An English Civil War Adventure�
Roles
Puritan Merchant
You are a London Puritan merchant in the 1620s. Your faith calls for simple worship and strict morals, while your business depends on stable trade. You are uneasy with Archbishop Laud’s ‘popish’ reforms and fear the king’s taxation policies. Yet you also want peace—war could ruin your shipping and profits.
Goal: Protect your business while staying true to your faith.
Crisis 1 (1629–1640): The King’s Personal Rule
London, 1637.�For eleven years, King Charles has ruled without Parliament. He raises money through “ship money,” demanding taxes in peacetime, and fines landowners for old feudal dues. Archbishop Laud enforces elaborate ceremonies, rails, and vestments in churches, sparking outrage among Puritans.
On Sundays, sermons ring with warnings of “popery” returning. Merchants complain of unfair taxes. Pamphlets circulate in secret, attacking the king’s ministers. For now, Charles governs firmly — but resentment brews beneath the surface.
The question is: do you align with the king’s authority, push back with Parliament’s allies, or try to keep your head down until the storm passes?
Consequences
You gain favor with royal officials and may secure shipping contracts—but Puritan neighbors whisper you are betraying godly values. Long-term, you are vulnerable if Parliament returns.
Consequences
You discreetly back petitions against Laud and ship money. You risk being fined or imprisoned, but you build ties with powerful Parliamentarians like Pym and Hampden.
Consequences
You profit in the short term, but both Crown and Parliament notice your wealth. Before long, neutrality is impossible.
Crisis 2 (1637–1638): The Bishops’ Wars & Scotland
Edinburgh, 1637.�When Charles imposes the English Prayer Book on Scotland, riots erupt in St. Giles’ Cathedral. Scottish nobles and ministers sign the National Covenant, swearing to defend their Presbyterian kirk against “popish innovations.” The kingdom edges toward rebellion.
Charles scrambles to raise an English army without Parliament. The Bishops’ Wars begin, draining his treasury and exposing his weakness. Defeat forces him to recall Parliament in desperation.
Do you support Charles’s religious authority, sympathize with the Covenanters’ defiance, or call for moderation to avoid war?
Consequences
You hope obedience brings stability, but Puritan allies in London whisper that you’ve betrayed godly reform. If Charles falters, your loyalty may cost your reputation.
Consequences
You admire Scotland’s resistance to “popish” reforms. You gain respect among London Puritans, but risk fines or surveillance from Laud’s agents.
Consequences
You urge dialogue. You avoid immediate danger, but radicals see you as cowardly, and Royalists doubt your loyalty.
Crisis 3 (1640): The Short & Long Parliaments
Westminster, 1640.�War with Scotland has drained the king’s treasury. Desperate for money, Charles recalls Parliament after more than a decade.
The Short Parliament (April) refuses funds and is dissolved in weeks. By November, the “Long Parliament” convenes — and London is ablaze with excitement. Parliament impeaches Strafford, executes him, and abolishes the hated Star Chamber. The Triennial Act forces Charles to summon Parliament every three years.
Outside Westminster, crowds chant for reform. But moderates whisper that the radicals will go too far. Pamphlets call Charles a tyrant; loyalists warn that Parliament threatens monarchy itself.
Do you throw your lot in with the reformers, argue for compromise, or side with the king?
Consequences
You become a visible ally of Parliament. Your trade network grows under Puritan trust. But Royalists brand you a traitor.
Consequences
You seek middle ground. Moderates welcome you, but both radicals and Royalists distrust your lack of conviction.
Consequences
You hope a strong king protects commerce. But mobs riot outside your shop, branding you an enemy of the godly.
Crisis 4 (1642): Outbreak of Civil War
London, Summer 1642.�Tension explodes. Charles marches into Parliament with soldiers to arrest his critics — but they slip away. Outrage fills the streets. Soon after, he raises his royal standard at Nottingham. The kingdom is split: Cavaliers for the king, Roundheads for Parliament.
In London, Parliament rallies support: militias muster, preachers thunder, and merchants pour coin into the cause. The king draws nobles, country gentlemen, and loyal Anglicans. Families are torn apart as fathers, sons, and neighbors pick different sides.
The war has begun — and neutrality is nearly impossible.
