So, I was just thinking that with the 4th of July coming up here in America, what better way to spend the day off than to do a D&D oneshot. That then got me thinking, is there a way to do a "4th of July" -themed one shot for D&D 5e. This lead to my final thought, what if certain major events/battles of the Revolutionary War were reimagined in D&D? What would that look like? How would you think to incorporate different classes and races? How would you go above and beyond to make it as unnecessarily patriotic as possible?
I really have no intention of doing this one shot (at least not this year), but I thought it was a funny idea and wanted to hear what other DMs would do to make this work.
I'll start. So, even if its a 5e re imagining, the Revolutionary War wouldn't be the Revolutionary War without good ol' muskets and cannons, so it would be important to incorporate some of the Firearm optional rules from the DMG.
As for major NPCs, Washington could be a Battle Master Fighter, Franklin would probably be a well-read wizard, Paul Revere might be a Scout Rogue (or heck even a druid that just transforms into a Horse shouting "The British are Coming" through the countryside).
And to be as patriotic as possible, any giant bird used is replaced with giant bald eagles.
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James Haeck did an fun Encounter of the Week that involved demons, festivals, and fireworks. You may want to give it a look-see to get some inspiration.
Hoping my comment will help bring some more attention to this, as I am working on making one-shots for various holidays that will be good introductory games for new and potential players. So here is my take:
Races: Any and all. I am still a fan of races having set backgrounds-different races=different coutries of origin. However, no race should be displayed as inferior or "savage". Though that may seem 'appropriate' to a set time period, we should remembr that it was still a bad mode of thinking tha was just accepted. So the races that would stand in for native peoples should focus on their sense of community, their in touchness with the natural world, and their need for survival in an unfamilar world. And the races representive of different country groups can be decided by the party at table by what a persons character wants their backgoundd to be. Ingienous folks can be any race, work around what the characters want to do-function before form.
Classes: Classes are based off play style which i ultimately believe is based on people's personalilities. IRL people fight from a place of rage, others fight with words and ideals, others physically train themselves. So no class is really off limits.
Weapons: During this time period swords were not uncommon but were mostly for calvery, as muskets and flintlock pistols were widely avialable. That being said, if you wanted to replace the firearms you could easily incorporate crossbows for long range muskets, wands/cantrips for close range, and devistating elemental summons for cannons. The revoluationary war was fought with massive battles but it was moe likely that groups would ambush armys on the move, easy enough for a party to pull off.
Rebellion/Revoluation: for some people there is always a desire to play on both sides of a scenario. It is easly concievable that a party could start off on the side of the "King" and then switch after a critical moment. annd that moment can happen quickly, maybe immediatly after the game starts.
Beggining: I would suggest starting immediately in a battle scenario so that the players can get immediate experience in combat with checks and can allow for that quick side switch after the party witnesses something horrible being done by theirstarting side.
Progression: Since this is ment to be a one-shot for new players I would try to keep leveling up to one towards the end, where they can unlock some special skills for the final fight sequence.
Boss: BBEG would need to be the head general/King who you defeat to gain indepedence for the party and the new country. As a note, the General Cornwallace was not killed in the fianl battle at Yorktow just defeated through attrition. Therefore you can avoid the idea of killing the BBEG and can instead let the players focus more on RP the ideals of freedom, justing, and representaiton for indpendence.
Campaign: Include the big things that are sterotypical for a campaign: random encounters, rest breaks, forrest crawling, loot, and exporation. These are not the types of games you want to use to push the envelope, this is meant to introduce new players.
Pace: pay attention to the group, if they are starting to lag, change it up, if they are feeling overwhellemed have the party take an exstended rest period and then move into a final encounter. The BBEG doesnt have to be the end, it can just be what happens last. Not all soldiers in the revloution were at Yorktown during the last fight, it can just be word of their work having helped the final fight.
Last thought,I am a new DM and do not have years of expeirnce to rely on. Ive only played 5e and I usually focus on the RP aspect of gaming. Anyone can download a game and play a prescripted and locked in story. This is meant to be an exericse in imagination and creative exploration so just go at it and focus on having fun. That is how you bring more players into the TTRPG community.
