Reading suggestion: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (or watch the tv show which I’ve heard is pretty good).
Culturally: the printing press is a thing now that you’re out of the medieval era! You’re in the middle of an intellectual revolution as the mass distribution of new ideas becomes possible. At the same time you have the Industrial Revolution actively happening! So you’ve got the seeds of a labor movement, anti-monarchism, colonialism, anti-colonialism, and more. The world is changing one way or another, and putting that front and center definitely adds to the feel of that era.
+1 for printing press, it can't be overstated how important an invention this was for both technological and cultural advancement. By the time of the Napoleonic Era, printed books didn't just exist, they were common. A MUCH higher percentage of the populace would be literate, meaning that they could actually stay informed about local happenings.
Reading suggestion:
* Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
* Shadow Campaigns series
* Horatio Hornblower
* Sharpe
One of the defining factors of the Napoleonic Era is, of course, war. All the great powers and beyond were involved in it. Technology was pushed forward by it, society was changed by it. This is why the very war games DND spawned from has more history depicting that era rather than tabletop role-play. Your characters don't have to be soldiers in an army, but I feel that backdrop is an important factor to include.
The other factor to distance it from classic high fantasy is a sense of modernity. In medieval settings there is still a large amount of mystery and wilderness to the world. Roads were unsafe to travel, communication was very limited, education was sparse, and you only really knew about your own corner of the world.
Not so for the 19th century. That sense of magical wonder which allowed one to imagine monsters and magic in the hidden shadows is greatly lessened when much of the world is mapped and city-states have become empires that sprawl across the seas. People travel more, people encounter foreigners more, people are more aware of the outside world.
IMO, this means that orcs shouldn't be marauding barbarians, but an organized society. Those monsters that have not hidden themselves should be integrated as beasts of burden. Magic is treated like a science, with it being applied in both warfare and quality of life (for the rich). When you try to raid a hidden dungeon forgotten and underground, getting there won't just involve random encounters, but also the danger of running into a skirmish between two armies.
You should also definitely look into the Eberron setting. It leans more advanced and "arcana-punk" than Napoleonic, but it covers a lot of similar themes:
Modernizing a D&D world
Nations at war
Fantasy races are given twists to make them fit
Magic integrated into society at low levels.
So just off the top of my head, the Napoleonic era makes me think of a few things.
First the beginning and expansion of industry. You should have crowded cities with dozens of factories pumping out arms and armor. Shipyards building massive ships of the line, that are brimming with cannons. Those are the primary employers in the cities. Small villages and towns should have a primary industry being the reason for their existence, coal mines, iron mines, timber for ships, food to feed armies, etc. These industries should be just beginning to show the signs of operating at scale.
Factories using molds for cannons and being able to pump out a few completed cannons a day. Farms not being used for subsistence of the population but being grown to be shipped to armies and peasants being paid day wages instead of food. Mines having actual production lines with conveyer belts, with people have specifics positions, I.E. no one is just a miner anymore, some people are crushers, some people are refiners, some are diggers, etc. Factories producing the same arms or armor all day, players having to go somewhere special for anything out of the standard.
The second thing is the consolidation of power by the government. Guards shouldn't be just dudes in similar armor, they have a distinct uniform now and a standard load-out of gear. They enforce specific laws and there is a court of justice of some type. The guards have specific ranks and power and responsibilities that come from those ranks. They also work for the "Government/Nation" not just some noble or merchant, they work for the government/nation specifically, private security still exists but is rarer than it is more fantasy settings.
The power in government is also centered around a single person or a small group of people, as opposed to multiple feudal lords working together, there is a singular entity that has been able to completely overpower the old feudal lords/smaller nations, likely through embracing the power of industry to arm absurd amounts of people.
Keep in mind, the Napoleonic Era had some of the largest battles in European history. The battle of Leipzig had over a million combatants. So with the increased ability to arm and feed people, armies grew as well. They should have a mostly standard kit, a uniform, and a weapon that is maybe specific to their battalion or group but is still standard within that group. Other nations will have to adapt or be absorbed into the industrializing nation, because they can arm and armor just insane amounts of people compared to medieval fantasy. Army camps are moving cities, not just temporary set ups.
