Roleplaying games set in the early modern period (ca. 1500–1800) redux

When I last posted about this little database in August 2022, there were 68 titles in it; three years later, there are 127. The increase is mostly due to me coming across older RPGs that fit the bill and adding them to the database. Yet the appearance of 19 new titles over the last 36 months suggests that this little niche of the RPG world continues to hold appeal.

In inching toward making this a more comprehensive list of games that are set in, or draw heavy inspiration from, a real period of history, I've struggled and ultimately failed to come up with consistent set of criteria for inclusion. This has been particularly difficult with pirate-themed games. The popularity of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise in the early 2000s has been echoed more recently by TV shows like Our Flag Means Death; both have inspired the creativity of RPG enthusiasts. The problem, of course, is that some games seek the "vibe" but are not really interested in history; they want peg legs, tricorn hats, swashbuckling adventure, and maybe even some simulacrum of black-powder weapons, but they don't care about colonialism, plantation economies, the transatlantic slave trade, consumer revolutions, or any of the other structures that shaped the so-called "golden age" of piracy. And that's fine, of course — but it's made it difficult to determine whether some games warranted inclusion in this list. In the end, I've tried to include more than to exclude. Some titles that struck me as being fairly superficial efforts to shoehorn pirate-y tropes into what was otherwise an obvious pseudo-medieval fantasy setting did not make the cut, but some of the games here do admittedly lean heavily in that direction. I also included games set in the early 19th century, since 1800 is such an arbitrary cut-off point.

That said, this longer, more comprehensive list does underline a point I made before: there are a lot of creators who are genuinely interested in exploring this historical era through RPGs. Perhaps not surprisingly, many are European. 

Below is a summary of the current list of 127 titles, with only the title, author, publisher, and date: the full database, a Google spreadhseet which includes more information about game systems, mechanics, and setting details can be found here.

