If you liked Nyambe...

You'll probably love Northern Crown, another Atlas Games product!

Just picked it up the other day, and I love it. It ties in nicely with Nyambe- mainly because the 2 designers played nicely together. It is as if they were actually working on a vast AltHist game world by design, as opposed to linking them subsequently.

There were 2 things I disliked:

1) They eliminated the Rogue class, and I didn't really see a replacement for it.

2) They included a general firearm weapon called, alternatingly "Snapchance" or "Snaphance." I don't know my old firearms well enough to know which is correct. Just another thing that really should have been caught in editing.

But overall, it looks pretty good!

Anybody else try it out?

Throw some reviews into the system amigo. It's the best way to get people to know what's out and what you like about it. I think the word limit is like 500 so that shouldn't be too hard to hit.

Dannyalcatraz said:

2) They included a general firearm weapon called, alternatingly "Snapchance" or "Snaphance." I don't know my old firearms well enough to know which is correct. Just another thing that really should have been caught in editing.

Click to expand...

I've usually seen this kind of firing mechanism spelt either "snaphance" or "snaphaunce". Don't have my books handy for the etymology, though...

Dannyalcatraz said:

You'll probably love Northern Crown, another Atlas Games product!

Just picked it up the other day, and I love it. It ties in nicely with Nyambe- mainly because the 2 designers played nicely together. It is as if they were actually working on a vast AltHist game world by design, as opposed to linking them subsequently.

There were 2 things I disliked:

1) They eliminated the Rogue class, and I didn't really see a replacement for it.

2) They included a general firearm weapon called, alternatingly "Snapchance" or "Snaphance." I don't know my old firearms well enough to know which is correct. Just another thing that really should have been caught in editing.

But overall, it looks pretty good!

Anybody else try it out?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the endorsement and the positive comments. Despite appearances to the contrary, Chris Dolunt and I didn't collaborate per se, but with his blessing, I used his Nyambe as the Africa of the the Northern Crown game world. This was something I suggested to Michelle Nephew at Atlas Games when the project was first given the go back in 2002.

I'm not sure where the "snapchance" thing comes from. It must be a typo that didn't get picked up. I know darn well that it's "snaphance", an early flintlock mechanism.

Sorry for the lack of rogues, but the class just didn't seem to fit the genre. I personally think the agent core class and the rake core class both offer something for players who like playing rogues. One of my students recently pointed out to me that no Northern Crown core classes have evasion as a class feature, something that I never noticed in development!

Well- I'm still delving into it (and I'm on my way out the door), but things that have caught my eye include:

The setting is strong on flavor. Its generally well though out with a good eye towards historical detail, and how those details should change for purposes of the game setting.

Northern Crown is set in a 17th Century America in which magic really works. The Indian Nations are still strong, the Uropans have not progressed as far inland as they did in the RW. As I mentioned before, while not designed simultaneously, NC integrates well with Nyambe, and in fact, certain class and culture combinations cannot be played without Nyambe.

Similar to Nyambe, PCs are generally limited to playing humans, with differences in CULTURE creating differences in starting stats, feats, etc. There are about 15 different cultures depicted- several Uropans (Espaniards, Albians, Kelt, etc.), First Ones (Mowhawk, Ojibwa, etc.), Cimmerons (Nyamban-Americans ), Free-thinkers, Buccaneers, and so forth. Characters with the Two Cultures feat can qualify for benefits from both cultures the PC is a member of, but can only take the free feats of one of them.

While the designer points out the traditional roles for women in each culture, he also points out that PC females are free to escape those boundaries.

They eliminate Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, Rangers and Rogues (this one confuses me most, see initial post). New core classes include Agents (spies), Rakes (dandy duelers), Raiders (combo Ranger Barbarians), Soldiers (trained military), Witches, and Natural Philosophers. The NPs are my fave so far- these are the inventors and artificers of the setting. Think of them as analagous to specialist (techno) mages who use non-magical inventions to duplicate magical effects. They can produce Antimagic, Life & Death, Mentalist, Physical and other effects from a limited "spell" list, have Metascience feats, etc. These are the guys and gals who create automatons, flying machines and energy weapons...

PrCls include (not an exhaustive list here) Falstaffs, Sea-Captains, Officers, and Tall Tale Legends*. That last one gradually turns your PC into your own version of American folk heroes like Paul Bunyan, Johnny Caw, John Henry, and so forth- complete with Size change and oversized animal companion. Falstaffs are named for the character they are modeled after, and are a little like Drunken Masters.

* The one problem with this PrCl is that it is too slavish to a few Tall Tales. Hopefully, future expansions of the game will also expand this PrCl to encompass other legends.

There are 3 Psionic Feats that have a slightly different structure than the XPH. You can have the Evil Eye, be a Firebug, or have Second Sight. They aren't classes, they just give you powers and PSPs based on levels. In a sense, they are most like the 1Ed & 2Ed Psionic Wild Talents using 3.5Ed mechanics.

One thing I'm not clear on at this pont is whether your PC can only take classes listed under his culture or not. I suspect not-but I haven't had a chance to sus that out completely.

I'll post more later when I'm back!

The power of En World:

I am probably going to purchase some Atlas Games products, specifically Northern Crown and Nyambe related, that I would not have without the information I have gleaned from various threads in these forums. The clincher for me was finding out that "A New World" was a major historical influence for Northern Crown. Don't know where else I'd have been able to piece these various bits of information together. I'm pretty much a swords and sorcery guy, with a few exceptions, so En World has helped expand my gaming horizons. Thanks En World.

