Ian's '7th Sea' Campaign Notes

Basic Game Mechanics:

House Rules / Clarifications:

1. Fencing Versus Heavy Weapons:

   •  This stems from a discussion on AEG's mailing list.  Background first, the official rules say that the 'Heavy Weapons' skill covers those melee weapons requiring two hands to wield.  Now the problem; in 'The Swordsman's Guild', the Vesten Longsword is labelled a two-handed weapon , and is specifically said to need the Heavy Weapons skill.  Thus, the Urostifter School (which uses paired longswords) incorporates 'Heavy Weapon'.

   •  As one discussion participant said, this is just plain nuts (I agree).  What most people call a longsword is a ONE-handed weapon, and the accompanying picture in SG appears to confirm this.  So, my personal ruling (AEG's noticeable lack of response notwithstanding) is that the longsword is a one-handed Fencing weapon.  Any school utilizing this weapon will use the Fencing skill, not Heavy Weapons.

2.   Fencing Versus Heavy Weapons (II):

   • A few Swordsman Schools allow certain Heavy Weapons to be used one-handed.  On that basis, the question arises as to under what circumstances a Character can wield a Heavy Weapon with just one hand.  Consider the Bastard Sword (designed for one OR two hands), and/or the capabilities of exceptionally strong individuals.  From there, the situation may arise of "Gee, if my Character can use a Heavy Weapon one-handed, then surely he could use one in each hand...".  Yeeesshhh!!

   •  OK, one step at a time.  First, understand that any Swordsman School includes specialized knowledge of its chosen weapon (both good and bad points) and how to take advantage of them.  With sufficient training / experience, such people will be able to "push the envelope" - have enough familiarity with that weapon to be able to do things others consider almost impossible.

   •  Next, the Bastard Sword is a large heavy weapon.  Certainly, a strong enough person can use it (or other HWs) one-handed, but this is not always the case.  As Referee, I rule that certain weapons simply cannot be used one-handed by a human or near-human.  Ever.  These weapons include the zweihander, claymore, and most (if not all) types of polearms.

   •  Finally, NO.  Even if your Character can use a HW one-handed, s/he CANNOT use one in each hand.  The absolute most that can be done is to carry something like a shield, knife or pistol in the free hand.  Nothing more.  No exceptions.  Not a one.  Arbitrary decision, no discussion entered into.  If you don't like it, too bad. 

3.  Unofficial Advantages:

   • CAST-IRON STOMACH (1 Point):  Your Character never gets seasick.  Ever.  In conditions that may have everybody else on that ship hanging over the side praying for death, he will be completely unaffected.  It may be due to ancestry, or years of nautical experience, or something else entirely.  Note that this advantage does not protect against other illnesses, injury, or drowning.

   • PART-BLOODED (10 Points):  The Character has a mere trace of sorcerous ancestry.  He gets one Sorcery Knack at Rank 1, which can never be advanced beyond Rank 3.  (Care must be taken when selecting the sorcery school and knack, noting that certain feats of magic - such as Porte gates and Pyeryem transformations - require having at least two specific Knacks.  Also, Characters cannot take two Part-Blooded advantages to give themselves a lesser form of Twice-Blooded.)

   • SENSE OF DIRECTION (10 Points):  Regardless of the situation, your Character always has a general idea of which direction and distance certain fixed (as in immobile) locations lie in.  For instance, he could be lost in a thick fog, and still find the way back to his front door.  He could be in a ship that has spent months at sea, and still be able to say his home is "that way".  The sense is not precise enough to use for pinpoint navigation.  Nor will it provide warning of, or guidance around, any hazards or obstacles along the way - or of anything about the location in question.  (Characters can "memorize" a number of locations equal to their Wits, but they must be physically visited by that Character in order to do so.  These locations can be as general as 'Freiberg' or as specific as 'Main Closet, Guest Bedroom #12, Second Floor, Chateau d'Soleil, Charouse'.  A location can be forgotten in order to memorize a new location, but a Character wishing to "reacquire" a given location must revisit it to do so.  Also, one place of special personal significance is permanently memorized (usually one's birthplace or childhood home), and cannot be forgotten.  Finally, Direction Sense becomes unreliable under certain circumstances.  Said 'circumstances' include close proximity to Matushka, the Sidhe Queens, Porte Gates, major Syrneth ruins, the Seventh Sea, the Porte realm, Byrn Bresail, the Isle of the Grey Queen, the Corridors of Flame, the Wall of Fire, the Thrice-Tenth Kingdom, the Azov Forest, Lake Vigil, Cabora, the Dark Paths, the Wachtturm, or the Black Forest.