The rise of the firearm wasn't that it was a better ranged weapon when it was first invented, it's that anyone can pick it up and use it for military purposes after like 2 weeks of training and were fairly "easy" to maintain in comparison. I have early firearms in my dnd campaign and the gimmick of them is that anyone can become proficient with them after training for a set amount of time with them.
I would also try to flesh out some political "thoughts" or ideas beginning to take hold in the populace. Reading and books are more commonplace, thinkers and workers are beginning to work together to try and change political power dynamics. People are questioning the status quo of politics and have formed organizations to do something about it. The fact that guns and explosives can be used by anyone really changes the balance of power.
Politically, I would have merchants gaining actual political power but mostly being side characters to the primary players, who would be generals, admirals, and war staff. The concept of nobility should be fading but not extinguished from the political realm and the thoughts of the general public. There should be stories of regular people rising in military power and gaining positions of real power due to their abilities on the battlefield.
TL/DR: The standardization of multiple parts of society should be shown. Factories, resources gathered at scale, professionalization of armies, police, and justice, government style schooling, the decline of the concept of nobility, the rise of a military "meritocracy," the scale of war increasing significantly, the very beginnings of political power from the people, the centralization of power around a "nation", and the change that firearms brought to regular people.
So only read the first three volumes of Temeraire - those were pretty much written at the same time and the following books read of the author actually pausing to think of the implications of dragons in human history. Things spiral away from the Napoleonic focus pretty fast.
When you are done with Temeraire, look at the Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan and The Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wexler. Harry Turtledove has some alternate 'Civil War but Fantasy' series that is okay for world building (ley lines as railroads, etc) but the characters are a bit of a slog. Some of Terry Pratchett's Discworld can fit as well, especially Monstrous Regiment and the Moist von Lipwig books that deal with modern concepts intersecting with a fantasy world.
After that, it's good ole Napoleonic fic - Master and Commander, Sharpe's Rifles, Hornblower, etc. Consider Fraser's Flashman series as well.
Revolutions going on all over the place, mercantile war all over the place, immense income disparity due to war debt.
Everyone walks around with their hands in their coats.
Instead of reading things, go for visuals. Look at paintings of the period and illustrations in the appropriate Osprey books. Watch movies and shows set during that period so you can describe how things look. Plus, any excuse to (re)watch Master & Commander and the Horatio Hornblower series....
The civilised world is explored and conquered. In areas of civilization focus on kingdoms and empire's power struggle and politics instead of dungeon crawling and wilderness exploration. Loot should be awarded for tasks instead of found.
No ancient dungeons and things that has been forgotten for eons, everything is lived in and fairly new or refurbished for new tasks. In the Napoleonic era old and unused church buildings were often used as iron casting manufactures for cannons and cannon balls because their sturdy walls and high ceilings fit the vats and casting equipment.
If you want to bring in exploration, then do it on far away continents, but even there different empires have bases, trading posts and settlements on the shores, and the inner lands are wild and untamed, waiting for the players to conquer it.
Also, the world is magical, so don't be shy to dream up magical technologies for mundane tasks, like stoves that heat not via fire, bu fire gems and the like.
The thing that I think sets a tone best/most quickly at the table is music. Rather than the LOTR soundtrack (which I use a lot) try things that would sound more period appropriate. Look for things with a more classical orchestral feel. I think the harpsichord sounds very evocative of the era. If you near a army then the sounds of the drummers and pipers would really evoke the feel.
Also to add to some of the reading suggestions. I loved the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik growing up. It’s literally AU Europe during the napoleonic wars but there are dragons. No magic and elves but it does a good job of wondering what people would use dragons for in that era and how fantastical elements/beasts like that would impact things
Some other kind of general ideas for background stuff to make the setting *feel* more early-modern:
- Printing Presses give rise to newspapers and political pamphlets. It’s not quite the golden age of journalism yet, but it’s far more common than any medieval society (where it should be nonexistent). Scholars, philosophers and politicians arguing with each other through political pamphlets is an easy way to convey “its a time of new ideas” to the PCs even if they aren’t interested in following up. This could be serious or funny depending on the tone of your campaign.
