The American Revolution...sort of [Archive] - Wizards Community

The American Revolution...sort of [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Shiftkitty
06-19-07, 04:01 PM I've been mixing D&D with the American Revolution for almost a year now. The whole thing started looooooooooong ago when we were playing Spelljammer. Some nasty Mindflayers were on the losing end of a battle and we never answered where they had gone off to in order to die. Somewhile back, I decided they had plowed into a little blue planet we all know and love.

Dungeons and Dragoons:
It was 1781 and the Flayers decided to take over the most powerful empire on the planet ("Can you believe it? Not a single psionicist in the bunch!") but being true baddies, they didn't do it overtly. Working from behind the scenes, they decided the first thing to do was to bring those little upstart colonies to their knees. When the rebels proved to be tougher than the average bunch of merchants and peasants that the Flayers were used to, they started gating in some assistance in the form of orcs, gnolls, dragons, etc.

The average Redcoat has no idea that His Majesty has been replaced by a Flayer controlled doppelganger. The Waxhaw Massacre wasn't the work of "Bloody Ban" Tarleton, the Green Dragoon, but rather the aftermath of a column of retreating rebels encountering a green dragon. George Washington found out that his saber had an element of silver in it when he went toe-to-toe with a werewolf (and he swears he didn't get any blood into any open wounds). Ethan Allen now has both a fear of and fascination with displacer beasts (due to the hiccup in history, he never attempted the raid on Montreal and thus never got captured). At last report, John Paul Jones was heading straight for the rocks thanks to some Sirens.

But all is not lost. In hot pursuit of the Flayers, the forces of good tracked them to their current planet. A party of adventurers, doing their best to be nonchalant, are seeking an apparent wizard known as the Sage of Philadelphia (Ben Franklin). They also seek the Sage of Monticello (Thomas Jefferson), and King John I (the British press' title for John Hancock, whom rumor has it is now a vampire). It is hoped that they can join forces to obliterate the Mindflayers and their eeeeevil minions.

In the latest segment, Cornwallis and Colonel Banastre Tarleton had just laid their eyes on a Mindflayer for the very first time as it sucked out the brains of a captured rebel. Further north, a group of elves has made contact with Ethan Allen, whom they've dubbed the Lord of Green Mountain.

It's not a true historical RPG per se, but it's a lot of fun when the PC surgeon tries to see to Washington's wounds and Washington snarls and pulls back. Even his favorite dogs and horses shy away from him...
i_am_some_guy
06-21-07, 11:45 AM I'm forgetting the writers name, but he wrote a great number of historical fiction with fantastical twists. Taking the historical stories we all know and throwing fantasy into them.

I actually think those are great settings to run games in.

Vampire hunting should be a D20 Past game...
Shiftkitty
06-24-07, 07:39 PM Not Harry Turtledove, is it? I think he wrote the Lost Regiment series. He picked up a RW report of an entire Union Regiment that vanished without an apparent trace and dropped them into a fantasy setting. He handled it pretty well, too.
i_am_some_guy
06-25-07, 11:07 AM Not Harry Turtledove, is it? I think he wrote the Lost Regiment series. He picked up a RW report of an entire Union Regiment that vanished without an apparent trace and dropped them into a fantasy setting. He handled it pretty well, too.

He's not whom I'm thinking of... but he does the same thing. I read a few of his WW2 alien invasion books. That would make quite a good game setting.

Course I still can't remember the guys name... guess it's time to dig...
Xorial
07-04-07, 11:25 PM Not Harry Turtledove, is it? I think he wrote the Lost Regiment series. He picked up a RW report of an entire Union Regiment that vanished without an apparent trace and dropped them into a fantasy setting. He handled it pretty well, too.

Correction. Harry Turtledove did NOT write the Lost Regiment series. That was William R. Forstchen.
Shiftkitty
07-10-07, 03:36 PM Ah, thanks. I wasn't sure of the author. Don't know why Turtledove stuck in my head.

