Children of New Rome

Children of New Rome is a grounded pen-and-paper RPG set on the 9th-century Byzantine–Arab frontier — a world of soldiers, priests, merchants, and healers caught between the lion of Constantinople and the crescent of Baghdad. What's in the box: One elegant core mechanic built around faith, wounds, travel, coin, and time. Light bookkeeping, deep choices, and a GM toolkit that doesn't pretend to know your table better than you do. The first campaign book covers the siege and sack of Amorium in AD 838 — gazetteers, NPCs, sack procedures, and the long road from Sozopetra to the Forty Martyrs. A Cappadocia sourcebook (underground cities, rock-cut chapels, the calendar as dungeon) is in layout now. What makes it different: Most historical RPGs treat the past as a costume. Children of New Rome treats it as a living place — real factions, real geography, real stakes. The Byzantine–Arab frontier is one of the most dramatically rich, least-played settings in tabletop history. What players actually get: Sessions that feel genuinely different from fantasy defaults. A GM toolkit that generates story without railroading. Period detail that informs play rather than burdening it. And a free 32-page quickstart, open playtest, and character generator to try before you buy.