D&D 5E Nations and Cannons: The American Crisis for DND 5E

[Sacrosanct]

is that Afro straight out of the 70s? No asians and a somewhat stereotypical native. I dont think that cover art is particularly inclusive

Um...Afro-textured hair has been around since humans existed in Africa. And stylizations of that hair trait have gone through numerous variations long before the 1970s. Like, 400 years prior. And in an era where slavery was still in effect and slaves were often forced to shave their heads, it is perfectly plausible for someone who is not a slave to adopt a style directly counter to what the slavers forced. I mean, that was the biggest reason it took off in the 60s and 70s to begin with... *

An "afro" was not only worn in the 1970s. This photo is from 1860s.

Also, there are only three people on the cover (alive anyway), I couldn't really put every combination of ethnicity and gender on the cover. That doesn't make the illustration non-inclusive. Heck, all the white men are dead in that picture, so I'm not really extolling white privilege there am I?


*The effect of the Civil Rights Movement brought a renewed sense of identity to the African–American community, which also resulted in a redefinition of personal style that included an appreciation of black beauty and aesthetics, as embodied by the "Black is beautiful" movement. This cultural movement marked a return to more natural, untreated hairstyles. The afro became a powerful political symbol which reflected black pride and a rejection of notions of assimilation and integration

 

[MGibster]

And in an era where slavery was still in effect and slaves were often forced to shave their heads, it is perfectly plausible for someone who is not a slave to adopt a style directly counter to what the slavers forced. I mean, that was the biggest reason it took off in the 60s and 70s to begin with... *

Plus afros are just rad as #%#%!

 

[Umbran]

Was he? Demanding the colonies actually pay for the expense of keeping them from being taken by France (and being sacked sucks no matter who it is) seems pretty reasonable

That's... so small a part of what was going on as to be kind of misleading.

First - recall that up to about 1760, the Colonies were largely unbothered by the Crown. So, there was a precedent that got broken, as the Crown started to try to turn the colonies into a direct source of revenue.

Then, 1765 - the Stamp Act. This was a tax on official documents and most printed things. This tax's express purpose was to pay for British Troops in the Americas after the French and Indian War. Except, the colonies already paid a lot for that war, and didn't fear an invasion by the French, and, as folks all know - the colonies had no say in the government that levied the taxes..
There was a big to-do, and the Stamp Act was repealed.

1767 and 1768 - the Townshend Acts. These were a collection of taxes, none of which were about funding the military. They were about paying judges and governors to stay loyal to the crown, punishing New York for disobeying the Quartering Act that placed soldiers in the homes of private citizens, enforcing trade regulations, and generally proving that the British Government had the right to tax the colonies, representation or no. The Townshend acts were spiteful

Resistance to the Townshend Acts led to the Boston Massacre.

Most of the Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, but a tax on tea was left.
Then, in 1773, the Tea Act - again, not about funding the military, but about supporting the British East India Company, get Colonists to buy tea that was taxed (as opposed to tea obtained despite the East India Company's legally-supported monopoly) again, to establish that right f taxation, representation or not.

That led to the Boston Tea Party, and the British response to that which ultimately led to war.

 

[Tonguez]

Um...Afro-textured hair has been around since humans existed in Africa. And stylizations of that hair trait have gone through numerous variations long before the 1970s. Like, 400 years prior. And in an era where slavery was still in effect and slaves were often forced to shave their heads, it is perfectly plausible for someone who is not a slave to adopt a style directly counter to what the slavers forced. I mean, that was the biggest reason it took off in the 60s and 70s to begin with... *

An "afro" was not only worn in the 1970s. This photo is from 1860s.

View attachment 282474

Also, there are only three people on the cover (alive anyway), I couldn't really put every combination of ethnicity and gender on the cover. That doesn't make the illustration non-inclusive. Heck, all the white men are dead in that picture, so I'm not really extolling white privilege there am I?


*The effect of the Civil Rights Movement brought a renewed sense of identity to the African–American community, which also resulted in a redefinition of personal style that included an appreciation of black beauty and aesthetics, as embodied by the "Black is beautiful" movement. This cultural movement marked a return to more natural, untreated hairstyles. The afro became a powerful political symbol which reflected black pride and a rejection of notions of assimilation and integration

that picture is of a Circassian Beauty who, ironically, were paraded by PT Barnum as examples of “Caucasian“ beauty and are the reason the term Caucasian was coopted to refer to the “White Race”.

