Lightbridge – A Medieval Roleplay Sim For Humans Rather Than Fantasy Characters

Lightbridge in Second Life is a medieval roleplaying sim set in the year 1529 in a part of English controlled France. Now before you think, you’ve seen this all before, this isn’t a place for Elves, Dwarves, Orcs (seriously, no Orcs!) etc. This is a sim that prides itself on a degree of histrorical accuracy and encourages free form human character roleplay without the use of a meter.

On the Lightbridge website description we are told :

Set in the fictional city of Pont de Lumière in English-controlled France, the town is a secondary trading port and a garrison supporting the defense of Calais. Get to know the city by reading our lore. Come January 1, it will be the year 1529 in our roleplay. If you enjoy the Tudor Era, this might be for you!

What makes us special? We’ve done a good bit of research into English-Controlled Calais and we’ve picked a time and space that are unlike anything else in the SL rp community. RL events of the time will affect our roleplay, including the many RL feast days scattered throughout the year. And although our focus isn’t on physical combat, our combat dice bonus system is also designed to reduce the absurdities of dice play.

What makes this interesting to me is the work done on Lore and trying to make this a historical rather than fantasy sim. Their lore page makes for some very interesting reading :

Like Calais, Pont de Lumière is an important nexus of trade between England and the European continent. Its harbor is not as suitable for larger trading ships, as the continental shelf is higher here and the water is shallower. Still, smaller ships make the journey between Dover and Pont de Lumière, facilitating trade of important commodities, food, and materials. Pont de Lumière actually predates Calais, having been settled in the 7th century and given a charter in the 10th Century. The town fell and was captured just before Edward III laid siege to Calais in 1346, after the Battle of Crécy, to stop French interference with English trade to the markets in the neighboring low country (Flanders, modern day Belgium).

As foreign territories, Calais and Pont de Lumière are expensive protectorates. They are heavily fortified garrisons, as the French continually have their eyes on reclaiming the land. From time to time, the French will test the town’s mettle. When Calais eventually falls back into French control in 1558 under Queen Mary I, Pont de Lumière will likewise fall before it.

There’s more, a lot more covering economy, politics government etc.

Being a roleplay sim it has rules. When I visited I landed at the welcome centre which contains information and where you will be handed a visitor tag as well as receiving notecards.

If you want to engage in the roleplay you will need to fill out a character application. I know some people find this part of the process time consuming and frustrating but it’s quite a necessary part of engaging in Second Life style free form roleplay and if you get into the spirit of the historical roleplay, you’ll end up enjoying this sort of thing.

An important point to note with regards to characters is that you can play a real life historical player but it can’t be an important character :

We do not permit players to play important real life characters (Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Wolsey, Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor, etc.) as they are reserved for admins for special roleplay events. Players may, however, play a real life character if there is no significant history to speak of that might be altered by their gameplay. Players must provide references for the existence of the character.

Your character may not be a true illegitimate child of someone with notable history (e.g., Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey, etc.) BUT your character may CLAIM to be the illegitimate child of someone of importance, as a means to curry favors or gain status. It is one of those things that one would never be able to prove.

Any events that occur here with broader implications will not change the timeline of real life, although our shared creativity may add depth and nuance to the decisions that had real world impact.

This looks like an interesting roleplay project, it will of course face the same challenges that many roleplaying sims face but the owner of the sim, Cristalle Karami is not new to Second Life or roleplaying.

If history is your thing, this might be the place for you, especially if you find the presence of Elves, Dwarves and Orcs frustrating … be careful what you say here!

SLURL To Lightbridge : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dreamworld%20Panther/208/131/2001

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