Beyond the Flanaess: Sea of the Dragon King

Inspired by my success with the map of the southern Amedio Jungle, I thought I might expand the project a tad. As I mentioned previously, the lands south and west of the Flanaess have been tackled by a few people before me even though canonical references, beyond the map in Dragon Annual #1, which is good for little more than a few names and major geography, and the Sundered Empire setting from the D20 Chainmail game, are few and far between.

So, without further ado, here's my first map Beyond the Flanaess: the Sea of the Dragon King, in the style of the best gaming maps in the world, by Darlene. This map fits below the Sea of Dust and Amedio Jungle on the maps included with the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting folio, gold box, or From the Ashes. Click to embiggen.

My own attempt is a deliberate effort to go back to the few scant pieces of canon we do have and build directly on them, rather than trying to incorporate other people's fan material (the Sunela Coast, for example) or material that isn't quite based in Oerth, but has, from time to time, been made to fit therein (Hitaxia, Momboddo, etc. from the Sagard the Barbarian books).

What I did use were Gary Gyagx's Gord the Rogue books which, although lacking in detail, at least gives some names of the nations surrounding the Sea of Dust, and thus at least a place to start. That, plus the map and one-page description in Dragon Annual #1, were my chief sources (although the upper-right corner of the map is based on material from The Scarlet Brotherhood by TSR). I'm also trying for an interpretation of oriental culture different than that presented in Kara-Tur (which ain't going to be easy). Thus, my take is going to be a little bit different than that of others over the years, but, hey; it's all mostly non-canon anyway, so why not make it my own?

Also, I threw together a quick couple of pages describing the countries and natural features on the map. Nothing fancy or too in-depth, but you can download it here.

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Also, please take a minute to check out the Adventures Dark and Deep Kickstarter campaign. Help make the ADD rules supplement, suitable for use with all 1E-compatible games, a reality!

Adventures Dark and Deep™ Kickstarter Now Live!

I am pleased to report that the Kickstarter campaign for Adventures Dark and Deep™: A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore has now begun!

--> CLICK HERE <--

This is not the full set of three rulebooks (that's coming next year), but a rules supplement containing the new stuff; new classes, spells, combat system, some new monsters, etc. It's designed to be fully compatible with all RPGs that are themselves compatible with 1E, completely modular, and ready-to-use as soon as you open it up.

The goal is to raise $2,500 to pay for kick-ass artwork and professional editing, to make this a first-rate book to use with your game. Check out the Kickstarter page, decide what level of support you'd like to give, and make a pledge.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the project over the last year and a half or so. I'm thrilled that it's about to bear actual fruit.

A Little Ambition is a Good Thing

Q: How many Darlene-sized maps would it take to cover the Oerik map from Dragon Annual #1?

A: Seventeen

Film Review: John Carter

I came into this film from the perspective of someone who has never read any of the Barsoom books. I was vaguely aware that the hero, John Carter, is somehow transported to Mars, and there finds different sorts of martians, but other than that, I was completely ignorant of the plot, characters, and setting. I will strive to make this as spoiler-free as possible; a few spoilers are given in inviso-text (highlight to read).

If I could sum up this film in one sentence, it would be "I kept waiting for the story to start, and then the movie was over."

Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way. Visually, the film is stunning. From the very first scene, where we see Martian airships battling one another, you really get the impression that you're seeing a completely unique culture and technology, and the creatures (especially the "green martian" Tharks) are exceedingly well done. My only complaint in the visual department is that Deja Thoris's eyes are sometimes a brilliant, cobalt blue, and sometimes they're the regular brown of actress Lynn Colins. Obviously, like David Lynch's Dune, they forgot to digitally color her eyes in some scenes.

I can't fault the acting, either. Given the type of movie this is, you don't go into it expecting Casablanca, but all of the actors and voice-actors do a credible and convincing enough job. Ciarán Hinds, who played Julius Caesar in the HBO series Rome a few years back, stands out as having given an exceptional performance, and brings a terrific gravitas to the screen whenever he's on it.

If anything, my biggest issue with the film is the story. The screenplay has no less than three credits, and I think it shows. We see a lot of setup, and then, just as you expect to see the plot take off, it slows down and we see yet more setup. Then just as we're about to see the story take off, down it goes and we're given more set up. By the time the finale arrives, I at least was left wondering just how we got there.

