Hot Spots:TM TM RENAISSANCE VENICE Written by MATT RIGGSBY Edited by NIKOLA VRTIS Cartography by MATT RIGGSBY GURPS System Design z STEVE JACKSON Chief Executive Officer z PHILIP REED GURPS Line Editor z SEAN PUNCH Chief Creative Officer z SAM MITSCHKE Assistant GURPS Line Editor z JASON “PK” LEVINE Chief Operating Officer z SUSAN BUENO GURPS Project Manager z STEVEN MARSH Marketing Director z RHEA FRIESEN Executive Editor z MIRANDA HORNER Director of Sales z ROSS JEPSON Production Artist and Indexer z NIKOLA VRTIS Page Design z PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT GURPS FAQ Maintainer z VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO Art Direction and Prepress Checker z NIKKI VRTIS Reviewers: S.A. Fisher, Phil Masters, and Christopher R. Rice GURPS, Pyramid , Warehouse 23, the pyramid logo, Hot Spots, Renaissance Venice, and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are trademarks or registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. GURPS Hot Spots: Renaissance Venice is copyright © 2018, 2019 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Art acknowledgments can be found on p. 3. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this material via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. STEVE JACKSON GAMES Stock #37-0663 Version 1.0.1 – July 2019 ® CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..........3 4. DAILY LIFE .........21 ARCHITECTURE .............. 26 Art Acknowledgments ...........3 SCUOLE ................... 21 Places to Stay ................26 Glossary .....................3 Compagnie Delle Calze . .21 On the Block .................27 Publication History . .3 RELIGION .................. 21 RECREATIONS ............... 27 Recommended Works . .3 Buffianna, Public Entertainment .........27 About the Author . .3 L’ammazzavampiri .........22 FLOOR PLANS OF VENETIAN HOMES ...28 Convents ....................22 Private Diversions ............29 1. GEOGRAPHY AND ART ...................... 22 5. CAMPAIGNS .........30 LAND USE ..........4 Coats of Arms................23 THE CITY ................... 4 Pets ........................23 VENEZIA AS HOME............ 30 The Sestieri...................4 Merchant Princes.............30 CLOTHING.................. 23 Transportation ................5 Secret Agents . .30 THE DEMIMONDE ............ 23 Climate . .5 VENEZIA AS DESTINATION....... 31 FOOD ..................... 24 Landmarks . .5 CROSSOVERS ................ 31 MAP OF VENEZIA ..................5 LIFE OF THE MIND ........... 25 A Man, a Plan, a Canal .........32 THE LAGOON Publishing...................25 Language ...................25 IBLIOGRAPHY AND TERRAFERMA .......... 6 B .........33 MAP OF VENEZIA AND WOMEN IN PUBLIC LIFE........ 26 INDEX...............34 THE TERRAFERMA ...............7 MAP OF THE VENETIAN EMPIRE .......7 2. HISTORY ............8 BOUT FOUNDATIONS ................ 8 A GURPS Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of GURPS players. We MERCHANT EMPIRE ............ 8 can be reached by email: [email protected]. Our address is SJ Games, P.O. TERRESTRIAL POWER ........... 9 Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Resources include: Venezia ......................9 Eminent Venetians . .10 New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to grow – see what’s LONG TWILIGHT ............. 11 new at gurps.sjgames.com. Timeline.....................11 Warehouse 23. Our online store offers GURPS print items, plus PDFs of our books, supplements, adventures, play aids, and support . includ- 3. THE APPARATUS ing exclusive material available only on Warehouse 23! Just head over to OF POWER .........12 warehouse23.com. Pyramid (pyramid.sjgames.com). Our PDF magazine included new rules AN ARISTOCRATIC REPUBLIC ..... 12 and articles for GURPS, plus systemless locations, adventures, and much Foreign Relations.............13 more. The entire 122-issue library is available at Warehouse 23! Archives ....................13 Internet. To discuss GURPS with our staff and your fellow gamers, visit Police and the Courts..........14 our forums at forums.sjgames.com. You can also join us at facebook.com/ Quis Custodiet sjgames or twitter.com/sjgames. Share your brief campaign teasers with Ipsos Custodes .............14 #GURPShook on Twitter. Or explore that hashtag for ideas to add to your Intelligence and Espionage .....14 own game! The GURPS Hot Spots: Renaissance Venice web page is located SOCIAL CLASSES ............. 15 at gurps.sjgames.com/renaissancevenice. Moors of Venice...............16 Gamer and Store Finder (gamerfinder.sjgames.com): Connect with Status and Display ............16 other people and places playing our games. Add yourself to our database so Slaves ......................16 they can find you as well! TRADE AND INDUSTRY ......... 