Title	Principal author(s)	Publisher	Date of first publication
En Garde!	Chadwick, Frank, Daryl Hany, John Harshman, and Loren Wiseman	Game Designers' Workshop	1975
Buccaneer	Smith, Carl	Adversary Games	1979
Skull & Crossbones	Seypura, Gerald D. and Anthony LeBoutillier	Fantasy Games Unlimited	1980
Pirates and Plunder	Matheny, Michael S.	Yaquinto Publications	1981
Taste My Steel!	Johnson, Don	Phantasy Network	1982
Privateers & Gentlemen	Williams, Walter John	Fantasy Games Unlimited	1983
Flashing Blades	Pettigrew, Mark	Fantasy Games Unlimited	1984
Maelstrom	Scott, Alexander	Puffin Books	1984
Timemaster: Adventures in the 4th Dimension	Acres, Mark D., Andria Hayday, and Carl Smith	Pacesetter Games	1984
High Seas	Pettigrew, Mark	Fantasy Games Unlimited	1985
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay	Halliwell, Richard, Rick Priestley, Graeme Davis, Jim Bambra, and Phil Gallagher	Games Workshop	1986
En Garde!	Jonsson, Gunilla and Michael Petersén	Ragnarök Speldesign	1987
Aux armes, citoyens!	Bocquet, Jérôme and Philippe Coste	Cubic 6	1988
GURPS Swashbucklers	O'Sullivan, Steffan	Steve Jackson Games	1988
Lace & Steel	Kidd, Paul	The Australian Game Group	1989
Pirates	Palmer, Gorham	Iron Crown Enterprises	1990
Capitaine Vaudou	Rosenthal, Pierre	Casus Belli / Jeux Descartes	1991
GURPS Scarlet Pimpernel	Evans, Lisa and Robert Traynor	Steve Jackson Games	1991
A Mighty Fortress	Winter, Steve	TSR	1992
At Rapier's Point	Scrivner, Kevin	Iron Crown Enterprises	1993
Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen	Wallis, James	Hogshead Publishing	1998
Swashbuckler	Dietz, Jim	Jolly Roger Games	1998
7th Sea	Wick, John	Alderac Entertainment Group	1999
Furry Pirates	Breakey, Lisa	Atlas Games	1999
Juego de rol del Capitán Alatriste	Ibáñez, Ricard	Devir Iberia	2002
50 Fathoms	Hensley, Shane Lacy	Pinnacle Entertainment Group	2003
GURPS Age of Napoleon	Caldwell, Nicholas	Steve Jackson Games	2003
Pirates!	Henning, Inger	Living Imagination	2003
Skull & Bones: Swashbuckling Horror in the Golden Age of Piracy	Luikart, T.S., Ian Sturrock, and Gareth-Michael Skarka	Green Ronin	2003
1632	Thompson, Jonathan M.	Battlefield Press	2004
Mousquetaires de l'ombre	Various	Phénix Édition	2004
Pavillion noir	Maroy, Renaud	Black Book Éditions	2004
d20 Past	Wyatt, James and Gwendolyn F. M. Kestrel	Wizards of the Coast	2005
Northern Crown: New World Adventures	Anderson, Douglas	Atlas Games	2005
Privateers and Pirates: Roleplaying on the High Seas	Clarke, Jonathan	FJGaming	2005
Te Deum pour un massacre	Jaworski, Jean-Philippe	Éditions du Matagot	2005
Pirates of the Spanish Main	Anonymous	Pinnacle Entertainment Group	2006
Unorthodox Pirates	The Le Games	[self-published]	2006
Colonial Gothic	Iorio II, Richard	Rogue Games	2007
Pirates	Hanrahan, Gareth	Mongoose Publishing	2007
Poison'd: A Pirate RPG	Baker, D. Vincent	Lumpley Games	2007
The Savage World of Solomon Kane	Wade-Williams, Paul	Pinnacle Entertainment Group	2007
Witch Hunter	Charlton, Scott, Rucht Lilavivat, Henry Lopez, M. Sean Molley, Brian Schoner, Robert J. Schwalb, and Robert Vaughn	Paradigm Concepts	2007
Khaos 1795	Boursier, Anthony, Florent Cautela, Sébastien Célerin, Fabien Clavel, Claude Guéant, Grégoire Laakmann, and Franck Plasse	Les 12 Singes	2008
Pirates: Ye Olde Core Rules	deMille, Matt	New Dimension Games	2008
Beat to Quarters	Gow, Neil	Omnihedron Games	2009
Karmic Pirates	Dawson, Julie Ann	Bards and Sages	2009
All for One: Régime Diabolique	Wade-Williams, Paul	Triple Ace Games	2010
Clockwork & Chivalry	Walton, Ken and Peter Cakebread	Cubicle 7	2010
Lamentations of the Flame Princess	Raggi, James	LotFP	2010
Backswords & Bucklers	Cale, Christopher	Tied to a Kite Games	2011
Clockwork & Cthulhu: Lovecraftian Adventures in the World of Clockwork & Chivalry	Walton, Ken and Peter Cakebread	Cakebread & Walton	2012
Honor + Intrigue	Rutovsky, Chris	Basic Action Games	2012
Pirates of Legend	Hanrahan, Gareth	Mongoose Publishing	2012
Renaissance Deluxe	Walton, Ken and Peter Cakebread	Cakebread & Walton	2012
Terra Incognita - Voyages aux pays de nulle part	Clément, Julien	Les XII Singes/Respell	2012
Dark Streets	Walton, Ken and Peter Cakebread	Cakebread & Walton	2013
Sabres & Witchery	Washborne, Simon	Beyond Belief Games	2013
Solomon Kane 4e édition	Legrand, Olivier	Olivier Legrand	2013
Tenebrae	Plasse, Franck	Les XII Singes	2013
Blood Tide: Black Sails and Dark Rituals	Spencer, Kenneth	Chaosium	2014
Les lames du cardinal	Auribeau, Philippe, Samuel Bidal, Camille Guirou, Jérôme Isnard, and Mahyar Shakeri	Sans-Détour Éditions	2014
OneDice Pirates & Dragons	Walton, Ken and Peter Cakebread	Cakebread & Walton	2014
Pirates & Dragons	Walton, Ken and Peter Cakebread	Cakebread & Walton	2014
Cloaks, Courts, & Gonnes	Dutter, Ben	Sigil Stone Publishing	2015
