Braunstein (game)

Braunstein is an experimental game and game genre introduced by David Wesely, a member of the Midwest Military Simulation Association, in the late 1960s and first played in the Twin Cities. In 1969 Wesely refereed a Napoleonic wargame set in the fictional German town of Braunstein, giving each of nearly twenty players an individual role, including non-military ones such as the mayor, a banker and a university chancellor. The players began talking to one another in character and improvised a duel, which pushed Wesely to invent rules on the spot. Later Braunstein scenarios, such as the coup in the fictional republic of Banania, were refereed by Wesely and Dave Arneson in turn. Braunstein matters chiefly for its influence on the early history of role-playing games, since it tied each player to one character and let players attempt any action, with the referee deciding the result.