– by Edmund
If you are reading this, then you have expressed some interest in my 7th Sea game. This, for what it's worth, is the campaign handout. It isn’t very organized – just thrown together more or less at random, but it should help you become familiar with the campaign, house rules, setting, timeline, and characters.
I am notorious for having really long campaign handouts, and this one is no exception. I have tried to keep all the highly relevant information, such as the most vital campaign information, character creation, and House Rules in the front, and have relegated all the less interesting stuff to Appendices in the back. Much of the stuff in the Appendices is a compilation of things that are scattered through a lot of the Sourcebooks (Advantages, Backgrounds, Skills), so that they are easier to find without having to leaf through a whole bunch of books.
Campaign
InformationBefore we go further, you need to realize that for the first four sessions that you attend, you are going to be on probation. What this means is that for the first four sessions the senior players (those people who are full members of the campaign, and have been there longer than you) can, by simple majority vote, agree that you shouldn’t be invited back. This should not be taken as a sign of hostility or distrust on anyone’s part, but it is a fact that some personalities just clash, and this provides a simple method for dealing with that potential. After four sessions if the senior players agree that you are acceptable then you become a senior member too. The hierarchy of the group is pretty simple, really.
My rules of conduct as a GM are pretty lax – if you are more than an hour late for a session you either need a good explanation or you get a Bad Kharma chip (see House Rules for more on Kharma). If you miss a session without either a) a really good excuse or b) giving me 24 hours notice, you also get a Bad Kharma chip. If you habitually exhibit inconsiderate, rude, combative, or impolite behavior then I will ask you to leave. If you, as a player, have an interpersonal problem with anyone in the group, you can bring it to me for advice and I will be supportive, but I will not just deal with it for you – I am happy to provide time for players to hash out such problems, but if you do not have the conviction to speak to another person about problems then I just assume that it isn’t enough of a problem for me to worry about.
My 7th Sea campaign is set in Castille, and is based on a couple of estancias owned by player characters in the hills around 30 miles north of San Cristobal. At the moment there are five characters in the campaign, all Castillan.
Lucas Lucani y Aldana – a swordsman and diplomat. Played by Shawn Connor.
Doña Constanza Esmeralda Mirian Aldana y Orduño de Altamira de Soldano – a swashbuckling sailor. Played by Sophie Lagacé.
Don Ferdinand Valiente de la Reina del Mar – a Castillan commoner who undertook to better himself. Played by Ken Grey.
Doña Sara Melisandre de Ramirez – Devoted chirurgeon and consummate lady. Played by Marce Connor.
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First and foremost, most of the characters should be Castillan. This means that they get the Castillan national Trait Bonus (+1 to finesse) and qualify for the lowered cost for the University advantage, or may purchase Castillan Education. Most character swordsmen will also have learned their trade in Castillan schools (at a cost of 25 points), but if you want to take a swordsman school from another nation, you may do so at a cost of 35 pts.
There is room in the campaign for two characters not of full Castillan blood. I will accept one character from any other nation of Théah, as long as the character has a good explanation as to why he or she lives in Castille now. This character may be a sorcerer or not – it doesn’t matter. I will also accept one character who is a "half-blooded" sorcerer (half Castillan, half some other nation). This character should take as his or her National Trait bonus the trait of their non-Castillan half (which makes them more interesting) but should purchase Advantages, Backgrounds, Skills, etc., at the Castillan cost. (For easy browsing, see also the lists on Revenant's 7th Sea Site or on Ian's Eclectic 7th Sea site, or the detailed summaries on Crystal Keep - 7th Sea RPG.)
When creating your initial character, build him or her on 106 pts, not 100. This is because some of the pre-existing characters have a fair bit of experience, and it's dull to be the weenie of the party forever. During the time that you are a "probationary" member of the group (i.e., the first four games) you can tinker with your character’s points (within reason – if your Montaigne swordsman morphs into an Ussuran berserker, you have assuredly gone too far in tinkering!).
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Before you actually put pencil to paper to create a character, you need to have a pretty clear idea about what sort of character you are going to be playing, and you need to spend some time with the current players, discussing possible connections between your character and the current group before you ever come up with stats and skills. This may seem like a bit of a drag, but it is far better to have some plausible connection to the party than to just be some guy who shows up and says "Hi! Hire me!" At your first official meeting with the group, I will schedule 30 minutes at the start of the session for you to talk with others about ideas you may have for your character and how he or she fits into the group. This is your opportunity to make a niche for yourself, and to develop connections with other members of the group. Make the most of it!
Below are a list of 21 questions that you should give some thought to. These questions do not need to be answered immediately, but should be answered – in writing – by the time you turn in the final, 106-pt version of your character (i.e., after four weeks of play). Turning this, and your "second hundred points" in gets you your very first blue Good Kharma chip.
No. 17 is the only one of the questions that I really want to comment on. The Vaticine Church is one of the most important social forces in Castille. While it is doubtless easy for players to look at the Inquisition and see the entire Church as an evil nemesis, bear in mind that most of the scientific and social innovations in Castille were brought about by the church as well.
It is always difficult to portray religious beliefs accurately in a role-playing game, particularly since most RPGers are not strongly religious, but in this particular case I would strongly urge each player to spend some time thinking about his or her relationship to the Church. Castille is a very devout land, and it is impossible to really play a Castillan well without an understanding of the character's relationship to the Vaticine Church.
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Credits: The rapier image was obtained from Elfe Noir - 7th Sea. Used without permission, no copyright challenge intended.