A Bit of History
This month I bring you a double sized issue, featuring a look at one of the little explored (at least in RPGs) eras of history, the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan, as legend has it, was the most successful person in history (if you look at it from a strictly genetic standpoint) since he has passed his genes on to the greatest number of people. Whether or not that is true, or even a good measure of success, he did lead the Mongols and allied tribes on a continent-crossing rampage of empire building. Following the Mongol Hordes and likely choking on its dust, we have several short reviews of historical RPG goodness.
What is best in life?
To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women. Although this quote is attribute to Genghis Khan, it is questionable if he actually said it or expressed the sentiment this way, however it does fit (and was popularized by the movie Conan the Barbarian and I do have the t-shirt). Our image of the Mongols is best summed up by the above quote, brutal rampaging barbarians who only wanted to cause misery and destruction. Like most media inspired stereotypes, this is clearly false. First, the Mongols were only one (though the leading one) of several allied tribes that shared common ancestry and culture. They were also the last and greatest in a series of horse culture breed invasions that spread out of the Eurasian steps and impacted Europe and Asia. Looking at it from a long view historical perspective, the 'barbarian' hordes flowed out of the steps for millennia, and included the ancestors of most of Europe, Asia, and North Africa. What makes the Mongols the most famous is that they were the most successful, and managed to build an empire that stretched from Eastern Europe to China, Central Russian as far south as Iran, and very nearly spilled over into Western Europe and Japan. They were the great bogeymen of the Old World, and a prime source for role-playing games.
A Brief Overview of the Mongol Empire
Before Genghis Khan's rise to power, the Mongols were just one of several horse cultures on the Eurasian steppe. IN 1207 C.E., GK managed to unite the feuding tribes under his command, no mean feat in itself. Life on the steppe was hard, and the tribesmen were tough fighters inured to discomfort and danger. With them forged together as one massive body with one large goal, they proved to be unstoppable.
The first target for this newly formed alliance was the weakening Jin Dynasty of China. The Jin had long been involved in steppe politics, and would react negatively to unified Mongol nation. Before he road headlong into the Jin, GK first turned his attention to his flanks, conquering the Xixia people of Northwest China and the Muslim Khwarazim Empire to the southeast. During these campaigns he tested the tactics he and his descendents would deploy so successfully in the following campaigns. Terror tactics were used to convince foes to surrender, or at least weaken resistance. False retreats were use to draw enemy armies into a trap. Finally, something that surprised many, these horse nomads learned siege tactics, leaving their foe's common response to an oncoming horde, hole up behind some walls, moot.
After conquering his neighbors, GK turned on the Jin, and conquered them, including their capital Beijing. Now the Mongols could press Chinese technology, especially siege and fortification technology, into their service. Next they flowed into Korea, across Russia (taking Kiev), and smacked into Poland. Campaigns in China continued, which lead to the conquest of the southern Chinese dynasty, the Song. By the time of his death in 1227, Genghis Khan's Empire had nearly reached its greatest expanse. His successors would enlarge on this, eventually reaching it height (and unifying China under a Mongol dynasty) by 1260. It would take nearly a century and a half to crumble.
Using the Golden Horde in Your Game
The easiest way to introduce the Mongols into you campaign is to have them show up on the horizon, scouting out the PC's hometown and plotting its eventual conquest. This can be approached using the style of pacing one would use for a horror game. The Mongols were brilliant in the application of small unit reconnaissance tactics. A few villagers may disappear, livestock may go missing, and mysterious strangers may be spotted in the distance. Save the big reveal for late, and your players may be preparing for a horrid monster, not a sweeping horde of expert horseman.
Far greater, in my opinion, would be to run a Mongol focused campaign, Start with some unknown steppe nomads as the PCs, and play through their attempts to unify the tribes and conquer their nearest neighbors. What is more zero to hero than Genghis Khan's own life story, from little known nomad to Emperor of the largest pre-industrial nation the world ever saw? True, there is a good likelihood that one of the PCs will be the new Emperor, but there is plenty of room for all of them to shine.
Finally, for something completely different, play off the Mongol's ability to not simply adapt the skills for those they conquer, but to integrate conquered people with unique skills into their Imperial machine. In a fantasy campaign, the Mongol equivalent may have skilled elven wizards, dwarven craftsman, halfling merchants, and orc shock troops riding with them and providing their own specialized skills. For a new twist in a space opera campaign, the PCs or maybe even their foes are part of a cast space-Mongol Empire that grew from a small backwater planet. Higher tech offworlders crashed there a century ago, and the primitive natives pressed them and their technology into service, uniting the warring tribes of Geghis-12 and then spreading out into the stars, toppling the aging Star Empires as they went. To maintain their inherent strengths, the ruling 'Mongol' class lives close to their low-tech roots, while employing conquered peoples to manufacture advanced goods and weapons, as well as operate the Empire's starships. Mongols in tanks, why not?
Capsule Reviews
Aces and Eights Shootist's Guide, Kenzer and Company
I have mentions Aces and Eights before, and it is a fine game for historical or al-historical Wild West gaming. The Aces and Eights Shot Clock system is a bit cumbersome at first, but the more you play the faster it gets. The Shootist's Guide consists of over twenty sheets of target silhouettes and additional clear plastic shooting overlays for use with the game's unique and fun combat system. No more will your outlaws be constrained to the standard overlays and standing targets, now they can shoot it out with shotguns, and blaze away at crouching, prone, and hiding foes, as well as a variety of animals.
