8 Tabletop RPGs for Bridgerton and Our Flag Means Death fans

polygon.com:

Period fiction is enjoying a pop culture moment, whether fans are hanging on the intrigue among the queen’s le bon ton in Bridgerton or clamoring on social media for a second season of Our Flag Means Death. Our appetite for stories set in Regency England, the Golden Age of Piracy, or any other point of dominant historical culture is as old as written fiction. The difference now is we can approach these stories on the table, as well as between the pages of a book.

Portrayal of tabletop RPGs often tie them to swords and sorcery, ignoring a rich vein of titles whose purview stretches the breadth of human history. These games take alternative rule sets, such as Vincent and Meguey Baker’s Mobile Frame Zero: Firebrands and Alex Robert’s For the Queen, and channel through them passionate explorations of the more buttoned-up cultures of times past — largely so players can subvert those norms in interesting and “scandalous” ways.

Much like the popular television shows mentioned above, period-themed tabletop RPGs allow players to intentionally reframe history. They don’t ignore the ugly bigotry shot through our past, but instead create a space to tell stories with more racially inclusive and queer casts, using a period’s aesthetics and stylistic markers. This can be liberating, as well as enjoyable, and below are several tabletop RPGs tailored for just such an occasion.

Storybrewers’ game of romance, rivals, and social intrigue has been the gold standard of Regency role-play since its release in 2018. As the name implies, it draws heavily on Austen’s novels. Like Austen protagonists, players must navigate English gentry’s thorny gardens while searching — or staunchly avoiding — love.

Player characters in Good Society trade both