When they announced Cohors Cthulhu I was incredibly nonplussed.
Romans? Yawn!
Some people were very excited. But from my point of view, yes I’ve learned about the Romans in school, and been to many, many Roman Ruins in this country and abroad (Italy obvs) but I’m just not that bothered. What are my cultural touchstones for the Roman empire? Gladiator (last millenium), Asterix (a comedy comic), Life of Brian (not exactly a reason to play a RPG), a launch Xbox One Title (can’t even remember the name), some on the gods in Smite. So the Romans aren’t exactly a big part of the cultural zeitgeist.
If it was Greece with all the Gods and Myths and Monsters , or Egypt or the Norse Sagas I’d be more interested.
But that thought got me thinking more. Is there a property that is adjacent to this time period that would excite me? And the answer to that is, yes there is!
Assassins Creed started in the middle ages, then the renaissance and then came up to the Industrial Revolution.
But then it went back to more ancient times.
Origins – Egypt, around the time of Cleopatra – so during the roman Empire.
Odyssey – Greece, during a Civil War.
Valhalla – Britain, after the Romans and during Viking Invasions.
That’s over a 1000 years of History and basically the same period as Cohors. The blurbs do mention that they will move beyond the basic Roman Vs Barbarian Vs Cthulhu setting but it might be a while. But I can probably use the base rules to run something in these time periods and locations and be able to include more of the magic, mysticism and monsters the the AC games touched upon but mostly avoided. Which is exactly the kind of game I’d like to play!
And for all those people wanting Elder Scrolls.
Skyrim is basically Barbarians in Castles.
The main Empire in Oblivion is basically the Roman Empire – their troops look very, very similar.
It shouldn’t take much work to use Cohors as Elder Scrolls, just add monsters and races.
that70sgame 