For example, John Carter spends the first half of the movie trying to get back to Earth, and then suddenly decides he's going to help Deja Thoris. Why? What caused his sudden change of heart? It seems to be a mystery, just as is the sudden change of heart of the Thorks to intervene in the Red Martian civil war.

I must say I also found the music completely forgettable. The simplistic color-coding of the good city and bad city was helpful, but some sort of memorable theme song for one or the other might have been a nice thing, too.

On the whole, I didn't hate this film, but neither was I blown away by it. Considering I spent $15 on a single ticket (IMAX 3D bumps up the price just a tad, but the 3D didn't seem to add anything to the experience), I was a bit disappointed by what I got. I'd give this film two and a half stars out of 5. 

The Southern Amedio Jungle

There's been a lot of talk over at Canonfire! about the lands beyond the Flanaess; the fabled lands of Zindia, The Celestial Imperium of Suhfang, Erypt, the Empire of Lhynn, etc. Issue 26 of the Oerth Journal focused on this very topic, providing some fan-created speculation (in many cases based on careful research of the few scraps of information we have) and fan-produced maps of the lands of western Oerik.

Purely as a matter of personal preference, though, I don't much care for the style of map that is currently the rage amongst my fellow Flanaessophiles (seen in the aforementioned issue of the OJ). The original maps of the Flanaess, created by Darlene, were and remain the benchmark against which all other such fantasy cartography is measured.

Fortunately, Joe over at Inkwell Ideas has something to help. His Hexographer program (which I heartily recommend) is capable of making maps that, while not exact, perfect copies of the Darlene style, certainly come close. I found it worthwhile to have the professional version, which allows the import of custom map symbols (such as the volcanoes in the map below, in the southern portion of the Hellfurnaces).

So, just as a test, I decided to take a move in the direction of fabled Zindia, the Pearl Sea, and Nippon, and put together a map of the southern half of the Amedio Jungle (which was detailed in the 3.x module The Scarlet Brotherhood). When printed, my map should fit along the southern edge of the Darlene map. This is just a test, mind you, and I don't claim perfection by any stretch. But I'm reasonably pleased with the result.

The idea now is to move westward along the coast, slowly working my way to Zindia (which itself contains such fabled lands as Jahind and Mulwar) and then expanding out beyond. The above map took several hours, but a lot of that was due to the fact that I was experimenting, choosing fonts, creating some custom icons, and the like. It should go much more quickly the next time.

NPCs in Premade Settings

In the comments of my previous post on "advancing the timeline" in Greyhawk, commenter scottz made a very interesting point:

"Characters/NPC's are canon 'mountpoints' as much as maps or gazetteers are, IMHO."

I take this to mean that, if one is running a campaign in a premade setting such as Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms, one expects to interact with, or at least hear about third-hand, some of the notable non-player-characters that have become associated with that setting over the years.

I agree wholeheartedly with scottz on this point; notable NPCs from the setting are as much a part of its ambiance as its notable dungeons and the names of its kingdoms.

In Greyhawk, this would mean the likes of Melf, Tenser, Mordenkainen, Sir Robilar, and so forth. In the Realms, the quintessential NPC is of course Elminster, but being taken on as an agent of the Harpers to thwart the machinations of the Cult of the Dragon would certainly qualify as well.

Now that I'm going to be restarting my own Greyhawk campaign, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can make it an exciting and enjoyable experience, and the role of these sorts of notable NPCs naturally springs to mind.

I've actually done this in the past with great success with some of the minor characters encountered in the Gord the Rogue books (and who are known from GH lore as well) such as Biff the halfling, who is a henchman of Melf, and it was a complete blast.

But I wonder how many DMs out there do this as well? Outside of published modules (because, naturally, anyone who runs the Temple of Elemental Evil is going to by definition have their PCs encounter notables such as Burne and Rufus), how many people who run Greyhawk or other premade settings also make a point of using some of the notable non-player-characters when they do so?

The Great Greyhawk Campaign

A perennial complaint of quite a number of Greyhawk fans is the way that the World of Greyhawk setting was altered through products such as Greyhawk Wars and From the Ashes. "Don't advance the timeline!" is a clarion call for those who thought that the changes wrought to the setting detracted from, rather than added to, it. I used to be one of those people myself, and quite a vociferous one at that.

