"Avast me hearties!": 7th Sea RPG
Written: Jul 30 '05 (Updated Jul 30 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: You can recreate your favorite scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean
Cons: Game Master's guide is sold separately
The Bottom Line: A welcome break from the norm RPG system and setting.
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| maza's Full Review: Players Guide :7th Sea 1668 Books |
Product: 7th Sea Players Guide
Publisher: AEG
"I take you one at a time or all together ha-haa!"
(no, that's not a porn movie reference)
7th Sea is based on European Earth around the 16th and 17th century at the time of swashbucklers and adventure upon the high seas. The background is inviting and generalised giving an overview of the history, society and politics paralleling most of the European nations of that time and taking prominent elements from their histories.
Included in the source material is a timeline giving an event premise starting with their 'Roman Empire' and the arrival of the First Prophet who spoke of peace and love which gave birth to the prominent religion on the world called Theah. Upon his death he spoke of three other Prophets the last of which would proceed Armageddon which the Inquisition are now announcing that his appearance will be soon.
Many of us have seen and adored such films and books as the Three Musketeers, Princess Bride and not to mention the Crimson Pirate (slaps thigh just at the thought of the old classic) and the RPG society has lacked an adequate game that encapsulates the feel of the period. 7th Sea easily manages to brings to life not only the feel but also the taste and the splinters of wood from the chandelier you last swung upon. The book begins with a 'Primer' section that is aimed at beginner or inexperienced players to allow the rules to sink in and when expanded upon later in the book makes it easier to digest.
The next section deals with a brief outline of the major nations and history covering about two thousand years up to recent events. This 'Theah' section also covers Secret societies, magic and beasties. The 'Hero' chapter expands upon the Primer and lays out how to create a character. It covers the skills, background and advantages system vital to fully fleshing out hero. Next is the 'Drama' chapter which lays out the guts of the system. Those familiar with AEG's Legend of the Five Rings system will only require a quick skim through to apprise them of any minor rule changes. But to those who have not availed themselves of L5R game the rules are fairly simplistic working upon that a task has a target number and the player rolls his skill called 'knack's plus his related attribute dice together and only keeping the highest dice equal to the related attribute.
This part also covers the magic which is somewhat different to many games with magic in their systems. Magic directly relates to the heritage that you come from and the close ties to noble blood. Among the selection of swash bucklers and sea dogs the Players are given the option of playing a full blooded mage, which has maximum access to his abilities. A half bloodied mage which has limited access and twice blooded mage which is the same as two half blooded mages of different heritages. The last section is the 'Player' which is mainly for new player gamers, it covers how you can express yourself as a character and take on it's persona. There are a few odds and ends at the back of the book such as a useful glossary and a detailed diagram of a fifty foot Sloop for those who don't know what a stunsal is.
Overall the system is simple and fairly elegant emphasising on a fast flowing action packed game. The history and source material opens the eyes to the intrigues of court life as well as the rough and tumble of fending off pirates at sea. Giving the chance to play many a long hour in cloak and dagger stories as well as duelling epics.
The Players Guide is geared around new players. Experienced players might be frustrated a bit by the fact that parts of the book is repeated through out the entire Guide though the writers say that is by design. Also for such an expensive product it lacks a certain in-depth quality to it. Game Masters might balk a bit when they realise that they will have to shell out another £20 for the Gamemasters Guide to really run the game, for the Players Guide really doesn't have the all the rules necessary to run a game. With all that in mind does the game have a hookable quality that will get you coming back for more duels across bar room counters, yes I thinks so. I mean what games allow you to say "Avast me hearties" without getting withering looks from the GM.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
maza
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Member: Nick Maza
Location: Greece
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 14 members
About Me:
I live in Greece. I hate the summers.
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