Al-Qadim, TSR
There are not a lot of Arabic themed historical or fantasy settings out there, and this is one of the best. Written for AD&D 2nd Edition, this series shows its age in its system mechanics, but was far ahead of its time in how it handled sensitive subjects such as honor killings and sexual impropriety. Al-Qadim takes the historical Middle East and blends it with the fantasy literature of old Araby, as well as the traditional fantasy tropes of Dungeons and Dragons. The result is a rich fantasy world that feels slightly familiar (there are elves and orcs after all) but still manages to be foreign and exotic in a manner that is not merely a result of fancy mechanics. As was common during the mid to late run of AD&D 2nd Edition, production values are lavish, with plenty of boxed sets available containing handouts, beautiful maps, and all sorts of toys to play with. The series includes: Land of Fate, Arabian Adventures, City of Delights, The Complete Sha'ir's Handbook, Monstrous Compendium Appendix: Al-Qadim, and the adventures Golden Voyages, Assassin Mountain, A Dozen and One Adventrues, Secrets of the Lamp, Ruined Kingdoms, Cities of Bone, Corsairs of the Great Sea, Caravans, Reunion. Of the two main products, Land of Fate and Arabian Adventures, you only need one to run a campaign, but both would be helpful.
GURPS Low-Tech 4th Edition, Steve Jackson Games
My standard caveat, I write for Steve Jackson Games, should be noted. Low-Tech is a must have for anyone running a pre-industrial age GURPS campaign, be it historical or merely inspired by history. Inside is a ton of items for technological levels running from the Stone Age to the late renaissance (or early Enlightenment depending on how you divide things). That said, unless you are a pre-gun nut, its more of a reference work than a great read. There are several useful hooks for adventures and campaigns based around early technologies, but these are buried under tons of item descriptions and statistics. My only other gripe, and this applies to all of the GURPS tech books, is that the contents are divided by type of technology instead of tech level. I think it would be a more useable product if all the Bronze Age tech was in one chapter, and then Iron Age, and so on; instead of all the weapons in one chapter, armor in another, information technologies in a third, etc… Other than that, this is very useful reference book for any game that takes place before the industrial revolution.
Knuckleduster Cowtown Creator, Knuckleduster Publications
One of the difficulties in running historical games is that there is not a lot of general use RPG material out there. Running a fantasy game and you need some names, scenario seeds, price lists, or just who is in the tavern, and you have a wealth of information regardless of the system you prefer. In historical gaming, largely due to the fact that it’s a smaller market than fantasy or sci-fi, this is not the case. Although it is true that there is a cornucopia of non-fiction resources, these often don't take the time to put gameable information in an easy to read format. With the Knuckleduster Cowtown Creator you have just these sorts of helpful and useful items nicely arranged and presented for the GM's convenience. The name generation tables in the back are invaluable, but the real treasure are the many seeds and NPCs found listed by likely location within town. The history is fairly accurate, and the artwork is drawn from 19th Century sources. All in all, if you are running a Wild West themed game, you need this book
Twilight 2000 1st Edition, and Twilight 2000 Poland Arc, GDW
When it was written, Twilight 2000 was near future speculation. After the fall of the Eastern Block and the end of the Cold War, this venerable game has been moved into the alternate history bin. It still holds up well, though, and its speculated WWIII is plausible. Although I have long had issues with the rules system (combat can bog down quickly, and character creation is a laborious process) Twilight 2000 offers something different than other RPGs. On the one hand you have the military gaming aspect, yet on the other you have a post-apocalyptic battle for survival. The game plays well as a sandbox style game, introducing the scripted adventures of the Poland Arc (Free City of Krakow, Pirates of the Vistula, Ruins of Warsaw, and The Black Madonna) as needed. My own copy was lost over a decade ago, but I recently rediscovered this fine game through Far Future Enterprises' all-in-one reprint of the first edition and Poland adventures. I can't wait to unleash this one on my players and see where it leads, back in the late eighties I ran many, many campaigns that usually ended poorly (one entire party died from a wild dog attack and the subsequent rabies infection, good times).
Zombaclypse, Silver Gryphon Games
I love Zombies, I love Savage Worlds, and I love history, thus Zombaclypse is like a Reese Cup dipped in hot sauce to me (yeah, my culinary tastes are a little odd). This book is chocked full of useful tools for building zombie apocalypse campaigns, though most of the bits are pretty standard fare. What is very helpful is a system to customize your zombies that allows for (according to the authors) sixty-seven million possible combinations of zombie qualities, and that friend, is a lot of tools to use. Adding to the historical fare is that included adventure "Behind Enemy Lines", zombies in the American Civil War! Not only does this adventure show what can be done with the zombie tools in the book, but it provides a handy ACW ruleset for Savage Worlds.
Once again I get to close this column with a shameless plug, one of my favorite things to do. Pyramid Magazine 3/30 Spaceships contains my article Sky Galleys, an offering of flying ships and their operation for the GURPS Roma Universalis setting. This may very well be the last Rome Universalis article for some time, so get it now.
Until next month, thank you for reading this and the previous two years worth of A Bit of History.
