Northern Crown - Fantasy Adventuring in Europe's Colonization of North America

[scourger]

Well, my questions regarding adventures are pretty much answered. The publisher doesn't plan to publish any. The author (you) would like to do some free web-releases, which is a great marketing strategy in my opinion. What I mean is that it makes me more likely to want to buy the books and play the game if I can download or purchase some pre-written adventure modules. So, how much of that kind of support is likely? It sounds as if this book is based on a personal or web-based campaign, so is that a potential source of adventures? Is there any source for that information? How about a link?

Another concept that has intrigued me for a couple of years is a d20 RPG set in the time of the Revolutionary War. The main problem I found was getting something for the PCs to do. Being scouts might be fun, but it doesn't appeal to the usual vigilante/mercenary nature of players & characters that is sort of presumed in D&D. Is this game one that could be used to run this type of game?

Here are some more basic questions about Northern Crown.

What year is the setting? At what point in the European exploration of the New World is the game set?

What are the races? Are the core D&D races included or is it more historical (humans only or primarily)?

How portable are the concepts? Does out-of-the-box playability include the ability to use the core rules with the setting information pretty intact? How extensive are the major rules variants?

What is the alternate or fantastic history?

 

[warlord]

I'm just wondering what the new weapons and core classes are so I thought I'd ask. And are there werecreatures in NC?

 

[ajanders]

The focus is on North America, not Central or South America. The supernatural is a major factor, with witches holding a great enclave near Boston and infiltrating the courts of all the colonial powers; a cabal of French sorcerers seeking to undermine the free state of Sophia; and vampires establishing dynasties in Nouveau Orleans.

This is a game for people who love American history, lore, and legend. We wanted NC to make early America come alive as a mythic place the same way Ars Magica reimagines Europe's past. It really helps to visualize the sorts of adventures possible if you've read Card's Alvin Maker series, J. Gregory Keyes' Age of Unreason, or REH's Solomon Kane stories. And tales of Daniel Boone, Paul Bunyan, Mike Fink, Blackbeard, Jonny Appleseed...

Silver John! Lanark Kane!
Ohhh yes.
I didn't think it could be done. Something has just displaced Iron Kingdoms as my new drool setting.
Witches of Salem....
Jules Verne technology...
Fencing....
mwarrrr...

 

[dougmander]

So, how much of that kind of support is likely? It sounds as if this book is based on a personal or web-based campaign, so is that a potential source of adventures? Is there any source for that information? How about a link?

I think having adventure modules available is crucial, and I would like to have at least one out there by the time the books are released in August. I have a couple of adventures from the old web-based campaign that I can update and re-release. The first one is for 1st-level PCs, and the second one is for 2nd- or 3rd-level PCs. There is also a fully detailed Boston campaign setting, with an emphasis on supernatural adventures. Beyond that, I have about 10 years of campaigns I could draw from, including a search for the Northwest Passage and some tales of secret societies and politicking in the Republic of Sophia.

Another concept that has intrigued me for a couple of years is a d20 RPG set in the time of the Revolutionary War. The main problem I found was getting something for the PCs to do. Being scouts might be fun, but it doesn't appeal to the usual vigilante/mercenary nature of players & characters that is sort of presumed in D&D. Is this game one that could be used to run this type of game?

I think the AWI would be a comparitively boring setting for an RPG. Many of the most enjoyable archetypes of the swashbuckling era are no longer around, and there are fewer players in the game of empire. However, the technology and society described in NC could easily be used to run an AWI-era game.

Here are some more basic questions about Northern Crown.
What year is the setting? At what point in the European exploration of the New World is the game set?
What are the races? Are the core D&D races included or is it more historical (humans only or primarily)?
How portable are the concepts? Does out-of-the-box playability include the ability to use the core rules with the setting information pretty intact? How extensive are the major rules variants?
What is the alternate or fantastic history?

The year is 1666, but I included people, states, and events from 1600-1820. Europeans have been in the New World for 150 years, but are still bogged down along the coast, slowed by geographical barriers, infighting, and two powerful native confederations. Albion (England), France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden are all players -- a much livelier mix of colonial powers than you would see 100 years earlier or later.

PCs are exclusively human. No elves, dwarves, halflings, or gnomes, although these races once dwelled in Europe and have now retreated to Faerie. You choose a culture instead of a race, from a choice of 17 cultures, European, American, or African-inspired.

I did not tinker extensively with the core rules. You could easily take your existing D&D cleric, bard, or sorcerer, give them different equipment, and drop them into Northern Crown. I only added rules to cover aspects of play not covered (or poorly covered) by the SRD, like guns and fencing.

The alternate history is too complex to relate here, but suffice to say that I went for plausibility, given that it is also a world with magic and sail-era weird science.

 

[dougmander]

I'm just wondering what the new weapons and core classes are so I thought I'd ask. And are there werecreatures in NC?

There are werecreatures in NC. Native PCs can also have animal ancestries, which give them some of the abilities of a wolf, bear, or turtle. The game includes a list of d20 System monsters appropriate for the campaign, plus about 2 dozen new monsters, all integrated into a set of encounter tables for various terrains found in eastern North America.

New weapons? Matchlock, wheellock, and snaphance guns of various sizes, including double barrelled pistols and big huge wall guns. Artillery. Blowguns with rattlesnake-venom darts. Grenades. Steam-powered automaton soldiers (and detailed rules for custom-building your own automatons and vehicles). Various fencing weapons including the unsportsmanlike long rapier and the dainty but lethal smallsword. Electrostatic rapiers. Heliopyritic mirrors. Multibarrelled rapid-fire organ guns.

Existing character classes you can port over from standard d20 System include bard, cleric, druid, paladin, sorcerer, and wizard. Goodbye to barbarians, fighters, monks, rangers, and rogues. New classes include the agent, the natural philosopher, the raider, the rake, the scout, the soldier, and the witch. New prestige classes include the firebrand, the fencing master, the tall tale hero, the frontier legend, the falstaff, the wild brawler, the sower, the officer, and the sea captain.

 

[JohnNephew]

3rd party support

I should note, we've gotten inquiries that may lead to us licensing the Product Identity of Northern Crown to other publishers, who could publish official Northern Crown adventures in PDF. It's not set in stone or anything, but I am optimistic that we'll have a deal to announce sooner or later.

 

[scourger]

Thanks for the information, guys. It sounds very interesting. A setting that imports all the spellcasting classes but leaves out all the fighter-types and the rogue from the core rules is not one I would have considered ordinarily, but this one is definitely worth a look. The class list sounds as if fighters & rogues could still be used if the new classes are not. Is this a direction I can go to get my players interested (they are more likely to go with the core game since they know the rules)?

The availability of adventures will be the deciding factor for me. I've got more modules for d20 D&D than I can ever run already, not to mention the Judge Dredd & DragonStar adventures I love but can't get my players excited about. So, a new setting really needs its own adventure module support (from somewhere) to compete for my attention (money is not really as much an object as time, effort & storage space). Here's hoping for lots of adventures to run in the setting.

Please keep the updates coming, especially regarding the modules.

 

[JoeCrow]

I should note, we've gotten inquiries that may lead to us licensing the Product Identity of Northern Crown to other publishers, who could publish official Northern Crown adventures in PDF. It's not set in stone or anything, but I am optimistic that we'll have a deal to announce sooner or later.

Aces! This is exactly what I was hoping for. Go Phantom Licensing Inquiries!