Not the OSR's Middle Ages...

OK, maybe this isn't relevant to some (most) of you.  But we hit the forums sometimes, and we occasionally run into those who mischaracterize old-school gamers (us) as grumpy relics resistant to new ideas.  But it's just not true.  And it never was.  Consider... 

Some have (wrongly) accused the OSR as being manned by dinosaurs resistant to greater inclusiveness and hiding behind the presumed medieval mindset as justification for this tendency.  Thus, for instance, women are barred from the city guard and other positions of authority in deference to medieval orthodoxy because, after all, this is authentic and reflects the period as it actually was.  But this defense fails on the face of it...

Old-school gaming has always been progressive and wide open to all manner of ideas, setting it far from any supposed Land of the Dinosaurs.  Any and everything was on the metaphorical table.  Everything.  And if you are one of those dinosaurs who cites medieval realism as justification for anything, consider this:  The OSR is just barely medieval! 

So first, calm down.  If you've carefully tailored your favorite ruleset to arrive at something historically accurate (or just close enough), that's one thing.  You've deviated, and at great length, from the rules as written.  But taken at face value and using everything thrown at you in the way of magic and monsters, the OSR is something else...   

Obviously, the presence of actual, working magic in any capacity would have a tremendous impact on whatever culture we're talking about.  Now imagine this magic conspicuously on display almost daily in the larger towns and great cities.  What does it say about the nature of the material universe and the forces that bind it when such power can exist?  And what would it mean to have such an equalizing force in a world where physical strength should otherwise be the accepted standard of worldly might?  It pretty much changes everything.

It's how we get from this...

The fact that this is accepted and not under constant persecution, by itself, precludes the sort of historical model we think our old-school games are based upon!

Face it.  The western medieval world was a Christian world.  And any power not originating squarely from the Trinity was evil.  There were only two sources of power, and if God wasn't pulling the strings, then Satan was at the wheel!  But then, the OSR treats magic as a neutral force to be channeled and used, which puts it at odds with how these things were viewed in the medieval mind.  No, magic as natural science simply doesn't apply here...

Religiously speaking, clerics of Poseidon didn't wander the streets of Prague, so if this is anyone's idea of old-school campaigning, forget it!  And even if we imagine an original setting that just happens to look a lot like the real medieval period, the absence of a monolithic religious entity demolishes one of the cornerstones right off the bat.

Oh, and the fact that OSR deities (1) actually exist and (2) exert actual, tangible power beyond the subjective attribution of natural phenomenon matters.  Man has a habit of fighting over who's god has the bigger package (ahem), and this cosmic measuring contest has resulted in plenty of earthly misery.  But what does it mean when the gods can prove they exist and, indeed, there are several "one true gods" operating in the universe?

Wait?  What's that sound?  It's yet another pillar of "authentic medievalism" toppling!

Finally, the presence of intelligent non-human races changes a lot.  Dwarves and elves are physically and psychologically different (and psychology owes much to physiology), which really puts them beyond anything merely ethnic.  And the fact that elves naturally wield the magic at work in this universe sets them even further apart.  These aren't the Moors, with a different culture and religion, but what amounts to intelligent alien life! 

To something more like this...

And the fact that any of these things exist at all precludes a medieval view of the world beyond the superficially technological.  Yes, it's the Iron Age, and feudal systems will almost certainly predominate.  But the difference wrought by actual magic is considerable...

Magic might be rare and in the hands of a few.  But those who have it will use it, and unlike the real world, where magical accounts are purely imaginary, authentic sorcery would have a profound effect on the outcome of battles and the spread of plagues, etc.  Just imagine if King Harold had access to (actual) magicians during the Battle of Hastings in 1066!

Furthermore, the gods would war among themselves for supremacy and fight proxy wars among their followers, granting them supernatural powers as an enticement and to make them useful against their enemies.  At any rate, it only takes one angry god (or goddess, as the case may be) to reduce a willful city to a smoking crater.  These things are hard to miss or write off as mere coincidence, and they're (mostly) without precedent in real history...

Finally, different intelligent races would almost certainly view one another (and their unique religious and cultural traditions) with some suspicion, even as they traded with one another for desired luxuries.  And the psychological differences wrought through biology would have resulted in a uniquely different cultural and scientific legacy.  Very different.

Any of these things alone, and certainly in combination, would have necessarily resulted in a vastly different historical situation.  And all are hallmarks of old-school gameplay.

Which is to say, it's fantasy, folks.  You can do what you want, and the only ones you need to please are the people in your own group.  You'll get all the reality you can stomach in your daily life, so feel free to eschew realism in a game where you can be a pointy eared elf who shoots magical lightning bolts out of their fingertips!  But if you're playing a historical version of D&D (or its many imitators), congratulations!  This represents considerable effort on your part and belongs to you.  The hobby most of us remember is a thing of pure whimsy...