Line #21 TabletopGame/NorthernCrown


1	A MediaNotes/D20System campaign setting based in an AlternateHistory version of 17th century North America, ''Northern Crown'' is based on the idea of mashing together all the folklore and tall tales of the United States with a strange and diverse range of diversions from the normal course of history. Unlike the StandardFantasyRaces of most fantasy roleplaying games, characters in ''Northern Crown'' are all human -- though every human culture offers different abilities, many of them explicitly magical in nature.
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3	Two hardcover books detailing the core rules and story of the setting have been published, along with three pdf supplements and [[http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/NCGTMarticle.pdf an article of bonus content]] detailing the rogue state of [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Vandalia]]. Additional supplements said to be in the works [[OrphanedSeries failed to materialize]] when the sole author became a parent.
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5	!! This game provides examples of:
6	* AnachronismStew: In addition to the level of technology, plenty of historic figures exist in Northern Crown's version of the year 1666 who were either long dead or not yet born in the real world. Some of these have been renamed to fit the style-- see the Emperor Scientist example below --but others are left unaltered [[BornInTheWrongCentury except for their place in time]], such as the Shawnee leaders Tecumpease and Tenskwatawa. A few do have explanations given: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain Felipe II]] is kept alive through a mix of alchemy and advanced medicine, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustavus_II_Adolphus Gustavus II Adolphus]] survived the Battle of Lützen, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dee John Dee]] is still alive [[AWizardDidIt because he's a wizard]].
7	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: UsefulNotes/JohnnyAppleseed is a powerful [[WhiteMagic cleric]], Francis L'Ollonais is a sorcerer.
8	* CommonCharacterClasses: Played around with. While Northern Crown uses many of the base Dungeons & Dragons character classes, it also introduces several new classes (including some that explicitly replace classes deemed inappropriate) that are a better fit for the setting's flavor: [[CloakAndDagger Agent]], Natural Philosopher, [[TheBerserker Raider]], [[LoveableRogue Rake]], Scout, Soldier, and Witch.
9	* TheDarkArts: This is how most cultures perceive Arcane magic as used by the Wizard, Sorcerer, and Witch classes.
10	* EmperorScientist: The stand-in for the United States of America, the Republic of Sophia, is governed by [[CaptainErsatz Philathelias]] [[MyNaymeIs Jeferson]] with influence from his tutor [[CaptainErsatz Chiron]] [[MyNaymeIs Franklyn]], both high level Natural Philosophers. It is explicitly described as "the most technologically advanced power in the known world."
11	* FantasticScience: Natural Philosophers can get degrees in [[MagicVersusScience antimagic]], allowing them to counter magical effects like invisibility.
12	* FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire: Both played straight and subverted or averted with the Witchlings, depending on perspective and play: they're not AlwaysChaoticEvil as the other cultures would have you believe, but their leaders are explicitly stated to be members of the Witch character class, which gets its magical powers from making a DealWithTheDevil. However, many witches also choose to twist the infernal origin of their power to good uses.
13	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Loads of them, though many have been moved from their appropriate time period, per the setting's Anachronism Stew nature.
14	* TheImp: A Witch's familiar is actually an imp in disguise, though at higher levels it can take on a HotAsHell form by turning into an erinyes.
15	* MagicalNativeAmerican: Played straight, but then there are also Magical Englishmen.
16	* MagicPoweredPseudoscience: Natural Philosophy goes from being a period term for experiment-driven sciences to this, though many of the results might be better termed MagicFromTechnology. It also overlaps at times with:
17	* NonSequiturCausality: England is ruled by Elizabeth's half-fairy daughter, a nation of actual witches exists near Puritan New England, and Isaac Newton may have been kidnapped by [[Literature/GulliversTravels Laputans]].
18	* ShoutOut: Many, but especially to ''Literature/TheTalesOfAlvinMaker''- characters can have [[PsychicPowers psionic]] "Knacks", and much of the map seems inspired by Orson Scott Card's vision of a fantasy America.
19	%%* TheSparkOfGenius

Context TabletopGame / NorthernCrown