Do you raise your sword or purse for Parliament, back the king despite the risks, or gamble on staying out?
Consequences
You gain influence in Parliament. The New Model Army benefits from your supplies. Yet if the Royalists win, your assets will be seized.
Consequences
You quietly back the king, hoping to secure lucrative monopolies later. If discovered, you risk ruin or imprisonment.
Consequences
You bribe both sides, but in chaotic war neither side respects neutrality. Raiders loot your warehouses.
Crisis 5 (1645): Naseby & the Turning of the Tide
England, 1645.�The Civil War rages. Parliament reorganizes its forces into the New Model Army, led by Fairfax and Cromwell. At Naseby, Parliament crushes the king’s army and captures his letters, revealing secret pleas for Catholic aid. Trust in Charles evaporates.
Victory emboldens radicals. The Levellers speak of voting rights and equality before the law. Religious Independents demand freedom of conscience. But many in Parliament still want a king — just a weaker one. Scotland eyes its own advantage, demanding Presbyterian supremacy.
The war’s outcome seems within reach, but the kingdom’s future is wide open.
Do you push for radical change, back negotiation to restore monarchy under limits, or resist both and cling to royal authority?
Consequences
You stand for justice and reform. But you alienate moderates, and radicals are soon suppressed by Cromwell.
Consequences
You back negotiations. This could preserve monarchy and stability for trade—but radicals see you as a sellout, and the king is untrustworthy.
Consequences
Crisis 6 (1649): Trial of the King
Westminster Hall, January 1649.�Charles sits before a court convened by Parliament — accused of treason against his people. He refuses to recognize its authority: “I am your lawful king, not your subject.”
London is gripped with tension. Radicals cheer for justice, moderates plead for mercy, Royalists mourn. Pamphlets and sermons rage on every corner. Soldiers guard the hall, their pikes gleaming in the cold.
The sentence is not yet decided. Some demand his death to secure liberty. Others call for exile, or imprisonment. A few urge silence — fearing bloodshed either way.
Do you stand for execution, argue for mercy, or withdraw from judgment?
Consequences
You back regicide. You rise in influence during the Commonwealth, but risk vengeance if monarchy is ever restored.
Consequences
Consequences
Endings for the Puritan Merchant��Return
Prosperous Republican (if you supported execution and Commonwealth trade thrives).
Moderate Survivor (if you backed compromise).
Ruined Traitor (if you were discovered aiding the king).
Royalist Noble
You are a noble landowner, loyal to king and church. Your wealth and rank depend on the crown. You believe order flows from monarchy and bishops. You fear Parliament empowering commoners and Puritans threatening the Church.�
Goal: Preserve your status, your land, and the monarchy.
Crisis 1 (1629–1640): The King’s Personal Rule
Whitehall and your country estate, late 1630s.
King Charles has dissolved Parliament. For eleven years he rules alone, demanding ship money from nobles across the kingdom — not just coastal towns. Commissioners ride out to enforce these taxes, bearing royal writs and sharp tongues. Archbishop Laud pushes “beauty of holiness”: altar rails, vestments, bowing at the name of Jesus. Puritans mutter that it smells of Rome.
At court, Charles appears dignified and resolute, defending divine right. In London, sermons thunder against tyranny. Neighbors whisper whether nobles like you will stand with the king — or with reformers.
Choices:
Consequence
You pay ship money dutifully. Charles’s officials nod approvingly; you may even gain a royal contract. Yet Puritans whisper your name with contempt.
Consequence
You delay or refuse payment. Word spreads, and courtiers scorn you. Fines loom, but Puritan gentry clap you on the back.
Consequence
You try to avoid notice. But neutrality is weakness; both royal officials and Puritan neighbors mistrust your silence.
Crisis 2 (1637–1638): Bishops’ Wars & Scotland
Edinburgh, 1637; the Borders, 1638.
Charles orders the new English Prayer Book read in St. Giles’ Cathedral. Chaos erupts — a stool flies through the air at the dean’s head, and riots spread. Scottish nobles and ministers sign the National Covenant, vowing to defend their kirk against bishops.
Charles calls upon his nobles to raise money and men for a war against the Scots. Letters arrive at your manor, sealed with the king’s crest. Do you bleed your coffers for the crown? Or dare you admit the Scots might have a point?
