court and wars of succession.
The
An Odd Renaissance
© Aventiure, 2023
Text licensed under creative commons
CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Art: H.S. Beham, 1540, J. Callot, 1620,
Public domain.
Inspired by: Cairn by Yochai Gal
1. What is it? An Odd Renaissance is a
plug-in for renaissance adventures and
campaigns for OSR RPGs.
2. How does it work? An Odd
Renaissance provides a system neutral
rules-lite framework for renaissance
adventures with new equipment, rules for
firearms and PC backgrounds. Listed
stats can be used in most OSR games,
such as retro-clones, Knave, Cairn, or Into
the Odd.
3. The Renaissance Setting
An Odd Renaissance is set in Europe in
renaissance times. The big monarchies of
Western Europe are beset by intrigues of
1
Lowlands are a trader’s republic, ever
threatened by its powerful neighbors.
Central Europe is a patchwork of local
fiefdoms embroiled in unending religious
wars. The British Isles are under a
monarchy suffering its own internal trials
and tribulations.
The church is hunting witches, warlocks
and demons, or at least using this as a
pretext to exercise ruthless power.
War, plague, and other diseases have
ravaged wide swaths of the countryside.
Sightings of mythical, fearsome
creatures, belief in black magic and
strange rituals abound.
Amidst chaos and anarchy, you are
trying to get by, your only fealty sworn to
yourself.
4. Character Creation
Character generation is handled
according to the rules of your favorite
RPG. Use human characters only. Roll or
choose a Background (Section 7) for your
character to determine equipment. Each
character may choose one further piece
of equipment and starts with d6 GP.
5. Additional New Equipment
New Armor
Leather Jerkin, 15GP
Cuirass, bulky, 40 GP
Helmet, 10GP
The leather jerkin can be worn
underneath other armor or alone and
adds +1 armor. The armor class of the
cuirass (breast plate) + jerkin is
comparable to chain mail in your favored
RPG. The armor class of cuirass + jerkin
+ helmet is comparable to plate mail.
Weapons means the gun exploded, causing the
Small weapon (d4 damage), 2-10GP wielder d4 damage.
(folding knife, knife, glass dagger).
Short weapon (d6 damage), 5-25 GP However, guns were also deadly. When
(dagger, short sword, parrying rolling the highest damage result (8 for
sword, dueling sword, stiletto). pistol ball, 10 for long gun ball), roll again
Long weapon (d8 damage), 20-70 GP and add the damage. Repeat for every
(longsword, rapier, saber, falcata/ consecutive highest number rolled (i.e.,
curved sword, scimitar). “exploding dice”).
Bayonet (d6 damage) 5GP
May be fastened to long gun, 7. Backgrounds
causes d8 damage if fastened. Background determines starting
Pole arms (d10 damage), 10-25 GP equipment and skills. Roll or choose one.
(pike, halberd), bulky.
Pistol, 25-50 GP d20 Background
(takes 1 round to reload).
Long gun 40-60 GP 1 The Alchemist
(musket, arquebus, takes 2 The Assassin
1d3 rounds to reload), bulky.
3 The Courtier
Double barrel: +50% on price.
4 The Cunning Courtesan
Ammunition 5 The Diabolical Scholar
Pistol balls (d8 damage), 10p. / 1GP.
Long Gun Balls (d10 damage), 10p. / 6 The Dubious Duelist
2GP. 7 The Exiled Noble
Buckshot (d4 blast damage), 10p. / 1GP,
8 The Field Surgeon
only for long guns, blast damage will
affect a cone area of 60’ length and 10’ 9 The Fortune Hunter
width, anyone in affected area is also 10 The Hapless Thespian
stunned for 1 round.
Silvered Ammunition: price x5 11 The Horseless Cavalrist
Grenade (2d6 blast damage), 10GP, 12 The Inquisitor
blast damage will affect a 10’x10’ area.
13 The Lansquenet
Other New Items 14 The Marketender
Compass, 10GP 15 The Plague Doctor
Pocket watch, 60GP
Spyglass, 40 GP 16 The Priest
17 The Silent Servant
6. Combat with Guns
18 The Spy
Guns in the renaissance age were not
very reliable. When rolling a 1 for 19 The Vermin Hunter
damage, roll again. A second 1 means 20 The Witch/ The Warlock
the gun misfired (no damage). In case
you rolled a second 1, roll again: a third 1
2
The Game Master should decide if and
which ability check is required to
practice a skill. Players should think
which other skills the PC’s background
may confer. Characters may hide their
true background. However, they will be
recognized by one of their own.
The Alchemist
Skills: produce potions and powders,