However, I've had something of a conversion on this issue after reading through and considering the implications of what is generally regarded as one of the classic fantasy RPG supplements in recent years; The Great Pendragon Campaign. TGPC takes the players on a multi-generational campaign which starts in the year 485 CE and ends in 566. During this time, the various ups and downs, plots, events, notable NPCs who wax and wane, etc. are all laid out for the game master's use. It is, by its very nature, "advancing the timeline" and it does so brilliantly.

My question becomes, why is it okay for TGPC to sweep the campaign along an 80-year course, but when several products take the World of Greyhawk from 576 CY (the year in which the folio and first boxed set took place) to 585 (Greyhawk Wars), to 586 (From the Ashes) to 591 (The Adventure Begins - a total of 15 years), that somehow ruins the setting? I'm assuming the same could be said of the Forgotten Realms, but I'm not nearly as acquainted with its fans as I am with Greyhawk fans.

Now, I can completely understand if fans of the setting don't like some of the specific events and themes that the later additions introduced. Having demons and devils running around the Flanaess, only to mysteriously vanish, having the western Sheldomar Valley overrun by giants and monsters, assassinating most of the members of the Circle of Eight, etc. could all be design choices that an individual DM could decide didn't fit in with his conception of how he wants to run his campaign. Absolutely understandable, and I'm not saying that's not perfectly within the DM's rights.

However, over the years, the objections I've most often seen in regards to this phenomenon and Greyhawk haven't been with the specifics of the changes, but with the fact that the timeline for the campaign advanced at all. Given the scales of most campaigns with which I'm familiar, having big political and military changes going on in the background wouldn't seem to interfere with the flow of the campaign. Even in a campaign that focuses on the player characters in political and military roles themselves, I would think that having some framework into which their actions can be plugged on the larger stage would be helpful.

Historically, of course, borders change all the time, even to the extent that entire nations disappear and new ones rise. Take a look at these two maps of Europe; the first showing the borders as of 1360 CE and the next the borders as of 1400. France has taken over almost all English territory on the Continent, the Turks have taken over a goodly chunk of the Balkans, the Golden Horde is pushed out of the Caucasus, Poland and Lithuania are merged, etc.

Europe 1360

Europe 1400

If the face of Europe can be changed like that over the course of 40 years, I don't see any issue, from a verisimilitude point of view, of seeing changes like the breakup of the Great Kingdom and the conquest of half the Wild Coast by the Pomarj. In such a campaign, having the DM know the broad sweep of history allows him to give his campaign a sense that things are moving around the world without the direct intervention of the player characters. 

Even if I, as a DM, want to change some specifics to fit what's going on in my game (for instance, if my PCs actually rescue Prince Thrommel in the Temple of Elemental Evil, that means that Furyondy and Veluna are going to be merged into a single state circa 578 or so, and that's going to have a big impact on the geopolitics of the central-west Flanaess), that doesn't invalidate the concept of having a future history timeline to provide a living breathing background against which I can run my player characters' adventures.

Congratulations to James Maliszewski for Dwimmermount Kickstarter

Two days ago, James Maliszewski started his Kickstarter campaign to raise $10,000 for his Dwimmermount megadungeon to see print. Here we are, only slightly more than 48 hours later, and he has already met that goal, and even got one $250 backer! The campaign still has more than a month to go, and there's no telling how much he'll raise before it's over.

This is an enormous testament not only to the worthiness of Dwimmermount itself (which is immense), but also to the vibrancy of the OSR as a whole. Granted, James is a "big fish" in the OSR, but the fact that he can raise that much so quickly is absolutely both incredible and wonderful.

Congratulations, James! Nobody deserves it more. I can't wait to see the finished product.

New Versions of Adventures Dark and Deep™ Open Playtest Rules Now Available

I am pleased to announce that the v1.2 versions of the Adventures Dark and Deep™ Players Manual, Game Masters Toolkit, and Bestiary are now available from the web store at RPGNow.com.

This will likely be the last major revision to the rulebooks for the open playtest. Changes and new material include:

• New spells, not only for the new classes, but original classes as well.
• Changes to the player character races (gnomes and halflings especially)
• New and changed magic items
• And hundreds of new monsters, rounding out the creatures from all three of the original 1E monster books

Please feel free to download these new books and start using them in your playtest games. As always, feedback (positive is nice, but negative is especially helpful) is not only encouraged, but expected!

