Ruma: Dawn of Empire
Citizen! The burgeoning Ruman Empire needs your help bringing civilization to the savages.
Ruma: Dawn of Empire is a roleplaying game set in an alternate Roman Empire where myth and magic are real. The Empire has just begun to push its borders into neighboring lands, only to be met by savage barbarians, murderous beasts, magical forests, and strange horrors. Ruman generals and senators have formed small cohorts of specialized troops to discover and counter these threats. You and your friends are members of such a cohort.
Powered by the Apocalypse Engine, created by D. Vincent Baker & Meguey Baker for their game Apocalypse World.
Inspiration for Ruma can be found in movies such as 300, Ben Hur, Centurion, Clash of the Titans, The Eagle, Gladiator, and Immortals; TV shows like Rome and Spartacus; and novel series like The Oath of Empire by Thomas Harlan and The Videssos Cycle by Harry Turtledove.
Players choose from one of the 12 playbooks to create their characters. Each playbook provides several unique abilities. Players also choose one of the Ruman gods in whose cult their character has been initiated. Following their cult's teachings can grant blessings from their god.
The Playbooks:
- Architectus — artists, engineers, and inventors
- Augur — diviners of future possibilities
- Decanus — leader of a squad of soldiers
- Eques — a mounted noble
- Gladiator — slaves who specialize in arena combat
- Hastatus — a front-rank legionnaire
- Magus — learned practitioners of arcane magics
- Medicus — herbalists, doctors, and medics
- Praedo — bandits, thieves, and outlaws
- Triarius — a veteran of many battles
- Veles — glory-seeking skirmishers
- Venator — archers, slingers, hunters, and scouts
