The Tigress of Forli by Elizabeth Lev

One of the characters that made an appearance in both versions of the Borgia series I've seen, was Caterina Sforza, a woman whose name on this book goes by Caterina Riario Sforza De'Medici. How's that for a mouthful.

Her Wiki entry has some of the nuts and bolts of her life. This book takes such nuts and bolts and expands them greatly. Elizabeth Lev does a nice job of making a book that's at once readable and one filled with notes from dozens if not hundreds of other resources which curious readers can go further on and read.

In terms of gaming, there is much to mine here.

1. Background. Caterina is raised to enjoy hunting and the military arts. The author notes that this was because unlike other nobles of the time, Caterina comes from a mercenary family that rose to prominence on the strength of their sword arm so raising all the children to fight was only normal and natural as opposed to segregating them into different roles.

2. People: Caterina has eight kids by three different husbands. Two of those husbands had powerful alliances to other families of the time. This doesn't count Caterina's own family and the rise and fall of status dependent upon not only your own abilities as a ruler or with diplomacy, but on the rise and fall of others that you may have no direct control over.

3. Rapid Reversal: There are several times throughout the scene that Elizabeth Lev sets, where one is assured that based on X, Y should happen. Nope. For example, when assassins kill her second husband, they think that they will be greeted with a hero's welcome. They are killed by the dozens instead. This happens a few times where people hear, "Oh, this is a problem is it? I shall solve it and all shall love me." only to find out that yeah, that was pretty much idle talk and acting on it was really stupid.

4. Different Perspectives: One of the other characters that made an appearance in both Borgia series was Savonarola, the initial inspiration for the bonfire of the vanity. Apparently he and Caterina had exchanged correspondence and it left an impact on Caterina that would follow her for the rest of her days. In this exchange, Savonarola doesn't' get much page time, but he does sound rather sane and reasonable unlike how he was portrayed in either series. For one person, an ally might seem saintly and full of vigor and vim and for another person, an adversary of devastating cunning and ability.

5. Disease: Since this is a book about the Renaissance and the various French invasions of Italy, we have to have some mention of 'The French Disease', along with Malaria, and the Bubonic Plague, all of which make their appearance in this historical. Indeed, is is no sword or poison that ends Caterina's life, but rather disease.

6. Social Combat: Initially there are many celebrations and honors given to Caterina upon her initial marriage as that was to a 'cousin' (some say illegitimate bastard) of the Pope of the time, Pope Sixtus IV. Thanks to that connection, Caterina has social advantage and ability that many in her time lacked and the parties that followed allowed for a lot of intermingling that could have consequences lasting well past the initial meetings.

7. Instability: When a pope dies in Rome, the citizens go a little crazy and form into unruly mobs. This can be a situation in a standard game as well when a well loved figure dies and there is a time of mourning as well as individuals using these situations to their advantage. Easier to send in the assassins while the city burns then attack the front gates.

8. Esoteric Hobbies: Among the many things that Caterina enjoy, hunting in the gaming grounds of the city Pavia, as well as breeding and riding horses, she was reknown for her herbalist skills and even had a book published on her findings. Some have even referred to her skills as 'alchemy'. In a fantasy campaign, it's easy to imagine Caterina having levels of Noble, Alchemists, and Fighter among others.


There are so many characters that Caterina interacts with or is there to see rising, that it gives the whole of the Renaissance itself a greater feel, like some massive tapestry that cannot be seen in one viewing and must be taken in from various angels.

The Art of War in Italy 1494-1529 by F. L. Taylor

The Art of War in Italy 1494-1529, written by F. L. Taylor, is apparently a classic in the genre. I didn't know this. Rather, I was drawn to the book thanks to my viewings of Borgia and Borgias, seasons I caught up on Netflix that provided two different takes on an infamous family of the pope Borgia and his family.

This book isn't a book on those battles mind you. It mentions then by name and date, it provides who was where and who wrote what, but that is not its focus. Rather it is a discussion of the evolution and changing nature of war in this time and how those living at this time either embraced these changes or didn't and suffered defeat and lose of status as some mercenary companies grew in power and reputation and others didn't.