Choices:
Consequence
You provide funds and men. Charles praises your loyalty. But the Scottish rebels curse your name, and your purse is drained.
Consequence
You quietly admire their defense of faith. If discovered, you would be branded a traitor at court.
Consequence
You counsel peace, warning war is folly. Some moderates in Parliament agree, but courtiers whisper you lack courage.
Crisis 3 (1640): The Short & Long Parliaments
Westminster, winter 1640.
Defeated in Scotland, Charles recalls Parliament. The Short Parliament refuses funds and is dismissed. Later that year, the Long Parliament impeaches Strafford, abolishes the Star Chamber, and passes the Triennial Act. London surges with excitement; pamphlets and petitions spill from the presses.
In Parliament, radical voices grow bolder, calling bishops antichristian and the king a tyrant. Outside, mobs march through the streets, waving petitions and chanting.
Choices:
Consequence
You betray your noble peers, siding with Parliament. You gain some safety, but your honor suffers.
Consequence
You seek moderation, backing some reform but defending monarchy. You survive — but both radicals and hardline Royalists distrust you.
Consequence
You raise your voice for the king. Loyalists cheer, but London mobs besiege your townhouse, hurling stones at your windows.
Crisis 4 (1641): The Irish Rebellion
Ireland, autumn 1641.
News arrives of Catholic uprisings in Ulster. Rumors of massacres swirl, growing with every telling. In England, horror spreads. Parliament demands the right to raise an army to crush the Irish. Charles insists only he can command troops. Whoever holds the sword may soon hold England itself.
Choices:
Consequence
You defend monarchy. But Puritans murmur that Catholics hide behind your loyalty. Suspicion clings to you.
Consequence
You side with Parliament. You earn safety in London but alienate the court. Your peers call you traitor to your class.
Consequence
You withdraw. Both king and Parliament demand levies from your tenants. Neutrality wins you no protection.
Crisis 5 (1642): Outbreak of Civil War
Nottingham, August 1642.
After months of tension, Charles I rides into Nottingham and raises his royal standard. The banner whips in the wind, but only a small crowd gathers — fewer than he had hoped. Meanwhile, Parliament controls London, with its wealth, ports, and print presses.
Across England, county musters divide communities. Noble families arm their tenants, raising cavalry for the Cavaliers or militia for the Roundheads. Pamphlets slander the king as a tyrant and Parliament as rebels. For a noble like you, the choice is no longer private — your tenants expect leadership, your peers demand loyalty, and your estates will be targeted by whichever side you deny. To stand aside is to appear weak. To choose wrongly could destroy generations of family honor and property.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
You betray your class, but if Parliament wins, your estates may be spared. Your peers spit on your name.
Consequence
You cling to neutrality. Yet both sides raid your estates, and your tenants lose faith in your protection.
Crisis 6 (1645): Naseby & Turning of the Tide
Northamptonshire, June 1645.
The war has dragged on for three years. Villages lie in ashes, fields trampled by marching boots. Your coffers bleed with levies and supply demands. Then comes the hammer blow: at Naseby, Parliament’s New Model Army smashes the king’s forces.
You hear reports of grim efficiency: red-coated soldiers in disciplined ranks, cavalry led by Cromwell’s iron resolve. Worse, Charles’s secret letters are captured, revealing pleas to Catholic monarchs for aid. Even some loyal nobles blanch — his bargaining with Rome makes him look desperate, even treacherous.
The Cavaliers’ spirit is battered, but not all is lost. Some cling to honor, vowing to fight to the end. Others whisper that negotiation is the only hope to preserve estates and the monarchy itself. Still others withdraw, tending only to their lands, waiting for the storm to pass.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
You court Parliament’s favor. You may preserve your land, but Royalists scorn your betrayal.
Consequence
Crisis 7 (1649): Trial & Execution of Charles I
Westminster Hall, January 1649.
The unthinkable unfolds. King Charles I is brought to trial, seated before a High Court of Justice. He stands proud, refusing to remove his hat, denying their authority: “I am your lawful king. By what right do you sit in judgment of me?”
London is tense, soldiers lining the streets, their pikes gleaming in the cold. Pamphlets litter the cobbles: some call for justice, others warn of sacrilege. Radical preachers thunder that the king has betrayed his people. Royalist whispers huddle in dark corners, fearing spies.
