a Revolutionary campaign setting

The year is 1776. The British are coming, and the Continental Army needs your help. Download the free Starter Rules and join us on Discord! Take the fight to the Redcoats in historical Dungeons & Dragons adventures.

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Horsemanship: Mounted Rules, Horse Breeds, and Riding Tack

After the Thoroughbreds were chomping at the bit to race in the last of the Triple Crown races yesterday, I thought I’d share this take on expanded mounted combat rules and introduce a new horse type, the Ambling Horse! The first horse breed bred in the Thirteen Colonies was an ambling horse, the Narragansett Pacer. The Narragansett Pacer breed in unfortunately extinct now, but was instrumental in creating the other horse breeds of America, including the Tennessee Walking Horse and the American Saddlebred.

This year the horses raced the 158th Belmont stakes, with several of the horses running being able to trace their pedigree back to the first Throughbreds brought over to the colonies during the revolution, Diomed, and his son Sir Archy, known as the "first outstanding stallion we can claim as native American".

The mechanics presented here are intended as an overhaul of the 5E mounted combat rules. Instead of scalar stat blocks (such as Find Steed) that can make mounts quite durable, these rules present horses in a much more grounded way. Shooting out an enemy’s horse should be a valid strategy, but characters can also use their items, abilities, and hard-earned wealth to specialize as cavalrymen and give their mounts more options and staying power.

GMBinder Link: Expanded Mounts

Nations & Cannons is a D&D campaign setting for historical adventures! Straight from the pages of history, our ruleset offers new backgrounds, feats, and character options for living and fighting in the Age of Revolutions and beyond. For the next 2 months, our revised firearm rules supplement called Flintlocks & Fulminates—including much of the new content in this post—is available for free! This project’s educational goals means that the Nations & Cannons quickstart rules will also always be free to download.

If you want more long 18th Century and American Revolution content, join our Discord server. We’re launching our second Kickstarter campaign this summer called The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground, a Revolutionary War sourcebook and adventure campaign covering the war in the South and West, from the French intervention to the climactic showdown at Yorktown (1778-1781). You can follow the project on our prelaunch page!

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Roles for Historical Adventurers: Renegade, Scout, Officer (18th century D&D)

Roles are a new Origin feature designed to replace the standard Human (and 2014 variant Human) options when creating a human character. Built for historical black powder roleplaying, these Roles replace fantastical species for a 5E game set in a real-world 18th century campaign with new traits and gambits (replacements for magical spells). The example characters are historical heroes from the American Revolution, that show how Roles can apply to different adventurers!

Importantly, Roles are meant to define a human character’s education, skillset, and military training—they do not signify game statistics of real-world ethnic groups. Players choose a Heritage in addition to their Role, which represents their cultural upbringing and their first language, but has no mechanical benefits. Some Roles have suggested Heritages from the history of Colonial America, but players should feel free to use a different Heritage or create their own.

When you create your character, think about how you can complement your party’s strengths or shore up its weaknesses. Your Role represents your training, history, and abilities, shaping the type of comrade-in-arms your character will become. Are you a battle-hardened warrior? An opportunistic intelligencer? An idealist, fighting for liberty and equality? Or something else entirely?

The example characters are all playable pre-gens for Revolutionary adventures! You can download their character sheets from the Nations & Cannons website.

GMBinder Link: Renegade

GMBinder Link: Scout

GMBinder Link: Officer

Nations & Cannons is a D&D campaign setting for historical adventures! Straight from the pages of history, our ruleset offers new backgrounds, feats, and character options for living and fighting in the Age of Revolutions and beyond. For the next 3 months, our revised firearm rules supplement called Flintlocks & Fulminates—including much of the new content in this post—is available for free! This project’s educational goals means that the Nations & Cannons quickstart rules will also always be free to download.

If you want more long 18th Century and American Revolution content, join our Discord server. We’re launching our second Kickstarter campaign this summer called The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground, a Revolutionary War sourcebook and adventure campaign covering the war in the South and West, from the French intervention to the climactic showdown at Yorktown (1778-1781). You can follow the project on our prelaunch page!

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The Jäger – a Barbarian subclass for Hunters, Trackers, and Woodland Warriors

The jäger is a flexible Barbarian subclass, with several features that let you customize how you approach the battlefield. It’s built as a single-target hunter, tracking quarry like enemy officers and eliminating them with extreme prejudice.

Historically, the Jägerkorps were the elite troops of German principalities like Hesse-Cassel that provided combat auxiliaries to the British Army. Drawn from highly militaristic societies, most jägers were foresters with extensive hunting experience in woodland terrain that closely resembled the wooded terrain of the North American interior–and a far cry in combat expertise from their fellow German conscripts, who were mainly assigned garrison duties.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

Though they were drawn from a variety of German states, the Americans called these troops Hessians. They are mentioned directly as one of the grievances in the Declaration of Independence, using the term “foreign mercenaries.” This description is dramatized for rhetorical effect. The practice of recruiting foreign auxiliaries was common in European warfare of the time, particularly for a traditionally small land force like the British Army.

Though many Hessians were effective soldiers, equating them to “desolation and tyranny” is a form of period propaganda used to drum up support for the Patriot cause. Many Hessian troops were landless tenants, and the Revolutionary leadership promoted several schemes which offered plots of land or other inducements for Hessians to defect (including Jägers). After the war’s end, more than a third of Hessian prisoners of war elected to stay in America rather than return to Europe.

