Bloody Forks of the Ohio GM Info

8/9/2019 Bloody Forks of the Ohio GM Info

1/6

BloodyForksof theOhioA Live-Action Roleplaying Entertainment

by Nick Wedig

Adapted from the tabletop scenario

by Jason Morningstar


2/6

Elevator Pitch:

In 1753, a young George Washingon was sen ino wesern Pennsylvania as a diplomaic envoy o he Frencharmy. His message rom he Briish crown was claim o ownership over he region. I he French did no exi he area, heBriish would orce hem ou.

Te French disregarded he message, and orced he Briish army rom is or a he orks o he Ohio River. Inis place, he French have buil heir own base, For Duquesne. Now i is a year laer, and Washingon has reurned osetle he mater once and or all.

This game was originally a ableop scenario o he same name writen by Jason Morningsar(htp://www.bullypulpigames.com/airplay/2009/07/08/he-bloody-orks-o-he-ohio/). Ta game was in urn ahack o he excellen gameLady Blackbirdby John Harper (htp://www.onese- vendesign.com/ladyblackbird/), which

was isel assembled rom bis o a variey o qualiy roleplaying games. Check hose ou or urher ree enerainmen.

Tis documen is licensed under a Creaive Commons Atribuion Non-Commercial Share Alike 3.0 license(htp://creaivecommons.org/licenses/by- nc-sa/3.0/us/). Conac me here: [email protected].


3/6

GMs Background:

The wo grea empires o he 18h cenury are abou o collide in a muddy eld in wesern Pennsylvania. TeBriish colonies on he easern seaboard are hriving, and Briain wishes o expand wesward. France conrols boh NewFrance (i.e. Canada) and he Mississippi River via New Orleans. Naurally, France wishes o nd a connecion beweenis wo colonies, which leads is orces direcly ino conic wih Briains expansion across he coninen.

In 1753, a young George Washington was sen ino wesern Pennsylvania as a diplomaic envoy o he Frencharmy. His message rom he Briish crown was claim o ownership over he region. I he French did no exi he area, heBriish would orce hem ou. While in he region, Washingon noed ha a or could be buil in he very deensible spo

where wo smaller rivers joined o make he Ohio River. Following his advice,Fort Prince George was buil where herivers me, making i guarded on hree sides by waer. Te French disregarded he diplomaic enreaies, and orced heBriish army rom For Prince George. In is place, he French have buil heir own base,Fort Duquesne . Now i is a yearlaer, and Washingon has reurned o setle he mater once and or all.

Aer his journey, Washingon published his diary o he journey and became very amous back eas. He has beensen back o ake command rom William Trentaer ren surrendered he or o he French. Following he surrender,

ren and he Briish orces rereaed souhwards and hasily buil a ramshackle pile o logs dubbed Fort Necessity. ForNecessiy is barely a or a all, and exiss mainly o keep he hungry roops rom sealing ood rom he supplies. TeBriish army is ounumbered, hungry, demoralized and, in Washingons own words, loose and idle. I is his job o xhe siuaion and ge he French o exi he region, hopeully wihou igniing a war.

Complicaing he conic beween he wo European powers are he inernal poliics o he local naive Americanribes. TeIroquois Confederation is a collecion o several oher ribes banded ogeher, noably he Seneca ribe. TeIroquois conederaion claims o own his region hrough righ o conques: hey ough and deeaed heDelaware inhe recen pas. Te Delaware naion (who call hemselves he Lenape) make up mos o he populaion o he area, and

were badly oppressed and misreaed by he Iroquois. Te Delaware have recenly rebelled and severed all ies o he

Iroquois. Washingons allyHalf-King Tanaghrisson is here o atemp o bring he Delaware back ino he old, bu heDelaware have no ineres in rejoining he Conederaion. Te Briish are allied wih he Iroquois. Washingon is in acan adoped member o he ribe, called Conotocarious, Te Desroyer o Villages. Tis alliance has made he Delawaredisrusul o he Briish in he region, hough he Delaware also disrus he French.