UPDATE: 24 hours after the notice went out, exactly 616 pdfs have been downloaded. That comes out to 225 complete sets, taking into account that some people only downloaded one or two books, rather than all three. I'm pretty jazzed about that response rate!

2E Clone Myth & Magic Coming March 16

Some news about New Haven Games about their upcoming 2E retro-clone, Myth & Magic. From their announcement:

Myth & Magic: The Player's Starter Guide and the Game Master's Starter Guide will be available for download on March 16, 2012. They are free and will be accessible on newhavengames.com, RPGNow.com, DriveThruRPG.com and Paizo.com. A separate email will go out on that day.

This marks the first public release of the rules, which is very exciting. We should see a wave of new Myth & Magic players that have since alluded us.

The PSG allows you to create and play one of the four iconic classes up to 10th level: Cleric, Fighter, Thief and Wizard. Some of the rules that were straying away from the feel of our progenitor system, 2E, were reigned back to support the feel of fantasy gaming we're aiming for, but certain of our newer concepts, like BASE20 and the class talent system, are highlighted boldface and center-stage.

The GMSG has all the monsters and magic items you need as a Game Master for many adventures, as well as tons of good advice on world-building and adventure-crafting. We even threw in the adventure, The Shattered Academy, that provides at least one night of interesting 1st-level play.

They're considering doing a Kickstarter campaign as a vehicle for pre-orders. If you're a fan of 2E (and I know there are a lot of you out there), this should look pretty interesting indeed.

I know it might sound a little weird that I'm here promoting other folks' games when I've got one of my own coming out pretty soon (kickstarter for A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore starts later this month!). But I guess I'm still happily stuck in the "it's a hobby" mindset. I don't think I lose anything by promoting their stuff; I think the OSR in particular, and the RPG hobby in general, can only be helped by more growth.

RIP Davy Jones

Apropos of nothing whatsoever to do with gaming, but growing up as a kid in the 1970's, reruns of the Monkees were a staple part of life, and part of my age group's shared cultural experience as surely as Bugs Bunny and Star Trek.

Davy Jones, the British representative of the Monkees, died today at age 66 of a heart attack. He was quite an entertainer in a variety of venues; stage, television, and of course music. His was one of the voices of my formative years, and I'll forever regret never having seen him in concert.

Goodbye, Mr. Jones.

Some new movie trailers

So a few new trailers have hit for films that I'm getting more and more excited about.

First off we have Disney's John Carter hitting theaters on March 9.

Then we've got Marvel's The Avengers on screens everywhere on May 4.

I'm more enthusiastic about the Avengers movie than I am about John Carter, but they both definitely look good. Then there's G.I. Joe: Retaliation on June 29, which I'm also looking forward to as I found the first to be enjoyable (hey, I wasn't exactly expecting Casablanca):

There are a lot of other genre movies coming out this year, of course. Some I'm really looking forward to (The Hobbit, Dark Knight Rises), some not so much (Amazing Spider Man, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter), but all in all it's shaping up to be a pretty good year for movies.

Wargamers

Dreamation 2012: Part 3 (Organized Play)

For my final thoughts inspired by this year's Dreamation convention, I wanted to pay a little attention to the way that companies view and deal with the people who play their games. This was a subject that was talked about at some length in the seminars run by Scott Douglas, both in the specific realm of organized play and the more general realm of companies growing their revenue streams.

Scott, having been head of the RPGA for quite some time, naturally has some great insights into that aspect of the hobby/industry. He stressed the point that having an organized play structure in place is exceedingly helpful for companies not only to market their own games, but to grow the market by bringing in fresh players.

Note, however, that just having that infrastructure isn't enough. You have to know what to do with it. One of the things I found most striking at this convention was the comparison between how the RPGA was represented and how the Pathfinder Society was.

I found the difference between the two quite illuminating. While both Pathfinder Society and Living Forgotten Realms were well-represented in the schedule, I found the Pathfinder Society to do an overall better job of representing the flag. They had colorful posters with good art around the gaming hall that not only advertised their own group, and Pathfinder in general, but specific adventures as well. The RPGA had a white oversized printout that they shared with another, local-but-aspiring-to-more group called NAGA.

The Pathfinder Society GMs were easy to spot; they all wore shirts that clearly identified who they were and what they were playing. The RPGA GMs, not so much. I don't have a dog in the Pathfinder-4E race, but my own impression was that the Pathfinder Society folks were better organized, better supported from their home base, and more enthusiastic than their RPGA counterparts.

