Good and Bad Kharma is awarded by the GM to PLAYERS, not to their characters, for doing good or bad stuff. Examples of behavior that warrants Good Kharma include making dinner for the group (it doesn’t have to be steak and lobster), buying some neat props for the group, doing up a nice piece of 7th Sea art that depicts some scene from the campaign, or other creative things that make the game more enjoyable and vibrant. Examples of things that warrant Bad Kharma include not showing up for games without good reason and not giving a warning, habitually arguing, getting caught cheating on your dice rolls, and generally being a poor sport and/or a pain in the ass. All players start with one point of Good Kharma just for deciding to join the campaign. In this campaign Good Kharmais represented by blue poker chips, and Bad Kharma is represented by red poker chips.
Spending a point of Good Kharma allows you to save the life of your own character or an NPC, no matter how horrible the situation (short of those in which the GM specifies you can’t – encounters with very powerful Sidhe Lords, Ten Second Beetle venom, Syrneth, or powerful minions of Legion being notable exceptions that I can come up with off the top of my head). Yep, if a player character or NPC falls overboard in the middle of the Frothing Sea and disappears from view, you may spend a Blue Karma point to save that character from certain death. If you have one.
Bad Kharma works differently. When you have a Bad Kharma point sitting in front of you, the GM (me) can, at any time, declare any single action taken by your character to be a failure. No fuss, no muss, no argument – you fail. And the GM (me) gets to decide WHEN to use that Bad Kharma point. This might make your character a little nervous when swinging over flaming pits and the like.
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I give out one Drama Die at the beginning of every session in lieu of experience. Drama dice may, of course, be converted into Experience Points at the end of an adventure. I also give out an Experience Point award at the end of each adventure. Unless otherwise specified, experience may ONLY be spent between adventures. Drama Dice are represented in this campaign by white poker chips.
While we are on the subject of Drama Dice here are a couple of clarifications and a new rule. A Drama die allows you to give your roll an extra kept die, but that die does not necessarily have to be the Drama Die. For example, if your character rolled a 4k3 die roll and rolled "8","6", "4", "3" and then rolled a Drama Die and rolled a "1" then the die roll would become a 5k4, and the player could keep the highest 4.
You can also spend a Drama die on an initiative roll. This will give you one extra kept die roll on your Initiative, just as if you had increased your Panache by 1 pt.
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Everyone likes to be the star, but it just is not possible for every player to be the star all the time. Sometimes you have to step back and give someone else a shot at the limelight. To help facilitate this, I list the dramatis personae for each of my adventures.
At the start of each game I try to put the name of the adventure up on the dry-erase board, and along with it I list who is starring in the adventure, who is co-starring, and who has a somewhat important, but non-essential role. Definitions of the categories are as follows:
STARRING – the character or characters in this role are center stage. The plot of the moment revolves around them, and likely features one or more of their backgrounds. In cases where the backgrounds of several characters are featured, those with the most importance to the plot are listed in the starring role.
CO-STARRING – the character or characters in this role are important supporting actors, and likely have sub-plots in their own right written into the storyline for this adventure. In cases where a less important Background or story element is part of the plot, then the character will be listed in the co-starring role.
WITH – characters have some sort of plot element, background, or storyline that may or may not appear in the story, or which appears only in a tangential role. Characters with particularly high level Backgrounds (3-4 pts) may be listed here if their Background appears only briefly, or in a situation in which it is not particularly threatening.
These listings should help the players figure out where they are, and what they should be doing during a particular adventure. If you are listed in a starring role, well – you should star! The plot revolves around you, and will likely be driven by you, and it is almost certain that only you can bring it to a successful conclusion. On the other hand, if there are those in co-starring roles (or even other stars) you should be aware that they have their own important plotlines and give them time to shine as well.
If you are a co-star or a "with" your role in the scenario is a lesser one. You should still be prepared for some time in the limelight (or on the hot seat as it may be) but your role in the plot will, to some extent, be overshadowed by the star.
If you are NOT listed in the credits, you are a supporting actor in this adventure. That does not mean that you should just sit there, however – role-playing is interactive, and your input and activities are as welcome as anyone else's. At the same time, you need to be aware that there are no big developments for your character written into the plot, and you should be aware that just as in theater or movies, your role is to help the star achieve his or her goals. This doesn’t mean you have to be a lump – it doesn’t even mean that you have to totally subordinate yourself to the other player. It DOES mean that the current plot revolves around them, and not you. But not to worry – your turn will come!
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Firearms are really inaccurate in this game - so much so that they seem to be rather useless. That's why this House Rule was invented.