chemical trickery, herbal knowledge.
Items: leather bag with vials of
chemicals, dagger, fool’s gold.
The Assassin
Skills: Backstab, hide, disguise, mimic
persons (looks, voice, movements).
Items: dagger, garrote (strangling wire),
dual color reversible cape.
The Cunning Courtesan
Skills: charm, seduce, extract their
targets deepest secrets.
Items: small vial of sleeping pills, dagger,
bottle of perfume.
The Courtier
Skills: interrogation and persuasion, hide
and disappear.
Items: fancy clothing, dagger, vial with
serum of truth (after ingestion, subject
will speak only truth).
The Diabolical Scholar
Skills: reading magic and secret
inscriptions, performing illusions.
Items: spell book with one spell, quill and
ink, map, curved dagger.
The Dubious Duelist.
Skills: quick draw (pistol), fencing (always
gain initiative with rapier), run and hide.
Items: double barreled pistol, dueling
sword (treat as short sword), hand
mirror, leather cape (+1 Armor).
3
The Exiled Noble.
Skill: commanding voice (commoners
will obey you), fencing, horsemanship.
Items: signet ring, rapier, leather jerkin
(+1 Armor), black velvet cape.
The Field Surgeon
Skills: bandage wounds (heal d6
damage), cause additional d4 bleeding
damage/round with sharp weapons
Items: amputation knife (d6 damage),
bandages (d4 uses), opium tincture.
The Fortune Hunter
Skills: detect treasure and opportunities,
pick pockets, pick locks, run and hide.
Items: scimitar, lockpicks, pocket watch,
large sack.
The Hapless Thespian
Skills: charm person, acrobatics, disguise,
mimic persons.
Items: wig, cup of face paint, mirror,
musical instrument, folding knife.
The Inquisitor.
Skills: detect truth or lies, cause fear,
dispel evil creatures.
Items: Malleus Maleficarum (the book of
torture and persecution of witches), glass
dagger, ornate mace.
The Horseless Cavalrist
Skills: animal control, horsemanship
(always gains initiative on horseback).
Items: saber, saddle bag, cuirass.
The Lansquenet
Skill: marksman (take higher of two rolls
on ranged attacks), obtain rumors /
information from other soldiers.
Items: arquebus, rusty saber, leather
frock (+1 Armor), loaded dice.
The Marketender
Skills: negotiation, persuasion, source
and sell equipment at best price.
Items: hidden coin pouch, dagger, ledger.
The Plague Doctor
Skills: herbalist knowledge, concoct
poisons or healing tinctures, resistant to
most diseases.
Items: plague mask and leather coat (+1
Armor), healing herbs, reinforced staff.
The Pious Priest
Skills: bless the faithful, dispel evil
creatures (undead, evil spirits, demons).
Items: prayer book, holy water sprinkler
(spiked mace, d8 damage), symbol,
leather jerkin, ceremonial tunic.
8. Magic and Monsters
An Odd Renaissance is intended for a low
fantasy setting where the line between
magic and illusion is blurry. Focus on
spells that play with the mind of the
affected person (trickery, illusion,
hypnosis).
Use of monsters is focused on a low
fantasy setting where natural beasts
(bears, wolves, hounds) and monsters
common to lore and tales from the
renaissance period (spirits, nymphs,
ghosts, undead, demons) are used.
9. Generate a quest
To generate Ideas for a Renaissance
Quest, roll on the spark table.

The Silent Servant Action Object Location NPC

Skills: appear and disappear seemingly 1 protect secret battleground lord/lady
2 expose lord palace child
out of/ into thin air, blending in (not
3 investigate heir cemetery bishop
being noticed, even when in plain view). 4 rescue treasure ruin spirit
Items: black livery, dagger, vial of poison. 5 eliminate honor forest prisoner
6 find threat town hostage
The Spy
Skills: disguise, mimic persons, observe, 10. Abbreviations
track, hide. dX: roll of an X-sided die (e.g. “d6”)
Items: collapsible spy glass, quill, ink, GP: Gold Piece (currency unit)
parchment, fake seal, stiletto dagger. HP: Hit Point
OSR: Old School Renaissance (old school
The Vermin Hunter roleplaying games
Skills: animal control, track creatures. RPG: Role Playing Game
Items: Whip (d4 damage), reed flute __________________________________
(small item, many animals will follow its
sound), wolfbane (small item), hunting
knife (d6).

The Witch / The Warlock

Skills: mental trickery, cause fear,
command lesser undead and spirits,
perform illusions.
Items: falcata, skull symbol, trained raven
(familiar animal, 1 HP).