It's a relatively short read and provides some good grounds for why warfare changes. Those who've seen the military might of America, one of the greatest spenders of funds on military, change from it's roots in one type of warfare to counter terrorist methodology, know that war is ever changing.

In terms of role playing games? Some potential here or at least some things to provide fodder for.

1. Names. I've mentioned it before, but history books are a great source of authentic sounding names. In addition, they are great for names with titles attached to them. For example, "Gonsalvo de Codova, known to his contemporaries as The Great Captain." or "Lautrec the stormer of cities". You read a few of thoes and you're like, "No, go ahead and keep your nickname, I've seen worse."

2. Scouting: One of the things that comes up, is how vital knowledge of the landscape is. See, if you're using canons and horses, you need to know if the terrain will support their use. You need to know how quickly you can deploy them. You need to know if there is any fodder for the animals around. You need to know if the enemy can quickly get to you or you to them. Mastery and knowledge of the landscape provides those things to you. Characters that can scout out the terrain may encounter guards. They may encounter random monsters. They may encounter terrain difficulties that they can lead the enemy into. They may discover old abandoned mines that lead under the city.

3. Changing Methods: One of the things that frequently bores me about most fantasy games, is they love full plate mail and all of the other neat stuff of the times, but seem to forget how early guns actually get into history. They also tend to completely ignore all of the specialized forces in their own settings. In the real world? Well, if your enemy is using new guns to shatter your castles, you need to figure out a way to make better castles and make better methods to repel the invasions.

In addition, the changing field of battle may encounter remnants of the past in terms of social outlook. For example, one of the nobles would cut the hands and blind any gunners because he felt it wrong that a commoner would have the ability to kill someone nobly born.

Some found that attacking a foe while he was down after defeating them in the initial combat, was wrong and allowed their foes to retreat as opposed to destroying those forces and ending future conflict.

Imagine a scenario where orcs that routinely gathered in hordes started to use hit and run tactics, keeping the larger portion of their forces in reserve to destroy those that came after their own retreating forces? Imagine orcs that use some native herd beast to stampede them into a conflict against armored paladins. Imagine where they poison the landscape so that mounted knights can no longer give chase because their horses die when eating the grass.

4. War: One of the other things that tend to be boring in most fantasy campaigns, is that they're based on some of the harsh times of history, but usually have a few 'evil' countries, a few 'evil' organizations, and the rest of the setting is m'eh in that it's usually a bunch of good individuals and countries taking up the landscape with the threat of 'real' war very rare. Smash your setting. Have skirmish level combats breaking out all over. If you don't want to have it be nations, have it be monsters. Have things from other planes, like good ole Feist and Magician coming into the setting to take resources and supplies. History is violent and full of opportunities for clever individuals to make their mark on history.

The Art of War provides numerous observations on how and why warfare changed from armored knights on horse to canons and gunners whose role goes from supplemental to becoming part of a machine that must work together in unison with all other parts in order to achieve victory.

Borgia: Further Random Ramblings

I'll be hitting a few more points from the non-Showtime series, Borgia below. Anyone who doesn't want any spoilers should read no further.

One of the things I failed to mention about the Borgia series, the non-Showtime one, is that the motivation for Lucrezia to murder Juan, or at least to murder him at that time, is that Juan wants to redeem himself. He wants to confess his sins. He wants to live a virtuous life.

This means he'd get into Heaven.

So Lucrezia kills him to prevent that from happening. Her hatred of her brother is so great, that she cannot abide the thought of him going to Heaven. Her motivation is there, but the timing is directly influenced by religious belief.

It resounded in my mind an echo of the version of Hamlet with Mel Gibson as well as the play itself mind you. Here Hamlet comes across the king who has begged the Lord for forgiveness so if Hamlet does kill him at that junction, the king would go to heaven.

The hatred that Hamlet and Lucrezia share, to prevent the soul from going to a 'just' reward in the afterlife, is played out in both instances here.

In role playing games, what religious motivations can be arranged to do something similar for characters and their enemies?

In fantasy settings that have saints or gods or war, would fleeing from overwhelming victory be enough to damn a soul? What if the individual suffered from a magical compulsion that forced them to flee?

What if the damnation of the soul is of secondary importance but the appearance of the damnation is what's important?