How does this translate into sales, or growth in players? Well, hard numbers are difficult to come by, but according to the latest survey of retail stores by Purple Pawn, Pathfinder is far outstripping 4E in terms of sales. That's in line with other industry estimates that have been coming out over the last year or two. I certainly won't say that it all has to do with the way they are handling their organized play arms, but it certainly couldn't be hurting that the Pathfinder Society seems more energetic, confident, and supported, and Pathfinder is doing better in retail stores.

There is one thing of which I am not certain, since I'm not a Pathfinder player myself (although I am on record as saying I think Paizo is doing everything right in terms of how to run a game company viz-a-viz their fan base) is how Pathfinder compares in in-store play as opposed to conventions. Do they have anything comparable to the WotC Lair Assault program? I'd be curious as to what other people's experiences with organized play, either with RPGA, Pathfinder Society, C&C Society, etc. has been. Do your observations square with mine, or have you had a very different experience?

Dreamation 2012: Part 2 (Raid on Frederikshavn)

At this year's Dreamation 2012 convention (click here for my overview after-action report) I got to run the Ogre Miniatures scenario I'd been working on for the last few months for the first time "officially". It turned out pretty darned good (unlike my photography using my Blackberry; apologies for some of the fuzzy pictures). As usual, click to embiggen the pictures.

The basic scenario is thus: the Combine is staging a raid on the PanEuropean spaceport at Frederikshavn, Denmark. The Combine has sent a single MK-IIIB Ogre across the floor of the North Sea, timed to emerge at the same time a fast attack force of GEVs arrives at the facility. The defenders get a regular trickle of reinforcements, and must hold off the attackers until their strength is sufficient to destroy the invaders. The attackers are targeting an experimental space plane on the gantry, as well as various fuel depots and administrative buildings scattered across the battlefield. Each target objective is given a point value; only the objectives count for points, not destroyed units.

Starting positions. The PanEuropeans took a pair of mobile howitzers to support their infantry and Ogre MK-III. The attacking Combine forces (right, in the photo above) took as many light GEVs as I had, and a couple of regular GEVs on their extreme left flank (bottom of photo). Their Ogre (a MK-IIIB) went up the right flank.

The defending units focus almost entirely on the huge wall of light GEVs attacking up the center (top of the picture above). 

The PanEuropean Ogre makes short work of the light GEVs, but not before they take first blood and destroy one of the scenario objectives; a PanEuropean fuel depot. The attacker was reminded of one of the game's key tactical concepts; disperse your units to avoid spillover fire. Two missiles from the defender's Ogre took out 5 attacking units.

The small force of regular GEVs completely flanks a few defending infantry and makes a dash towards a fuel depot and the space plane gantry beyond.

The attacking Ogre, having taken out one of the defending mobile howitzers, approaches the space plane with few defending units in between.

The defending Ogre races to intercept the attackers; you can see the three attacking GEVs in green are closing in on the space plane.

The defender got lucky and had some well-timed reinforcements appear in just the right area of the board. He managed to take out both of the Ogre's main batteries by incredibly gutsy 1:2 attacks, aided by excellent die rolls.

In the end, though, the attacking Ogre had a clear field. You can also see his GEVs at the top of the photo laying fire into the space plane. 10 structure points were required to take out any objective.

And that's all she wrote. A decisive victory for the Combine attackers. I believe the defender made a critical error by concentrating too much on the force of GEVs and ignoring the Ogre coming up the side of the board. Even so, the players seemed to have a good time, I know I had a lot of fun seeing the game play out, and I think the scenario works very well now that it's been polished. I'll be running this again at the next convention (DexCon, in July, same place; Morristown, NJ), and have an idea for another scenario I might put together for it as well.

A pdf of the scenario is now available over in the "Free Resources" section off to the right.

Note to Steve Jackson Games: Please get these figures and the rules back into production! Several people, seeing what we were playing, either said they wish they had known it was being played, or that they would like to play, but can't because it's OOP. There is absolutely demand out there for this excellent game. 

Dreamation 2012: Part 1 (Overview)

Well, the Dreamation 2012 convention is history now, and I had an absolute blast. More than previous conventions, this one has elicited a lot of thoughts in my mind, so I'll be splitting things up into several manageable chunks. This post will be an overview of the whole thing.

