The empire did not fall. It simply went on, and you are inside it.

Children of New Rome is a tabletop roleplaying game set in the Eastern Roman Empire of the ninth century - the long-lived Christian empire ruled from Constantinople that historians later called Byzantium. It is a real time and a real place, and this book takes it seriously.

You do not play emperors or legends. You play the people history almost forgot: a farmer-soldier defending his valley, a village priest with a wife and children, a Jewish merchant on the old Roman road, a Muslim scholar visiting from across the border, a mystic who has seen things she cannot un-see. Their courage is measured in the small, hard choices ordinary people make when the world turns against them.

The rules are short and clean. One kind of dice roll handles everything - a fight, an argument, a long ride. One simple wound system. One shared measure of faith that your group can tune from quiet and human to openly miraculous, depending on the kind of story you want to tell.

Inside you will find:

• a complete game system, easy to learn in a single evening;
• twelve ready-to-play character types drawn from every corner of the empire;
• fast, dangerous combat where every hit matters;
• clear rules for travel, money, and the passage of time on a working frontier;
• a gamemaster's toolkit of advice, characters, and adventure patterns;
• a plain-language guide to the ninth-century world, plus a starter campaign to launch your first sessions.

Everything two to five players and one gamemaster need to play. No other books required.

A game for the nameless Romans.