„1581: The Eastern Frontiers” is a historical tabletop RPG set in the early years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. A non-profit project by the Games Research Association of Poland, it brings together authors from Poland, Ukraine and Belarus, working across Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania. Official partners include the Faculty of History at the University of Gdansk, the Central European Institute at Quinnipiac University, and the Magnus Ducatus Foundation. The game was funded through a grant from the Halina Konopacka LOTTO Foundation. The Player’s Handbook, released in the summer of 2025, is not the end of the story – it lays the foundation for future projects to come.
Michał Mochocki – Video game writer at False Prophet, tabletop RPG designer (Dzikie Pola, 2nd ed.), professor at the Faculty of History, University of Gdańsk Arina Komarnitska – Video game designer and writer (New Arc Line, Hollow Home) at Whodomagick Studio Jerzy Szeja – Game studies researcher, historical RPG educator, President of the Games Research Association of Poland Artemij Istuszkin – Game developer, designer & writer, Unity developer at Frozen District Yaraslau I. Kot – Game designer at Little Bit Different, chair of BelGameDev, president of the Magnus Ducatus Foundation, researcher at the European Humanities University.
Grant project: „Commonwealth of Many Nations: a historical role-playing game” from H. Konopacka LOTTO Foundation. Beneficiary: Games Research Association of Poland. Partners: Faculty of History, University of Gdansk; Central European Institute, Quinnipiac University; Magnus Ducatus Foundation.
In the summer of 2025, we released the Player’s Handbook containing character generation, game mechanics and character career paths. Gamemaster’s resources, setting description, scenarios. and other modules are planned for upcoming projects.
Download:
👉 1581 The Eastern Frontiers – Player’s Handbook
👉 1581 RWN – Karta postaci (PL)
W 2024 PTBG zrealizowało grant Centrum Rozwoju Przemysłów Kreatywnych pt. „Konsulting historyczny gier – rozpoznanie potrzeb i stworzenie rozwiązań dla rozwoju nowej specjalizacji kreatywnej”, przyznany w programie Rozwój Sektorów Kreatywnych, nr 937/24/A2. Rezultatem projektu jest zbiór artykułów w języku polskim lub angielskim, opublikowane w otwartym dostępie jako numer specjalny czasopisma „Homo Ludens” 1(17)/2024. Projektem kierował dr hab. Michał Mochocki (prof. Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego), a poszczególne zadania prowadzili: dr Yaraslau I. Kot (BelGameDev), dr hab. Arkadiusz Janicki (Uniwersytet Gdański, prof. i dziekan Wydziału Historycznego), dr Marcin Pigulak (UAM w Poznaniu), dr Jerzy Szeja (Przewodniczący PTBG) i dr Augustyn Surdyk (UAM w Poznaniu; Skarbnik PTBG).
In 2024, PTBG carried out a grant project awarded by the Centre for the Development of Creative Industries, titled “Historical Consulting for Games – Identifying Needs and Developing Solutions for a New Creative Specialisation”, granted under the Creative Sectors Development programme, no. 937/24/A2. The result of the project is a collection of articles in Polish or English, published as a special issue of the open-access journal Homo Ludens 1(17)/2024. The project was led by Dr hab. Michał Mochocki (Associate Professor at the University of Gdańsk). Task leaders included Dr Yaraslau I. Kot (BelGameDev), Dr hab. Arkadiusz Janicki (University of Gdańsk, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of History), Dr Marcin Pigulak (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań), Dr Jerzy Szeja (President of PTBG), and Dr Augustyn Surdyk (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; Treasurer of PTBG).
