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GURPS Imperial Rome has been out of print for some years, but according to some sources is about to be re-printed, mainly due to the phenomenal popularity of the Dreamworks movie 'Gladiator'.

I want to take this opportunity to review Imperial Rome before the re-print is out and about.

Imperial Rome is a worldbook for the popular GURPS universal system, a system that leans heavily toward realism and rules complexity. When dealing with historical settings, however, neither of these two points count as drawbacks.

The incredible cover sums up the tone of the book: two gladiators engaged in a life and death melee.

What Does it Contain?

In short - everything you will need. I am not a great GURPS fan, butI admire the work done on the accompanying worldbooks, highlighting useful elements of the setting and providing ideas for scenarios and campaigns. Imperial Rome begins with a tour de force look at the cityof Rome and its society. A workmanlike map of the Empire is included along with a potted history of the same.

Character ideas cover a useful range from magician to senator, legionnary to barbarian. The detail on careers, coinage and arms and armour is impressive. The list of possible character names again is a very nice touch.

A history of Rome follows, and this is comprehensive if a little hazy at times, but it still tries to pack in lots of ideas for games along the way. The following section on the Roman provinces is likewise patchy, but still jam-packed with neat scenario seeds and kicks to the imagination. Local colour is very lacking however (but I suppose in a book this size you cannot have everything).

The most useful chapters follow - The Legions and The Games. Both contain a great amount of detail, plenty of scenario seeds and campaign suggestions, and provide he reader with a great amount of information to digest. Its all incredibly useful and imagination-provoking stuff. The Campaign chapter at the back of the book extends the themes and ideas and really provides some first class advice on setting up a campaign, from what period to who and why.

If there is a weak section then it is Myths & Religion. A quick run-down of the gods of Rome is followed by ... nothing much. I expected alot more in terms of cult and religion, magic and the Roman supernatural, but I was probably spoiled at an early age by Cults of Prax!

Is it Accurate? Is it useful?

As a qualified ancient historian I can safely say that more or less, Imperial Rome is accurate in its depiction of ancient Rome. Not only that but it leaves out much that could have been trivial or a waste of space. It picks out what you need to know and puts it inside wo covers in a well written and easily accessible style.

My gripe is that although there is some attempt to pitch the setting as Imperial Rome (i.e. during the period of the emperors) alot of info is given over to (sometimes much) earlier periods. For many, this is a waste of space. For those who do fancy a Hanniballic campaign they will find much of the book's day to day information aimed at the imperial era and completely useless. I would have suggested pitching the book at a specific era or group of dates rather than trying to encompass 1,000 years of history.

My final gripe is playability. As an ancient historian I always shied away from a Roman setting as an RPG for the reason that, for the imperial era at least, the Romans disarmed their citizenry. For a historical game player characters who want weapons and armour have to be either legionnaries or gladiators with all of the problems that those professions incur.

I have several ways to resolve this problem - but that's another story ... Suffice to say that Imperial Rome does not address this fundamental problem. Do you want to be a soldier in a legion, a slave gladiator or an unarmed Roman?

But if true roleplaying is your thing and traditional hack n' slay scenarios can be easily laid to rest then Imperial Rome will definately appeal to someone with an interest in Rome.

'Strength and honour'

Paul Elliott

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Topics	Author	Date	Latest Reply
Flavor? (2) new	Devin Parker	07-27-2000 21:44	07-29-2000 09:51 new

GURPS Imperial Rome
Author: C.J. Carella Category: game Company/Publisher: SJG Line: GURPS Page count: 128 ISBN: 1556342241 Playtest Review by Paul Elliott on 07/23/00. Genre tags: Historical	GURPS Imperial Rome has been out of print for some years, but according to some sources is about to be re-printed, mainly due to the phenomenal popularity of the Dreamworks movie 'Gladiator'. I want to take this opportunity to review Imperial Rome before the re-print is out and about. Imperial Rome is a worldbook for the popular GURPS universal system, a system that leans heavily toward realism and rules complexity. When dealing with historical settings, however, neither of these two points count as drawbacks. The incredible cover sums up the tone of the book: two gladiators engaged in a life and death melee. What Does it Contain? In short - everything you will need. I am not a great GURPS fan, butI admire the work done on the accompanying worldbooks, highlighting useful elements of the setting and providing ideas for scenarios and campaigns. Imperial Rome begins with a tour de force look at the cityof Rome and its society. A workmanlike map of the Empire is included along with a potted history of the same. Character ideas cover a useful range from magician to senator, legionnary to barbarian. The detail on careers, coinage and arms and armour is impressive. The list of possible character names again is a very nice touch. A history of Rome follows, and this is comprehensive if a little hazy at times, but it still tries to pack in lots of ideas for games along the way. The following section on the Roman provinces is likewise patchy, but still jam-packed with neat scenario seeds and kicks to the imagination. Local colour is very lacking however (but I suppose in a book this size you cannot have everything). The most useful chapters follow - The Legions and The Games. Both contain a great amount of detail, plenty of scenario seeds and campaign suggestions, and provide he reader with a great amount of information to digest. Its all incredibly useful and imagination-provoking stuff. The Campaign chapter at the back of the book extends the themes and ideas and really provides some first class advice on setting up a campaign, from what period to who and why. If there is a weak section then it is Myths & Religion. A quick run-down of the gods of Rome is followed by ... nothing much. I expected alot more in terms of cult and religion, magic and the Roman supernatural, but I was probably spoiled at an early age by Cults of Prax! Is it Accurate? Is it useful? As a qualified ancient historian I can safely say that more or less, Imperial Rome is accurate in its depiction of ancient Rome. Not only that but it leaves out much that could have been trivial or a waste of space. It picks out what you need to know and puts it inside wo covers in a well written and easily accessible style. My gripe is that although there is some attempt to pitch the setting as Imperial Rome (i.e. during the period of the emperors) alot of info is given over to (sometimes much) earlier periods. For many, this is a waste of space. For those who do fancy a Hanniballic campaign they will find much of the book's day to day information aimed at the imperial era and completely useless. I would have suggested pitching the book at a specific era or group of dates rather than trying to encompass 1,000 years of history. My final gripe is playability. As an ancient historian I always shied away from a Roman setting as an RPG for the reason that, for the imperial era at least, the Romans disarmed their citizenry. For a historical game player characters who want weapons and armour have to be either legionnaries or gladiators with all of the problems that those professions incur. I have several ways to resolve this problem - but that's another story ... Suffice to say that Imperial Rome does not address this fundamental problem. Do you want to be a soldier in a legion, a slave gladiator or an unarmed Roman? But if true roleplaying is your thing and traditional hack n' slay scenarios can be easily laid to rest then Imperial Rome will definately appeal to someone with an interest in Rome. 'Strength and honour' Paul Elliott Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)