Anyway, my plan for the RevWar, Sort Of did inspire me to write a short story about the Waxhaw Massacre, Ban Tarleton, and a voodoo war involving him and the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion (and a couple of voodoo priestesses). Are there any d20 rules for voodoo?
Dougmander
07-11-07, 09:28 AM Ah, thanks. I wasn't sure of the author. Don't know why Turtledove stuck in my head.

Anyway, my plan for the RevWar, Sort Of did inspire me to write a short story about the Waxhaw Massacre, Ban Tarleton, and a voodoo war involving him and the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion (and a couple of voodoo priestesses). Are there any d20 rules for voodoo?

There are rules for voodoo magic in Skull & Bones, the d20 pirates campaign setting. Good ones, very authentic feel, I can tell you, as someone who has been threatened with voodoo curses in the past.

I really like your campaign idea -- you seem to have a lot of knowledge about the southern campaign in the Rev war. Francis Marion was a hero of mine growing up; I did a book report about him in 8th grade!
Shiftkitty
07-11-07, 10:16 AM I hang out at http://earlyamericanhistory.net/board/index.php a bit. One of the users, Holley, got me hooked on Ban Tarleton, and you can't do a thing with Tarleton without mentioning Marion*, even though the situation between the two didn't last too long. (I did write a spoof of "Hot Rod Lincoln" called "Damned Old Swamp Fox" based on Tarleton's last hunt of the elusive Marion!)

No kidding, though? You were threatened with voodoo curses?

* And you can't do a thing with Tarleton without mentioning Major Hanger, and you can't do a thing with Hanger without mentioning monkeys, dogs, and strumpets... and port wine!
ArgulFraster
07-14-07, 03:43 PM This sounds like the best alt-history thing since Steampunk was invented.
Shiftkitty
07-14-07, 09:23 PM Thank you!

A little while back I took this image from a site I can't recall:
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8572/dragoncg7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Then I took the Reynolds painting of Banastre Tarleton, the Green Dragoon:
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7758/tarletonfi9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

And here's what I came up with. Don't he look natural as a dragon slayer?
http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6929/dragooncovercopyvh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
i_am_some_guy
07-17-07, 08:31 PM It was 1781 and the Flayers decided to take over the most powerful empire on the planet ("Can you believe it? Not a single psionicist in the bunch!") but being true baddies, they didn't do it overtly. Working from behind the scenes, they decided the first thing to do was to bring those little upstart colonies to their knees. When the rebels proved to be tougher than the average bunch of merchants and peasants that the Flayers were used to.....

Just the Mind Flayers alone make for some awesome alternative history gaming that would fit excellently into D20M/D20 Past
Shiftkitty
07-17-07, 10:04 PM You know, I had looked at d20 Past but found the price a tad too high for what little information they had in there that I would use. Like most American History fun stuff, they focused more on the middle 1800's onward. I guess the social structure and techonology level is a little more familiar to most people.

I'm thinking I should start writing down stats for classes. "Ranger", "Scout", and "Courier" are the first ones that come to mind.
i_am_some_guy
07-17-07, 10:11 PM You know, I had looked at d20 Past but found the price a tad too high for what little information they had in there that I would use. Like most American History fun stuff, they focused more on the middle 1800's onward. I guess the social structure and techonology level is a little more familiar to most people.

I'm thinking I should start writing down stats for classes. "Ranger", "Scout", and "Courier" are the first ones that come to mind.

I guess that's the trade off. Having a career I can buy whatever books I want, but I have almost no time to play anymore.....and I need to have approval from the "real" boss to make "dork purchases" heh...heh...heh...
Shiftkitty
07-18-07, 03:28 PM Ah! You shoulda married a gamer! We have D&D in our budget.
ArgulFraster
07-22-07, 08:22 PM Ah, for nookieless freedom...that I will enjoy until the day I die.