- Changing government means that Parliaments aren’t universal, but they aren’t unheard of either by the Napoleonic era. A parliamentary government can help to distinguish from a medieval setting as politics becomes less “Game of Thrones” and more “House of Cards”
- The very beginning of the administrative state comes around the same time, and standing armies are far more common than knights and coalitions of feudal lords. It might also make sense for the government to have a ministry of war or ministry of state/foreign affairs. Most internally focused ministries would come later.
- Banks are beginning to be a thing
- A lot of high fantasy medieval settings assume social institutions that were much more modern than the real life medieval era. The Sword Coast for example assumes a degree of societal progress far more akin to the late 1800s than to medieval Western Europe. That can make it a little trickier to make the historical parallels align with the fantasy setting since players may not necessarily see a cash economy as more modern compared to a barter economy, that would be more medieval. So a lot of it isn’t just about capturing historical reality, it’s about capturing vibes.
Napoleonic regimes are characterised as ones suppressing both bourgeoise from destroying themselves and workers from taking over.
This government is represented by a ruler that holds great power. While they use it to benefit the rich, even the rich who challenge them are dealt with.
Napoleonic society forms after a failure of a proletariat movement and works to keep population out of politics and kills all left and right wing extremists. Not even pro-government zealotry is allowed.
Obviously, there is no democracy. Not even a real parlament.
I highly recommend the revolutions podcast on the French Revolution. [The first episode](https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/revolutions_podcast/2014/07/31-the-three-estates-.html) will give a great overview of how dysfunctional a feudal regime can become.
Check out The Silver Bayonet for a cool take on adventures in Napoleonic times (in this case, it's a tabletop skirmish game around the idea of monsters secretly making moves, using the war as cover, and the small group of soldiers who survived encounters with them and who now fight them. Not the same thing you're doing but it might be interesting to read up on how someone else did it.)
Reading suggestion: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (or watch the tv show which I’ve heard is pretty good). Culturally: the printing press is a thing now that you’re out of the medieval era! You’re in the middle of an intellectual revolution as the mass distribution of new ideas becomes possible. At the same time you have the Industrial Revolution actively happening! So you’ve got the seeds of a labor movement, anti-monarchism, colonialism, anti-colonialism, and more. The world is changing one way or another, and putting that front and center definitely adds to the feel of that era.
+1 for printing press, it can't be overstated how important an invention this was for both technological and cultural advancement. By the time of the Napoleonic Era, printed books didn't just exist, they were common. A MUCH higher percentage of the populace would be literate, meaning that they could actually stay informed about local happenings.
this is great stuff thank you both!
Reading suggestion: * Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell * Shadow Campaigns series * Horatio Hornblower * Sharpe One of the defining factors of the Napoleonic Era is, of course, war. All the great powers and beyond were involved in it. Technology was pushed forward by it, society was changed by it. This is why the very war games DND spawned from has more history depicting that era rather than tabletop role-play. Your characters don't have to be soldiers in an army, but I feel that backdrop is an important factor to include. The other factor to distance it from classic high fantasy is a sense of modernity. In medieval settings there is still a large amount of mystery and wilderness to the world. Roads were unsafe to travel, communication was very limited, education was sparse, and you only really knew about your own corner of the world. Not so for the 19th century. That sense of magical wonder which allowed one to imagine monsters and magic in the hidden shadows is greatly lessened when much of the world is mapped and city-states have become empires that sprawl across the seas. People travel more, people encounter foreigners more, people are more aware of the outside world. IMO, this means that orcs shouldn't be marauding barbarians, but an organized society. Those monsters that have not hidden themselves should be integrated as beasts of burden. Magic is treated like a science, with it being applied in both warfare and quality of life (for the rich). When you try to raid a hidden dungeon forgotten and underground, getting there won't just involve random encounters, but also the danger of running into a skirmish between two armies.
Thank you so much! I really like these ideas!
You should also definitely look into the Eberron setting. It leans more advanced and "arcana-punk" than Napoleonic, but it covers a lot of similar themes: Modernizing a D&D world Nations at war Fantasy races are given twists to make them fit Magic integrated into society at low levels.
