Doc Gammaster's page

Rules, for those without the rulebooks...

The basis of the rules comes from PIG's Coyote Trail RPG - a Western/cowboy RPG available in hardcopy form here in the Paizo store (also, PDFs available on the usual gaming PDF sites, with the basic Coyote Trail/Colonial Record PDF bundle for less than US$9... dang cheap for what you get). Colonial Record would be considered an expansion to the Coyote Trail ruleset, part of the "genre Diversion" products from PIGames.

There are no zombies, no elves, no strange hybrids between Fantasy/Zombies and Westerns/Colonial Era. If you're looking for "Zombies ate my Redcoats" Revolutionary War era games, or "Cowboys & Werewolfs", there's other rules for that.

So... characters, which is where you all come in. What does the ruleset allow for?

At first, you all will need to choose Roles (i.e. "classes") & Backgrounds (i.e. "races" in DnD). Then there's 5 stats, a variety of skills, plus "Gimmicks" (perks & disadvantages).

In Colonial Record, the list of Roles would be...

• Frontiersman (from trappers & coureurs des bois, to adventurer/explorers in the mold of Lewis & Clark)
  
• Instigator (rabble rousers & firebrands, a blend of Enlightenment philosopher & patriot & anarchist. Depending on the Background, one might be more philosopher than anarchist, but these guys are kind of the face of the Independence movement, like the Boston Tea Party guys)
  
• Militiamen (people who have their own livelihood but also choose to serve in the militia as part of a greater cause. More unconventional but also less trained than your typical Redcoat or other professional soldier)
  
• Officer (gentlemen & professional soldiers, and certainly amongst the Colonial aristocracy)
  
• Politician (not sure they'd fit in this game, but meh)
  
• Soldier (professional soldiers in the Continental Army, mostly converted militiamen. Maybe more appropriate to use this role for Redcoats, but meh)
  
• Warrior (Natives/Indians who fight. Probably not the best choice for this game, but if you have a great idea, great! I will work with you.)
  

List of acceptable Backgrounds...

• Tradesman (any "common" worker... from farmer to brewer to lawyer to carpenter)
  
• Merchant (traders of goods obviously :)
  
• Clergyman (obvious)
  
• Smith (metalworkers, obviously :)
  
• Laborer (menial workers)
  
• Slave (an important but unlovely part of our American history. However, both slaves & freedmen played important parts in our American history, and a freedman would make for an interesting character, I think)
  

Being part of the elite/aristocracy requires the selection of certain Gimmicks, but it's there. Anything you'd like to define should be define-able by the rule set.

In any case, this should be enough to inspire some ideas. Just take your rough ideas of what you'd like to play & we should be able to find a way to define that character. A poor militiaman with a small farm to himself... part of the tobacco planter aristocracy, maybe even with a seat in the Virginia assembly... a freedman sharecropper... whatever.

Come with an interesting idea. That's all I ask.

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Final note... it has nearly been two decades since I have studied American history in a classroom.

I would say that this is a "historic" type of game, minus any real history :D

There's nothing realistic about this game in terms of our real history... this is my disclaimer because I know my limitations here. Historic realism is what I'd aspire to if I had truly great historical knowledge. I never was a great historian. I wasn't even a good student of American history... at least in my estimation.

Also, I've been to upstate New York a couple of times, and I don't think I've ever been to Virginia. I am from the Midwest, and I live on the Left Coast... I happen to love the Western genre, and I also have traveled around the world enough to have a real love for my country.

As for this game... it is what it is, it will be what it will be. If you're not interested in playing Revolutionary "patriots", then look elsewhere. I'd certainly welcome you in other games, but at most I'd look for one philosophical contrarian in this one.

In honor of our nation's Independence Day, I'm interested in running a Colonial Era game using PIG's Colonial Record. The rules are simple, but there's a lot of stuff packed in there (including a surprising amount of character options).

No prior experience with the rules are necessary (I have none myself), and possession of the rules is not required.

I will help guide character creation for you all, based on your interests & the general direction of the game.

We'll be playing the basic scenario in the Colonial Record rulebook, most likely with some modifications to extend the game for my purposes. I'd like it to dovetail into a Western RPG down the road (ancestors of the characters in this game), so perhaps the starting point of the game will be moved to central Virginia from upstate New York... if only to allow for more divisions between ex-Union and ex-Confederate characters & ancestry whenever the Western game comes about. (I suppose anyone moving into the Missouri territories could be for one side or the other, but Virginia itself is divided through the American Civil War... Virginia just seems more useful as a starting point for the later game)

However, this is not decided, and I always invite discussion about story & whatnot. At minimum, the journey from central Virginia to upstate New York will provide an extension to the scenario in the rulebook.

...

The scenario itself is during the dawn of the rebellion. The story begins with rumors about a unit of British troops moving to seize a small farming village in order to secure the area for the safe passage of a larger column of Redcoats.

This farming community in New York is where our intrepid characters will be traveling to, for one reason or another (I have a story in mind that will either fit a character, or will provide motivation for the characters).

It presumes you all will fight for liberty, and not choose the side of the Loyalists/the Crown. If you're pro-British Empire, I'd politely suggest you find some other game, or at least wait until I run a Western game down the road.

Otherwise, let me conclude this post with the conclusion to our Declaration of Independence (from the National Archives)...

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.