Oh well. Gynoids can't be too far away!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shiftkitty 06-19-07, 04:01 PM	I've been mixing D&D with the American Revolution for almost a year now. The whole thing started looooooooooong ago when we were playing Spelljammer. Some nasty Mindflayers were on the losing end of a battle and we never answered where they had gone off to in order to die. Somewhile back, I decided they had plowed into a little blue planet we all know and love. Dungeons and Dragoons: It was 1781 and the Flayers decided to take over the most powerful empire on the planet ("Can you believe it? Not a single psionicist in the bunch!") but being true baddies, they didn't do it overtly. Working from behind the scenes, they decided the first thing to do was to bring those little upstart colonies to their knees. When the rebels proved to be tougher than the average bunch of merchants and peasants that the Flayers were used to, they started gating in some assistance in the form of orcs, gnolls, dragons, etc. The average Redcoat has no idea that His Majesty has been replaced by a Flayer controlled doppelganger. The Waxhaw Massacre wasn't the work of "Bloody Ban" Tarleton, the Green Dragoon, but rather the aftermath of a column of retreating rebels encountering a green dragon. George Washington found out that his saber had an element of silver in it when he went toe-to-toe with a werewolf (and he swears he didn't get any blood into any open wounds). Ethan Allen now has both a fear of and fascination with displacer beasts (due to the hiccup in history, he never attempted the raid on Montreal and thus never got captured). At last report, John Paul Jones was heading straight for the rocks thanks to some Sirens. But all is not lost. In hot pursuit of the Flayers, the forces of good tracked them to their current planet. A party of adventurers, doing their best to be nonchalant, are seeking an apparent wizard known as the Sage of Philadelphia (Ben Franklin). They also seek the Sage of Monticello (Thomas Jefferson), and King John I (the British press' title for John Hancock, whom rumor has it is now a vampire). It is hoped that they can join forces to obliterate the Mindflayers and their eeeeevil minions. In the latest segment, Cornwallis and Colonel Banastre Tarleton had just laid their eyes on a Mindflayer for the very first time as it sucked out the brains of a captured rebel. Further north, a group of elves has made contact with Ethan Allen, whom they've dubbed the Lord of Green Mountain. It's not a true historical RPG per se, but it's a lot of fun when the PC surgeon tries to see to Washington's wounds and Washington snarls and pulls back. Even his favorite dogs and horses shy away from him...
i_am_some_guy 06-21-07, 11:45 AM	I'm forgetting the writers name, but he wrote a great number of historical fiction with fantastical twists. Taking the historical stories we all know and throwing fantasy into them. I actually think those are great settings to run games in. Vampire hunting should be a D20 Past game...
Shiftkitty 06-24-07, 07:39 PM	Not Harry Turtledove, is it? I think he wrote the Lost Regiment series. He picked up a RW report of an entire Union Regiment that vanished without an apparent trace and dropped them into a fantasy setting. He handled it pretty well, too.
i_am_some_guy 06-25-07, 11:07 AM	Not Harry Turtledove, is it? I think he wrote the Lost Regiment series. He picked up a RW report of an entire Union Regiment that vanished without an apparent trace and dropped them into a fantasy setting. He handled it pretty well, too. He's not whom I'm thinking of... but he does the same thing. I read a few of his WW2 alien invasion books. That would make quite a good game setting. Course I still can't remember the guys name... guess it's time to dig...
Xorial 07-04-07, 11:25 PM	Not Harry Turtledove, is it? I think he wrote the Lost Regiment series. He picked up a RW report of an entire Union Regiment that vanished without an apparent trace and dropped them into a fantasy setting. He handled it pretty well, too. Correction. Harry Turtledove did NOT write the Lost Regiment series. That was William R. Forstchen.
