You want to run a historical game, but you can't decide on which era you want the game to be set in. Time travel is an option, but it is fraught with all manner of complications. The mode of time travel needs to be defined, then casualty rears its ugly head and the whole thing becomes more work than you want to deal with. Perhaps your group doesn’t want to do the whole time travel thing, after all you need to have a reason to go hopping around the timeline and after the last one you can’t trust your players to not try shooting young Hitler again. Alternate universes are an option, and the ability to play around with alternate histories is a lot of fun, but maybe you want something else this time. It could be that you suffer from some major GM ADD and can’t commit to one campaign for the long haul. You want to try different eras, different themes and moods, even different genres. That's OK; A Bit of History is here to help.

This month I present a solution to all your historical gaming problems, or at least a campaign concept that you can enjoy for session after session. It's called Incarnations, and can be used for any era, genre, mood, theme, and system that you care to. The premise is simple, the PCs are a group of souls that are repeatedly reincarnated together, each incarnation shares a problem in common with the others, and you play one incarnations' handling of that problem and then move on to another. In this manner you maintain continuity of PCs and overarching plot, while at the same time changing the era, genre, mood, and theme of the campaign. In essence you are playing a series of short campaigns held together by a single framework. Next month will offer a companion piece to this column, as we look at characters in Incarnations campaigns.

There are a few considerations that need to be addressed when setting out on an Incarnations campaign. The players need to be on board, of course, though it may be fun to spring it on them mid-campaign in a series of flashbacks that are played out. The nature of the central conflict should be broad enough that different eras, genres, and moods can be used to resolve it, and of course, a system must be found that can handle this.

The Central Problem

The core of the Incarnations concept is the central problem that all the various incarnations must attempt to resolve. This must be chosen carefully, as it must be vague enough that not only can it be used in multiple eras, genres, moods, and themes, but also not become boring. The last thing you want is for the campaign to become the era of the week and now we do this all over again. However, the central problem must also be one that can reoccur and be a worthy challenge each time. A demon or other supernatural entity makes for an excellent problem. They are long lived (often immortal), powerful, and in most traditions they cannot be destroyed, but locked away for some time. Setting a demon up as a central problem places the PCs in the role of the heroes who are reincarnated to fight the demon, but this need not be so. An Incarnations campaign can be just as easily played using a set of cultists or minions who must defeat the plans of the meddling heroes, over and over again. The party may have to save a person, or themselves, from death, dishonor, or other threats. It could also be a campaign about overcoming a flaw, something in the personality of the reincarnated soul or perhaps a spiritual debt that must be discharged (or even a combination of all of these).

The central problem could be less confrontational or more vague, as the GM and group desire. Instead of fighting some evil, the PCs could have to save a person, an NPC (or PC) soul that reincarnates with them and needs to be rescued, sometimes from outside forces, sometimes from itself. Reincarnation can also be a way to overcome a flaw, something in the personality of the reincarnated soul that can only be healed or fixed through facing it over and over again. The cause of reincarnation could be to discharge a spiritual debt incurred by a past incarnation, one that requires the PC to try and try again to work off his 'time'. Some groups might enjoy playing the souls of history's greatest villains, sentenced to lifetimes of reincarnation in order to find the purity they lacked in that one horrible life. The party could be receiving orders form a powerful entity, even a god. Each incarnation is told to solve a problem, and this allows the goals and conflicts to change with each incarnation (though in fact the central problem of following orders to complete a mission remains).

This leads to the prime issue with a central problem, repetition. For some groups this is not problematic, most RPGs are based around a central problem that is dealt with in thousands of ways. However, when the name and nature of that problem does not vary much, it can become a bit humdrum rather quickly. To resolve this, not only switch era, but change genre, mood, and theme. Using the demon as an example, some incarnations must fight the demon in a heroic manner, taking the battle to its earthly lair and sending it away for generations. Others are less heroic, and the conflict is more one of horror and temptation. The manner in which a party of swashbuckling musketeers in Richelieu's France handles the sudden threat of a demon will be very different from that of a ground of hunters in the late Pleistocene. This sets up different genres with their attendant assumptions about mood and theme. Sometimes the game is heroic and bright, with the evil pushed to the side. Other times it is murky, with questions as to right and wrong at the center. This incarnation is a romp through a debauched Renaissance Venice, that one is a horror of war game in the jungles of Southeast Asia.

The nature of the problem need not be addressed in every incarnation, just enough to maintain the overarching framework of the game. Like many campaigns, an occasional 'free time' session or two will allow the players to blow off some steam. Who is to say that every time this group of souls is reincarnated they must battle evil? Sometimes they can come back and party, settle old debts, or even find some mundane happiness.

Running Incarnations

Once each player has an archetype, its time to decide what your first era will be. There are a lot of options here, and this is the time to decide how you will progress your campaign. You can start at the end and play out the campaign as a series of flashbacks, start at the beginning and proceed from there, or perhaps in the middle. One thing you need to define now if the campaign will be in chronological order or will you be skipping about. Both have their pros and cons, and both are perfectly acceptable. By going in order the group has a better idea of what is coming next and can prepare for it. Events in the series of reincarnations have causality, if the demon loses his tail in 1456, than he still won’t have it in 1678. However, some groups will like the idea that they can switch to any era, and thus to any genre, mood, or theme, at whim. Working from the end back is also an option, and a good one if you are using the flashback method of introducing incarnations.

