Author Topic: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america  (Read 15606 times)

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bhu

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Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« on: January 12, 2011, 09:10:51 PM »
I'd like to run a Lovecraftian campaign set in America after the Revolutionary War, and I'd like a few history bufss to weigh n on some questions:

The US will be cut off from the outside world.  How will this effect the economy, particularly now that there will be no more slaves or imports?

Would the US be likely to remain a united group or would the states fragment?

How long after the war should I wait before it starts?

The idea is that it was the world as it really was, but several people on either side managed to accidentally open Gates that randomly lead to other realities, and now the areas around them are swarming with monstrosities from dozens of worlds.

archangel.arcanis

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2011, 12:54:17 AM »
The economic effects will vary based on exactly when. Shortly after the revolutionary war there still would be slavery which would probably consist of primarily Native Americans and people from the areas that would eventually be Mexico and the Bahamas.  Post Civil war would likely lead to lots of fights about returning to slavery as they would have no other industrialized nations to trade with. The lack of imports will be the biggest change, particularly in the import of people for cheap labor and technological/educational changes that were discovered outside of North America.

For the US remaining solidified I find that extremely unlikely. There would be way too much competition for resources. Not to mention the lack of any external force to keep the country unified against that outside force.

This really depends on when you want the Americas to be cut off and what level of technology you want for the game. Culture will deviate more from history the longer the continent is in isolation.

If you can give me more specific scenarios I can give better answers. Plus I could do some targeted research on the time frames involved and perhaps even the areas.
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bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2011, 03:52:02 AM »
I want to set it in a port city that has nearby rural areas or towns, and it shouldn't be more than a year or 2 after the war.

Amechra

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2011, 04:14:24 AM »
Heh, I'm currently taking an AP United States History course, so this is right up my alley.

It really depends on whether we're talking north or south here, really; the South still had many more slaves than the north, especially in North Carolina. Remember though that directly after the war, many slaves (not in absolute percentages) were manumitted, and suffrage was actually extended to blacks and women. Temporarily, at least. Also, something to keep in mind is that the economy was weak, and not just because of trade; the Continental Congress (the predecessor of the United States) was an extremely weak government, so interstate trade tended to suck. A lot. Because a lot of the states had their own currency.

They will also have issues with Indian raids, depending on how far west you are, and the British troops didn't actually leave any of their forts to the west.

How are you going to explain America winning the Revolutionary War without contact with France? Is it because of Lovecraftian monstrosities? And another thing you have to accept is that most of the Northern population would die off, because they did rely mostly on trade up there... The south was mostly self-sufficient, so they were OK there, and the South would stay together, if only for ease of Slave trading among each-other.

As was mentioned, technological growth would be stunted; not immediately apparent in the time frames you want, but it will hurt later.

I think I'll ask my teacher for some more information tomorrow.
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Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
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bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2011, 04:25:23 AM »
America doesnt technically win the war.  The government tells the populace that, but when it becomes common knowledge that any ship leaving sight of land never returns the people kind of figure out something is up all by themselves.  The Indians have more knowledge about the supernatural than the colonists and are running for their lives for the most part, or trying to figure out how to stop whats begun.  Serious thought is being given to actual alliances with the colonists as a last resort. 

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2011, 07:48:22 AM »
As a general thing, small economies with their own source of food production should be defenseless, but stable economically, while port towns would probably become quickly abandoned. What's the deal with the western portion of the country? I assume the French/Spanish high-tailed it out? That leaves a lot of wild-west/lovecraft possibilities.

veekie

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2011, 09:54:06 AM »
As a general thing, small economies with their own source of food production should be defenseless, but stable economically, while port towns would probably become quickly abandoned. What's the deal with the western portion of the country? I assume the French/Spanish high-tailed it out? That leaves a lot of wild-west/lovecraft possibilities.
Assuming port towns engage in significant fishing, they'd probably diminish, but not vanish entirely.
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bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2011, 01:26:35 PM »
As a general thing, small economies with their own source of food production should be defenseless, but stable economically, while port towns would probably become quickly abandoned. What's the deal with the western portion of the country? I assume the French/Spanish high-tailed it out? That leaves a lot of wild-west/lovecraft possibilities.

Havent decided yet.

archangel.arcanis

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2011, 01:29:00 PM »
1885ish the US still didn't have the Constitution and the president was appointed by the continental congress.

There was basically still just the 13 colonies with a weak government. West of the colonies was all British territories, so those just got cut off and will be looking for leadership, until the Mississippi then it is Spanish and wilderness beyond that (the French didn't own it yet).

