BronzePunk Heroes
Bloodthirsty gods, strange cults, invisible daemons, unending war, pillage, slavery, torture, murder, human sacrifice are normal. Gods and kings rule the affairs of men, with with little regard for their welfare. Elites dominate the masses. Disease, violence, poverty all ravage the land. The world is dangerous; your death may be meaningless, or your Heroism may be remembered for countless generations, or both!
Basics
This site assumes knowledge of the table-top role-playing game The Fantasy Trip. The free Melee Rules PDF and In the Labyrinth (PDF costs $18) available from SJGames. If you are unfamiliar, we will be happy to help you create your character. The rest is easy to learn as you go.
Thank you to the everyone for excellent suggestions and great patience.
Aesthetic
My vision of BronzePunk has nothing to do with science fiction. I like the term and it describes this project well, so I am nullifying any other definition. It is Bronze because Bronze Age, and Punk because no one else is doing it (with TFT anyway).
It is Hesiod's Age of Heroes. Perseus of Argos and Bellerophon of Corinth would be contemporaries, but instead it is the players about whom myths shall be written. Heroes fight naked. Honor is everything. Legends abound. Gods and Daemons walk among men. Violence and slavery are common, oppression is the norm.
Learn about the Early Late Bronze Age environment and zoom in on Mycenaea. Many details are particular to Mycenaean society. Populations are small, so settlements and armies are too. Farming is not very productive in most areas because of poor soil. Few resources are indigenous, making raids extremely important. Writing is only used for record-keeping, primarily accounting. Elites primarily focus on military and religous rather than intellectual goals. Locks are not used. Modern day morality does not fit well in the Bronze Age.
When widely accepted archeology conflicts with literature, I tend toward the former.
Campaign Style
Genre is Dystopian Low Fantasy. Mostly episodic with many serial objectives and themes. Player characters start out as competent people of no consequence, and gradually become more important to the world as the campaign progresses. Granuality is not generally a priority.
"Innovation"
As a player, you may get the urge to import things from different cultures and times. I do not want player-instigated technological advances corrupting the status quo. I am open to suggestions for equipment and such I have not included.
Reference
- Free Melee Rules PDF In the Labyrinth (PDF costs $18)
- Mycenaean names
- Mycenaean Deities
- Indo-european language chart
- Semitic language chart
- Pre-Greek substrate
- Mycenaean Weapons and Armor
- Megaron at Pylos
- Arete, Greek honor
- Taxation
- WanaxTV favoring literary sources over archeology
- Food_in_Mycenaean_Greece
- The Aegean Wool Economies of the Bronze Age
- Mycenaean textile history
- Society of the Mycenaeans
- Ancient Sailing
- Bronze Age Armor of Europe by Dan Davis
- History / greek myths
It is not my intent to steal anyone's IP. If I used something of yours without permission, please let me know and I will remove or modify it.
Disclaimer: The material presented here is my original creation, intended for use with the TFT system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.