Dannyalcatraz said:

They eliminate Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, Rangers and Rogues (this one confuses me most, see initial post).

Click to expand...

Can't wait to see how these core classes are handled in setting specific ways, as I'm sure they are to some degree or another. I can imagine subtle versions of most of them, but how about Monks (and I surprise myself here because this is normally a class I couldn't care less about)? No Jesuits ala "The Black Robe" or "The Mission" (for cinematic references)? Aren't these monks? Where do Shamen types fit in? I suppose the answers to these questions will come once I read the actual products. Can't wait.....

Dannyalcatraz said:

They included a general firearm weapon called, alternatingly "Snapchance" or "Snaphance." I don't know my old firearms well enough to know which is correct. Just another thing that really should have been caught in editing.

Click to expand...

Google sez...

snapchance: 18 hits
snaphance: 504 hits
snaphaunce: 2,550 hits

snaphaunce it is...

Ok- figured out that PCs can take any class they want, regardless of culture- it just affects their social status. The preferred classes have higher starting social status than the non-preferred.

Dougmander! Always nice to see the designer in the thread about his work!

As for rogues, I think there is ALWAYS a place for thugs, pickpockets, burglars, muggers and the like- just look at Gangs of New York or Oliver Twist. I just don't see the Agent or the Rake quite fit all those roles. The Agent is too much the spy and provocateur to be a common thief or criminal. And though the Rake could make a nice criminal mastermind, I just don't see that class befitting street urchins and other underlings in a criminal organization or as a freelancer. If I ever get to run the RPG, I'd probably houserule Rogues back in

...but how about Monks...

Click to expand...

IMHO, the Monk as a class has always been more Eastern/Oriental in flavor as compared to what Westerners would consider a monk. Jesuits, Dominicans and others would be more akin to Clerics or Wizards without spells- essentially some kind of academic scribe or scholar- as opposed to martial artists.

Where do Shamen types fit in?

Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, you'd either use a Cleric or Druid. I would assume that Dougmander wanted to work from the standard PHB classes, rather than venturing into other products like Oriental Adventures or Kalamar, which have (2 different) Shaman classes. While I wouldn't even think of using the OA Shaman (essentially a spellcasting, martial arts based fusion of Monk and Cleric), I think the one in Kalamar might work pretty well.

Ditto on "Totem Warrior" type classes- warriors who gain powers from and associated with particular animals. I know there is one in Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, and I believe there is one in WOTC's Unearthed Arcana.

All in all, I'm pleased with my recent purchase. I hope Doug and Chris or one of their co-workers continue to expand the Atlas AltHist world that features Northern Crown and Nyambe. Perhaps some South-American stuff with more from the Espaniards, or a book that shows what rule changes would be needed to update Oriental Adventures to depict the Far East of this world as it begins to clash with expansionistic Uropans...

Dannyalcatraz said:

Dougmander! Always nice to see the designer in the thread about his work!
If I ever get to run the RPG, I'd probably houserule Rogues back in

Click to expand...

You have my blessing!

Dannyalcatraz said:

IMHO, the Monk as a class has always been more Eastern/Oriental in flavor as compared to what Westerners would consider a monk. Jesuits, Dominicans and others would be more akin to Clerics or Wizards without spells- essentially some kind of academic scribe or scholar- as opposed to martial artists.

Click to expand...

Yes, that's just how I envisioned it. Most NPC priests or monks wouldn't have divine magic, but a select few would, and they would be the actual cleric-class characters.

Dannyalcatraz said:

As far as I can tell, you'd either use a Cleric or Druid. I would assume that Dougmander wanted to work from the standard PHB classes, rather than venturing into other products like Oriental Adventures or Kalamar, which have (2 different) Shaman classes. While I wouldn't even think of using the OA Shaman (essentially a spellcasting, martial arts based fusion of Monk and Cleric), I think the one in Kalamar might work pretty well.

Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the Kalamar shaman. Shamanistic practice is a phenomenon of the Asian arctic and actually quite alien to the woodland Indian cultures that inspired the First Ones of Northern Crown. Most First Ones in Northern Crown use druid-class for their divine spellcasters, with some unique spells and class abilities tossed in. The Cherokee and other agricultural nations of the south use cleric-class characters.

Dannyalcatraz said:

Ditto on "Totem Warrior" type classes- warriors who gain powers from and associated with particular animals. I know there is one in Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed, and I believe there is one in WOTC's Unearthed Arcana.

Click to expand...

I love the totem barbarians (is that what they're called?) in Unearthed Arcana, but what I did for Northern Crown was include "Animal Ancestry Feats" that give you certain traits of your totem animal.

Dannyalcatraz said:

All in all, I'm pleased with my recent purchase. I hope Doug and Chris or one of their co-workers continue to expand the Atlas AltHist world that features Northern Crown and Nyambe. Perhaps some South-American stuff with more from the Espaniards, or a book that shows what rule changes would be needed to update Oriental Adventures to depict the Far East of this world as it begins to clash with expansionistic Uropans...

Click to expand...

There are hints of the continent of "Southern Cross" in Northern Crown, but I have no time to develop S. America as a part of the Nyambe-Northern Crown-Uropa alternate history Age of Adventure world. Anyone who wants to do so and try to get Atlas to publish it, be my guest, I'll be the first to buy it.

Just a reminder here that GM Skarka and I are developing new material for Northern Crown and I hope to have more to report on that soon. Have you played through the free intro adventure, The Caves of Chisca?