I could easily see there being several city states and state sized countries.

edit: Since the Earth is flat logic applies for now I would assume any port cities would be fishing communities and perhaps trading with other port cities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. No one would dare sail out of sight from land if they never see anyone come back from that.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2011, 02:27:38 PM by archangel.arcanis »
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bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2011, 05:40:38 PM »
Im trying to figure out whats a good time frame for being about middle of the way between "yay, the war is over" and "wait...something is wrong here"

archangel.arcanis

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #10 on: January 13, 2011, 05:43:59 PM »
decide how you want the US then. You could wait until after the war of 1812 or the Civil War depending on exactly what you want.
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bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #11 on: January 13, 2011, 05:56:19 PM »
Sometime between 1782 and 1786.

archangel.arcanis

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2011, 06:05:27 PM »
Clerics and Druids are like the 4 and 2 in 42. Together they are the answer to the ultimate question in D&D.
Retire the character before the DM smacks you with the Table as the book will feel totally inadequate now.-Hazren

bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #13 on: January 13, 2011, 08:05:46 PM »
Hancock it is.  Now I just need a city.  Objections to Boston?

Amechra

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2011, 11:49:58 PM »
I have some information from mine professor!

He says that, theoretically, the American economy might actually be vitalized by the inability to sail out of the sight of land, because if you look at the time after the War of 1812, the economy really took off because the American people were pretty much completely cut off, and had to cope.

Also, there were some pretty strong pressures to cleave together (there were bitter arguments about it IRL, but stuff like "We can't trade with anyone but YOU guys" would be a natural bonding point). Because remember, the colonies had a really strong shared heritage, and if you run this soon enough after the war, the propaganda would be very good at getting everyone to feel a general comraderie, as it were.

Also, you have to remember that people who wanted a stronger central government would use ship disappearances, once they become widely known enough, as an argument that a stronger government would help prevent this. Not that it would, but...

And I have no objection to Boston, which could be alternately known as the City of Riots. Rioting seriously was one of their favorite pastimes. Alternatively, Charleston or New York could work, if you want to have towns that would be slightly richer; plus, it might be fun to travel up and down the river highways down South...

Of course, down in the South you have to deal with a culture built up from indentured servitude and violence, which could be fun.

Hmm... I'm picturing it now... The South would follow the Indians, gobbling up land as they went, while the North might try to get friendly with a newly free Canada, just for the resources up there...
[spoiler]Fighter: "I can kill a guy in one turn."
Cleric: "I can kill a guy in half a turn."
Wizard: "I can kill a guy before my turn."
Bard: "I can get three idiots to kill guys for me."

On a strange note, would anyone be put out if we had a post about people or events we can spare a thought for, or if its within their creed, a prayer for? Just a random thought, but ... hells I wouldn't have known about either Archangels daughter or Saeomons niece if I didn't happen to be on these threads.
Sounds fine to me.
probably over on "Off-topic".
might want to put a little disclaimer in the first post.

This is the Min/Max board. We should be able to figure out a way to optimize the POWER OF PRAYER(TM) that doesn't involve "Pazuzu, Pazuzu, Pazuzu".
[/spoiler]

My final project for my film independent study course. It could do with a watching and critiquing

bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #15 on: January 14, 2011, 02:28:14 AM »
Hmm...perhaps we can go with whichever city we can find maps for.

bhu

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2011, 03:47:20 AM »
WHile were at it: Preferred rules set people would wanna use:

Cthulhu d20 modified

d20 Modern

Other

Flay Crimsonwind

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #17 on: January 14, 2011, 10:47:12 AM »
Never used cthulhu d20, though if I can acquire a book I'd be fine. Love d20, and have a lot of material for it, lol. I gotta say, some variant on the d20 past sounds like the best idea, so I'll put my vote in for d20 "modern" while making heavy use of the d20 past supplement.

archangel.arcanis

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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2011, 01:14:54 PM »
Never played Cthulhu d20. d20 modern is pretty bad ass and has an SRD for us to use. Other I think depends on how you want to tone it. Been wanting to really play GURPS but it could be a real bitch to deal with.
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Re: Lovecraftian campaign set in colonial america
« Reply #19 on: January 14, 2011, 04:16:52 PM »
Hmm...perhaps a refluffed version of the Dresden Files RPG? It has a built-in mental damage system, so you wouldn't have to tack one on like you would if you used d20 Modern.