BigFreekinGoblinoid
First Post
From the African Setting thread. I have cut & pasted some relevant tidbits on Atlas' upcoming Northern Crown d20 setting books, as they deserve their own on-topic thread:
When asked about the online scan being difficult to read online:
When asked about the content of each of the two books:
The books author finds the thread! :
**whew!**
JohnNephew said:Yep. Northern Crown: New World Adventures. It should be out, in two volumes, at Gen Con. Probably the last of d20 for us...but you know, who knows. Something else as cool as Northern Crown or Nyambe may come along again one day and knock our socks off, hold us up at swordpoint, and demand that we publish it or forever be ashamed at our failure to do so.
A flyer to announce and promote NC:NWA is at press right now. You can find it on our website at the bottom of the retailer info page: http://www.atlas-games.com/retailer.php
On the topic of Nyambe -- no more support is, sadly, planned. There is a great fan site with added material (http://www.nyambe.com), however -- well worth checking out, full of great links, crunchy bits, etc.
Also, it may be of interest that Northern Crown assumes Nyambe in the place of Africa for its version of fantasy Earth. It would be fun to have adventures ranging across both continents.
When asked about the online scan being difficult to read online:
JohnNephew said:...
Anyone who would like a copy of the Northern Crown flyer itself (and the Ars Magica flyer/poster map, for that matter) is welcome to send us a self-addressed, stamped envelope -- to Atlas Games, 885 Pierce Butler Route, St Paul, Minnesota, 55104. Just include a little note saying you want the Northern Crown flyer/map.
England got renamed because it has been taken over by the Fae. You know that whole thing about Elizabeth and the "Faerie Queen"? Well, in this world Gloriana literally became the Faerie Queen.
When asked about the content of each of the two books:
JohnNephew said:...
One volume is called Northern Crown: New World Adventures; the other is called Northern Crown: Gazetteer. The former is more focused on characters, the latter on setting, in very rough terms....
The books author finds the thread! :
dougmander said:Speaking as the author, I don't mind, derail away!
Someone asked earlier how the Shawnee are depicted in the book. Like all of the native American backgrounds for PCs included in Northern Crown, the Shawnee are cast as a heroic, larger-than-life version of their historical selves. My take on them is that they are a far-traveled people, having come to the central woodlands from the south after long wanderings, and that they are famed traders, scouts, hunters, healers, and guardians of the living earth. They are suspicious of arcane magic, having a longstanding enmity with witches, and they have a complex system of clans and political subdivisions, each with different roles in the community.
Hope that satisfies your curiosity!
Yes, Gloriana is the half-fey daughter of Auberon and Elizabeth, who returned from Faerie long after her mother's death, kicked Oliver Cromwell out of power, and brought back the Old Ways to England, now renamed Albion. It's true what John Nephew said about there being only limited info concerning Europe, but there's a lot of background material that just didn't make it into the book, and I'd love to make it available someday for people interested in that part of my game world.
dougmander said:Your first guess is correct; there are no demihuman PC races in Northern Crown, but if you wanted to do a crossover adventure using wakyambe elves, agogwe halflings, or other Nyambe demihumans, why not?
dougmander said:Native Americans do have their own legends about little people and fey-like creatures independently of European mythos. The pukwudgee of the Wampanoag, the nan-a-push of the Leni-Lanape and the nunnehi of the Cherokee are three examples; Northern Crown will include stats for several of them.
I'm not sure if native fairy lore influenced European folklore, since such lore was already well-established by Spenser and Shakespeare's time. My guess is that like dragons, fairy creatures fill an important niche in the ecosystem of the subconscious, and so are found across many cultures.
dougmander said:Yes, it uses the regular d20 magic system, with the following changes:
Two new core classes with unique spell lists
A modest number of new cleric and wiz/sor spells, including some exclusively for native spellcasters, and some related to guns or machines
A major reconceptualization of druidic magic that explicitly ties druids' power to the health of the natural environment
There are few major rules variants in terms of messing with the basic mechanics of feats, skills, combat, and so forth. I was going for "out-of-the-box" playability for anyone who has played D&D. But there are:
seven new core classes
nine prestige classes
rules for fencing and black powder weapons
rules for creating fantastic baroque-era inventions like flying machines
lots of monsters from American lore, like haints, wendigo, and headless horsemen
stats for legendary NPCs like Paul Bunyan and Mike Fink
The Five Nations, once warring nations now united by the principles of the Great Tree of Peace, are of course a regional power in the game world, trying to corner the northern fur trade and preventing incursions from the Puritan Commonwealth and other European invaders. The Mohawk, aka the Keepers of the Eastern Door or the People of the Place of Flint, are one of 17 PC culture backgrounds detailed in the book. One of the two narrators who introduces each chapter in the book is a Mohawk rakarota (bard in d20 terms) named Okwaho.
Any other questions about the setting?
**whew!**