For example, during the siege of a city, a war leader priest might call for a retreat when the city is going to fall and a high marshal or otherwise highly placed and respected knight prepares to lead the retreat but his assassination is arranged so that it looks like he was killed fleeing from the combat. This can be a devastating blow to the morale of the people he was supposed to be leading.

Such a thing might call on the players to investigate what actually happened. Was the weapon used to kill the knight one that the enemy uses? Did the knight suffer any other wounds? Is there a 'signature' mark like Zorro or other skilled opponents leave on their foes? Has the body been moved?

That's the first plot point that has a lot of potential implications for the game master and those players who pick clerics as their characters.

The second is specific missions.

Cesare's rise to power starts with a limited force of soldiers. So few in fact, that he has no desire to spend any of their lives when he doesn't have to.

In one instance, he's able to assure the people of the town that if they resist, the destruction he rains on them will be hoffic and on the other hand, he assures them that taxes and other fees will be lessened under him. They surrender.

He tries this on another town, but Caterina, 'Il Tiger', has captured the man's son so he cannot surrender without his son paying for it.

Cesare sees this as a perfect opportunity and infiltrates the castle holding the child, kills the child's captors, and makes the get away with the child and a bonus prisoner.

He does this alone, but in a role playing game, something like this might be accomplished by a few special characters, like the player's characters.

By having specific missions that can have tremendous impact on the game, the Dungeon Master allows the players the opportunity to directly influence the game. By having the players rescue an important son, or daughter, it gives the players a 'touch' with someone whose powerful or influential directly and gives that powerful person, a reason to respect the abilities of the players and to have a personal tie to the players.

Borgia: Rules of War, Rules of Love, provides a lot of ideas and visual inspiration for those who want to take their campaigns out of the dungeon.

The Borgias: Season Three

Damn you Showtime! I finally catch up on everything and discover that this was meant to be a four season series that was cut short by a whole season? Curse your financials that prevent this from coming out!

Yeah, I enjoyed it in case you can't tell. The tensions between family members come to a head in a big way between father and son, and between sister and brother and not everything works out in such a happy campy charming way that leaves me wondering where Showtime was going to take it.

Yeah, I saw that they came out with a $9.99 e-book but the reviews on that one are all over the place and let's be honest, I'm not paying $10 for a e-book for a show I watched on Netflix. Pass!

Jeremy Irons continues to knock it out of the park and his son, Francois Arnaud aka Cesare Borgia, have some great scenes that will be heart felt to anyone whose ever had issues with their own father in terms of trust and living up to what they wanted to be while trying to make that parent happy at the same time.

The Borgias season three is available on blu ray for $30.35 from Amazon but is streaming free on Netflix now. I was so interested in the time period and other bits going on I decided to check out another series based on the Borgias and it's been very interesting thus far with a lot of similarities but a ton of differences so will make for some interesting compare and contrast bits later.

So in terms of role playing fodder though, where to start...

1. Minor Characters: Throughout the whole of the series, Cesare has had a henchman, Micheletto Corella, who acted as his assassin and his right hand in many things. The character arcs Micheletto go through take him out of Cesare's orbit. Real life can be a PIA. Work, sickness, birth, death, vacations and other things can take players in and out of the game. Having reasons why the player's character retries as opposed to die are handy to have and having one suffer from emotional distress provides a quick way of allowing a player to bring a favorite back as opposed to having a character die and then come back for some odd ball reason.

2. Traps: Learning that pilgrims are skipping out on Rome to see another holy site, Cesare investigates knowing full well that it may be a trap. Turns out it is. Some traps have to be investigated head on while others do not. In this case the relic was a shroud of the bleeding Christ that tears were of blood. The trap? Blowing the entire cave up while Cesare was in it. Anyone whose seen the Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will also be familiar with a character walking into a trap as Gandalf, knowing full well that something is waiting for him, goes into the ruins of the Necromancer in order to expose him.

3. Poison: Season two ended with the Pope being poisoned but he is quickly saved by the knowledge that Lucrezia has of poisons. While in his weakened state, the pope learns more about who his friends and allies are, and who his enemies are. It allows him to navigate plans within plans while waiting to recover. Poison in most role playing games is often a "make a save or die" but while there are many such poisons in the world, there are also those that may incapacitate the poisoned for a while.

