Whatever happened to Northern Crown

[jdrakeh]

There were 4 issues of Franklyn's Almanac? I thought there were only 2. Do you know something I don't? I would love for there to be two more issues that are out there, waiting for my greedy little fingers to buy.

Might have been two (as I said, I think there were four). I didn't get all hot and bothered over Northern Crown until well after it disappeared from store shelves, so I readily admit that I might be wrong about that. You can always inquire of Gareth as to the specifics. But, yes, the issues that I have rock and if there are two that I don't yet own, I'd like to think that they rock just as much.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

It's a very cool setting, and I'm using bits of it for my own world - the author pops up here frequently, so I'd imagine he'll be showing up soon to offer some thoughts!

 

[jdrakeh]

This always struck me as a very innovative, very cool idea for a d20 campaign setting. I think it was probably a matter of bad timing more than anything else. Here's hoping it somehow finds an audience.

--Erik

It's great. It's part Washington Irving and part Gary Gygax, with the stylistic vision of Jules Verne injected into its heart. It might be the conceptual equivalent of Frankenstein's monster in game design but, unlike the monster, it's extremely sexy. If only we could get the good doctor to breathe some life back into it!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

NC is an awesome product, but if you get into it, also pick up Nyambe. While not intended as a followup, NC's author used some themes from Nyambe (with permission), making the blacks of NC decendents from the populace of Nyambe's take on Africa. Thus, the 2 settings partner up well together and lets you really expand your roleplay options.

 

[Tonguez]

This always struck me as a very innovative, very cool idea for a d20 campaign setting. I think it was probably a matter of bad timing more than anything else. Here's hoping it somehow finds an audience.

--Erik

The setting is very cool and I too hope that it gets an audience and a much longer life of glory

I still have some of the Septentrionalis (the online precursor to NC) stuff saved somewhere

maybe it will get anothedr shot at life -if Dougmander can find another publisher (EN World?)...

 

[Leatherfut]

Might have been two (as I said, I think there were four). I didn't get all hot and bothered over Northern Crown until well after it disappeared from store shelves, so I readily admit that I might be wrong about that. You can always inquire of Gareth as to the specifics. But, yes, the issues that I have rock and if there are two that I don't yet own, I'd like to think that they rock just as much.

Yea, I only see two issues on their website. I don't own any of the stuff yet, but it looks great and I want it. I only wish there was more. How 'bout that Boston sourcebook.
Do you think the game is pretty complete with the two books or does it need a little more?

thanks,
Frank

 

[Tonguez]

In 2005 Doug said this

The round-the-world voyage of the Lorelei comes to mind. The PCs raced a Français pirate to the discovery of the Northwest Passage, and found that the crucial strait was controlled by the descendents of the Welsh prince Madoc, who had preserved some pretty powerful magics from the previous age. Shangri-la like, they were trapped there for a long while until they were able to defeat the wizard who was pulling the strings of Madoc's heir. They defeated a floating ice-fortress of frost giants, were captured by the even-gianter giants of Brobdignag, went to work as mercenaries for the emperor of Fusang and rescued his daughter from evil monks, solved the mystery of Rapa-nui, rescued a marooned Sir Francis Drake from the shogun of Xipangu, beat the Portugeuse to establish a trading post there, delivered Drake to Queen Gloriana of Albion, and made it back to Sophia in time for tea.

Other memorable adventures included storming the Witchling city of Naumkeag to unmask and unseat an evil coven mother, and rescuing an Onandaga powwaw from the dungeons of the Chateau Frontenac in Québec. There have also been several adventures of political intrigue in the city of Sophia, and supernatural terror on the fog-shrouded streets of Boston.

Annalisa X, the evil natural philosopher who runs the College of War in Vandalia, is a probably my favorite villain. Think of Q from the James Bond films, but evil. The sorcerers of Le Dragon Rouge and the vampires of L'Ordre du Sang weave in and out of many of the adventures.

The areas of Northern Crown I'm most eager to expand are the city of Havana, the mean streets of Nieu Amsterdam, and the courtly society of Charles Town. They haven't been fleshed out in nearly the same detail as Boston and Sophia. I'd really like to do some adventures that take place exclusively in First Ones territory, with minimal Uropan involvement, but the research required to get it right is taking a long time. I'm ploughing through Mooney's classic Cherokee Myths and Sacred Formulas and thinking of writing a nearly crunch-free sourcebook that focuses on the Cherokee world, which is so rich in magic, monsters, fey beings, witches, heroes, and giants that it could almost be done as a stand-alone campaign

did any of that make it into the almanack?

 

[jdrakeh]

Yea, I only see two issues on their website. I don't own any of the stuff yet, but it looks great and I want it. I only wish there was more. How 'bout that Boston sourcebook.
Do you think the game is pretty complete with the two books or does it need a little more?

thanks,
Frank

It's very complete in the two book, with the added bonus of being built upon a huge body of literature (e.g., stories by Washington Irving and other early American authors), scholarly texts (e.g., American history books), folklore (e.g., legends of the Wendigo, Headless Valley, etc), and other weirdness (e.g., the Beale Cipher) that you can port into your campaigns. Seriously. If you have the two Northern Crown books, access to a library, and the internet, you already have more resources than your typical fantasy game.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Not only that, there are modern writers with novels with settings that could aid a GM running an NC game.

Kurt R. A. Giambastiani has a series of books set in an alt-history USA during Custer's lifetime. Aided by working magic and tamed saurian steeds, Native Americans have stalled the expansion of European settlers into the western areas of the continent.

I believe Harry Turtledove & SM Stirling also have some alt-history novels with similar time settings.

 

[jdrakeh]

Not only that, there are modern writers with novels with settings that could aid a GM running an NC game.

Sure -- Manly Wade Wellman is the one that always leaps to my mind. I think that his dark contemporary folktales would be a perfect fit in the Northern Crown setting.