As a noble, your world has been turned upside down. The monarch who embodied your family’s honor is now accused as a criminal. To side with Parliament is to betray centuries of loyalty. To resist is to risk imprisonment or exile. Silence might protect your body — but what of your name?
Choices:
Consequence
You are loyal to the end. When Charles is executed, you risk exile, confiscation, or death.
Consequence
Consequence
You remain silent. You survive, but history forgets you. Your honor is gone, and you no longer deserve to be noble…
Ending for the Royalits Noble��Return
Loyalist Martyr → You die in exile or lose your estates, remembered for your loyalty.
Pragmatic Survivor → You compromise enough to survive under Parliament, but your honor is tainted.
Broken Neutral → You keep your life and land, but your name carries no weight, your family’s prestige eroded.
Parliamentarian Solider
You are Thomas Cooper, son of a tenant farmer. Life has always been hard — poor harvests, high rents, and the arrogance of nobles who take your labor for granted. But preachers in the village square speak of liberty, of God’s law above kings, of the chance for a new England. You’ve joined Parliament’s ranks, first as a militia man, then in Cromwell’s New Model Army. The war has given you purpose, but also grief. You fear that the great men in Parliament will betray your sacrifice, leaving common folk no better off than before.
Goal: Fight for Parliament’s cause and secure justice for ordinary people.
Crisis 1 (1629–1640): The King’s Personal Rule
Your village, late 1630s.
Charles has dissolved Parliament. His tax collectors now ride into even the smallest villages, demanding “ship money” from farmers like your father. Refuse, and the sheriff seizes your best cow. Pay, and you go hungry in winter.
In church, Archbishop Laud’s ceremonies — bowing, incense, rails before the altar — unsettle you. It feels too close to Rome. Puritan ministers are silenced or driven underground, but their words linger: a king who breaks covenant with God breaks covenant with his people.
Choices:
Consequence
You obey. Your family avoids fines, but bitterness festers — each coin surrendered feels stolen.
Consequence
You hear words of liberty in hidden barns by lantern-light. If discovered, you risk jail, but your conscience is awakened.
Consequence
You say nothing, head down. Your life is spared trouble for now, but you begin to feel powerless in the face of tyranny.
Crisis 2 (1637–1638): The Bishops’ Wars & Scotland
News crackles through the taverns like fire.
In Edinburgh, a woman flings a stool at the dean’s head during the reading of Charles’s new prayer book. Riots spread. Scottish nobles and ministers sign the National Covenant, swearing to defend their kirk against bishops. Charles raises an army, but stories spread that his men are poorly paid, ill-supplied, and unwilling.
For the first time, ordinary people have openly defied a king — and forced him onto the back foot.
Choices:
Consequence
You swallow resentment. But obedience tastes bitter, and each ceremony at church feels like betrayal.
Consequence
Your heart burns at their courage. You begin to believe resistance is possible, even righteous.
Consequence
You sigh for peace, but zealots on both sides see your caution as cowardice. You are pushed toward a decision whether you want it or not.
Crisis 3 (1640): The Short & Long Parliaments
Westminster, winter 1640.
Charles, defeated and broke, calls Parliament. The “Short Parliament” refuses him money and is dissolved. By November, the “Long Parliament” is bolder: Strafford is impeached and executed, the hated Star Chamber is abolished, and the Triennial Act demands that Parliament meet regularly.
In taverns, people cheer. Pamphlets circulate everywhere, denouncing tyranny. Soldiers who fought in Scotland speak of liberty. Preachers claim Parliament is defending the nation’s soul.
Choices:
Consequence
You feel alive with hope. Perhaps a new England can be born. But Royalists mutter that rebels should hang.
Consequence
You seek the middle way. But radicals dismiss you, and Royalists despise you. You are left mistrusted by both.
Consequence
You defend the king. Your conscience gnaws at you; among commoners, you are branded a lackey.
Crisis 4 (1641): The Irish Rebellion
England, autumn 1641.
Shocking rumors spread: Catholics in Ireland have risen against Protestant settlers. Tales of massacres — children cut down, women stripped and slain — multiply, true or not. Fear grips the countryside.
