Sunday, August 14, 2016

A Crawling Revolution - 50 DCCRPG Occupations

Not Throwing Away My Shot - by +Carina W. 


Revolutionary Crawl Classics



It started as a simple tweet from +Marc Plourde about mash-ups.  My first thought was revolutionary war heroes fighting for freedom from H.G. Wells style Martians.  Marc reset the scene to +Harley Stroh's Purple Planet.  



Quickly my mind's eye filled with the image of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton wandering through mushroom forests and pinkish sands, chased by giant worms.  

I needed to run this game!  

First, we'd need a list of starting occupations... sort of.

What if the list included actual historical figures?  Now that would make for an extraordinary Dungeon Crawl Classics experience!    

After jotting down a half dozen Founding Fathers, I realized that this task was far to big to tackle alone.  So as I've done before, I reached out to the DCCRPG G+ Community for feedback and input.  As always, the community came up with extraordinary ideas!

I should note that both my daughter +Carina W. and I listened to the Hamilton - Original Broadway Cast Recording non-stop while wrapping up this blog post.  Lin-Manuel Miranda's production, which we first listened to during our trip to Gen Con 2016, was quite inspirational, as was the HBO mini-series John Adams.  Earlier today, while compiling all the fantastic contributions from the G+ community, +Jennifer Walls and I binge watched the last three episodes.  

Ready for a history lesson?  Each name below features a link to a Wikipedia page, article or corresponding website to give some background on the figure.  Everyone may know John Adams or George Washington, but perhaps you've never heard of Caesar Rodney or Dicey Langston.  To help clarify some of the inclusions, we noted the source, historical or fictional, where applicable. 

Please note that this list is not intended to be 100% serious or historically accurate.  Simply scroll down to Benedict Arnold's Trade Good, and the tone for this table's use will quickly become apparent.  

You'll see that some of the Trained Weapons include blackpowder firearms.  Crawl! has you covered!  Crawl! Fanzine No. 8 features rules for these weapons, so make sure to head over to DriveThruRPG and grab your download.  Totally worth it!

