Tag Archives: history farce

[Courtesans] First Time for Everything

Court Cov FINAL

I’ve been reading the 18th Century Classic Fanny Hill again recently and it occurred to me that there is a way I could improve the Courtesans rules set slightly…

No its not necessarily to do with sex scenes you delightful perves you…

Instead it is about in-experience. The number of actions the Courtesans system could incorporate is almost limitless and it is somewhat easy to see a situation arising where a Player Character is trying out something for the first time. She’s no mere slip of a girl at 18 but she may not have ever, for example, ridden a horse, or shot a bow or danced around in a giant cream pie

Okay scrap that last one that was weird… but the point is the charmingly awkward first time is both a hindrance and potentially an additional delight for an admirer. As such I present the following optional rule.

First Time for Everything
If she wishes to attempt a Pleasing Action that involves an activity she has never tried before a Courtesan is at a -1 penalty to her Dice Roll. However if she overcomes this penalty and succeeds her Margin of success counts as 1 better than it actually is.

Example: Hazel the Upstart has never ridden a horse before, being a City Girl with everywhere being in walking distance so she’s a little nervous when her Admirer Lord Prescott suggests a ride round his estate. Her initial Prowess roll is at a -1 Penalty however as she still manages to pass the roll by 2 she counts as having Succeeded by 3 taking an additional point of wealth from her lover’s giggling at her tangling herself up in the reins

Click the picture to get yourself a copy of Courtesans: Sex and Society in glorious paperpack goodness!

Advertisement

[CID] Character Creation

Chapter 2

With the History Farce system at it’s core CID: Coppers In Disguise has a relatively straight-forward Character Creation system for both new players and those who’ve dabbled in the mess of Georgian England.

Having said this the very team orientated nature of the setting has forced a more Co-Operative Character Creation Process in which Players are required to work together to establish their place in the Team. It is very likely that some Coppers will begin play at a more effective ability level than others but this is balanced out by extra Flex and the Drawbacks of more Clichés.

Clichés are kind of like ready made Merit-Flaw (or Strength-Weakness) packages that also contribute Virtue points when they help or hinder.

In addition the system has been further enhanced with the division of Statistics into Good Cop and Bad Cop with mechanical bonuses available to those who emphasise one over the other with a direct impact on the spendable Virtue Points that provide a heroic edge for Player Characters.

[CID] What is CID?

Copper in Disguise CoverCID: Coppers In Disguise is the first of the Random Insane Side Project games that aim to take Tabletop Roleplaying to very odd (if not unique) places. With the basic mechanics of the History Farce system powering them they shall endeavour to emulate some rather strange genres.

My British fans will be very aware that the majority of our Television Dramas are based around Police Detectives. The format is cheap and can be relied on to succeed even if the show is so full of clichés that nobody takes it seriously. CID: Coppers In Disguise casts your Gaming Group as a bunch of maladjusted plain clothes Coppers working out how to solve the case whilst keeping their noses clean and hoping against hope that what little personal life they have doesn’t come crashing down around them.

American fans of course have the novelty of playing a Police Officer who isn’t a trigger happy knuckle dragger weighed down by unnecessary heavy weaponry. Hell most characters don’t even have guns: Imagine that!

[History Farce] The History Farce Guide to Georgian Slang

18th Century

A result of me revisiting the History Farce games in new print editions The History Farce Guide to Georgian Slang not only reprints the full dictionary from Tough Justice but also provides some extra material.

The Evolution of Accents: Explaining how English pronunciation has evolved over the centuries and speculation on how Georgian people would have sounded.

Society, Politics and Religion: How Society was supposedly structured throughout the era.

Key Events and People: Important people and events of the era.

This will be coming to stores as soon as I get the cover art…