Parliament demands control of an army to crush the Irish, but Charles insists only he can lead. Soldiers whisper: if Charles commands, he may turn that same army against Parliament.
Choices:
Consequence
You shiver with regret. Charles’s Catholic ties make you uneasy; what if he uses the army on Parliament?
Consequence
You trust Parliament. Many common folk agree — better Parliament than a king suspected of popery.
Consequence
You turn away. But others scorn your apathy: while you sit idle, great matters shape your fate.
Crisis 5 (1642): Outbreak of Civil War
London, summer 1642.
Charles storms Parliament with armed men to arrest his critics — they escape, but outrage sweeps the city. Not long after, he raises his banner at Nottingham. Parliament musters militias, London bristles with fortifications, and preachers thunder of holy war.
Neutrality is nearly impossible. Neighbors choose sides, brothers take up arms against each other. The drums of war echo across England.
Choices:
Consequence
You drill in Parliament’s ranks. Harsh discipline, long marches — but your heart pounds with purpose.
Consequence
Consequence
You hide at home. But press-gangs seize men, and your fields are plundered by marching armies. Neutrality dies.
Crisis 6 (1645): Naseby & the Turning of the Tide
Northamptonshire, June 1645.
The day is bloody. At Naseby, you fight shoulder to shoulder with the New Model Army. Discipline and firepower triumph — the Cavaliers break, their banners trampled in the mud. Among the spoils are the king’s secret letters begging Catholic monarchs for aid. When word spreads, trust in Charles collapses.
In camp, debates rage. Levellers call for suffrage for all men, equality before the law, freedom of conscience. Cromwell and grandees urge caution: victory must not descend into anarchy.
Choices:
Consequence
You sign petitions, join debates in the rain. Your passion grows, but Cromwell cracks down, branding you a danger.
Consequence
Consequence
You salute and obey. You survive, but watch your comrades’ dreams crushed beneath discipline.
Crisis 7 (1649): Trial & Execution of Charles I
Westminster Hall, January 1649.
The king himself stands trial. He refuses to bow, declaring: “I am your lawful king. By what authority do you judge me?” The hall echoes with murmurs, while outside soldiers like you stand guard, pikes gleaming in the winter air.
Radical preachers thunder that Charles must die for his treason. Moderates plead for mercy — exile, imprisonment, anything but regicide. You feel the weight of history pressing on your shoulders: will England be free, or descend into chaos?
Choices:
Consequence
You stand firm. The axe falls at Whitehall. A Commonwealth is born — but you sense Cromwell’s hand tightening on power.
Consequence
You plead for mercy. Radicals curse you; your words are ignored. Yet if monarchy returns, you may survive.
Consequence
You remain quiet. You live, but history passes you by. You vanish into obscurity, your sacrifices forgotten.
Ending for the Parliamentarian Soldier��Return
Radical Revolutionary → You champion the Levellers, only to be crushed by Cromwell. History forgets your name, but your ideas live on.
Loyal Soldier → You serve faithfully, survive the war, but see little change for men like you.
Silent Survivor → You avoid risk, survive in anonymity, but your cause dies with your silence.
Scottish Covenanter
You are Alexander McLeod, laird of a small estate outside Edinburgh and sworn Presbyterian. Your kirk is simple and stern: psalms sung without instruments, ministers elected by congregations, elders guiding the faithful. Christ alone is head of the Church.
But Charles I presses bishops upon Scotland, and his Archbishop Laud tries to force an alien Prayer Book upon your people. To accept would be to betray the covenant with God. From market stalls to pulpits, resistance brews.
Scotland will not kneel — but whether she stands beside England’s Parliament, against her king, or apart altogether is still to be decided.*
Goal: Defend the kirk, preserve Scottish independence, and avoid betrayal by English allies.
Crisis 1 (1629–1640): The King’s Personal Rule
Edinburgh, 1638.
In England, Charles rules without Parliament, but in Scotland his meddling cuts to the soul. Royal commissioners fine families for failing to bow at communion, and bishops scold ministers who preach “rebellious” sermons.
In the wynds and closes of Edinburgh, whispers pass: “The king would sooner see us bow to Rome than stand for Christ.” Kirk elders gather secretly to pray. Yet some nobles still attend court, seeking the king’s favor.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 2 (1637–1638): Bishops’ Wars & the National Covenant
St. Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, July 1637.