Crossed Swords: Roleplaying in the Age of the Three Musketeers	King, James Brian	J.B.K. Game Design	2015
Ultima Forsan	Longo, Mauro and Giuseppe Rotonda	GGStudio	2015
XVII, au fil de l'âme	Lyonnet, Bastien and Marc Aubert,	JdR Éditions	2015
And One for All	Engle, Ian	Hex Games	2016
Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia	Gillian, Geoff and Dean Engelhart	Cthulhu Reborn	2016
Leaves of Chiaroscuro	Bennett-Burks, Megan and Jason Lada	Bennett-Burks Design	2016
Mordiou!	Grümph, John	Chibi	2016
The Pirate Hack	FeralGamersInc	[self-published]	2016
Buccaneer: Through Hell and High Water	Weihing, Brett, Chris Fuchs, and Christopher Landauer with Gilbert Gallo and Charles White	Yellow Piece Games / Fabled Environments	2017
Fragged Seas	Dyer, Wade, Stuart McNabb, Nicolas Logue, John Kennedy, and Ryan Schoon	Design Ministries	2017
Freebooters	Pulver, David and Thomas Denmark	Night Owl Workshop	2017
Reign of Terror: Shadows of the Mythos Amidst the Horrors of the French Revolution	Morrison, Mark, Penelope Love, James Coquillat, and Darren Watson	Chaosium	2017
The High Seas Hack	Ward, PRD	Matakishi's Tea House	2017
Times That Fry Men's Souls	McAnally, Sean	Nerd Glows On	2017
Good Society: A Jane Austen RPG	Hendro, Vee and Hayley Gordon with Alex Robinson	Storybrewers Roleplaying	2018
HeXXen 1733	Bader, Mirko	Ulisses Spiele	2018
LexOccultum	Bergqvist, Théodore and Magnus Malmberg	Riotminds	2018
Pirater!	Engström, Tina, Gunilla Jonsson, Jonas Larsson, Daniel Olsson, Michael Petersén, and Jörgen Engström	MylingSpel	2018
Yarr! We Be Pirates!	Reiher, Jr., John H.	John H. Reiher Jr. Games	2018
Forts & Frontiers - Feast of the Dead quickstart		Campaign Games	2019
Miseries & Misfortunes, 2nd edition	Crane, Luke	Burning Wheel	2019
Rapscallion: Ashcan Edition		Magpie Games	2019
Sea of Thieves Roleplaying Game		Mongoose Publishing	2019
Tiny Pirates: Minimalist Swashbuckling Roleplaying		Gallant Knight Games	2019
vs. Pirates	Deeny, Thomas	Denagh Design	2019
17th Century Minimalist		Games Omnivorous	2020
Broken Compass Season Two: Jolly Roger		Two Little Mice	2020
Oceans & Tides: A Game of Entanglements at Sea	Gates, S.	Self-published on itch.io	2020
Tabletop Gaming Guide to Renaissance France	LaMonica, Michael J.	Mystical Throne Entertainment	2020
Traveller: 1700 — Historical Adventures in Colonial America	Caires, Greg	[self-published]	2020
Vaesen: Nordic Horror Roleplaying	Hintze, Nils	Free League	2020
Zorro: The Roleplaying Game	Bahr, Alan, Elizabeth Chaipraditkul, Jaym Gates, Ezzy Languzzi, Will Munn, Jack Norris, James M. Spahn, Steffie de Vaan, and Sabrina Vourvoulias	Gallant Knight Games	2020
Flames of Freedom Grim and Perilous RPG	Iorio, Richard et al.	Andrews McMeel Publishing	2021
Nations & Cannons		Flagbearer Games	2021
Pirate Borg		Limithron	2021
The Dee Sanction	Baldowski, Paul	Just Crunch Games	2021
Virtues & Scandals	Sawicki, Eryk	Self-published on itch.io	2021
Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen's England	Peregrine, Andrew and Lynne Hardy	Chaosium	2022
Corsairs of Cthulhu: Fighting Mythos in the Golden Age of Piracy	Burns, Ben	New Comet Games	2022
Cthulhu Eternal: Age of Revolutions SRD	Engelhardt, Dean et al..	Cthulhu Reborn	2022
Gran Meccanismo: Clockpunk Roleplaying in Da Vinci's Florence		Osprey Publishing	2022
Tabletop Gaming Guide to Pirates and Privateers	Banks, Christopher J. N.	Mystical Throne Entertainment	2022
Black Flags: Piracy in the Caribbean	Bennighof, Mike and John R. Phythyon, Jr.	Tabletop Adventures LLC	2023
Crossbones Opera: The Golden Age of Reckoning	Kinsman, Berin	Lightspress Media	2023
Cutlass: Swashbuckling Action for Genesys Roleplaying	Worth, Carson	Edge Studio	2023
In Strange Seas: Horror in the Royal Navy for Regency Cthulhu	Perlman, Evan	Evan Perlman	2023
Iron Kingdoms: The Nightmare Empire		Privateer Press	2023
Musketeers vs. Cthulhu	Heron, M. Bill	Nightfall Games	2023
Streets of Peril	Griswold, Kyle	Broken Blade Publishing	2023
The Straight Way Lost: Adventuring between Heaven and Hell in a Fantastical Renaissance Italy	Sedó, Melina et al.	Vortex Verlag	2023
Bûcherons et loups-garous: contes et légendes en Nouvelle-France	Poitras, Alexandre	Posidonia Éditions	2024
Cthulhu Eternal: Age of Sail SRD	Engelhardt, Dean et al.	Cthulhu Reborn	2024
Kannons & Kisses	Kicman, Paweł	Heltung Storytelling	2024
Land in the Mist: Starter Set		Rat in a Suit Productions	2024
Mythic Revolutions: The Beginning	HyperCosmos Team	Soul Twinkles Koin	2024
Black Powder and Brimstone	Tobitt, Benjamin	Free League	2025
Historica Arcanum: Echoes of Renaissance	Metis Media	Metis Creative	2025
Solomon Kane le jeu de rôle		Monolith	2025
Serenissima Obscura	Sedó, Melina and Andreas Wichter	Vortex Verlag	2026
Blunderbuss Role-Playing Game		Archmage Arispenn	2026?
Sails of Fate	TBA	Baroque Publishing	2026?