4. Factions: The one who poisoned the pope is captured but quickly escapes. When there are multiple factions involved in a situation, especially one as large as poisoning a pope, there may be those who seek to gain from that event even as there are those who seek to punish for it. Have plans for various events and how different factions will react to those situations. "If X happens, group Y will do the following while group Z will do the opposite." Having these things out ahead of time will prevent you as the Game Master from having to scrabble as opposed to having the NPCs having to scramble.

5. Innovative Siege Tactics: One of the interesting things that happens in the series, not based in real world history mind you, is that the castle of Caterina Sforza is taken when Cesare uses cannons to destroy the ground under a second of wall build atop an old mine. The cannon fire breaks the supports of the mine and gravity takes down the wall allowing the siege to be mopped up quickly. Allowing the players to have unique tactics that should work should be encouraged. In some instances, the Game Master should build should things deliberately into the setting so that there is a way to victory that doesn't necessarily involve 'the hard way'. Another example of this is seen in the anime/manga series Berserk where Griffith lays siege to a caste but that is only a rouse while his forces take the castle under cover of sand storm and open the gates to them.

Such tactics don't necessarily stop with siege warfare though. When Jews coming to Rome, the pope initially wants to tax them for a 'great crusade' against the Turk. The Jews counter offer though with a plan that burns the fleet of ships of the Turks to the oceanline. The careful use of the various Jewish merchants throughout the port cities, supplied with oil allows them access and means to do so.

6. Mercenaries: Second sons and bastard sons have a bit of a problem in a feudal or semi-feudal system. The inheritance can only go to one, and usually that's the eldest. So what is a second or third or even bastard son to do? Mercenary work is a good way of advancement. But as some historians note, mercenaries are not necessarily going to fight on a losing side just because they're initially agreed to it, especially if a better offer comes along. Having some sort of system to track a mercenaries 'honor' or 'valor' might be useful for players who want to hire some hirelings from time to time or even full fledged armies. Knowing who to trust though is even better.

 7. Unique Supplies: In the dreaded 'real' world, supplies are vital to all sorts of things. When certain parts of the modern world flood for example, some computer components may go up in price because they are outsourced there. In a darker time, when cannons need sulfur, controlling the supply of sulfur allows one to control the flow of war. One cannot make 'easy' war or 'modern' war without cannons and without sulfur, the canons are useless. In your own settings, are there any resources which control of is vital? Which control of may not even be seen as vital because they are from an outside source, but one that might be taken over or outright bought by a single source?

8. Financial Record Keeping: One of the cardinals accused of conspiring against the pope decides, ah what the hell, steals a bunch of land rights and titles, and burns the remaining information on the various wealth and coffers of the Church. Specialists have to be called in whose sole job is to discover the wealth that the Church has access to. Anyone whose read anything about the United States Government knows that often times there are resources unearthed decades after they were needed. If the players ever find themselves working for a government branch, don't be afraid to allow them access to resources that the government didn't even know it had.

For those who've watched other series, like the Tudors, did you find yourself stealing any particular ideas or bits for your own campaigns? For those who've watched the older version of the series, did you find yourself enjoying that one more or less?

For those running historical games, do you tend to stick with the 'real world' history as much as possible or play it fast and lose? One of the things I enjoyed about Mage's Renaissance setting was how open it appeared to be to having various cool things happen in a semi-historical period.

The Borgias: The First Season

I've mentioned before that I'm often behind the times when it comes to various shows that might hold my interest. One of those is a Showtime Original called the Borgias. I've heard of the family before, notorious in some circles. One of the things I like about the site is that there are some interesting links to things of 'how life was like' on the site.

The Borgias has a lot going for it.. The costumes and set pieces are visually arresting. The characters have many flaws but many strengths for the viewer to root for. The period in history, the shows start at 1492, is one of turmoil for Italy. As a fan of the various mercenaries that make up a lot of Italy history, this is the point at which the idea of city state mercenaries starts to be overwhelmed by national level mercenaries. It is an era where gunpowder, especially the craft and creation and innovative uses of canons, becomes more common.

