Séadna
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To give myself a bit of variation on the Alpha Centauri Let's Read and because of the day it is, I thought that I'd start off this Let's Read.
Published in 2000 by Steve Jackson Games the book gives an overview of the worlds of Irish and Welsh myth as informed by historical research for use in a GURPS campaign, but outside of a few isolated sections is system neutral enough to be easily used outside of that. Authors are Ken and Jo Walton. Ken being a long time RPG author for White Dwarf and WFRP and Jo being a Classics and Ancient history graduate.
The basic breakdown of the book's chapters is:
To set it out clearly from the start:
The basic aim of this book is to let you play in the world of Celtic legends. Irish and Welsh myth borrow liberally from each other and characters from one mythos often appear in the other. Merlin appears in Irish myth and Ler in Welsh stories, so the book goes for this shared mythical setting. It then uses historical knowledge to flesh out the daily life not mentioned much in the stories themselves. Although the myths take place in the mythic past, it's clear when daily life is mentioned it's not actual Pagan-era life but contemporary to the authors. Cú Chulainn is depicted as living a 8th century AD life despite the stories saying he lives in the 200s or so BC. So the GURPS book does similar and sketches life in the Dark Ages period.
I'll be going through the book describing and commenting or expanding on the material and giving recommendations for further resources. Off to Intro and Glossary next!
Published in 2000 by Steve Jackson Games the book gives an overview of the worlds of Irish and Welsh myth as informed by historical research for use in a GURPS campaign, but outside of a few isolated sections is system neutral enough to be easily used outside of that. Authors are Ken and Jo Walton. Ken being a long time RPG author for White Dwarf and WFRP and Jo being a Classics and Ancient history graduate.
The basic breakdown of the book's chapters is:
- Intro and Glossary (These are at the start and end respectively, but they're linked so I'll treat them together)
- The Celtic World. This the daily life, society and metaphysical concepts of a Celt
- The Tales. Summaries of the major mythological cycles and how to use them in games
- Characters. Char Gen with Skills, Gear, etc
- The Sidhe. The otherworld and all the supernatural stuff that goes with it
- Magic. Devoted to the particulars of Celtic Magic and mechanics for same
- Campaign. Different ways of approaching a Celtic campaign, some adventure seeds and using Celtic material in other campaigns.
To set it out clearly from the start:
The basic aim of this book is to let you play in the world of Celtic legends. Irish and Welsh myth borrow liberally from each other and characters from one mythos often appear in the other. Merlin appears in Irish myth and Ler in Welsh stories, so the book goes for this shared mythical setting. It then uses historical knowledge to flesh out the daily life not mentioned much in the stories themselves. Although the myths take place in the mythic past, it's clear when daily life is mentioned it's not actual Pagan-era life but contemporary to the authors. Cú Chulainn is depicted as living a 8th century AD life despite the stories saying he lives in the 200s or so BC. So the GURPS book does similar and sketches life in the Dark Ages period.
I'll be going through the book describing and commenting or expanding on the material and giving recommendations for further resources. Off to Intro and Glossary next!
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