The new English Prayer Book is read aloud. Suddenly, Jenny Geddes, a market-woman, hurls her stool at the dean’s head, shouting, “Villain, dost thou say mass at my lug?” Chaos erupts. Stools, psalters, and fists fly. Outside, crowds roar “No Bishops! No Popery!”
In 1638, thousands gather in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Ministers, nobles, and common folk sign the National Covenant, pledging to defend Presbyterianism “unto the death.” The air smells of wax and damp earth, the sound of quills scratching upon parchment mingling with psalms sung by the crowd.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 3 (1640): The Short & Long Parliaments
Westminster, 1640.
Defeated in the Bishops’ Wars, Charles recalls Parliament. The Short Parliament is dismissed in weeks, but the Long Parliament passes sweeping reforms: Strafford impeached and executed, Star Chamber abolished, the Triennial Act enacted.
Pamphlets pour from London presses, dripping with ink and rage: “No Bishops!” “The King is a Tyrant!” The Thames carries these pages north, and soon Edinburgh taverns buzz with them.
English Puritans look like allies — but are they only using Scotland?
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 4 (1641): The Irish Rebellion
News from Ulster shakes Scotland.
Protestant settlers tell wild tales of Catholic mobs slaying men, women, and children. Whether rumor or truth, the fear is real. Parliament insists it must raise an army to punish the Irish. Charles demands the sword for himself.
In Edinburgh, nobles mutter: if England arms, will their swords stay in Ireland? Or will they march north against the Covenant?
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 5 (1642): Outbreak of Civil War
Nottingham, August 1642.
Charles raises his banner, Parliament its militias. England splits. Scotland stands at a crossroads: do you intervene for Parliament in exchange for promises of Presbyterianism in England, support Charles and hope for mercy, or guard Scotland’s independence and let the English bleed each other dry?
The sound of drums and sermons fills the air on both sides of the border.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 6 (1645): Naseby & Turning of the Tide
Battlefield, June 1645.
From the hills, you see the king’s banners fall. Parliament’s New Model Army, drilled and disciplined, routs the Cavaliers at Naseby. Charles’s secret letters — begging Catholic monarchs for aid — are paraded through London. Even those who once defended him fall silent in shame.
But your own cause falters. The English Independents demand liberty of conscience, letting sects worship as they please. Levellers call for votes for all men. To a Covenanter, this is chaos. One kirk, one covenant — that is God’s will.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 7 (1649): Trial & Execution of Charles I
Westminster Hall, January 1649.
Charles stands on trial for treason. He refuses to remove his hat, sneering: “I am your king. By what authority do you judge me?” Soldiers line the streets; pamphlets scream for justice or mercy.
In Scotland, horror spreads. To kill a king is to kill the natural order. Yet others whisper: has he not betrayed us, sought Catholic help, and tried to crush our kirk?
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Ending for Scottish Covenanter��Return��
Presbyterian Defender → You stood for the kirk, but English Parliament betrayed your cause when sectarian liberty triumphed.
Betrayed Ally → You fought bravely alongside Parliament, only to be sidelined as Independents and radicals gained power.
Silent Scot → You avoided entanglement, but Scotland’s fate was decided in Westminster without you.
Catholic Aristocrat
You are Lady Margaret FitzGerald, a Catholic noblewoman. Your family holds lands in Ireland, and kin across England. You are wealthy but despised. Catholics are forbidden to hold office, to attend Mass openly, or to educate their children in the old faith. Yet the king has sometimes protected you — turning a blind eye, granting indulgences, or pardoning recusancy fines.
To survive, you cling to monarchy. But as Puritans gain strength in Parliament, their sermons grow sharper: Catholics are “idolatrous traitors,” “servants of Rome.” If Parliament triumphs, will your family’s estates be seized? If Charles fails, will Catholic lives be hunted to extinction?*
Goal: Protect your family’s estates and faith in a hostile kingdom.
Crisis 1 (1629–1640): The King’s Personal Rule
England, late 1630s.