Source: National Archives

GMBinder Link: Jager

Nations & Cannons is a D&D campaign setting for historical adventures! Straight from the pages of history, our ruleset offers new backgrounds, feats, and character options for living and fighting in the Age of Revolutions and beyond. For the next 3 months, our revised firearm rules supplement called Flintlocks & Fulminates—including much of the new content in this post—is available for free! This project’s educational goals means that the Nations & Cannons quickstart rules will also always be free to download.

If you want more long 18th Century and American Revolution content, join our Discord server. We’re launching our second Kickstarter campaign this summer called The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground, a Revolutionary War sourcebook and adventure campaign covering the war in the South and West, from the French intervention to the climactic showdown at Yorktown (1778-1781). You can follow the project on our prelaunch page!

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Gunpowder Stores: Supplies for Flintlock Firearms

The provisions, ammunition, and gunflints listed here were crucial supplies for soldiers armed with flintlock firearms, such as muskets. They’re suitable for a historical 18th D&D century campaign, or to bring into your flintlock fantasy game!

In the summer of 1776, Samuel Adams had this to say in a speech shortly after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. His rhetoric was fierce and provocative, but Sam was almost certainly stretching the truth. The Continental Army was chronically under-funded, supplied in large part by smuggled French and Spanish munitions, and had yet to truly prove it could mount a serious resistance against tens of thousands of British troops that were crossing the Atlantic in a retaliatory offensive.

We are now on this continent, to the astonishment of the world, three millions of souls united in one cause. We have large armies, well disciplined and appointed, with commanders inferior to none in military skill, and superior in activity and zeal. We are furnished with arsenals and stores beyond our most sanguine expectations, and foreign nations are waiting to crown our success by their alliances.

Source: Samuel Adams Heritage Society

GMBinder Link: Gunpowder Stores

Nations & Cannons is a D&D campaign setting for historical adventures! Straight from the pages of history, our ruleset offers new backgrounds, feats, and character options for living and fighting in the Age of Revolutions and beyond. For the next 3 months, our revised firearm rules supplement called Flintlocks & Fulminates—including the new content in this post—is available for free on DriveThruRPG! This project’s educational goals means that the Nations & Cannons quickstart rules will also always be free to download.

If you want more long 18th Century and American Revolution content, join our Discord server. We’re launching our second Kickstarter campaign this summer called The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground, a Revolutionary War sourcebook and adventure campaign covering the war in the South and West, from the French intervention to the climactic showdown at Yorktown (1778-1781). You can follow the project on our prelaunch page!

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Did you get this answer right? Check out our website for more interesting information:

Nations & Cannons

Fully compatible with the fifth edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game, the Nations & Cannons campaign setting has everything you need to run adventures during the American Revolutionary war.

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Jefferson's warning speaks to the heart of freedom: when those in power rule without fear of the people, oppression follows. Liberty is preserved when citizens hold their leaders accountable, ensuring their voices are heard above all else.

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Today, we pause to reflect on the atrocities of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Let’s come together in remembrance and recommit to creating a world where freedom and equality are rights, not privileges.

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Ready to dive into the action? Sign up for the Nations and Cannons mailing list today! Be the first to receive updates, exclusive content, and special offers. Don't miss out on the adventure – Join, Or Die.

Nations & Cannons

Fully compatible with the fifth edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game, the Nations & Cannons campaign setting has everything you need to run adventures during the American Revolutionary war.

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[nationsandcannons]

During the Revolutionary era, the evacuation of Boston marked a turning point in the fight for independence. Patriots endured harsh winters, strategic battles, and immense sacrifice to reclaim their city. This history is not just a story of armies; it is a story of the fight for freedom.

[nationsandcannons]

Did you get this answer right? Check out our website for more interesting information:

Nations & Cannons

Fully compatible with the fifth edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game, the Nations & Cannons campaign setting has everything you need to run adventures during the American Revolutionary war.

[nationsandcannons]

This quote was delivered in March, Patrick Henry’s call echoed through the summer months of 1776, urging the colonies toward armed rebellion.

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Happy International Women's Day! Today, we honor the trailblazing women of the Revolutionary War who shared history with resilience.

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Dive into history with Nations & Cannons! Join our Discord community today for lively discussions, game tips, and exclusive sneak peeks. Connect with fellow history enthusiasts and embark on epic adventures together! Link:

Join the Nations & Cannons Discord Server!

The year is 1776. Take the fight to the Redcoats in this Revolutionary 5e hack! | 656 members

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On March 1, 1781, the foundation was laid for a united America, but it wouldn't be long before the system needed a major upgrade.

[nationsandcannons]

In this line from Common Sense (1776), Thomas Paine emphasizes that fighting oppression is difficult, but the greater the struggle, the more rewarding the victory. It was meant to inspire perseverance against British rule, framing the Revolutionary War as a moral as well as a political fight.

[nationsandcannons]

Did you get this answer right? Check out our website for more interesting information:

Nations & Cannons

Fully compatible with the fifth edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game, the Nations & Cannons campaign setting has everything you need to run adventures during the American Revolutionary war.

[nationsandcannons]

We’re thrilled to reveal our next sourcebook: The American Crisis: Dark and Bloody Ground. This new campaign plunges players into a world of intrigue—from the bayous of New Orleans to the brutal trench warfare at Yorktown. Our next crowdfunding campaign is coming soon!

Coming soon: Nations & Cannons: Dark and Bloody Ground for DnD 5e

Experience the American Revolution firsthand with this DnD 5th Edition historical TTRPG sourcebook and campaign guide