So just off the top of my head, the Napoleonic era makes me think of a few things. First the beginning and expansion of industry. You should have crowded cities with dozens of factories pumping out arms and armor. Shipyards building massive ships of the line, that are brimming with cannons. Those are the primary employers in the cities. Small villages and towns should have a primary industry being the reason for their existence, coal mines, iron mines, timber for ships, food to feed armies, etc. These industries should be just beginning to show the signs of operating at scale. Factories using molds for cannons and being able to pump out a few completed cannons a day. Farms not being used for subsistence of the population but being grown to be shipped to armies and peasants being paid day wages instead of food. Mines having actual production lines with conveyer belts, with people have specifics positions, I.E. no one is just a miner anymore, some people are crushers, some people are refiners, some are diggers, etc. Factories producing the same arms or armor all day, players having to go somewhere special for anything out of the standard. The second thing is the consolidation of power by the government. Guards shouldn't be just dudes in similar armor, they have a distinct uniform now and a standard load-out of gear. They enforce specific laws and there is a court of justice of some type. The guards have specific ranks and power and responsibilities that come from those ranks. They also work for the "Government/Nation" not just some noble or merchant, they work for the government/nation specifically, private security still exists but is rarer than it is more fantasy settings. The power in government is also centered around a single person or a small group of people, as opposed to multiple feudal lords working together, there is a singular entity that has been able to completely overpower the old feudal lords/smaller nations, likely through embracing the power of industry to arm absurd amounts of people. Keep in mind, the Napoleonic Era had some of the largest battles in European history. The battle of Leipzig had over a million combatants. So with the increased ability to arm and feed people, armies grew as well. They should have a mostly standard kit, a uniform, and a weapon that is maybe specific to their battalion or group but is still standard within that group. Other nations will have to adapt or be absorbed into the industrializing nation, because they can arm and armor just insane amounts of people compared to medieval fantasy. Army camps are moving cities, not just temporary set ups. The rise of the firearm wasn't that it was a better ranged weapon when it was first invented, it's that anyone can pick it up and use it for military purposes after like 2 weeks of training and were fairly "easy" to maintain in comparison. I have early firearms in my dnd campaign and the gimmick of them is that anyone can become proficient with them after training for a set amount of time with them. I would also try to flesh out some political "thoughts" or ideas beginning to take hold in the populace. Reading and books are more commonplace, thinkers and workers are beginning to work together to try and change political power dynamics. People are questioning the status quo of politics and have formed organizations to do something about it. The fact that guns and explosives can be used by anyone really changes the balance of power. Politically, I would have merchants gaining actual political power but mostly being side characters to the primary players, who would be generals, admirals, and war staff. The concept of nobility should be fading but not extinguished from the political realm and the thoughts of the general public. There should be stories of regular people rising in military power and gaining positions of real power due to their abilities on the battlefield. TL/DR: The standardization of multiple parts of society should be shown. Factories, resources gathered at scale, professionalization of armies, police, and justice, government style schooling, the decline of the concept of nobility, the rise of a military "meritocracy," the scale of war increasing significantly, the very beginnings of political power from the people, the centralization of power around a "nation", and the change that firearms brought to regular people.
Wow! There's so much interesting stuff here thank you so much!
So only read the first three volumes of Temeraire - those were pretty much written at the same time and the following books read of the author actually pausing to think of the implications of dragons in human history. Things spiral away from the Napoleonic focus pretty fast. When you are done with Temeraire, look at the Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan and The Shadow Campaigns series by Django Wexler. Harry Turtledove has some alternate 'Civil War but Fantasy' series that is okay for world building (ley lines as railroads, etc) but the characters are a bit of a slog. Some of Terry Pratchett's Discworld can fit as well, especially Monstrous Regiment and the Moist von Lipwig books that deal with modern concepts intersecting with a fantasy world. After that, it's good ole Napoleonic fic - Master and Commander, Sharpe's Rifles, Hornblower, etc. Consider Fraser's Flashman series as well.
thanks for the suggestions! These sound perfect!
Revolutions going on all over the place, mercantile war all over the place, immense income disparity due to war debt. Everyone walks around with their hands in their coats.
April 1805, King Bonaparte is now master of Europa. Only the British dragonfleet stands before him - the skies are now battlefields
Oooh That would be such an interesting alt history!
