GURPS where medieval characters don’t have those kinds of survival troubles. Or Pendragon where you can say Merlin is just a wise man who knows a few parlor tricks and run the system straight. Or one of about two dozen non-magic medieval period RPG’s that function just fine without some kind of magic user to hand out healing every few minutes or an automatically evil species that the players can feel good about killing. ---
**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, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/26 "2009-03-30T21:56:01Z")
I played Assbandit’s Creed, for all of ten minutes. It sucked. The high-tech virtual-reality-simulation aspect of it was SO FUCKING STUPID; why couldn’t they have just set the damn game in the historical period and left it at that? The dusty, dull gray-brown color palette was about as interesting to look at as a camel’s ass; I realize it was that way because it was set in Jerusalem or something…well guess what, that was a shitty setting to set it in then. I want to see some red, blue, green, yellow and purple and stuff every now and then. (At least Medieval II Total War is extremely colorful, although it’s not the kind of game I’m talking about.) I just want a game where I can play as a badass knight in badass armor, riding around on a giant horse, and hacking people to death with swords and maces. And the ability to upgrade and customize armor, and earn skill points, and meet other heroes and form parties and develop alliances. What is so impossible about that kind of game? ---
**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, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/27 "2009-03-30T22:00:44Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I just want a game where I can play as a badass knight in badass armor, riding around on a giant horse, and hacking people to death with swords and maces. And the ability to upgrade and customize armor, and earn skill points, and meet other heroes and form parties and develop alliances. What is so impossible about that kind of game? Lack of imagination on too many people’s part would be my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/28 "2009-03-30T22:28:36Z")
I was going to joke: The Original SimCity Because: What?, It looks Medieval by today’s standards. :eek: But then I remembered: Oh wait, you can have your City smashd by Godzilla in that game. Nevermind. So it still fails the OP. ☹ ---
**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 31, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/29 "2009-03-31T00:54:50Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I just want a game where I can play as a badass knight in badass armor, riding around on a giant horse, and hacking people to death with swords and maces. And the ability to upgrade and customize armor, and earn skill points, and meet other heroes and form parties and develop alliances. What is so impossible about that kind of game? My opinion: because unless the developers were able to introduce enough variety and unique concepts into the game in order to make up for the loss of the many gameplay elements that must be discarded by appealing to realism rather than fantasy, that kind of game would not be fun. ---
**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 31, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/30 "2009-03-31T01:39:17Z")
I actually thought of another one. It’s a shareware game using the Rogue engine set in medieval Finland, alled Unreal World. [http://www.jmp.fi/~smaarane/urw.html](http://www.jmp.fi/~smaarane/urw.html) It doesn’t have much of a plot, though. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254/31 "2009-03-31T18:48:28Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I just want a game where I can play as a badass knight in badass armor, riding around on a giant horse, and hacking people to death with swords and maces. And the ability to upgrade and customize armor, and earn skill points, and meet other heroes and form parties and develop alliances. What is so impossible about that kind of game? Your opponents are all the same? If you insist on realism, it’s hard to see how yourself or a small party would have a medieval story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-medieval-role-playing-game-that-does-not-have-any-fantasy-elements/491254.md?page=1)