D&D 5E Peasant Revolts in 5e

[Shades of Eternity]

We've all seen the old joke where a town has to run for its life because a high-level adventurer needs a couple of experience points to get to the next level.

Is it even possible to do a peasant's revolt in Dungeons and Dragons?

Essentially how to gamify the following historical event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kq9sbtFCR8

Also, are peasants themselves even appear in your game as anything other than the background?

and for bonus points, are there any fantasy movies or novels that star peasants? I've done some checks already and noticing most peasant stories are essentially "secret princes" and thus disqualified.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Not fantasy, but I can suggest Tombland by C.J. Sansom, dealing with the Kett uprising.

As in that novel, I would be inclined to put the players in the position of trying to prevent the peasants from committing injustices/being slaughtered.

 

[Umbran]

Is it even possible to do a peasant's revolt in Dungeons and Dragons?

That depends what you mean by "do a peasant's revolt". In general, D&D doesn't have strategic systems, nor large-scale tactical systems. In general, D&D mechanics aren't built to handle wars.

Such a time can be a fine setting, however, in which you set all sorts of different adventures.

Also, are peasants themselves even appear in your game as anything other than the background?

Sure. PCs become invested in the lives of peasants pretty regularly.

and for bonus points, are there any fantasy movies or novels that star peasants?

The real problem being that we don't think of anyone who does great deeds in a fantasy world as just a peasant. Peasants who do great things get labelled warriors, or what have you.

The Sheepfarmer's Daughter - by Elizabeth Moon, is the first book in the Deeds of Paksenarrion, and starts with, as the name implies, a sheep farmer's daughter. She eventually figures out she's a paladin.

The Dragonbone Chair - by Tad Williams, is the first book of the "Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn" series. The main protagonist is a Simon, a kitchen scullion.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Historically, peasant revolts ended badly for the peasants. In D&D it would be even more so, because besides trying to overthrow the noble class (who are well-nourished warriors and mages) with dirt farmers who eat pottage two meals a day and die of old age around 40, there's the variety of evil races in the fringes looking for an opportunity to sweep in and gather loot and slaves.

 

[Charlaquin]

I don’t understand the sentiment in this thread that the peasants would have no hope. Due to bounded accuracy, any creature can be a threat to any other creature in large enough numbers. As long as you have enough peasants, they’ll stand a decent chance of winning, though they will certainly suffer heavy casualties.

 

[abirdcall]

and for bonus points, are there any fantasy movies or novels that star peasants? I've done some checks already and noticing most peasant stories are essentially "secret princes" and thus disqualified.

Westley was a farm boy, poor and perfect.

 

[Charlaquin]

Westley was a farm boy, poor and perfect.

In his backstory. But through the action of the story he was a pirate captain.

 

[bedir than]

In his backstory. But through the action of the story he was a pirate captain.

By the definitions of the debate any peasant who becomes something is no longer a peasant, and thereby there can be no peasants as heroes stories.

 

[Umbran]

In his backstory. But through the action of the story he was a pirate captain.

And that was my point about how peasants don't stay peasants. If they do anyting notable, we call them something other than "peasant". We are not playing "Farmers and Furrows" after all.

 

[Umbran]

I don’t understand the sentiment in this thread that the peasants would have no hope. Due to bounded accuracy, any creature can be a threat to any other creature in large enough numbers. As long as you have enough peasants, they’ll stand a decent chance of winning, though they will certainly suffer heavy casualties.

Very much, yes. It becomes a matter of demographics, really. How many peasants do you have? How many soldiers do you have, and how are you representing them in game stats?

Bounded accuracy works for peasants. And, if you roll a 20, you auto-hit no matter the soldier's armor, and you do critical damage. So, if most of your soldiers are like 1st level fighters... they aren't going to last all that long if you have enough peasants. Overwhelming conventional forces in the field is entirely plausible by the rules.