Bronze Age RPGs?

I think a Bronze Age setting would be interesting, but I don't know that I'm motivated enough to do the research I'd want to do to get things right.

on to something, but it'l fit more for late iron age supplements due to Constantinople's chariot teams being a cross between political parties, gangs and public servicemen

I'll get you some things about the collapse that're an interesting listen nonetheless if you have time, Do you think it should be set in a "Late" bronze age setting taking place during a major collapse, I know less about the earlier bronze age, but I do know that coins weren't used well after the collapse and reading was a skill rare enough and specialized enough that even some kings didn't read.

To give a quick rundown, except for the proto Greeks eastern Anatolian and Crete civilizations the systems of governance where more centralized than most other systems of government since. it was sort of like india's caste system.
the king(Or pharo) on top with a congenital priest caste below him, below that where the warrior caste that where as famous as sports teams are today. Merchants Below the warrior caste with the craftsmen and scribes, along with all other skilled trades men where kinda on the same level as eachother. with peasant farmers below that who would stay a few miles from where they where born their entire life with the egyptians only being able to plant what the pharos would tell them to plant and when, not being able to own their own seeds as that was the property of the pharo.

Metal around the east med region came from a few places only, with the copper coming from Cyprus(the word copper was derived from it's original name) and tin came from further eastern traders.
Cyprus was controlled by the Hittites who controlled most of Anatolia and the northern Levant, and where the rivals of the new kingdom of egypt. as such they where militaristic with heavy chariots , armored horses, 3 noblemen with heavy armor, spear sword and javelin while wearing heavy armor themselves and javelins and spears along with their footmen. who would have a bronze spear, wicker shield and their rangers would have a sling and some stones or maybe lead sling balls shaped in a small oblong fashion.
cont.

some editing problems at the end, the Hittite noblemen had spear, sword and javelin along with their chariots.

The egyptians had the same for footmen with lighter chariots armed with a driver who might have a shield and a man with a bow with unarmored horses.

Egytian charioteers had their names recorded in tombs and reports while the foot soldiers where recorded by a number, leading us to believe that the Hittites did the same.

the greek kingdoms where probably much less centralized due to the sheer number of kingdoms(Some within spitting distance of the other), but we know little about them. they where known for mostly producing finished goods that where traded for metal to make their bronze weapons, and the rocky terrain probably limited their chariot use but the eastern ones could probably navigate the seas pretty well.

as for the economy, each of the great civilizations produced one thing that was traded for other things with others. there was no coins so they traded in talents and other measurements of materials.

generally the Greeks made a lot of finished and crafted goods along with wine, the Hittites made copper and weapons pretty well and the Egyptians mined a lot of gold. and they traded tin from Mesopotamian merchants and some tin might have found it's way from as far as south England once. and amber came from the black sea, probably navigated by Trojan sailors.

They farmed wheat, barley, lettuce and onions in at least Egypt/ Animal sacrifices where sort of like barbecues from the temple, cheese was a common thing in the Greek and west Anatolian areas, people often ate with their hands but wooden utensils probably where used and cooking pots where often the most expensive thing owned by the lower classes.

after the sea people invades we start seeing melons appear but the high bronze age was over when they came about. the melons lead some to believe that they came from Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia.
cont

overall I'd run the game sort of like Green Ronin's asoiaf system but tailor it to either the warrior classes of the Hittites/Egyptians with chariot fighting being a high level system.
the party could consist of priests, scribes and warriors that oversee the development of a newly acquired piece of land. filled with holy intervention, bandits and a lot of politics.
With the Greek stand ins having more of a loose warlord system more standard to the pen and paper genera with less of a caste system.

The Bronze Age is notable for what it's lacking, at least from the perspective of most people, who are more familiar with the Middle Ages and maybe Ancient Rome. There's a lack of coinage, horse riding, iron tools and weapons, all of which are pretty important. Swords were less of a thing, being limited in size due to the tensile strength of Bronze. Standing armies weren't really a thing. By the end of the Bronze Age, there were advanced written languages. IIRC, ships tended to be primitive, coast-hugging affairs, despite sails. What else is particularly significant? Obviously, a lot varies according to region.

>Do you think it should be set in a "Late" bronze age setting taking place during a major collapse
I always thought the Late Bronze Age Collapse was very compelling, but that seems like a specific thing in and of itself.

