I have long used history as a source and creative tool in role-playing. This comes as no surprise as I am a twenty-five year veteran of gaming, an archaeologist and a history teacher. In all genres of gaming, history has a role. Worlds don't often come into being on round one of the first scene of a campaign. Real world history has heavily influenced the hobby from its inception, often even becoming a setting in its own right. We need only look at the medieval influences in classic D&D. Even from the early first golden age of role-playing history has inspired campaigns. Most of us have played in at least one historical setting as old west cowboys, swashbuckling pirates or roaring twenties gangsters. History has been used as the source of terror in horror games, and speculative history is a major part of sci-fi settings.

Looking at history--real world , speculative, or imaginative--is the purpose of this column. We will explore how to use history in campaign creation, scenario building, character backgrounds, real world history as a setting, and created histories (imaginative and speculative) as a device for storytelling. Some columns will focus on techniques, while others will look at specific uses of history. Historically based rpgs will also be explored, such as Pendragon, Sidewinder, Legend of the Five Rings, and others.

Before we launch into things, a few explanations are in order. History is not the absolute that it is often treated as. From the perspective of the present, the past can not be know with great certainty. Thus history tells stories of past events, and like all stories is told by someone for a purpose. History can be used to enlighten, educate, entertain, inspire, and influence. Often multiple effects are intended. This is an important point to remember the next time a group of adventurers go off to put down some ancient evil that has risen again. Maybe the story told by the great sage is in error, or more likely the sage's sources have differing perspectives of events. We can't always trust our sources, even those who were direct witnesses. Two historical techniques are very useful for role-playing. Imaginative history is one that is wholly created. This is the history of most fantasy worlds. The other technique is speculative history. This includes the "what if" of alternative history, as well as the projection of possible events into the future, i.e. the history of most sci-fi settings. Both use historical analysis to generate a plausible set of events and stories. This allows us, as gamers, to tap into these created histories to add depth and life to our games.

By far the simplest technique is to take a bit of real world history and use it for inspiration. Alter a few things, combine fragments together, and you can create something with depth and character. Foe example, how can we alter some of the basic conceits or role-playing by adding a few historical inspirations?

Making More Out of a Dungeon

Looking at a standard of fantasy gaming, how can we use history better when designing a dungeon crawl? First, we need to decide why there is this underground labyrinth full of traps, monsters and loot. We could go the Egyptian route and make our dungeon a burial chamber, but they may not fit well in the standard western medieval style of the "classic" dungeon fantasy. Looking at the history of Western Europe, we find the late Neolithic (new stone) age produced megalithic (big stone) structures called dolmen. Dolmen are single chambered stone tombs covered with soil. Aha, a barrow of sorts, in need of a few barrow wights! Now, we stray from history and make our dolmen multi-chambered and filled with passages and separate burial rooms. Borrow a bit from Ancient Egypt and China, and we can add a few large chambers where rituals were held.

Our dungeon now has some purpose other than a convenient adventurer destination. Also, we have a layout based on a little research. A central passage culminating in a large ritual chamber dominated the dolmen. Side passages lead to smaller seal chambers that could be individual tombs or store houses of objects needed for the afterlife. Stock the place with undead, a few ancient curses (or better yet the threat of said curses), and some traps intended to obstruct tomb robbers, er, adventurers and you have a typical (or atypical) dungeon crawl. Don't forget that magic may have been more common or potent in the long ago past.

All that is left is to place the dolmen in your campaign. Add these sites, and related megalithic monuments such as stone rings, cairns and round towers to your campaign map. These are the remains of an ancient and lost people, perhaps the First Men (or Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, etc...). Make these places difficult to get to and you have a cornucopia of adventures. Of course they need not all be unopened, indeed most ancient burial sites see some form of looting. Imagine your player's surprise when they loot one dolmen, only to find the next already unsealed and inhabited by some stray beast. As far as selling the loot, it may fetch a price much higher than its intrinsic value, as artifacts often do. Of course, a cult or religion might be interested in who is desecrating the long dead, and come looking for the PC's.

Meet me here in the coming months and we will embark on a journey through histories, both "real" and imaginary. We will sail with Blackbeard, ride with King Arthur ,and join the resistance in occupied Paris. With nothing but our bare hands (and a few library cards) we will craft new and exciting worlds with a past and a present. In fact, we will add a bit of history to our gaming.