50 Revolutionary Figures



Roll (d50)NameSourceTrained WeaponTrade GoodContributer
1Aaron BurrHistoricalFlintlock Pistol (1d8)Megaphone+Troy Tucker 
2Abigail AdamsHistoricalHoe (1d4)Letters from her husband
3Abraham “Brom Bones” Van BruntFiction (Sleepy Hollow)KnifeGraven Pumpkin+Noah Stevens 
4Alexander HamiltonHistoricalFlintlock Pistol (1d8)Fresh rhymes+Troy Tucker 
5Benedict ArnoldHistoricalGout (-5 movement, no weapon)Hollandaise Sauce (yes, we know he didn't come up with it, but that's what he gets)+Marc Plourde 
6Benjamin Martin (looks a lot like Mel Gibson)Fiction (The Patriot)Tomahawk (1d6)Lead toy soldiers
7Betsy RossHistoricalFlag Pole (as spear)BonnetJeremy “Frothsof” Smith
8Caesar RodneyHistoricalSaber (1d8)Green scarf
9Catherine Moore BarryHistoricalWarhorn (1d4)Horse+Jarrett Crader 
10Catherine van Rensselaer SchuylerHistoricalTorch (as club)Pitch+Jarrett Crader 
11ChingachgookFiction (Last of the Mohicans)Gunstock Club (1d8)Basket
12Daniel BooneHistoricalMusket (1d10)Bear Trap+Jennifer Walls 
13Deborah Sampson (aka Timothy Thayer, aka Robert Shurtleff)HistoricalPen Knife (1d3)Disguise Kit+Jarrett Crader 
14Dolley MadisonHistoricalWooden Spoon (1d4)1 dozen snack cakes+Cory Gahsman 
15Dr. Benjamin FranklinHistoricalKite (1d4, ranged)Spectacles
16Dr. Benjamin RushHistoricalLancet (1d3)Dr. Rush's Bilious Pills (+1D Fort Save for 1 rnd)+Keith G Nelson 
17Ethan AllenHistoricalChair Leg (as club)High End Piece of Furniture+Cory Gahsman 
18Felicty MerrimanFiction (American Girl)Riding Crop (1d3)Beautiful Horse+Jennifer Walls 
19George WashingtonHistoricalHand AxeCherry tree sapling
20Hawk-eyeFiction (Last of the Mohicans)Musket (1d10)Silk
21Henry KnoxHistoricalMiniature Cannon (1d12)1d3 books
22Hercules MulliganHistoricalScissors (1d4)Fine suit
23Horatio GatesHistoricalSaber (1d8)Plans for invasion of Canada+Jennifer Walls 
24Ichabod CraneFiction (Sleepy Hollow)Riding Crop (1d3)Box of Chalk+Troy Tucker 
25James MadisonHistoricalSpoon (1d3)Bowl of Ice Cream+Jennifer Walls 
26Jean-Baptiste RochambeauHistoricalCutlass (1d6)French to English Dictionary+Marc Plourde 
27John AdamsHistoricalWalking stick (1d4)Letters from his wife
28John HancockHistoricalQuill (as dart)Paper/Ink+Keith Garrett 
29John JayHistoricalGavel (1d4)Book of Law+Cory Gahsman 
30John Paul JonesHistoricalBelaying Pin (as club)Spyglass+Cory Gahsman 
31Johnny TremainFiction (Esther Forbes)Musket (1d10)Incendiary Newspapers+Noah Stevens 
32Lady Christian Henrietta Caroline AclandHistoricalScalpel (1d3)First Aid Kit (heals 1d3 2x)+Jarrett Crader 
33Laodicea "Dicey" LangstonHistoricalMusket (1d10)Unswerving Loyalty+Jarrett Crader 
34Lydia DarraghHistoricalNone (Quaker Pacifist)Small notebook+Jennifer Walls 
35Margaret Cochran CorbinHistoricalGrit (1d6)Wicked scars+Jarrett Crader 
35Marquis de LafayetteHistoricalQuill (as dart)Paper+Keith Garrett 
36Martha WashingtonHistoricalHeavy block of soap (1d3)Pile of Petticoats with a foul surprise+Jennifer Walls 
37Mary DraperHistoricalPewter Mug (1d3)Smithing Tools+Jarrett Crader 
38Mary Katherine GoddardHistoricalQuill (as dart)First copy of the Constitution+Jarrett Crader 
39Mary Ludwig Hays (Molly Pitcher)HistoricalMiniature Cannon (1d12)Sergeant's Stripes+Jarrett Crader 
40Mercy Otis WarrenHistoricalRolled pamphlets (1d3)Playbook+Jarrett Crader 
41Nancy HartHistoricalHanging Rope (as Garrote)Prized Gobbler+Jennifer Walls 
42Nathan HaleHistoricalFlintlock Pistol (1d8)Spyglass+Marc Plourde 
43Nathanael GreeneHistoricalSaber (1d8)Masonic Ring+Cory Gahsman 
44Patience Lovell WrightHistoricalKnife (1d4)Secret Documents+Jarrett Crader
45Paul RevereHistoricalSilver DaggerLantern+Marc Plourde 
46Ratonhnhaké:ton (Connor)Fiction (Assassin's Creed III)Bow (1d6)Assassin's Order Garb
47Samuel AdamsHistoricalBroken Bottle (1d4)Growler of Beer
48Sybil LudingtonHistoricalStick (as club)Horse+Jennifer Walls 
49Thomas JeffersonHistoricalWalking stick (1d4)Bowl of Mac & Cheese+Marc Plourde 
50Thomas PaineHistoricalQuill (as dart)Copy of Common Sense+Marc Plourde 


Want a PDF version for use at your table?  Thanks to +Jarrett Crader, here's a download link!

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I was originally aiming for thirty personas, but I'm so glad we got to fifty.

Thanks to all the contributors for your incredible ideas.  I've also gotta thank my wife Jennifer with helping me flesh out some of the details.  

Finally, I need to thank my daughter +Carina W. for the fantastic cover art.  You totally captured the feel of this post! 

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