4.  Trait  / Skill Usage: Occasionally (Referee's discretion), a specific action may call for a trait other than the standard to be used.  For example: Library research may use Resolve instead of Wits - ie. It is not a matter of intelligence so much as having enough willpower to wade through an entire library for one particular reference!  Likewise, swashbuckling-type activities may sometimes call for Panache instead of Finesse or Wits.  Depending on exact circumstances, simply trying to stay awake could require Brawn, Wits or Resolve. 

5.  Language:

   • Required:  All Characters MUST have at least spoken fluency in one common language, agreed upon by the majority of the group at the start of the campaign.  Except when specified otherwise, all intraparty interactions will be assumed to take place in this language - this is to prevent idiocies such as A being unable to communicate with C unless B acts as a translator.

   • Specialization:  In addition to purchasing Languages, one additional Character Point can be spent to gain either or both of the following:

     • Speak one Language as a native - ie. without any trace of a "foreign" accent.  All Characters are assumed to have this for free for their native language.  In such cases, the Character must choose what regional accent he has, and will automaticlly use this whenever speaking in that language..

     • Fluency in (and the ability to imitate with minimal effort) dialects, regional accents, and archaic forms of that particular Language.  Note that this does not extend to separately-listed languages (eg. Thean, Teodoran, Old Fhideli, etc.)   Also note that distractions can cause a Character to drop whichever language subset they are imitating 

   • Fluency in a Language also confers limited understanding of the culture behind it.  Specifically, the Character has a fundamental grasp of what may or may not be commonly considered polite, honourable or funny in that culture.  This will not cover specifics or complex situations (eg. correct form of address for a particular VIP, religious observances, etc.).  If a Character is both fully fluent and literate in a Language, then s/he can use Knacks such as Etiquette without penalty.

6.  Fate Draw / Character Points:  Characters with a satisfactorily detailed story / background may forego the Fate Draw and instead receive eight (8) additional Character Points.  Otherwise, the Fate Draw for that Character's nationality is used.  For decidedly nautical Characters, the 'Pirate Nations' Fate Draw may be used instead (absolutely no combining or mix 'n' matching allowed!).

7. Twice-Blooded:  When using Sorcery, Twice-Blooded Characters cannot combine magics from both their sorcerous heritages - they can only ever be used separately.  Generally, only the Bargainer magics can be used for Twice-Blooded Characters - Pyeryem, Laerdom and Glamour tend to be incompatible with these (and each other) because of their quite different beginnings and principles.  The exceptions to this rule tend to be mentally unstable (to put it nicely), and usually end up as Villains.

8. Arcana:  Players may purchase any one of the standard Arcana when creating their Characters.  The standard cost of +10 for Virtues and -10 for Hubrises apply, subject to modification by the rules.  If Arcana from the Character's Fate Draw are purchased, then a bonus of 2 additional Character Points apply - that Virtue would only cost 8 points, and that Hubris would give 12 points.

9.  Dracheneisen:  Costs have been altered as follows -

   • Full Nobility [40 HP]: 20 points to spend on the Dracheneisen equipment table.
   • Minor Nobility [20 HP]: 10 points to spend on the Dracheneisen equipment table.
   • Petty Nobility [10 HP]: 5 points to spend on the Dracheneisen equipment table.

10.  Replacement Characters:  Players creating replacement Characters (for whatever reason) will do so as per normal.  At the Referee's option, they may also get one half of the total XP awarded to their predecessors as a starting bonus.

11.  Knack / School / Sorcery Progression:  XP costs for Knacks and Schools use a system created by Krackenjack (7th Sea GMserver).  To raise a Knack costs a number of XP equal to the desired level (eg. going from 3 to 4 costs 4 XP).  For a Swordsman School, once all the appropriate Knacks reach 4, then 20 XP may be spent for the Character to reach Journeyman status.  To become a Master, the Journeyman must get all the Knacks to 5 and then spend 35 XP.  Similar thing for sorcery, except that the cost are 4 Knacks at 4 and 25 XP to become Adept; and 5 Knacks at 5 and 40 XP to become Master.

