North America (The New World)

Native Americans are composed of numerous distinct tribes and bands. Most groups live in hunter-gatherer societies and preserve their histories by oral traditions and artwork. The Northeastern and Southwestern cultures are matrilineal and operate on a collective basis. Tribes maintained their hunting grounds and agricultural lands for use of the entire tribe. The differences in cultures between the natives and Europeans, as well as shifting alliances among different nations in times of war, causes extensive political tension. As expansion reachs into the West, settler and miner migrants come into increasing conflict with the Great Basin, Great Plains, and other Western nomadic nations based on horse culture and seasonal bison hunting. Are carrying out resistance against the European incursion in a series of Indian Wars.
The earliest peoples of the Americas came from Eurasia over a land bridge which connected the two continents until 12,000 years ago, when it was flooded in the aftermouth of the bird serpent war.
Native Americans as have a society dominated by clans. Pacific Northwest tribes craft seafaring dugouts for fishing. Farmers in the Eastern Woodlands tended fields of maize. While their neighbors in the Southeast grow tobacco as well as food crops. On the Great Plains tribes engage in agriculture but also hunt megafauna. The reintroduction of the horse has greatly changed the way in which they hunt. Horses have become such a valuable and a central element of Native lives and are counted as a measure of wealth. Dwellers of the Southwest deserts hunt and use irrigation techniques, and fill storehouses with grain as protection against droughts. The Iroquois, living around the Great Lakes and extending east and north, use strings or belts called wampum that serve a dual function: the knots and beaded designs mnemonically chronicled tribal stories and legends, and further served as a medium of exchange and a unit of measure. The keepers of the articles are seen as tribal dignitaries. Pueblo peoples craft impressive items associated with their religious ceremonies. Kachina dancers wear elaborately painted and decorated masks as they ritually impersonated various ancestral spirits. Stone and wood fetishes are made for religious use. Superior weaving, embroidered decorations, and rich dyes characterized the textile arts. Both turquoise and shell jewelry are created, as are high-quality pottery and formalized pictorial arts. Navajo spirituality focused on the maintenance of a harmonious relationship with the spirit world, often achieved by ceremonial acts, usually incorporating sandpainting. The colorsmade from sand, charcoal, cornmeal, and pollendepicted specific spirits. Traditional practices of some tribes include the use of magical herbs. Many Plains tribes have sweatlodge ceremonies. Fasting, singing and prayer and drumming are common.
Rather than going to war, a team based ball sport is used to settle disputes as a civil way to settle potential conflict. Sometimes involving hundreds to thousands of players. The goals are several miles apart and the games last from sunup to sundown for two to three days as part of ceremonial ritual of symbolic warfare.
As these native peoples encounter European explorers and settlers and engaged in trade contact is often charged with tension, but also moments of friendship, cooperation, and intimacy. Explorers live in native communities for years, learning native languages, attending native councils, and fighting alongside their native companions. Given the preponderance of men among the colonists European men generally marry native women.
Recently
The last two centuries have seen dramatic changes in the racial and cultural make-up of North American populations. In the south, Mexico and Central America have become part of the huge Spanish empire. Spanish explorers have ventured up into the southwest of North American , followed by a handful of missionaries and traders. There has, however, been little by way of settlement in these arid regions.
In the South-West a long dry spell has had a disastrous impact upon the agricultural societies of the Hohokam and the Anasazi. Many farming villages have been abandoned and people have moved away from their homelands.
Climate change is also responsible for changes in societies of the east. There has been a marked upswing in violence between communities, and urban centres such as Cahokia have been abandoned. Other centres continue though none are on the same scale as before.
Much more recently, Europeans have established a string of colonies on the eastern coast whose populations are increasing rapidly.
As the European population rises, that of the Native Americans falls sharply. Deadly European diseases, to which the natives have no resistance, fan out across the continent, carrying away the majority of their people.
In the far north, the Inuit have spread out over the Arctic region as far as Greenland. There they encounter European settlements in the New World, including the Viking colony in Brattahlid Greenland.
