Well, something that the book points out is that the game doesn’t expect or necessarily need you or your group to have an understanding of Tudor England. I’m happy to reiterate that here.

At a very simplistic level, the game mechanics and approach could be used out of context to run a game against any (reasonably compatible) backdrop. However, the game does come with a very Short History of Tudor England. And there will be a bibliography.

Personally, you can prepare for the game in some small way by viewing something like Fringe, The X-Files, or, probably more thematically, Constantine, Evil, or Supernatural. I get it that less than half of those series is current, but what I’m trying to suggest is weird and supernatural investigation represent the touchstone for play.

Fringe and The X-Files make the most sense. In both series, the protagonist possesses a level of knowledge and authority. And, like Agents of Dee, they lack the tools or the means to ‘win’ with certainty. Agents of Dee only really have the authority in the earlier period of the game, where the idea is fresh and the Queen is keen to back it wholeheartedly, but that opportunity remains.

Cinematically, you wouldn’t do yourself a disservice to watch Elizabeth — which features both Walsingham and Dee.

For reading, I would recommend The Arch-Conjuror of England, by Glyn Parry, for considerable detail and interesting diversions about the core non-player character. More generally, The Elizabethan World Picture, by E. M. W. Tillyard, handles the period’s frame of thinking. Finally, something straightforward like Ian Mortimer’s The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England or How to be a Tudor by Ruth Goodman can offer a solid grounding.

As far as wider pictures go, you might just consider reading or watching whatever takes your fancy. Whether with a historical lense or something more thematically inclined toward espionage, intrigue, far-reaching nefarious plots, or horror – it’s all good. I have found myself reading diverse and disconnected books that warrant highlighting, bookmarking or a quick sticky note as a point for later reference and return.

Diversity of reading and viewing is key. You should follow the flow, click interesting links. And always check the backprint references in histories. Most important, find something you enjoy. I won’t lie, some excellent history books can be hard going.

This is not revision. There will not be a test.

Cecil and Walsingham — two sides of the intelligence network seeking to defend the Queen. Cecil always seemed to be the favourite of the two, but then again it’s possible that the better secret agent would want it to seem that way!

Doctor Dee and Edward Kelley — the dynamic scrying duo, seeking to make sense of the angels, but always with an eye out for the cut-price alternative. In their diaries and varied communications, it would seem they spent as much time hating each other or disagreeing about appropriate compensations for their time and efforts. Who abused whom the most is open to question and interpretation.

Queen Elizabeth and Her Suitors — essential pawns in the Queen’s schemes to bolster her power base without commitment. Each and every one of them saw her as the key to her kingdom, but she had her eyes on a different prize and they constantly underestimated her.

The Pope and the King of Spain — another dynamic where one seems to have assumed superiority over the other, though the game certainly assumes that King Philip II definitely had the upper hand.

There are more. Maybe I come back later and append additional commentary to the (already very late) post.

Every day during August, I’ll be writing something new on The Dee Sanction and aim to connect the word prompt of the day with the development of the game. Check out the concept, the list and the graphics over at AUTOCRATIK.

I didn’t get the grades I’d hope for at A-level. The ABB, or whatever I needed for my first choice university, transformed into a sullen and disappointing BED. As it happened, that qualified me for none of my first choice selections, leading me down the momentary rabbit hole of clearing to find something else.

I ended up on a Historical & Political Studies course at Huddersfield Polytechnic – or the University of Huddersfield, as it has become by the time I departed with my Lower 2nd.

I would be lying if I said it was all fun. A traumatic breakup in the first year, a more traumatic stay in Halls for the first term, a fall-through on rented accommodation before the Christmas holidays… And, I had to study some politics—modern politics, no less—despite really only being there for the history, a smidgeon of philosophy, and the Role Playing Society.

One way or another, I survived the first year and for the rest of the course, I had a loft room all to myself in the arse end of Lockwood and the choice of a bunch of modules that meant I could all but blank politics from the curriculum.

Therein, I discovered my love of all sorts of history, but notably the elements that involved a Tudor. I mean, there was some Civil War, a little Richard III, and a smattering of the Vikings for good measure, but if I could swing it, I opted for anything Tudor.

And books; so many books, a few of them not even role playing related. It started then and it has never stopped, to the extent that I have a couple of hundred books dealing with the three centuries through which the Tudors made their mark. I wouldn’t claim to be an expert; I would be too anxious to commit to Mastermind. However, Tudor England has my heart and soul.

What did I hope to do before I turned in those tragic grades? Well, Medieval English at Durham was high on the agenda but was not to be.

Every day during August, I’ll be writing something new on The Dee Sanction and aim to connect the word prompt of the day with the development of the game. Check out the concept, the list and the graphics over at AUTOCRATIK. 

When you go to see a film at the cinema, you accept that the studio, writer, director and other associated parties have played their part in confirming the verisimilitude of their film’s historical context and backdrop. No one expect you to turn up having completed required reading – but, in turn, the film makers do not necessarily expect you to nit-pick if they don’t try too hard. Your suspension of disbelief, to a greater or lesser extent, extends to allowing the studio, writer, etc. some measure of creative freedom. Unless you’ve turned up expecting to see some original Shakespeare, for example, you’ll forgive the film for not having all the characters speaking in some quasi-English dialect. When you see the hovels and filth laden streets of outer London, you’ll accept that this could very well be an image of the actual place – despite almost certainly not being a true representation.

In consideration of this, and in giving thought to pushing further forward with the writing of The Dee Sanction, it has occurred to me that the key aspects of history relevant to the game should only deal with the aspects that matter and a notion of the window dressing.

I saw someone post about Maelstrom noting that when they read about the game the mere mention of historical put them off – and I get behind that to some extent. I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate historical game – absolutely not. I’m saying that I understand why a reference to “historical” might put someone off with the suggestion that the game requires foreknowledge to appreciate or enjoy. When I recently ran a game of Star Trek Adventures, I specifically noted that participation in the one-shot convention game did not require any detailed knowledge about the series or movies whatsoever. Yes, you could do with getting what Star Trek is – but, that’s in the same way that if you see a cobbled and filthy London street with carts, horses and pedestrians squeezing between lines of tall and leaning houses with black timber supports and off-white panels, punctured with tiny, dark windows, then you can probably take a guess at “Tudor” and maybe “Elizabethan”.

Flavour matters where writing The Dee Sanction; getting across to the GM and potential players what makes the game different. I struggle to read any RPG core book that expects you to pile through 100+ pages of densely packed text on history and background before you get to what the game will really be about. In the same way, I need to show you a filthy cobbled street with dirt-smeared pedestrians and precarious buildings, but I shouldn’t serve up 100 pages on the economic and political history of the Elizabethan regime during the last quarter of the 16th century. You need to know about Elizabeth’s spy network, her relationship with Walsingham and Dee, and the forces of the arcane the Doctor believes to exist encapsulated in the study of angels and their movements.

And perhaps it’s worrying about just how much you need to know that has slowed the progress of The Dee Sanction reaching print?

Now, knowing what I want to convey (and what I can leave to the audience) might well contribute to a pace of progression that will see the core book out by early 2018. Perhaps.