Is there a decent renaissance-era setting?

[Jd Smith1]

Don't even say 7th Sea. And to save time, I'm not interested in 'you could easily convert setting X'

It doesn't have to be historical, but definitely post-feudal, matchlock/wheelock, decline of armor, emergence of a middle class, and so forth.

System has no impact, but I already have the system; I'm just looking for a setting.

 

[Tonguez]

Mage Sorcerer's Crusade is the best treatment I’ve seen of the actual Renaissance era, adapted to World of Darkness, most others skew Swashbukler/Age of Reason

Would you consider Warhammer to be Renaissance?

 

[Yora]

Does 2nd edition Forgotten Realms count as "decent".

 

[Jd Smith1]

Mage Sorcerer's Crusade is the best treatment I’ve seen of the actual Renaissance era, adapted to World of Darkness, most others skew Swashbukler/Age of Reason

Would you consider Warhammer To be Renaissance?

War Hammer is not bad; I hadn't considered that. It could work. Make it post-invasion...it has merit.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Does 2nd edition Forgotten Realms count as "decent".

Don't be silly. Desperately shallow, even by D&D standards.

 

[CleverNickName]

System has no impact, but I already have the system; I'm just looking for a setting.

Check out GAZ9, "The Minrothad Guilds." It's the most Renaissance-flavored D&D setting I've come across. GAZ4, "The Kingdom of Ierendi" is pretty close too, but not as much as GAZ9.

I fully acknowledge that the BECM Gazetteers aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea, though.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Check out GAZ9, "The Minrothad Guilds." It's the most D&D setting I've come across. GAZ4, "The Kingdom of Ierendi" is pretty close too, but not as much as GAZ9.

I fully acknowledge that the BECM Gazetteers aren't going to be everyone's cup of tea, though.

I looked at it. Too little substance. Primary focus seems to be sea trading with a sort of weird 'guild' structure as a control. But I will grant you, they do try for a Renaissance flavor.

D&D products are generally too simplistic to capture the Renaissance, or really any political/cultural era. They are usually written in the manner of canvas and paint backdrops for dungeon crawling and world-saving.

 

[Celebrim]

D&D products are generally too simplistic to capture the Renaissance, or really any political/cultural era. They are usually written in the manner of canvas and paint backdrops for dungeon crawling and world-saving.

True enough.

Very few products attempt to rigorously capture an historical period. Most settings I've seen are a mismatch of things from multiple eras often not just within the same world but even within the same culture. D&D isn't truly medieval either. If you are looking for a game to respect a culture, well you are probably looking in the wrong place. Games settings are almost always backdrops for adventures of some sort.

But really, is it true that the novel "The Three Musketeers" authentically captures the historical reality of the setting despite being written much closer to that reality than the modern day, or that a movie like "True Grit" (much less "Fist full of Dollars") authentically captures the reality of the frontier American West?

You want authentic history, you probably have to stick your nose in a history book.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Check out GAZ9, "The Minrothad Guilds." It's the most Renaissance-flavored D&D setting I've come across. GAZ4, "The Kingdom of Ierendi" is pretty close too, but not as much as GAZ9.

Not Darokin? That's an intentionally Renaissance nation with merchant princes and the like.

That said, I think @Jd Smith1 is kind of out of luck. There's a weird lack of engagement on the Renaissance, even the Italian Renaissance, the one pop culture loves the most.

Brancalonia is pretty close -- and is made by Italians! -- but its focus is on a very specific mode of play, rather than building out a general setting.

 

[Jd Smith1]

True enough.

Very few products attempt to rigorously capture an historical period. Most settings I've seen are a mismatch of things from multiple eras often not just within the same world but even within the same culture. D&D isn't truly medieval either. If you are looking for a game to respect a culture, well you are probably looking in the wrong place. Games settings are almost always backdrops for adventures of some sort.

But really, is it true that the novel "The Three Musketeers" authentically captures the historical reality of the setting despite being written much closer to that reality than the modern day, or that a movie like "True Grit" (much less "Fist full of Dollars") authentically captures the reality of the frontier American West?

You want authentic history, you probably have to stick your nose in a history book.

True Grit is not too bad, given the period and the circumstances. The title lawman was based on an actual person.

Very few do, I agree, but a few do, such as Harn and the Feudal period. There is hope for quality products, albeit generally far from the beaten paths.

Given I majored in history, I've never gotten my nose out of those books.