New Core Classes
PRESTIGE CLASSES
Melee Weapons
Weapon | Cost | Damage | Weight | Properties | Special |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bowie Knife | 5 gp | 1d6 piercing | 1 lb | Finesse, Light | Concealable |
Tomahawk | 8 gp | 1d6 slashing | 2 lb | Light, Thrown (20/60) | — |
Hatchet | 6 gp | 1d6 slashing | 2 lb | Light, Thrown (20/60) | — |
War Club | 1 gp | 1d6 bludgeoning | 3 lb | Light | On a hit, target must succeed on a DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check or be knocked prone* |
Bone Knife | 2 gp | 1d4 piercing | 1 lb | Finesse, Light | Tribal design |
Cudgel | 1 gp | 1d4 bludgeoning | 2 lb | Light | — |
Tribal Axe | 8 gp | 1d8 slashing | 3 lb | Light, Thrown (20/60) | Traditional design |
Machete | 7 gp | 1d6 slashing | 2 lb | Light, Finesse (house rule) | — |
Native Spear | 2 gp | 1d8 piercing | 3 lb | Thrown (20/60) | — |
Short Spear | 2 gp | 1d6 piercing | 2 lb | Thrown (20/60), Versatile | — |
Fighting Stiletto | 3 gp | 1d4 piercing | 1 lb | Finesse, Light | — |
Wooden Club | 0 gp | 1d4 bludgeoning | 2 lb | Light | Basic, improvised weapon |
*House rule: A successful War Club hit forces the target to make a DC 12 Strength (Athletics) check or be knocked prone.
Ranged Weapons
Weapon | Cost | Damage | Weight | Properties | Special |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Derringer Pistol | 50 gp | 1d6 piercing | 1 lb | Light, Ranged (20/60), Loading | Single-shot |
Revolver | 75 gp | 1d8 piercing | 3 lb | Light, Ranged (40/120), Reload (6) | — |
Pepperbox Revolver | 80 gp | 1d8 piercing | 3 lb | Light, Ranged (40/120), Reload (6) | Multiple barrels |
Flintlock Musket | 60 gp | 1d10 piercing | 8 lb | Two-Handed, Ranged (60/180), Loading | Slow rate of fire |
Lever-Action Rifle | 150 gp | 1d10 piercing | 8 lb | Two-Handed, Heavy, Ranged (80/320), Loading | — |
Buffalo Rifle | 250 gp | 1d12 piercing | 10 lb | Two-Handed, Heavy, Ranged (150/600), Loading | High-caliber |
Double-Barrel Shotgun | 200 gp | 2d6 piercing | 9 lb | Two-Handed, Loading, Ranged (30/90) | Scatter effect (DM discretion) |
Sawed-Off Shotgun | 100 gp | 2d4 piercing | 6 lb | Light, Loading, Ranged (15/45) | Concealable, Scatter |
Blunderbuss | 100 gp | 2d6 piercing | 7 lb | Two-Handed, Ranged (20/60), Loading | Cone effect (DM discretion) |
Native Recurve Bow | 25 gp | 1d6 piercing | 2 lb | Ammunition (80/320), Two-Handed, Light | — |
Tribal Longbow | 30 gp | 1d8 piercing | 2 lb | Ammunition (100/400), Two-Handed, Heavy | Traditional design |
Atlatl Dart | 1 sp | 1d4 piercing | 0.25 lb | Thrown (40/120), Finesse | Extended range when used with an atlatl (house rule) |
Bola | 1 gp | 1d4 bludgeoning | 2 lb | Thrown (20/60) | On hit, DC 12 Dexterity save or target becomes restrained |
Tribal Sling | 1 gp | 1d4 bludgeoning | — | Ammunition (30/90) | — |
Throwing Knife | 3 gp | 1d4 piercing | 1 lb | Finesse, Light, Thrown (20/60) | — |
Light Armors
Armor Name | Cost | AC | Weight | Type | Properties & Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Padded Armor | 5 gp | 11 + Dex mod | 8 lb | Light | Disadvantage on Stealth |
Leather Armor | 10 gp | 11 + Dex mod | 10 lb | Light | — |
Studded Leather Armor | 45 gp | 12 + Dex mod | 13 lb | Light | — |
Leather Duster | 15 gp | 11 + Dex mod | 9 lb | Light | Wild West flair; flexible, concealable, and stylish |
Reinforced Leather Vest | 12 gp | 11 + Dex mod | 9 lb | Light | Extra internal padding for minor extra protection |
Rugged Gambeson | 8 gp | 11 + Dex mod | 9 lb | Light | Common frontier protection; may provide slight cold insulation |
Tribal Quilted Armor | 10 gp | 12 + Dex mod | 12 lb | Light | Layers of fabric and fur stitched together for extra comfort |
Fur-lined Duster | 20 gp | 11 + Dex mod | 7 lb | Light | Reinforced with fur and leather lining; offers extra cold protection |
Medium Armors