Simple idea that keeps you from having to do a lot of research or worry about history tards going on about inaccuracies;

Some jerkwad terrorist invents a nano-virus that breaks down steel and iron, and releases it on the world. Boom, instant regression to a neo-neolithic as society crashes and humanity has to rediscover what it's lost. You can make your setting any time after that and come up with your own ideas about how this post-technological world works.

references
youtube.com/watch?v=8A8W3yA_HWs
youtube.com/watch?v=bRcu-ysocX4
youtube.com/watch?v=KkMP328eU5Q
the late bronze age had some iron tools, although they weren't that wide spread, king tut was famously buried with an iron dagger. they seem to be the setting up of what we consider civilization from breeding horses that where larger and capable of being ridden onto combat, and setting up basics for trade and pottery that was more advanced than the early iron age.
I find their caste systems interesting, it didn't have any mobility outside of downwards and the peasants didn't realize that the world as they knew it because the merchants and officials stopped visiting them.

This is far more retarded than any possible inaccuracies that your setting might have. Fucking kill yourself.

GURPS with the proper splatbooks.

durps sucks at vehicles though, and bronze age is best with chariots

I like protoindoeuropean culture which is transitional between the stone and the bronze age.

| Deity | IPA | Gender | Associated With | Other Names |
|---------------+--------------+--------+-------------------------+--------------------------|
| Dyeus Phater | dyḗws ph2tḗr | Male | the Sunlit Sky | Sky Father |
| Hausos | h2éwsōs | Female | Dawn, the East | Shining One |
| Wenhos | | Female | Love | Loveliness |
| Sehul | | Female | the Sun | |
| Mehno | | Male | the Moon | |
| Horse Twins | ǵʰéyos | Male | Horses | |
| Perkwunos | | Male | Lightning, Storms | The Striker |
| Neptonus | | Male | | Grandson of the Waters |
| Pehuson | | Male | Animal Husbandry, Goats | |
| | | Male | Smithing | |
| Gerhont | | Male | Dying (a psychopomp) | |
| | | Female | Weaving, Fate | The Three Fates |
| Ogwhis | H1ógʷʰis | | Sea, Primordial Chaos | The Snake |
|---------------+--------------+--------+-------------------------+--------------------------|
| Controversial | | | | |
|---------------+--------------+--------+-------------------------+--------------------------|
| Dehnu | déh2nu | Female | A Specific River | |
| Degom Mhater | dʰéǵʰōm | Female | the Earth | Sky Mother, Earth Mother |

Low Tech has stats for all sorts of chariots including the often overlooked straddle cars.

While it is presented as a wargame, the Wargods of Aegyptus rulebook has a lot of setting stuff

Literally everything would die.

That's stupid.

This might help a bit:
pastebin.com/DtKQ6iQt
>Greek Fantasy Tips and Resources

...

I'm running a custom bronze age setting right now. Just doing a 1-on-1 with a friend, so we've been able to blast through plot arcs really easy. She started as a slave and is climbing her way to being Empress of Not-Egypt.

Al right, I've come to believe that the green ronin system would be best for a late bronze age game in one of the major kingdoms. the players will have the choice of the priest class, the warrior caste, and the scribe caste and overlook the development of land.

Before the game starts higher up priests send the party to a river section, a mountainous area, coast or an island and give them a rough set of goals on how they'd like the land to be. just to give the players similar status as subordinates of the development priest in a similar way to a dark heresy inquisitor or house master in a maid game.

The priest will be the "Mage" and work with the scribe as a two person face team. the warrior will be in charge of the peasant levy and organize fights against monsters with the priest. the scribe will direst the craftsmen to produce whatever is needed for the other ones.

They may be in charge of directing lesser members of their caste and overseeing them. the warrior will have to train the newer soldiers to ride and shoot from a chariot once they get chariots. the scribe will be in charge of what the crftsmen make an the priest performs blessings and recieves petitions from the pesants on movement of people, and permission to brew beer and wine.

the party together decides where to draw the irrigation lines and what to do with palace complexes.

special privlages may be awarded to craftsmen based on what they do(pyramid stone masons ate beef) so they get morale boosts

"egyptian" parties receive a bonus to farming and lighter chariots, along with gold bonuses. "Hittite" parties get a copper mining boost, weapon production boost and heavier chariots that require three people and Mycenaean receive a bonus to sea travel and the production of quality goods, craftsmen and shipping but have more expensive chariots.

chariot drivers have to be trained along with the warriors and build companionship and coordination

Check out Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Age. It's a d20 splat, but it has a ton of cool ideas for period-appropriate games.

This. It follows 3e rulesets but they made some 3.5 errata in the short lived Targum magazines.

I'd also recommend Song of Swords if you wanna go historical. There's already rules for Bronze and Iron equipment, plus many classical weapons such as the khopesh

It tooks a historical setting, but as the cover shows, it´s full of fantasy.
The world has a "Conanesque" flavour whit some Lovecraftian touches, the magic is evil (crazy evil) a "present" from the stellar gods t ohelp a former slave race to destroy their own gods and broke their chains.
Now the former slaves are the masters are rule over new races with through witchcraft and might.
Cities are home to luxury and corruption in the broadest sense of the word.