ROLEPLAYING IS HISTORY

I'm edging closer to actually getting a long-term Dragon Warriors campaign off the ground. At the moment, though, I only have one player. That hints at one of two things; either Dragon Warriors isn't high on people's 'to play' list, or I suck as a GM. I'm leaning towards the latter.

I've been looking at what kind of game to run and I really like the Dragon Warrior's setting 'Lands of Legend'. I want to run a game set in that kind of world, when the Crusades were at their height and the world was swamped in superstition and religious fervor. Then I thought - why set it in a total fantasy world? Why not set it in the real world, and just add fantasy elements? I've always harped on about how much I'd love to do my own game with a Robin of Sherwood flavour - so why not just do that? I know enough about the period, after all. I read about it to make my own fantasy games feel more authentic, or at least try to.

'What does history have to offer that a fantasy setting doesn't?' I hear you cry. Are you out of your tree? Wars, political intrigue, economic and social upheavel, invasions, clashes of religion, whole cultural and political histories stretching back hundreds of years... history is far more colourful and detailed than any fantasy setting. So your PC won't be able to change the major events of the world - what RPG setting allows you to do that anyway?

Yeah... actual historical roleplaying. With some low-key magic. That sounds like my kind of game.