In this field, we are put firmly into the family if the Borgias.Jeremy Irons does a fantastic job of playing the head of the family, Rodrigo Borgia with a family that is strained at the best of time and threatens to unravel with the strains put upon it. The head of the family pushes forward for power but at times, does so out of devotion for the future of his family. At other times, for his own selfish fulfillment.

The backdrop allows for individuals of various power and position. For example, we Caterina Sforza who is a powerful warrior princess. It's been a while but I suspect that her character has been used for many a warrior woman archetype. We also have King Charles VIII of France whose claim on Naples puts him square against the Borgias. This doesn't count a certain philosopher who wrote many a book such as 'The Prince' or 'The Art of War'.

By using a family, the series is able to weave complex situation and historical events into a more familiar and watchable sequence. For any fan of city adventures, the Borgias is well worth a watch.

Below I'll be discussing some of the specific spoilers and themes of the show and how they might apply to role playing games.

1. Change: The whole of Italy is in the throes of change at the start of the show. The methodology of war is changing. Wars for example, are now making more use of canon. The King of France uses a cannonball with chains on it. When fired these chains whip through the air like chainsaws cutting people and horses in half with ease. Canons are being designed larger with more power and range. Add into all this a new Pope whose the leader of all Christian Hood and you can see that much is different than it was at the start.

When great social change comes, such as a Pope dying, or when innovation of new weapons need to be crafted, when possible, have the players be part of it.

2. Spies are everywhere: Any place there is an opportunity to be overhead or seen by those who should not see, spies could be there. Outside the bedrooms are waiting pages who are listening. By windows are those who should not be sitting.

3. Family complicates matters.

4. Elaborate Outfits: The church seems to have dozens of different outfits and dozens of different colors. For example, colors may vary on the position of the church member.

5. Battle: Fights may be common but not to the death. For example, a fight may be to the first blood, or to one is disarmed, or to one cries 'enough'. Fights may be until a deception is spotted.

6. Voting: When the new pope is in the process of being elected, votes may have to be cast over and over again. Contests may result in limited amounts of supplies and equipment given to those voting. To get information and communication out, people inside the voting may use birds to relay their messages and to get messages back in, may hide notes in foodstuffs prepared outside those walls.

To get the votes needed, there may be a variety of tools used. Bribes consisting of lands, money, ranks, titles, and of course, the Borgias favorites, murder and sexual favors.

7. Events: There are numerous events that take place in The Borgias. For example, the election of the Pope is cause for celebration which includes feasting, socialization, public appearances by those who might not normally do so, as well as the need to break out the fancy clothes. During some of these celebrations, a march across town may represent an opportunity to steal something, like a Pope's Crown, that is only brought out for these special occasions. An 'Ocean's Eleven' so to speak. A Tri-Crown studded with gold and gems worthy of any rogue worth the name.

8. Ethnic Tensions: The SPanish and Italians have issues. The Jews, Muslims and Christians have issues. There are tensions that go back hundreds if not thousands of years and break up from large generalities to specific tribe and family hatreds. In some things, there is no change.

9. Unique Positions: The Papal Army is small but effective. It allows for unique characters and abilities to be put into play that may not occur in other venues.

10. Faux Pas: Insults may require more than an apology. They may require the one doing the insulting to be humiliated or paid back with violence. If these humiliations are made public, they may become the source of nick names or other negative attributes given to a character so suffering from them.

11. Reversal: Tools may be used by more than one person. For example shortly after the new Pope's appointment, someone tries to poison him but the poison is turned against the one who tried to have the pope killed.

While I watched The Borgias on Netflix, I'm thinking of picking it up on bluray from Amazon. I see that it's $27.43 but know that they usually have some HBO/Showtime specials so may wait on that. In an interesting 'sale' twist, I see that the novel 1492 is on sale and what's when the series starts and for $3.99 I picked that up in kindle format.

For those who may own the blu ray or standard DVD edition, is there enough in terms of extras there to purchase it?

In terms of fantasy games, have you as a GM ever run a 'family' style game where characters played members of the same family or allies of that family?

The Borgias season one set the series off to a solid state and from what I've seen of season two, it continues on that path of awesome.