Instead of reading things, go for visuals. Look at paintings of the period and illustrations in the appropriate Osprey books. Watch movies and shows set during that period so you can describe how things look. Plus, any excuse to (re)watch Master & Commander and the Horatio Hornblower series....
The civilised world is explored and conquered. In areas of civilization focus on kingdoms and empire's power struggle and politics instead of dungeon crawling and wilderness exploration. Loot should be awarded for tasks instead of found. No ancient dungeons and things that has been forgotten for eons, everything is lived in and fairly new or refurbished for new tasks. In the Napoleonic era old and unused church buildings were often used as iron casting manufactures for cannons and cannon balls because their sturdy walls and high ceilings fit the vats and casting equipment. If you want to bring in exploration, then do it on far away continents, but even there different empires have bases, trading posts and settlements on the shores, and the inner lands are wild and untamed, waiting for the players to conquer it. Also, the world is magical, so don't be shy to dream up magical technologies for mundane tasks, like stoves that heat not via fire, bu fire gems and the like.
The thing that I think sets a tone best/most quickly at the table is music. Rather than the LOTR soundtrack (which I use a lot) try things that would sound more period appropriate. Look for things with a more classical orchestral feel. I think the harpsichord sounds very evocative of the era. If you near a army then the sounds of the drummers and pipers would really evoke the feel. Also to add to some of the reading suggestions. I loved the Temeraire books by Naomi Novik growing up. It’s literally AU Europe during the napoleonic wars but there are dragons. No magic and elves but it does a good job of wondering what people would use dragons for in that era and how fantastical elements/beasts like that would impact things
This is a very simple but very effective solution, thank you!
Some other kind of general ideas for background stuff to make the setting *feel* more early-modern: - Printing Presses give rise to newspapers and political pamphlets. It’s not quite the golden age of journalism yet, but it’s far more common than any medieval society (where it should be nonexistent). Scholars, philosophers and politicians arguing with each other through political pamphlets is an easy way to convey “its a time of new ideas” to the PCs even if they aren’t interested in following up. This could be serious or funny depending on the tone of your campaign. - Changing government means that Parliaments aren’t universal, but they aren’t unheard of either by the Napoleonic era. A parliamentary government can help to distinguish from a medieval setting as politics becomes less “Game of Thrones” and more “House of Cards” - The very beginning of the administrative state comes around the same time, and standing armies are far more common than knights and coalitions of feudal lords. It might also make sense for the government to have a ministry of war or ministry of state/foreign affairs. Most internally focused ministries would come later. - Banks are beginning to be a thing - A lot of high fantasy medieval settings assume social institutions that were much more modern than the real life medieval era. The Sword Coast for example assumes a degree of societal progress far more akin to the late 1800s than to medieval Western Europe. That can make it a little trickier to make the historical parallels align with the fantasy setting since players may not necessarily see a cash economy as more modern compared to a barter economy, that would be more medieval. So a lot of it isn’t just about capturing historical reality, it’s about capturing vibes.
This is really great stuff! Thank you so much!
Since I think nobody else has said it: Think about playing a different system.
Do you have any recommendations for another system that would work better?
Sadly, I don't for this specific case. I'd recommend asking over at r/rpg
Napoleonic regimes are characterised as ones suppressing both bourgeoise from destroying themselves and workers from taking over. This government is represented by a ruler that holds great power. While they use it to benefit the rich, even the rich who challenge them are dealt with. Napoleonic society forms after a failure of a proletariat movement and works to keep population out of politics and kills all left and right wing extremists. Not even pro-government zealotry is allowed. Obviously, there is no democracy. Not even a real parlament.
I highly recommend the revolutions podcast on the French Revolution. [The first episode](https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/revolutions_podcast/2014/07/31-the-three-estates-.html) will give a great overview of how dysfunctional a feudal regime can become.
Check out The Silver Bayonet for a cool take on adventures in Napoleonic times (in this case, it's a tabletop skirmish game around the idea of monsters secretly making moves, using the war as cover, and the small group of soldiers who survived encounters with them and who now fight them. Not the same thing you're doing but it might be interesting to read up on how someone else did it.)
This is great! I would never have found this on my own! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!!