First and foremost, I have to heap enormous praise on Vinny and the rest of the Dexposure staff for a thoroughly enjoyable and exquisitely well-run convention. I only experienced one glitch myself (being double-booked to run Afrika Korps and Castle of the Mad Archmage at the same time, which ended up being a non-issue in the end), but everyone I talked with echoed the sentiment that it was terrifically well managed. It's a fan-run convention which had about a thousand attendees, and it went nearly flawlessly. My only complaint is that the Dealers Room is somewhat limited (although there were dealers there with items both new and used, plus costuming stuff, a steampunk accessory vendor, foam swords, dungeon walls, and of course the ubiquitous t-shirts), but from what I understand game companies are somewhat scaled back in convention attendance nowadays, so Dexposure can't be faulted.

Yes, people still play old Avalon Hill
classics like Panzerblitz at cons

There were several smaller publishers represented, though, including Stronghold Games (I picked up a copy of the kick-ass Core Worlds game whilst at the con), Smirk and Dagger Games, and several others. The convention itself features RPGs (featuring Indie Press Revolution games, but including RPGA, NAGA, Pathfinder Society, and many more), board games, miniatures, LARPs, video games, and an Anime movie room. I got to watch an episode or two of my first (and one of the only) anime shows I'd ever seen; Starblazers (aka Space Cruiser Yamato). The con must get points for sheer diversity.

I am pleased to say that I managed a Hat Trick in gaming this time around; I played or ran RPGs, miniatures, and board games. For the July convention (DexCon) put on by the same group of excellent folks, I am strongly considering a LARP (a follow-up to one based on Game of Thrones that was played at this con, but in which I did not participate), so more on that when the time is coming. She Who Must Be Obeyed might even play!

I ran my Ogre Miniatures scenario, Raid on Frederikshavn, and it was a great success. A full post will be forthcoming with a turn-by-turn report. Both players said they had a lot of fun, I know I had a blast running it, and more than a few people stopped by and commented on how good it was to see Ogre Miniatures being played.

Labyrinth Lord using the awesome
Legendary Terrain

I also ran a session of the Castle of the Mad Archmage, using the Adventures Dark and Deep™ rules. We had a full table, the players wandered through the pleasures of the Conjuring Room as well as a corner of the Labyrinth, and a good time was had by all. They even managed to slay a black dragon down in the depths, although one of the party's thieves was sacrificed in the process (something about using a lightning bolt scroll in a room that was only 40' across...).

After that, I had all day Saturday to actually play games, rather than running them. It was a welcome treat that the schedule allowed me. I played in a game of Labyrinth Lord that featured an impressive dungeon crafted from Legendary Terrain pieces. It was a hoot to actually play rather than run D&D. The adventure itself was somewhat combat-oriented, which is to be expected given the fact that it was designed to showcase the terrain pieces, but I had a great time.

More Labyrinth Lord on the 12' table

I also got to play Red Dragon Inn, where I came in 4th out of 8. Not my best showing ever, but the table was lively and fun, and I got to see some familiar faces from when I ran the game in previous conventions.

I also participated in several seminars run by Scott Douglas, former head of the RPGA and a veritable font of knowledge when it comes to all things TSR related in the 1990's. Scott is an absolutely terrific guy, and if you are fortunate enough to see him at a convention, take the time to strike up a conversation. I guarantee you'll learn things about TSR, D&D, and the RPGA that you had no idea of. We discussed not only the course that D&D took, but also kicked around some ideas as to how WotC might be best served in the future. Again, a wonderful time.

Best line overheard from some random game at the next table over:

"She's not a girl anymore. She's just girl-shaped. She's all full of demon."

Looking for Medieval Naval Rules

Once more I turn to you, dear readers, to help me find something.

I'm looking for a game that covers naval battles in the Medieval and/or Renaissance period. I'm going to be using miniatures to play it, but something that's counter-based would be fine and easily adaptable. Nothing abstract or card-based, though.

The problem is that the big players in the field of pre-modern naval combat skip over the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Avalon Hill's Trireme game covers the ancient period up to the 4th century, and Wooden Ships and Iron Men covers the 17th and 18th centuries. But for the Medieval and Renaissance periods? Nothing that I've been able to find. Companies make figures for the ships of the period, but no rules to actually use them.

Is everyone using homebrew rules? Am I missing some elephant in the room? Any help would be appreciated.