Ignatius Jones, a Briish soldier, desered his pos o marry a Delaware woman calledRaspberry Girl. IgnaiusJones has since been recapured by he Briish and is being held awaiing cour marial. Bu he Briish need all he menhey can ge o gh he French, and hey could use a bargaining chip in ineracing wih he Delaware.

Tere are abou 300 Briish soldiers a For Necessiy, bu a leas 600 French soldiers a For Duquesne. Bohcolonial armies are ounumbered by he naives in he region: he Iroquois and Delaware could each muser a leas 700

warriors i war were o come.

Louis Coulon de Villiers commands For Duquesne. He has received orders rom Quebec o no sar anyviolence in he Ohio River area. I he Briish sar a conic, he French soldiers can gh back, bu hey canno beginhe ghing hemselves. Consequenly, de Villiers has consruced a plo o provoke he Briish ino saring he war. De

Villiers broherJoseph de Jumonville will be sen as diplomaic envoy o For Necessiy, hough his mission will be oprovoke Washingons anger insead o peaceably negoiaion. Te majoriy o he French army sis a mile away rom ForNecessiy, a Deer Lake, waiing or a signal or or sounds o gunre. De Villiers does no know ha his wie, Marie-Am-able de Villiers, has decided o accompany Jumonville o For Necessiy o see her lover, George Washingon.


4/6

Hisorical accuracy is no essenial here. I am no a hisorian, and grea liberies have been aken wih someo he characers and evens. While wriing he larp, I kep a lis o hisorical inaccuracies, bu i became oo long andcumbersome o rack. Tis larp isn inended as hisorical reenacmen; is more like an advenure sory inspired byreal hisorical evens. Te siuaion could veer of rom hisorical ruh prety easily, and i is bes or players and GMs oexplore and see how diferenly hings migh have urned ou. I youre ineresed in wha really happened, heres a noea he end o hese insrucions, and a wealh o acual hisory books you could read.

Rules:Tere are a ew basic rules used in his game. Each characer is broken down ino a Background secion, a Mo-

ive, a Key, a special Abiliy and noes covering wha hey know abou he oher characers. Te Background and Drama-is Personae secions are sraighorward; hey simply ell he player inormaion abou hemselves and ohers. Moive isa goal or some ask he characer wishes o succeed a in he course o he larp. An Abiliy is a special power ha afecshow conics work. Teyll be covered under Conics, below.

Keys are a mechanic or rewarding roleplaying. Teyre aken rom he ableop rpg Te Shadow o Yeserday.

Each ime ha he player perorms he acion described on he Key, hey ge an exra card (cards are used in conics, seebelow). You should disribue decks o playing cards around he playing area, so ha players can hand ou cards as heysee someone hi heir Key. As a GM, you should have a deck o cards on hand o hand ou cards as a resul o hiting aKey.

Conflicts:

In a game like his, you will occasionally ge siuaions where wo players wan diferen hings. In cases like his,you have a conic.

Each player should sar wih a hand o hree cards. As hey hi heir Keys, hey can receive more cards.

In a conic, one player plays a card rom heir hand. Ten he oher player in he conic has hree opions:

1) Follow Sui by playing a card o he same sui as he rs card played, bu o higher value. (Tereon,he oher player mus ollow sui, rump or orei.)

2) Play rump by acivaing heir Abiliy. o do his, hey need o explain how heir abiliy aids hem insome way. Ten hey play any card rom heir hand; he sui o ha card becomes he rump sui or he

conic. Te opponen mus eiher play a higher card o he same sui or orei he conic. Furher playsor his conic mus be o ha same sui.

3) Forei and ail a heir ask.

Each card played mus be o he leading sui or (once rump is played) o he rump sui, and each card playedmus be o higher value han previous cards. (Aces are High.)

Whichever player plays he las card in he conic wins and ges wha hey wan ou o he conic. Te oher player hasailed a heir ask and does no succeed a whaever hey were rying o achieve in he conic.