12. Advantage Losses:  It is possible to lose fancy swords, artifacts, patrons, connections, etc. that were paid for with Character Points or XP.  However, the points only disappear if the loss was a consequence of the Player-Character doing something that (in the Referee's opinion) was blatantly unheroic, unforgivably stupid, and/or rampant munchkinism.  Otherwise, one of three things happens (Referee's discretion, as always):

    • The item is replaced by something similar.  Not immediately, but soon.

    • The item in question becomes an additional Background for the Character - something to be quested for and regained / replaced.

    • The Player-Character is refunded the points for that Advantage, to be respent (with Referee approval).  The new Advantage(s) will then turn up in the course of play).

    • NOTE:  If loss of said item was a deliberate sacrifice by the P-C to serve an indisputably greater good, then the Referee may refund the points plus some sort of bonus.  Maybe.

13.  XPs To Purchase Advantages:  The Referee "may" allow the purchase and/or modification of Advantages via the expenditure of XP.  This will be judged on a case by case basis, and will require detailed justification / explanation.  For instance, it is 'possible' (though very unlikely) that a Character attains membership in Sophia's Daughters, and consequently "discovers" that s/he has a Sidhe ancestor (and hence, the Sidhe Blood Advantage).  Generally, the XP / Hero Point ratio will be 3:1.

14.  XPs To Purchase Languages:  Characters may purchase new language skills.  As previously, the XP / Hero Point Ratio is 3:1, and the Language table for that Character's nationality must be used.  New languages can only be acquired as a result of careful study (specified beforehand) and/or via ongoing instruction from fellow partymembers, and/or as a result of spending considerable time somewhere that language is in common use.

15.  XP Purchase Clarification:  The Academy, Castillian Education, Linguist, and University advantages do not discount skills, knacks, etc. bought with XP during the course of play.

16.  Brute Squads:  If a Hero attacks only one Brute in a Brute Squad and successfully hits, then for each increment of ten (rounding down) he makes the roll by, one additional Brute in that squad will also be hit.

17. Pyeryem:  Transformation attempts require the expenditure of an Action and a Drama Die.  However, if the attempt fails, the Drama Die is NOT wasted but remains in effect for any and all further attempts to tramsform to that particular form for the remainder of the Scene.  Once the scene ends or the attempt is successful, the Drama Die is considered expended.  If the Character has multiple animal forms, s/he must expend one Drama Die for each form they attempt to use in the same Scene.

18. Drama Dice (OPTIONAL):  The following ideas are derived from the Luck system used in the 'Adventure!' RPG.  The Referee can veto any of these by expending one of his own Dice, in which case the Drama Dice are considered expended (the Ref may choose to warn the Party beforehand that this will happen, so they won't waste Drama Dice).  Repeated use of the same option in the same Scene incurs an additional, cumulative cost of one extra Drama Die for each attempt after the first.  The Referee does NOT have this penalty on his vetos.

    • Double Action (1 DD) - A Character can do what would technically be a "double action" in combat without penalty - eg. drawing and shooting / attacking, reloading and shooting, a Drexel swordsman changing stance and attacking, etc..

    • Replay (2 DD) - Gain an extra action, to be used just an instant before the unfortunate action you believed happened actually does happen.  The Character may do anything s/he is normally capable of before the gunpowder goes off, or the lethal blow lands, etc..

    • Resupply (1 or 3 DD) - Run out of an important consumable (eg. food, water, or ammo)?  No, the Character(s) merely lost track of what they had, and actually still have half of what they started out with.  Expending 1 DD resupplies one Character with one specific type of consumable for his/her personal equipment.  Expending 3 DD provides one type of consumable for the entire party.

    • Nick Of Time (2 DD) - Delays one unfavourable non-combat occurrance (eg. collapsing buildings, volcanic eruptions, etc.) for one Combat Round.

    • Murphy's Law (2 DD) - Something bad happens to one item used by somebody.  The item is not destroyed, but is rendered vulnerable or, at least, temporarily inactive - the pistol jams, the cannon overturns, the ship loses a mast or sail, the artifact hangs and needs rebooting, etc..  Will not actually destroy the item in question (unjam and reload the pistol, right the cannon, repair the ship, simply try again with the artifact).  Ineffective against Major Artifacts (such as Reis's Scythe) and non-mechanical / non-magical items (such as most melee weapons).

