Stranger Than Fiction: Historical Instability and Dynamic Society

Think of your typical fantasy kingdom in the common fantasy vernacular. There is a king or queen who dwells in a palace or castle in the capital city. They have soldiers who act both as military and police force. If there is intrigue and conflict, it typically comes from monstrous infiltration; perhaps a shapeshifter stirring up trouble within the royal court. 

There’s nothing wrong with this approach. Like many motifs in the vanilla fantasy vernacular, this allows viewers (or players) to quickly engage with a familiar setting, with minimal load time.

But it’s still a great point of departure for adding complexity and drama to a game. And real world history provides plenty of fuel to do so. I was inspired, for example, by overlapping stories that emerged while listening to history podcasts covering the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, and the history of the Catholic popes. 

The Mediterranean world – and Italy in particular – in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Western Roman Empire provides a situation ripe for dynamic gameplay. Imagine PCs beginning their adventures in a kingdom with factions modeled on some or all of the following:

The Ostrogothic Kingdom

They speak a different language and practice a different form of Christianity than the Romans they rule over. Militarily triumphant, they lack the legitimacy needed to establish stable diplomatic relations and trade connections with other powers, and need to act as nominal “vassals” of the Eastern Roman Empire. A recently ascendant foreign ruler is a great prompt for game action.

The Pope and the Church

The pope is not just a spiritual leader, but also has growing secular power. The pope must both compete and cooperate with the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Eastern Roman Empire to maintain independence, while also making concessions to protect the citizens of Rome and negotiate thorny theological problems for the still-young religion. A young religion is another way to reinforce a dynamic scenario.

The Senate

Far from the republican body it was at its height, the Senate would still represent the interests of a powerful landed aristocracy. The Ostrogoths rely on them for the civil and administrative tools of the former Western Empire. They would have the strongest attachment to Rome’s imperial past.

The Eastern Emperor

The emperor has unparalleled legitimacy, vast funds, a defensible capital, and relatives for marriage alliances. But they lack the manpower to take and defend the former imperial lands of the Western Empire. Their use of mercenaries to and proxy interests adds dynamism to the situation. 

The Exarch

A local extension of the Emperor’s rule, they are expected to do the impossible: take back an Italian peninsula swarming with barbarians. They can take cities, but not hold them; make deals, but not enforce them, if the emperor overruled them. There are many ways they could become enemies or patrons of adventuring PCs.

Anti-Popes and Schismatics

Many Christians oppose the pope's authority, or differ on religious teachings. Other cities vie for doctrinal preeminence. And the formal succession of the pope itself is by no means a settled matter. These religious disputes intermingle with political disputes, fueling even greater conflicts.

The Lombards

The Ostrogothic Kingdom is young, and other barbarians from the north are eyeing the depopulated peninsula, planning to sweep in and take the kingdom from its new rulers.

Consider the implications of these overlapping, contrasting power structures. No one living at this time could be sure if some form of empire would return, or if gothic rule would persist. Those in power would speak a variety of languages, from Germanic tongues, to vulgar Latin, to proper Latin, to Greek. Christianity was still a young religion, with core principles in flux. Merchants, mercenaries, and missionaries could introduce people and cultures from all over the early medieval world.

Many games adopt such trappings for setting. The key when doing so is to find the conflict inherent in these stories, and remember that while they read as ancient, settled, historical fact to modern eyes, they were as chaotic and unpredictable in their time as at any other point in history.