5/6

Language:

Language is a supremely imporan issue in he game, as i was in he hisorical evens prrayed. Some charac-ers only speak one language, some speak wo or hree languages. Te imporan decision making characers do no sharelanguages wih oher imporan decision making characers, so hey have o rely on ranslaors. Tese ranslaors in urnmay have heir own moives and may wis he messages in unexpeced ways.

I is unlikely ha you can cas he game such ha here are acually hree languages properly disribued amongplayers o ake he place o English, French and Shawnee in he game. In order o allow language o uncion properlyin he game, I sugges ha you use a series o hand signals. I you are speaking in English, hold up your hand and exend

your pinky nger, as i you were dainily drinking ea. I you are speaking Shawnee, hold you hand verically, a wih hepalm acing ou, jus like sereoypical Indians in old Hollywood movies. I you are speaking French, make a peace sign

wih your hand (since he French are nominally here on a peaceul diplomaic mission).

Now, you will overhear many conversaions in languages your characer does no undersand. You may even hearabou people lying or beraying you. ry o keep your personal knowledge and characer knowledge separae. Tink ohis as a way o enjoying dramaic and comedic irony when you know more han your PC does.

PCs in order of importance: (And impressionisic casing advice)Washington Is young and unesed a his poin. Hes a naural leader who has never

had o do much leading

Jumonville Should be able o play slimy and annoying and mus be okay wih hischaracer dying

Marie-Amable You wan he mos melodramaic player here, because shes primarily involved ininerpersonal plolines.

Shingas Should be very inimidaing, even i hes a real pushover

Half-King You wan someone who will resor o violen soluions beore rying nonviolenones.

French Margaret French Margare is a bi more acive han Marie, so cas accordingly

TrentShould seem rusworhy, bu acually be scheming behind he scenes

(Tas prety much he minimum needed o play. Use hose PCs frs, and hen opionally use he characers below.)

Raspberry Girl You probably wan someone who will enjoy deliberaely misinerpreing hings

Jacob Van Braam You need an insigaor here, who will cause rouble wih ren.

Torrence Swiney Has relaively litle going on as a characer. So you eiher need a player who is happy o say onhe sidelines or a player who will insigae hings hemselves.


6/6

NPCs:

Ignaius Jones is he only major NPC likely o need roleplayed. Hes a nice guy, who ruly loves his wie and jus

wans o escape all his warare and conic and live peaceably in he woods.I you need o complicae he climax, hen you could have Daniel Hyacinhe de Beaujeu (a French commando who wearsnaive garb when in comba) ener and ry o save Jumonville or Marie-Amable. Beaujeu also would work as a backupcharacer i one or more PCs die early on in he game, hough no shee is provided. (Key: Love o Naive Culure, Mo-ive: Proec Jumonville and Marie-Amable, and Abiliy: Commando Warrior would work prety well as a basic skech.)

Final Historical Note: In real world hisory, George Washingon and Hal King anaghrisson ound Jumonville while scouing andcapured him in he Batle o Jumonville Glen. Once hey had him capive, hey ried o quesion him, bu neiher spokeFrench. Aer some ime ailing o communicae wih Jumonville, Hal-King became rusraed and killed him wih aomahawk. When Capain de Villiers heard o his brohers deah, he atacked For Necessiy.

Surrounded and ougunned, he Briish couldn hold he French of or long. Te Batle o For Necessiy washe only batle where Washingon ever surrendered. In he surrender, Washingon signed a reay (writen in French

which he could no read) ha claimed ha Washingon had murdered Jumonville. Te French used his as propaganda

hroughou he French and Indian War, hough Washingon claimed o no have known wha he was signing.

Te surrender o For Prince George wasn really rens aul. He was really ou huning when i all happened,and his second in command handed he or o he French. ren did, however, go on o inven he smallpox laden blan-ke.

Bloody Forks of the Ohio GM Info

Documents