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So, I was just thinking that with the 4th of July coming up here in America, what better way to spend the day off than to do a D&D oneshot. That then got me thinking, is there a way to do a "4th of July" -themed one shot for D&D 5e. This lead to my final thought, what if certain major events/battles of the Revolutionary War were reimagined in D&D? What would that look like? How would you think to incorporate different classes and races? How would you go above and beyond to make it as unnecessarily patriotic as possible?
I really have no intention of doing this one shot (at least not this year), but I thought it was a funny idea and wanted to hear what other DMs would do to make this work.
I'll start. So, even if its a 5e re imagining, the Revolutionary War wouldn't be the Revolutionary War without good ol' muskets and cannons, so it would be important to incorporate some of the Firearm optional rules from the DMG.
As for major NPCs, Washington could be a Battle Master Fighter, Franklin would probably be a well-read wizard, Paul Revere might be a Scout Rogue (or heck even a druid that just transforms into a Horse shouting "The British are Coming" through the countryside).
And to be as patriotic as possible, any giant bird used is replaced with giant bald eagles.
Four-time Judge of the Competition of the Finest Brews! Come join us in making fun, unique homebrew and voting for your favorite entries!
James Haeck did an fun Encounter of the Week that involved demons, festivals, and fireworks. You may want to give it a look-see to get some inspiration.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/398-encounter-of-the-week-the-abandoned-festival
Hoping my comment will help bring some more attention to this, as I am working on making one-shots for various holidays that will be good introductory games for new and potential players. So here is my take:
Races: Any and all. I am still a fan of races having set backgrounds-different races=different coutries of origin. However, no race should be displayed as inferior or "savage". Though that may seem 'appropriate' to a set time period, we should remembr that it was still a bad mode of thinking tha was just accepted. So the races that would stand in for native peoples should focus on their sense of community, their in touchness with the natural world, and their need for survival in an unfamilar world. And the races representive of different country groups can be decided by the party at table by what a persons character wants their backgoundd to be. Ingienous folks can be any race, work around what the characters want to do-function before form.
Classes: Classes are based off play style which i ultimately believe is based on people's personalilities. IRL people fight from a place of rage, others fight with words and ideals, others physically train themselves. So no class is really off limits.
Weapons: During this time period swords were not uncommon but were mostly for calvery, as muskets and flintlock pistols were widely avialable. That being said, if you wanted to replace the firearms you could easily incorporate crossbows for long range muskets, wands/cantrips for close range, and devistating elemental summons for cannons. The revoluationary war was fought with massive battles but it was moe likely that groups would ambush armys on the move, easy enough for a party to pull off.
Rebellion/Revoluation: for some people there is always a desire to play on both sides of a scenario. It is easly concievable that a party could start off on the side of the "King" and then switch after a critical moment. annd that moment can happen quickly, maybe immediatly after the game starts.
Beggining: I would suggest starting immediately in a battle scenario so that the players can get immediate experience in combat with checks and can allow for that quick side switch after the party witnesses something horrible being done by theirstarting side.
Progression: Since this is ment to be a one-shot for new players I would try to keep leveling up to one towards the end, where they can unlock some special skills for the final fight sequence.
Boss: BBEG would need to be the head general/King who you defeat to gain indepedence for the party and the new country. As a note, the General Cornwallace was not killed in the fianl battle at Yorktow just defeated through attrition. Therefore you can avoid the idea of killing the BBEG and can instead let the players focus more on RP the ideals of freedom, justing, and representaiton for indpendence.
Campaign: Include the big things that are sterotypical for a campaign: random encounters, rest breaks, forrest crawling, loot, and exporation. These are not the types of games you want to use to push the envelope, this is meant to introduce new players.
Pace: pay attention to the group, if they are starting to lag, change it up, if they are feeling overwhellemed have the party take an exstended rest period and then move into a final encounter. The BBEG doesnt have to be the end, it can just be what happens last. Not all soldiers in the revloution were at Yorktown during the last fight, it can just be word of their work having helped the final fight.
Last thought,I am a new DM and do not have years of expeirnce to rely on. Ive only played 5e and I usually focus on the RP aspect of gaming. Anyone can download a game and play a prescripted and locked in story. This is meant to be an exericse in imagination and creative exploration so just go at it and focus on having fun. That is how you bring more players into the TTRPG community.