17 Bibliographies. Bibliographies are a great resource for finding more of Trade Goods .................17 what you love! We’ve added them to many GURPS book web pages with Itinerary ....................17 links to help you find the next perfect element for your game. Money ......................18 Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but we do our best to fix THE MILITARY .............. 18 our errors. Errata pages for GURPS releases are available at sjgames.com/ Armies......................18 errata/gurps. The Navy....................19 Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the GURPS Basic Demon Ship .................19 Set, Fourth Edition. Page references that begin with B refer to that book, Shipbuilding.................20 not this one. CONTENTS 2 INTRODUCTION During the Renaissance, Italy (the heartland of the era’s a transition from a pure center of trade into a center of indus- intellectual, artistic, and commercial revival) was defined try and artistic and intellectual activity, to late in the 16th not by large territorial kingdoms and principalities, as most century (when it began a long decline, outmaneuvered by the of Western Europe was, but by independent or near-in- major powers of Western Europe for trade to the Far East and dependent cities. One of the greatest was western-facing, colonization of the New World). banking-rich Firenze. Its only equal (and, in some ways, one which surpassed it) was a city on the opposite side of the peninsula: the trade-rich gateway to the East, the city of GLOSSARY St. Mark, La Serenissima, the republic of Venice, or, as the This book uses a few Italian terms, mostly place names, but natives call it, Venezia. there are a few technical terms well worth knowing. Venezia was an anomaly in almost every way compared to the rest of Western Europe. It retained ties to the Byzantine ca’: A Venetian house; short for “casa.” Empire long after that remnant of classical antiquity had calle: A Venetian street. become semi-legendary to the rest of the continent. It was condottiero: Literally, a contractor, but in general use, a mer- a republic (though a very peculiar republic indeed) when cenary, particularly a mercenary officer. other states were formal or de facto autocracies. It carried on doge: Native ruler of Venezia. pragmatic relations with the Muslim powers of the Eastern Firenze: Florence. Mediterranean while the Crusades and later wars against the Milano: Milan. Turks raged. Even its construction was unusual: the city was a Napoli: Naples. literal island rising above the waters of a lagoon, defended by Quattrocento: Literally, 400, meaning the 15th century, or difficult waters and the Mediterranean’s most formidable fleet the 1400s; preceded by the Trecento (1300s) and followed instead of stone walls. by the Cinquecento (1500s). This work describes the city of Venezia at its height from rio: Literally “river,” but in Venice, a canal. the beginning of the 15th century (when it disposed of one of Roma: Rome. its last major trading rivals on the Italian peninsula), through Venezia: Venice. PUBLICATION HISTORY Although some articles in the second edi- ART ACKNOWLEDGMENTS tion of Pyramid magazine addressed Venezia, P. 13: “Doge Andrea Gritti (1455–1538),” by Workshop of Titian. this is all new material. From the Friedsam Collection, bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, metmuseum.org. P. 20: “The arrival of Henri III of France at the Lido in Venice in RECOMMENDED 1574.” Gift of Carolyn Bullard and Susan Schulman, in honor of George Goldner, 2015, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, WORKS metmuseum.org. This work covers roughly the same P. 24: “Wineglass.” Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1883, the Metropoli- time period as and an adjacent territory to tan Museum of Art, New York, metmuseum.org. GURPS Hot Spots: Renaissance Florence, P. 25: “The Malèrmi Bible, vol. II,” by Niccolò Malèrmi (translator). which is strongly recommended. Rather From Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933, the Metropolitan Museum of than repeat certain topics, notably a general Art, New York, metmuseum.org. history of the Renaissance and a description P. 27: “The Molo, Venice, from the Bacino di San Marco,” by Luca of land-based armies in Italy during this Carlevaris. From Robert Lehman Collection, 1975, the Metropolitan period, this work refers the reader there. The Museum of Art, New York, metmuseum.org. city description format comes from GURPS P. 29: “Intartenimento che demo ogni giorno li Ciarlatani from Habiti City Stats. d’huomeni et donne Venetiane.” From Harris