Charles rules without Parliament. He raises funds through old feudal dues and ship money. Archbishop Laud introduces elaborate ceremonies into the Church of England, and Puritans rage that it looks “too Catholic.” For a brief moment, you breathe easier. Charles does not openly favor Catholics, but at least Laud makes Protestants uneasy.
Yet neighbors mutter, “The Papists grow bold again.” Each Mass you hear in secret risks discovery.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 2 (1637–1638): Bishops’ Wars & Scotland
News spreads north and south.
In Scotland, riots break out over Charles’s new Prayer Book. Nobles and ministers sign the National Covenant, vowing to defend their kirk. Puritans in England cheer. To you, it feels like danger: if Charles bows to Presbyterians, will he abandon Catholics next?
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 3 (1640): The Short & Long Parliaments
London, 1640.
After defeat in Scotland, Charles is broke. He recalls Parliament for money. This “Short Parliament” refuses him funds and is dismissed within weeks. But by November, he has no choice but to call another — the “Long Parliament.”
This time, Parliament strikes hard:
In the streets, London mobs cheer Parliament and jeer the king. Pamphlets roar with Puritan fury: bishops are “antichristian,” priests “servants of Rome.” For a Catholic aristocrat, the writing on the wall is clear: Parliament grows stronger, and hatred of your faith rises with it.
Will you support reform, plead moderation, or stand with the king?
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 4 (1641): The Irish Rebellion
Ulster, autumn 1641.
Catholics in Ireland rise against Protestant settlers. Tales — true or exaggerated — of massacres terrify England. Pamphlets cry, “Papists cut babes from their mothers’ wombs!” Fear swells into hatred.
Parliament demands an army. Charles insists he alone commands it. Whispers grow: “The king is in league with papists.”
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 5 (1642): Outbreak of Civil War
England, summer 1642.
The fragile peace shatters. Earlier this year, Charles stormed into Parliament with soldiers, intending to arrest five of his fiercest critics. They escaped, but London was outraged. Parliament now raises its own militia, controls London’s treasury, and prints pamphlets calling the king a tyrant.
In August, Charles rides to Nottingham and raises his royal banner, calling loyal subjects to arms. Few gather at first, but across England noble families muster tenants, London trains bands of militia, and neighbors take sides. Families split: father against son, brother against brother.
The kingdom is divided between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads. The former are mostly noble and Anglicans and support the King, while the latter support parliament and are composed of Puritans, merchants, and radical commoners.
Neutrality is dangerous. Armies will march across estates, seize food and horses, and punish those who fail to support their cause.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 6 (1645): Naseby & the Turning of the Tide
Northamptonshire, June 1645.
Three years of war have scarred the land. Villages burned, fields trampled, disease spread with every marching army. To strengthen their cause, Parliament reorganized its forces into the New Model Army — a disciplined, professional army led by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.
At the Battle of Naseby, Parliament’s red-coated soldiers smashed the king’s army. Cavalier cavalry fled, muskets thundered, and Royalist banners fell into the mud. Parliament captured the king’s baggage, including letters proving he begged Catholic monarchs in Europe for aid.
The discovery is devastating: Charles is now seen not just as stubborn, but treasonous. His credibility collapses. Victory gives Parliament confidence, but also stirs division between radicals, moderates, and royalists.
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Crisis 7 (1649): The Trial & Execution of Charles I
Westminster Hall, January 1649.
The unthinkable has come: the king himself is put on trial. Charles is accused of treason — of waging war against his own people. The courtroom is packed. Judges glare at him, but Charles refuses to bow or even remove his hat. “I am your lawful king,” he declares, “not your subject. By what authority do you try me?”
Outside, London seethes. Soldiers line the streets with pikes and muskets. Pamphlets litter the ground: some cry for justice, others beg for mercy. Many are horrified. Never in England’s history has a king been tried by his own people.
The decision will shape the kingdom’s soul: Is Charles a tyrant whose blood must be spilled, or is he God’s anointed King, untouchable even in defeat?
Choices:
Consequence
Consequence
Consequence
Ending for Catholic Aristocrat��Return
Exiled Loyalist → You flee abroad when Charles falls, clinging to faith in foreign courts.
Persecuted Survivor → You bend to Parliament, keep scraps of land, but your faith is crushed.
Silent Noble → You survive quietly, your Mass whispered in secret, your family reduced to shadows.