Shiftkitty 07-10-07, 03:36 PM	Ah, thanks. I wasn't sure of the author. Don't know why Turtledove stuck in my head. Anyway, my plan for the RevWar, Sort Of did inspire me to write a short story about the Waxhaw Massacre, Ban Tarleton, and a voodoo war involving him and the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion (and a couple of voodoo priestesses). Are there any d20 rules for voodoo?
Dougmander 07-11-07, 09:28 AM	Ah, thanks. I wasn't sure of the author. Don't know why Turtledove stuck in my head. Anyway, my plan for the RevWar, Sort Of did inspire me to write a short story about the Waxhaw Massacre, Ban Tarleton, and a voodoo war involving him and the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion (and a couple of voodoo priestesses). Are there any d20 rules for voodoo? There are rules for voodoo magic in Skull & Bones, the d20 pirates campaign setting. Good ones, very authentic feel, I can tell you, as someone who has been threatened with voodoo curses in the past. I really like your campaign idea -- you seem to have a lot of knowledge about the southern campaign in the Rev war. Francis Marion was a hero of mine growing up; I did a book report about him in 8th grade!
Shiftkitty 07-11-07, 10:16 AM	I hang out at http://earlyamericanhistory.net/board/index.php a bit. One of the users, Holley, got me hooked on Ban Tarleton, and you can't do a thing with Tarleton without mentioning Marion, even though the situation between the two didn't last too long. (I did write a spoof of "Hot Rod Lincoln" called "Damned Old Swamp Fox" based on Tarleton's last hunt of the elusive Marion!) No kidding, though? You were threatened with voodoo curses? And you can't do a thing with Tarleton without mentioning Major Hanger, and you can't do a thing with Hanger without mentioning monkeys, dogs, and strumpets... and port wine!
ArgulFraster 07-14-07, 03:43 PM	This sounds like the best alt-history thing since Steampunk was invented.
Shiftkitty 07-14-07, 09:23 PM	Thank you! A little while back I took this image from a site I can't recall: http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8572/dragoncg7.jpg (http://imageshack.us) Then I took the Reynolds painting of Banastre Tarleton, the Green Dragoon: http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7758/tarletonfi9.jpg (http://imageshack.us) And here's what I came up with. Don't he look natural as a dragon slayer? http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/6929/dragooncovercopyvh3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
i_am_some_guy 07-17-07, 08:31 PM	It was 1781 and the Flayers decided to take over the most powerful empire on the planet ("Can you believe it? Not a single psionicist in the bunch!") but being true baddies, they didn't do it overtly. Working from behind the scenes, they decided the first thing to do was to bring those little upstart colonies to their knees. When the rebels proved to be tougher than the average bunch of merchants and peasants that the Flayers were used to..... Just the Mind Flayers alone make for some awesome alternative history gaming that would fit excellently into D20M/D20 Past
Shiftkitty 07-17-07, 10:04 PM	You know, I had looked at d20 Past but found the price a tad too high for what little information they had in there that I would use. Like most American History fun stuff, they focused more on the middle 1800's onward. I guess the social structure and techonology level is a little more familiar to most people. I'm thinking I should start writing down stats for classes. "Ranger", "Scout", and "Courier" are the first ones that come to mind.
i_am_some_guy 07-17-07, 10:11 PM	You know, I had looked at d20 Past but found the price a tad too high for what little information they had in there that I would use. Like most American History fun stuff, they focused more on the middle 1800's onward. I guess the social structure and techonology level is a little more familiar to most people. I'm thinking I should start writing down stats for classes. "Ranger", "Scout", and "Courier" are the first ones that come to mind. I guess that's the trade off. Having a career I can buy whatever books I want, but I have almost no time to play anymore.....and I need to have approval from the "real" boss to make "dork purchases" heh...heh...heh...
Shiftkitty 07-18-07, 03:28 PM	Ah! You shoulda married a gamer! We have D&D in our budget.
ArgulFraster 07-22-07, 08:22 PM	Ah, for nookieless freedom...that I will enjoy until the day I die. Oh well. Gynoids can't be too far away!