    • Reset (3+ DD) - Really, really, really stuffed up?  Reality "resets" for all participants to the start of the previous combat round (if in combat) or otherwise to right where everything started going wrong.  Expending additional DD will move the reset back further (one additional combat round per die if in combat or, otherwise, 1-2 minutes each).

    • Lost & Found (1 or 2 DD) - Forgot or lost an item of equipment?  Actually the Characters do have it, they just forgot (or somebody else packed it for them "just in case", or it was just lying around nearby).  Using 1 DD will get an item that the Character or Party could have realistically forgotten or otherwise be reasonably expected to possess under most circumstances.  Using 2 DD will get notably bulky, and/or less obvious items. 

    • Slayer (2 or 4 DD) - If it is at all possible for the Character's weapon to hit and damage an opponent, then expending 2 DD will make it an automatically successful hit.  Expending 4 Drama Dice will kill the target automatically (remember the Ref still has the right of Veto!). 

19. Running Out Of Drama Dice:  If the Party runs out of Drama Dice, Players may expend unused XP to get new DD as required.  1 XP will buy 1 DD, and will disappear if used.

20. Fate Dice:  As well as the heinous "official" ways in which the Referee can use his Fate Dice, there is the following:

    • One Fate Dice can undo or negate one just-completed action of a Player-Character.  The gun misfires, the rope breaks, the speech is muffled by background noise, etc..
    • During a Combat Round, one Fate Dice can be converted into one extra Action Dice for a Villain, Henchman, Brute Squad, or Monster.

21.  Behaviour:  Do not ever use the "I am just role-playing my Character" excuse to justify screwing anybody else (including the Referee!).

22.  Twenty Questions:  See below.  Answer the questions for each Character.  Avoid one word answers and anything else likely to seriously annoy others. 

23.  The Last Word:  The Referee has this.  Always.  

Twenty Questions (Plus):

1. What country is your Hero from?
   • What province / city / neighbourhood?
2. How would you describe your Hero's physical appearance?
   • Looks, grooming, preferred style of dress, usual state of cleanliness and tidiness.
3. Does your Hero have recurring mannerisms?
   • Habits, consistent responses to certain stimuli / situations.
4. What is your Hero's main motivation?
   • Why adventuring instead of a respectable job?
   • >Why is s/he with the other Characters?
5. What are your Hero's greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses?
   • What would be the best and worst ways to defeat the Character?
6. What are your Hero's most and least favourite things?
   • Reactions when faced with same.
7. What about your Hero's psychology?
   • Personality, and anything not already covered elsewhere.
8. What is your Hero's single greatest fear?
   • Why?
   • > Is the Character aware of this?  Are other people aware of it?
   • > Does the Character acknowledge this fear (or fear in general), or does s/he refuse to do so (either consciously or subconsciously?
   • >How does s/he usually respond when faced with this fear (eg. careful avoidance, berserk rage, terror, outright panic, etc.)?
9. What are your Hero's highest ambitions?  Greatest love?
   • Possible conflicts?
10. What is your Hero's opinion of his country?
    • There may be considerable differences between what the Character says publicly, and what s/he truly believes.
11. Does your Hero have any prejudices?
    • Intensity of these prejudices  - eg. rabid belief, mild distaste, etc..
    • As with other questions, things may depend on whether it is conscious, subconscious, publicly-expressed opinion, and/or private thought.
12. Where do your Hero's loyalties lie?
    • Possible divided loyalties, plus conscious vs. subconscious, private vs. public, etc..
13. Is your Hero in love?  Is s/he married or betrothed?
    • Character's general attitude regarding romance, trust, and related matters.
14. What about your Hero's family?
    • Name, location, and status of parents (if known), siblings (ditto), and close relatives.
15. How would your Hero be described by his/her parents?
    • Character's status / relationship with immediate family, and vice versa (not necessarily the same).
    • Just how well-informed is each side about what the other is doing?
16. Does your Hero attempt to follow the code of chivalry?
    • How seriously does the Character regard the code?  To what degree is it followed?
    • Character's likely reaction to chivalrous or unchivalrous acts by others.
17. How religious is your Hero?  What sect of the Church does s/he follow?
    • Character attitude towards other religions.
18. Is your Hero a member of a guild, gentleman's club, or secret society?
    • How, and why, did the Character join?
    • >Attitude towards same.  How seriously does s/he take membership?
19. What does your Hero think about sorcery?
    • May touch upon the answers to previous questions.
20. If you could, what advice would you give your Hero?
    • ... And would s/he be likely to follow it?

