John Henry is a human 7th-level fighter.
Appearance and personality[]
John Henry is a dark-skinned human. He has an exceptionally muscular build, and appears to be around thirty to forty years old.
Abilities and traits[]
John Henry is exceptionally physically strong. When he fights, he proficiently wields a ten-pound hammer in each hand, or a twenty-pound hammer two-handed. When in a desperate situation, he has the exceptional ability to fight with a twenty-pound hammer in each hand, but finds himself exhausted for several days afterward.
He is famed for his singing, and those around him benefit from a morale boost when fighting or working.
History[]
John Henry was born on Earth, a technologically advanced parallel world to Oerth. John worked as a tunnel miner, digging through solid rock to create paths for railway, an advanced steam-powered locomotive vehicle.
When a steam-powered drill threatened to make his job obsolete, John Henry challenged the drill to a contest. Wielding a two-handed sledgehammer in each hand, he dug two seven-foot holes in the same time it took the steam drill to make one nine-foot hole.
The event exhausted John Henry, who spent several days recovering. Rumours spread that he had died from overexertion.
One day, while walking through the tunnel he had built, John Henry somehow crossed over to Oerth, and was unable to find his way back. He currently travels that world looking for a way back to his home.
Publishing history[]
AD&D 1st edition[]
John Henry appeared in the article Giants in the Earth: Classic Heroes from Fiction & Literature, Dragon Magazine #64 (Aug 1982), p.15-18.[1]
Creative origins[]
John Henry is a real-world American folk hero. He is believed to be based on a real John Henry, an African-American steel driver, although John Henry was a common name and there is some dispute among historians as to which was the man who inspired the story, and whether or not the story is accurate.
References[]
- ↑ Giants in the Earth: Classic Heroes from Fiction & Literature, Dragon Magazine #64 (Aug 1982), p.15-18.