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Old 06-14-2020, 09:28 AM   #1
AllenOwen
 
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Default American Revolution

I am surprised no sourcebook covering the American Revolution was ever produced back in the days of 3rd Ed. So would one use High Tech, Age of Napoleon and maybe Swashbucklers to make a game set in the 1770s ?
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Old 06-14-2020, 09:37 AM   #2
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Default Re: American Revolution

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Originally Posted by AllenOwen View Post
So would one use High Tech, Age of Napoleon and maybe Swashbucklers to make a game set in the 1770s ?
Those, yes, plus Low-Tech—this is sort of the "transitional" period between High and Low Tech.
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Old 06-14-2020, 09:40 AM   #3
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I am surprised no sourcebook covering the American Revolution was ever produced back in the days of 3rd Ed. So would one use High Tech, Age of Napoleon and maybe Swashbucklers to make a game set in the 1770s ?
The original manuscript for Age of Napoleon did cover the American revolution but it did so from the perspective of a Brit who thought his side had won all the important battles and yet had no good idea why they had lost the war.

I believe changes were made but the open playtest of that era caused me to believe I ddin't need that book.

Swashbucklers is definitely aimed earlier but that doesn't mean you wouldn't find something.
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Old 06-14-2020, 10:42 AM   #4
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Default Re: American Revolution

As one of the playtesters on GURPS: Age of Napoleon I got a clear impression that the author of the book was fairly close to the opinion of his mouthpiece character. His posts seemed to suggest that he saw the "Land Speculation Theory of the Origin of the American Revolution" as correct. This theory was first put to paper by Banastre Tarleton in his history of the American revolution. Even the Soviets gave up on the theory in the 1950s because it was embarrassingly false and wrongheaded.

I think the whole thing left a bad taste in the mouths of the SJGames staff and they decided that both the American Revolution and the American Civil War were too politically troublesome to touch. At least it looked that way to me.
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Old 06-14-2020, 10:54 AM   #5
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Default Re: American Revolution

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
I think the whole thing left a bad taste in the mouths of the SJGames staff and they decided that both the American Revolution and the American Civil War were too politically troublesome to touch. At least it looked that way to me.
I'd note that SJ himself mentioned at the recent Fnordcon that one of the two historical periods GURPS didn't cover enough was the ACW [1]. Not saying that wasn't the case at the time, but it apparently didn't leave a lasting impression on Steve.


1. The other was WWI.
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Old 06-14-2020, 11:03 AM   #6
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Default Re: American Revolution

As another of the playtesters for Age of Napoleon, I mostly agree with Fred Brackin and Astromancer yet I also remember that the main thrust of the book was far more on the European side of that time frame. (I don't have my copy handy, so I can't check to be sure.)
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Old 06-14-2020, 11:04 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company View Post
I'd note that SJ himself mentioned at the recent Fnordcon that one of the two historical periods GURPS didn't cover enough was the ACW [1]. Not saying that wasn't the case at the time, but it apparently didn't leave a lasting impression on Steve.


1. The other was WWI.
Good news. Oh, and books on the ACW and WWI would be wonderful. Tossing in the ARW, the English Civil Wars (17th Century) and the Thirty Years War, would be wonderful. As would a book on English colonial wars 1815-1960 and a British Raj book.
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Old 06-14-2020, 11:36 AM   #8
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Default Re: American Revolution

A GURPS Hot Spots: Revolutionary Era Boston, Massachusetts would be a good first book for covering the American Revolution, probably followed closely by GURPS Hot Spots: Revolutionary Era Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I pick Boston as that's where the war started, and Philly because it's where the Continental Congress met prior to the city being taken by the British (the Philly book would also cover nearby Valley Forge).

For the American Civil War, I'd probably go with a trio of Hot Spots books: Gettysburg, PA; Washington, DC; and Atlanta, GA. (I pick Gettysburg because it was the northernmost battle fought; most of the North was spared the horrors of the war.)
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Old 06-14-2020, 11:43 AM   #9
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GURPS Hot Spots: Revolutionary Era Boston, Massachusetts
I once ran most of a Time Corps adventure that took place around the Boston Tea Party. This would have been immensely useful.
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Old 06-14-2020, 11:45 AM   #10
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Those, yes, plus Low-Tech—this is sort of the "transitional" period between High and Low Tech.
Ah, no. High-Tech starts around 1715 or so. By the time the revolution starts it's been in progress for more than half a century.
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