Armor Name | Cost | AC | Weight | Type | Properties & Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buckskin Armor | 25 gp | 12 + Dex mod (max 2) | 15 lb | Medium | Traditional frontier hide armor |
Buffalo Hide Armor | 20 gp | 12 + Dex mod (max 2) | 18 lb | Medium | Durable rugged hide; may grant minor benefits in harsh climates* |
Hide Armor | 10 gp | 12 + Dex mod (max 2) | 12 lb | Medium | — |
Chain Shirt | 50 gp | 13 + Dex mod (max 2) | 20 lb | Medium | — |
Frontier Brigandine | 60 gp | 13 + Dex mod (max 2) | 22 lb | Medium | A chain shirt alternative with a distinctive frontier design |
Leather Cuirass | 40 gp | 13 + Dex mod (max 2) | 16 lb | Medium | Reinforced leather plating for improved durability |
Indigenous Scale Armor | 55 gp | 14 + Dex mod (max 2) | 25 lb | Medium | Constructed from overlapping scales of buffalo or elk |
Buffalo Scale Armor | 65 gp | 15 + Dex mod (max 2) | 28 lb | Medium | A refined version of hide enhanced with scale-like design |
Rugged Scale Vest | 35 gp | 13 + Dex mod (max 2) | 18 lb | Medium | Popular among frontiersmen for its balanced protection and mobility |
Rugged Hide Coat | 12 gp | 12 + Dex mod (max 2) | 11 lb | Medium | Provides rugged protection and enhanced mobility in the wilderness |
Frontier Hauberk | 100 gp | 14 + Dex mod (max 2) | 30 lb | Medium | Combines leather and chain mail for robust protection |
Heavy Armors
Armor Name | Cost | AC | Weight | Type | Properties & Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ring Mail | 30 gp | 14 | 40 lb | Heavy | Disadvantage on Stealth |
Chain Mail | 75 gp | 16 | 55 lb | Heavy | Requires Strength 13; Disadvantage on Stealth |
Splint Armor | 200 gp | 17 | 60 lb | Heavy | Requires Strength 15; Disadvantage on Stealth |
Plate Armor | 1500 gp | 18 | 65 lb | Heavy | Requires Strength 15; Disadvantage on Stealth |
Fortified Frontier Plate | 1200 gp | 18 | 70 lb | Heavy | Rough plate fashioned from hammered iron and buffalo leather; requires Strength 15 |
Shields
Armor Name | Cost | AC Bonus | Weight | Type | Properties & Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shield | 10 gp | +2 | 6 lb | Shield | Standard protective shield |
Buckler | 5 gp | +1 | 3 lb | Shield | A small, light shield favored for mobility |
Additional North American-Themed Options
Armor Name | Cost | AC | Weight | Type | Properties & Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Animal Pelt Cloak | 2 gp | 10 + Dex mod* | 5 lb | Light | Worn as a cloak; DM may rule it grants +1 AC in harsh, cold environments |
Buckskin Jerkin | 8 gp | 11 + Dex mod | 8 lb | Light | Traditional buckskin garment offering basic protection |
Toughened Hide Armor | 15 gp | 12 + Dex mod (max 2) | 14 lb | Medium | Made from a single, cured hide for added durability |
Chain Brigandine | 80 gp | 14 + Dex mod (max 2) | 25 lb | Medium | A vest laced with small metal rings for extra protection |
Tribal Quilted Coat | 10 gp | 12 + Dex mod | 12 lb | Light | A quilted garment layered with animal pelts, common among frontiersmen |
* Note: The Animal Pelt Cloak is a homebrew option; its AC bonus in cold environments is subject to DM discretion.
Viceroyalty of New France, Vinland,
- Colony of Virginia, (Settlement) Jamestown,
- Colony of New Netherland, New Amsterdam, (Settlement) Sleepy Hollow, New Netherland,
- The Massachusetts Bay Colony, (Settlement) Salem, Massachusetts,
- Roanoke (The Lost Colony),
- (Trade Route) The Pony Express, (Trade Route) Oregon Trail, (Wilderness Area) Rocky Mountains,
- (Settlement) Tombstone , (Settlement) Dodge City
- (Wilderness Area) Mississippi River
- French colony of Louisiana, (Settlement) New Orleans
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is somewhat of a geological anomaly accurately described as an “island of trees in a sea of grass.” The Black Hills are home to the tallest peaks of continental North America east of the Rockies.
It has been rumoured they contain vast amouts of gold.
Devils Tower