Why are we highlighting diversity in history?
Nations & Cannons™ highlights the contributions of those that are not often mentioned in today’s history books. Women, people of color, and Indigenous Americans were integral parts of the American Revolution, and their voices are and always will be welcome here. Our full Mission Statement is listed below:
Our mission at Flagbearer games is to explore civics-based education from an inclusive and welcoming standpoint. Using a cast of historical, well-researched characters, our goal is to highlight the contributions of the women, people of color, and indigenous Americans that are often left out of the narrative of the American Revolution.
We believe that games like this one can be used to teach history through immersive learning experiences, including not only roleplaying with games such as these, but building characters and organizing campaigns. We are working to accurately portray 18th century events and concepts from the perspective of the many different individuals who were living through them, and allowing players to take on this perspective through roleplay. This includes a focus on pivotal topics from the period such as colonialism, Manifest Destiny, the legacy of enslavement, and the meaning of “All men are created equal.”
Our goal is to explore these topics through the lens of history while taking care to preserve player agency throughout. However, it is important to remember that many people did not have the same agency during this time period. Some of the material present in Nations & Cannons involves historic injustices and systems that were, and in some cases still are, used to justify and perpetrate systemic violence. It is first and foremost important to us that living players around the table are not able to harm each other while playing. Thus, many of these systems of injustice are not built mechanically into our setting. However, we must not pretend that these atrocities never happened, nor imply that their effects are not still relevant today. We have developed this game with the help of a sensitivity reader in order to present these topics with the care they require, and will continue to consult with sensitivity readers as we develop our historical content.
We encourage the use of safety tools when running Nations & Cannons games. Flagbearer Games uses a variety of tools, including the Lines and Veils system (first appeared in Ron Edwards’ Sex and Sorcery supplement for RPG Sorcerer, described here), when running games ourselves. We are also committed to listening to what our players need in order to have a safe gaming experience with difficult material, without whitewashing history.
Last updated: April 11, 2023 09:13
Who are the Players and what is their role?
In Nations & Cannons, you take on the roles of participants taking part in historical events during the American Revolutionary War time period. We like to call them Unconventional Heroes. Your role as a player is to interact with the events and struggles of the time period while learning about what the lives of real people were like in the 18th century. This immersion gives players a window into social and political events of the past and how they impact our present. You are not here to change what happened during the period but to witness and learn from it, and perhaps discover the real cause of some of history’s mysteries.
Last updated: April 11, 2023 09:09
Why is roleplaying important in education?
We have heard this question asked many times and for us here at Flagbearer games, the importance of role-play in education can’t be overstated. Imagining yourself as someone else is one of the first steps in learning empathy. By showcasing history through roleplaying we hope to bring insight and compassion to our view of the past and how it impacts the struggles of the present. (Click here to learn more about our Educator’s Program https://www.nationsandcannons.com/educators)
Last updated: April 11, 2023 09:09
But what about wizards?
Because our rules are compatible with the standard 5e magic rules, the Game Master can decide to incorporate witchcraft and supernatural elements into their game if they want to. So you can set a game in a flintlock fantasy world where musketeers fight arm-in-arm with mages or a reimagining of history such as Benjamin Franklin, Banshee Slayer.
Last updated: April 11, 2023 09:09
What’s this about Heritage and Role?
In many roleplaying games, the backgrounds and species of the characters are very important to the roleplaying experience. Because Nations & Cannons is a mundane historical setting, there are no dwarves or elves, only humans. We created a new system that replaces species with Roles, such as Officer, Scout, and Pioneer. This allows us to highlight a variety of different peoples of the times and provide mechanical differences for characters the players create. We also created a new concept for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), Heritage. Your character’s Heritage doesn’t do much mechanically other than suggest a starting language for your character, but it provides an opportunity to showcase all of the different peoples and languages spoken in North America in 1776.
Last updated: April 11, 2023 09:09
Why 5e?
Some may ask why we chose Dungeons and Dragons 5e as the baseline system for Nations & Cannons. We work a lot with educators and museums so it’s essential to have an accessible system. The resources for new players just starting out in the 5e system are abundant and easily accessible on many websites, forums and youtube. The 5e D&D brand is well known and there are many players that can easily engage with the system. This ease of engagement allows us to add the historical elements of the real world events without requiring players to learn a new system of mechanics.
Last updated: April 11, 2023 09:10
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