My observation was tongue-in-check and more incredulous than mocking but I do contend that you’d be hardpressed to find the Afro hairstyle amongst authentic Black Cowboys of that era. Even in Africa the afro was usually seen as typifying American identity rather than being a naturalistic style for afro-textured hair. In other words using a character with an afro is calling on 70s iconography to mark Black inclusion rather than a natural depiction of a black cowboy. Eg Nat “Deadwood Dick” Love who came to prominence in the 1870s

The bigger issue for me is the bare chested native american in the image, not to mention the four dead white guys after the ride-by shooting (albeit the corpse at the back might not be european)

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Fair enough.
I absolutely agree that the "founding fathers" were appalling hypocrites and pretty terrible people. I do think, though, that the Declaration, followed by the whole Federalist Papers debate and the Constitution was an improvement on the near-absolute monarchies prevalent in Europe at the time. They also gave some impetus for positive changes, reflected in 1789 and in the political movements of the C19th, such as Chartism and Trades Unions.
But we agree that the founders were bad people. The British Empire was (overall) worse.

Yeah G3 gets a worse rap than he deserves IMO, but the empire? Absolute dumpster fire of banal evil, at that point in history.

And I’ll grant that the documents and writings had a more far-reaching and lasting positive impact than the men themselves.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

That's... so small a part of what was going on as to be kind of misleading.

First - recall that up to about 1760, the Colonies were largely unbothered by the Crown. So, there was a precedent that got broken, as the Crown started to try to turn the colonies into a direct source of revenue.

Then, 1765 - the Stamp Act. This was a tax on official documents and most printed things. This tax's express purpose was to pay for British Troops in the Americas after the French and Indian War. Except, the colonies already paid a lot for that war, and didn't fear an invasion by the French, and, as folks all know - the colonies had no say in the government that levied the taxes..
There was a big to-do, and the Stamp Act was repealed.

1767 and 1768 - the Townshend Acts. These were a collection of taxes, none of which were about funding the military. They were about paying judges and governors to stay loyal to the crown, punishing New York for disobeying the Quartering Act that placed soldiers in the homes of private citizens, enforcing trade regulations, and generally proving that the British Government had the right to tax the colonies, representation or no. The Townshend acts were spiteful

Resistance to the Townshend Acts led to the Boston Massacre.

Most of the Townshend Acts were repealed in 1770, but a tax on tea was left.
Then, in 1773, the Tea Act - again, not about funding the military, but about supporting the British East India Company, get Colonists to buy tea that was taxed again to establish that right, representation or not.

That led to the Boston Tea Party, and the British response to that which ultimately led to war.

Dude.

I promise you, I don’t need any kind of history lesson on the revolution and it’s lead up.

 

[jasper]

WotC: Because of the controversial nature of the setting, we simply can't release Dark Sun in today's market and remain true to the original.

Flagbearer Games: Hold my tea.

jasper spits out his coffee.

 

[Starfox]

There is a Swedish RPG called Western, now in its fourth edition. The first edition came out in 1989. It is very spaghetti-western in its setting. I haven't played it much and I don't know much about the setting, but I think that if your references are 70s films, you are pretty close.

Link is to the Swedish wikipedia, but you can likely translate it if you like.

Western (rollspel) – Wikipedia

sv.wikipedia.org

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Sorry, I didn't want to cause troubles. Only I meant Spain is also a very important but forgotten part of USA History. You can search in internet a map of Northamerica in the year 1783. I am not lying if you don't believe me.

* In Spain a couple of years ago a Western RPG was published by Nosolorol, "Peacemaker".

 

[Tonguez]

Sorry, I didn't want to cause troubles. Only I meant Spain is also a very important but forgotten part of USA History. You can search in internet a map of Northamerica in the year 1783. I am not lying if you don't believe me.

* In Spain a couple of years ago a Western RPG was published by Nosolorol, "Peacemaker".

I remember the day I discovered that Louisiana was once governed by the discordantly named Alejandro O'Reilly, an Irish man who fled the English Protestants to fight for Catholic Spain, enlisting inthe Spanish Army at 12 before being sent to Cuba, New Spain.
Relevantly it was O'Reilly who outlawed slavery in Spanish Louisiana leading to formation of the racially integrated troops that harrassed the British during the American Revolution.

relevantly to the Cowboy era the cowboy slang ‘Buckaroo’ probably originates from the Vaquero as used in New Mexico/California/Arizona