These additional questions were written by a fellow inmate of  Revenant's 7th Sea Forum.  

21. What kind of cool stuff do you want for your character?

  Cool stuff doesn't necessarily have to be anything big. A character might simply want to become captain of his own ship, or a feared master of his swordsman school.  Maybe he just wants to have a drink in every tavern in Theah.  Cool stuff should be the sort of thing that is within the grasp of most characters after a fair amount of hard work.  Whether or not the character wants to devote that work to it is up to him.

22. What is the ultimate goal for your character?

  Different from the aforementioned cool stuff, the ultimate goal is just that: if you can achieve it, odds are you're pretty much as close to winning 7th Sea as you can get.  Maybe he wants to reunite Eisen with himself as Imperator, find and explore the New World, or unravel the secrets of the Syrneth.  The ultimate goal is not something that should come about through a couple sessions of casual play; it should take months if not years of campaign time to happen, and even then it still might not come to pass.  Not every character will have or want an ultimate goal, and very few of those who have them ever achieve them, but those who do are the stuff legends are made of.

23. What, if anything, could make your character retire from the adventuring life?

  Sure, you don't want to think about it now, but sooner or later your eyes get blurry and your reflexes start to fail.  Or perhaps you've killed one too many hotheads in a duel and your heart is no longer in it.  One day will come when you're just not as good -- would you give up this life then, or press on?  What if you accomplish all your goals, save the day and rescue the girl, do you decide to retire and raise a family?  Again, not every hero wants to retire, not right away at least, and that day might be far away; then again, it might be much closer than you'd think.

24. What, if anything, could make your character turn from hero to villain?

  Darth Vader didn't start off as a man with scary black armor and a bad case of asthma; he was once the heroic Anakin Skywalker, before falling to the dark side.  A hero who becomes a villain is a definite rarity, and some would never want to turn that way, but it is an interesting thing to think about nonetheless.  Any hero with a hubris is a prime candidate; Macbeth was a great guy until Ambition got the better of him, Anakin was Hot-Headed and never listened to those people who knew better.  But, any hero could have his convictions turned around on him with the proper stimulus.  GMs need to tread carefully here and not do anything serious of this sort without Player permission, but think of the great story to be told.  And remember that an even better one than the fall of a hero is the redemption of a villain; just ask Vader.

25. If your character could choose, how would he die?

  I'm sure everyone wants to die at home in their bed, but this is a bit of a perilous occupation and that doesn't always happen.  One of the great things about 7th Sea is that random character death is so rare as to be nonexistent; knowing that a brute squad can't kill you or that failing that check to swing on the chandelier isn't instant doom is quite liberating and absolutely in the spirit of the game.  However, characters do sometimes die; but knowing how you want it to happen and planning it with the GM ahead of time can be one of the greatest experiences your campaign might have.  If you know that you want to die saving your sister and your friends from almost certain doom, keep a lookout for your opportunity.  When the time comes and you're standing in a burning building and the only entrance is blocked by that one-eyed kidnapping swordsman, you'll know just what to do and have the speech ready (making sure you can prepare your death speech ahead of time is another perk for going this route).  As with everything else here, this doesn't necessarily have to be something that you want to happen to your character, but at least giving the GM some heads up on how you would want it done can make for an awesome roleplaying story.

Final Word:  Refereeing munchkins, psychos, and/or angst-ridden basket cases is NOT my idea of fun - nor does it fit the swashbuckling genre.  But refereeing something that is just a bundle of stats and kneejerk reactions is even less fun and definitely not in the spirit of 7th Sea.  When fleshing out Characters, a little extra detail is always helpful - as with most things, provided it isn't taken to an extreme.

  '7th Sea' and 'Swashbuckling Adventures' © 2004 Alderac Entertainment Group.

 

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