Nights of the Crusades
| Nights of the Crusades | ||
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| RPG published by Aetheric Dreams |
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| Authors | MJ Alishah | |
| First Publication | 2013 | |
| Essential Books | Nights of the Crusades | |
Nights of the Crusades is an indie game that was nominated for an ENnie and an Origin (even though it is free) in 2013.
Setting[edit]
This is how it describes itself ...
Nights of the Crusades is a roleplaying game set in a land and time that is familiar on the surface, but within its cracks lie tales of alchemy, madness and violence. It is a world that could have happened and then been lost to barbarity and time. Players take on characters that can explore its lands and plunder them for wealth, glory or knowledge. The Tale-Weaver is their guide, plunging them into the horrors of war and fanaticism as they pursue their goals. The world is rife with dark cults, creatures that dwell in unseen places and bloodthirsty warriors. This is a time when anyone’s thoughts, from king to slave, are enough to condemn them to death and hell, and many are they that will line up to cheer the execution.
The setting of Nights of the Crusades is a mixture of the One Thousand and One Nights, the history surrounding the Crusades and both modern and ancient tales of terror. The rules reflect mature and gritty issues, including the psychological impacts of combat and killing. The gameplay also allows for tension in every form of conflict, whether verbal or physical, and wraps the rules of the ‘Real World’ around ‘Story’ interludes. Artist, diplomat and physician characters have as much of a role to play in Nights of the Crusades as do warriors, archers and thieves.
Mechanics[edit]
Reviewers of the original rule system have described it as both 'old school' and 'rules light', so it's a combination.
Character creation involves defining your allegiances (factions, religion, class and organisation). These include what you would expect from the times of the antagonists during the crusades: Franks, Saracens, Catholic, Orthodox, Sunni, Shia, Jewish etc.
It offers a mechanic for Negotiations (social challenges) as well as for combat. Particularly brutal experiences will have characters testing for trauma.
However, there are also versions for Pathfinder and Ingenero(?).