[Setting/Premise] 17th century masked vigilantes

[Kiero]

This comes by way of a number of different influences, but has been sitting insistently in my head.

I'm still reading GA Henty's many boys' own stories, and the present one is about the Restoration period after the English Civil War, set in London shortly before the Great Fire. What's interesting is the picture it paints of life in the city, particularly life after dark and the criminal underworld. Which reminds me of the excellent (18th century) TV miniseries City of Vice, itself chock-full of ideas for things a group of PCs could get up to in a historical metropolis like London.

Furthermore, I've been watching a lot of vigilante TV series, such as Arrow and Daredevil, which are again ripe sources of inspiration. From there I got on to things like the Scarlet Pimpernel, and figured masked vigilantes is an easy thing to do in this period.

After all, law enforcement is sketchy at best, and they aren't really involved in investigation. There's the city watch, and whatever troops the king barracks in the city. There's no "police" or detectives yet (and nothing like forensics), so as long as the PCs aren't seen by someone who recognises them and might report them, they're safe to get on with their night-time activities.

It's also largely free of some of the really brutal and depressing stuff you encounter when doing something military in the era. Much more open to female characters, too. Sure, everyday life is still seedy and disheartening, but that's less of a stretch to sell than open warfare with civilian abuse.

The PCs would be a little collective organised to "protect" their neighbourhood against the criminal gangs who run the nighttime economy and make sure respectable citizens don't venture outside after dark. Whether they're a group of individuals banded together through common misfortune, or funded by some wealthy patron, or whatever is up to the players to determine. On chosen nights, or responding to intelligence they'd gathered, they'd go out garbed in mask, cloak and hat, carrying sword and cudgel to take the fight to the criminal element. They might carry pistols too, but discharging them would be a bad idea and draw a lot of attention.

What would start out street-level, defined by the few blocks of their neighbourhood, would eventually expand in scope to encompass threats to the whole city, and possibly country. Foreign agents and spies, revolutionaries and anti-Royalists, that sort of thing. Once the city side of things was established, there'd be occasional excursions elsewhere too.

I'm thinking straight historical, though I might bend a little on stuff like "strange herbs from the Orient which promote healing" and so on, to cushion the dangerous lifestyle of the PCs a little. Or maybe even lean out a little further and fold in some Assassin's Creed mythology to allow some abilities a little outside the usual, though that would change the nature of the game some.

Lastly, I have two potential systems in mind (nWoD or ACKS), I don't need any other recommendations, thanks. If there are books with good source material, suggest away, but not for another system.

That sound interesting at all?

[Aedilred]

Lastly, I have two potential systems in mind (nWoD or ACKS), I don't need any other recommendations, thanks. If there are books with good source material, suggest away, but not for another system.

That sound interesting at all?

For what purpose? I love the period and the setting and your ideas sound interesting, but I'm not sure of the context in which you ask; are you planning a game?

Have you read Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle? The books are a bit weird and oddly flawed (and extremely long), with strangely under-remarked supernatural elements, but the first one (Quicksilver) is set in that period and I think it nails the setting very nicely and seems in keeping with the sort of thing you talk about here; it might be worth a look if you get the time.

[hamishspence]

I vaguely remember a 17th century Elseworlds take on Batman - as a privateer captain.

Maybe something like that might be worth taking inspiration from?

[Jay R]

FGU's Flashing Blades would work very well for this. Each PC is required to have one Advantage and one Secret, and Secret Identity is one of the available secrets.

[Arbane]

"We seek him here, we seek him there,
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere.
Is he in heaven? Is he in hell?
That demmed, elusive Pimpernel." - Just a little period-appropriate inspiration.

Also, there's a new indie RPG called Blades In The Dark I've heard good things about for doing Assassin's Creed-style sneakiness.

[LibraryOgre]

My first thought? The Sons of Liberty, by the Lagos brothers. Set a century later, they were escaped slaves given super powers by Ben Franklin's insane son, and taught African martial arts.

[Kiero]

So I broached this with my group in the break tonight, and they liked the idea. Though they almost unanimously nixed ACKS as the system choice - they'd much prefer nWoD/GMC, so that's the system.

I mentioned the "mysterious herbs from the Orient" as a blatant cheat on healing, and they immediately felt more relaxed about the non-supernatural premise.

So I'll need to do some of the usual system stuff:
1) Customise the skill list.
2) Come up with an appropriate template for the PCs (which will be more capable than a default nWoD starting character)
3) Think of some guidelines for retainers/henchmen (who will be done with the normal stats, mostly). I have in mind that they can have one "capable" retainer and perhaps up to two "normal" ones.
4) Weapons and armour for the period - particularly using the old notion that blunt things do Bashing damage (unless targeting the head).
5) Possibly think of some templates for standard antagonists.