The next decision that needs to be made is what eras, genres, and moods do you want to explore? This can be done on your own, but its better to get the player's input. At the start you do not need to define too much, just a general list of desires is all that is needed. It helps to list these in chronological order, even if you do not plan to play the incarnations out that way. By listing them chronologically, you can spot any potential overlap (after all, before a person can be reincarnated he must be born, live, and die), as well as being a handy way to organize your thoughts. Do not feel limited to historical eras if you do not want to. Branching off into Sci-fi or post-apocalyptic futures can be loads of fun, and help set the historical eras in a different light.

For each era, make a brief list of ideas for incarnations; think what each soul archetype will be like in each era. Don’t treat this as set in stone, it will likely change as the era is developed. Next, determine what the general genre, mood, and theme of the era will be. Some eras of history are so ingrained in gamers' consciousnesses that they possess a certain list of expected qualities. If one is doing Victorian London, than one should expect a bit of mystery or supernatural, some intrigue, foggy streets, cloaked figures, and maybe a nefarious cult. Finally, decide how it works into the central problem of the campaign.

Mix up the genres, mood, and themes in order to keep each era fresh and unique. A series of sessions based around the adventures of a group of gunslingers in the Old West should have a very different mood than one that takes place largely in Edwardian high society. After all, one of the motivations for running an Incarnations style game is to play multiple campaigns using the same characters and overall framework, it helps to treat each era as a mini-campaign. If using the supernatural as a central problem, do not have the PC be clued in every time. Also, change the rules of how the supernatural works, at least a little bit, to help maintain the mystery. There is no reason, other than ease of writing rules, for the supernatural to work like science. Different eras may very well see very different forms of magic et al. and probably should. However, do maintain a small amount of continuity in order to not pull the rug out from under the players too often.

Next you can look over your list with an eye towards avoiding repetition. It is OK if two or more eras have similar traits, but they should be separated from each other by either time or order of play. Too much of a good thing ruins the fun, and repetition is the bane of Incarnations. Now that you have a rough list of what is happening, when, and to whom, it is time to figure out how the party gets together.

Assembling Your Souls

It is helpful to begin each incarnation close to the plot that deals with the central problem. How close depends on how much time your group wants to spend in a particular era. It is a good idea to mix it up some, and start some eras well before the central problem, some right when it comes to light, and others in the middle of things. Likewise, some incarnations should end after the problem is resolved, others can continue a bit before moving on. I like to start about half the incarnations with an OMG moment, such as play starts during a battle, at the scene of a murder, or as two duelists pace off.

The party does not necessarily know each other at the start of every incarnation. For most, they should be old friends, enemies, colleagues, or even family. Others can have them be strangers drawn by circumstance into a shared situation, or even ones driven by an outside force (whose nature should prove a mystery that needs solving). Expect a certain amount of instant forming of relationships, indeed, this is one of the core concepts of Incarnations games, the PCs all already know each other on an instinctive level.

Choosing a System

There are many ways to approach the choice of a system to use with Incarnations, but the three basic decisions are a generic system, adapting an existing system, and changing systems. Incarnations asks a lot from a game system, it must be flexible enough to handle different eras, genres, moods, and themes, and needs to be able to balance out the characters' incarnations in a believable way. Because of this, a generic system is usually the best option, especially a broadly generic one like BRP, GURPS, and Hero System. Narrowly generic systems, ones whose rules encourage a specific feel of play, may be less than optimal. Using a generic system makes 'advancing' the souls easier, makes game play faster since by the second incarnation the players and GM should be familiar with the system, and adds to the continuity of the campaign.

A system can be adapted to run an Incarnations campaign, and although this requires some work on the part of the GM, it is a viable option, especially if the group has one system that they really like and would prefer to play. Some systems, most notably the venerable d20 System, have a plethora of sourcebooks, setting books, and core rules of a historical bent that would allow you to adapt the system to the individual incarnations. Others, such as White Wolf's Werewolf the Apocalypse, and Mage the Ascension already have the concept of reincarnation in the setting and system, and can be easily adapted to an Incarnations campaign. In fact, these two games offer plenty of hooks and plots for running an Incarnations campaign in their default settings, as both the Garou and the Awakened possess souls that are reincarnated, as well as foes that are either immortal or themselves reincarnate.

Finally, you can switch systems each time you start a new incarnation. This can become cumbersome for the GM and players, and makes the whole process a lot more like running a series of short campaigns linked into a single framework. The advantage is that you can greatly alter the theme and mood by altering the system, in effect changing the underlying assumptions of the setting by changing the underlying assumptions of the rules. For some, this is the best option, for it allows you to match the incarnation to the rules. However, it does present problems with soul advancement and conversions, but some groups will enjoy this option best of all.

Next month we will deal with characters, soul archetypes, and other PC and NPC related issues. In December, expect a sequel to the popular "I Want Games for Christmas" column, "I Still Want Games for Christmas". If you are a publisher of historical RPG's, drop me a private message and we can discuss how to get your products reviewed (I am Sand Rodent on the forum). The review columns will undergo a format change. Fewer titles will be covered, but those will see a greater word count. 'Slots' for review are filling up fast, so get your review requests in now before it is too late.

Finally, later in October Frog God Games will be releasing NS-2 Beyond the Wailing Mountains, a sequel to NS-1 Vengeance of the Long Serpent, both adventures by yours truly and available in Pathfinder Fantasy Role-Playing and versions.