Characters may aim for a number of actions equal to their Panache. Each action spent aiming gives the character one free Raise.
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I normally don't worry much about how much a character is carrying at any particular time, but I was asked for some hard and fast rules for how many firearms a character can carry, so here it is.
For each point of Brawn a character may carry one of the following:
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I have been puzzling over the difference (or lack thereof) between brawling and swordfighting in 7th Sea. I wanted there to be a difference between hitting someone with your fist and hitting someone with your sabre. On the other hand, I didn't want to complicate the game system any more than I was already complicating the game system. Here's what I came up with - I hope it works.
Nonlethal combat comprises all of those pugilistic arts such as brawling, wrestling, improvised weapon, etc. (Dirty Fighting, however, IS a lethal form of combat). The rules for giving and taking damage in non-lethal combat are as follows:
Against Brute Squads: To knock out, rather than kill, Brutes, a character has to declare one raise to do non-lethal damage. Other raises can be added as normal to take out more than one Brute. For example: Don Ramon faces a Brute Squad and takes three raises, declaring one of the raises to be used for non-lethal damage; if his attack succeeds, he will knock a total of three Brutes unconscious.
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This optional rule adds some complexity and color to Dramatic Wounds, at the cost of slowing down combat somewhat.Whenever a character takes a Dramatic Wound (not a Flesh Wound) roll on the following table to see where the character is hit. Each location has a specific effect, and the effects of multiple hits on a single location are cumulative.
One major benefit of this particular rule is that it adds some additional incentive to take called shots.
Location vs. Number of Raises required:
| Die Roll [Melee] |
Die Roll [Ranged] |
Location | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Right Leg | -1 die to defensive knacks against from right-handed attacks, or to any use of Footwork, running, etc. |
|
|
|
Left Leg | -1 die to defensive knacks against from left-handed attacks or to any use of Footwork, running, etc. |
|
|
|
Torso | No attack on next action - active defense only. |
|
|
|
Right Arm | -1 die to actions using that limb (including attack rolls if the character is right-handed) |
|
|
|
Left Arm | -1 die to actions using that limb (including attack rolls if the character is left-handed) |
|
|
|
Head | Roll on head chart |
| Die Roll | Location | Effect |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Top of Head | Disoriented. Roll Resolve against a TN equal to the number of flesh wounds caused by the attack which caused the Dramatic Wound. Success=no effect. Failure = lose any special techniques from your school and advanced weapons maneuvers.. |
|
|
Eyes | -1 die to all actions for 1d10 rounds due to blood getting in eyes. |
|
|
Cheeks/mouth | This dramatic injury may not be healed by Surgery – it must be healed by Dentistry. |
|
|
Forehead | Must go on full defense for one turn. |
|
|
Temple | Roll Resolve against a TN equal to the number of flesh wounds caused by the attack which caused the Dramatic Wound. Success=no effect. Failure = Knocked Out. |
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First Aid: In addition to its existing application to heal Flesh Wounds, First Aid can be used with a TN of 5 + 5 x number of Dramatic Wounds taken to gain one of two effects: 1) Crippled character can ignore the effects of being Crippled for one scene, or 2) Knocked Out character can ignore the effect of being Knocked Out for one scene. If the character takes a new Dramatic Wound, the effect of the First Aid is cancelled immediately.
Surgery: Base TN for a Surgery check is 15 to heal one Dramatic
Wound. The TN goes up by 10 for each additional wound healed, unless
a Diagnosis check (TN = 5 + 5 x number of Dramatic Wounds) is made, in which
case the TN increases by 5 for every additional Dramatic Wound healed.
Surgery always incapacitates the victim, I mean patient, for one day (although
a surgeon can perform multiple surgeries in a single day - maybe a number
of times equal to Resolve).
If you're wondering what the official rules say, here it is:
Surgery: Make a Wits + Surgery roll; the TN is 10 x total number of Dramatic Wounds; a successful Diagnosis roll reduces this TN to 5 x the patient's DW total. Success heals one DW plus one for every two Raises the doctor makes.
In other words, the higher your Resolve, the more DW you took, the harder it was to heal even one single wound. With the new house rules, healing a single wound is always 15, etc., no matter how many you took. In addition, it takes less raises.
Example: Say Bob the Swordsman (from the Generic School) has a Resolve
of 3 and was Incapacitated. Assuming the doctor's Diagnosis roll was
successful, under the old rules the TN to heal Bob completely would have
been 6x5 + 10x5 = 80. Under the new rules it is now 15 + 5x5 = 40.
And to get Bob a single DW back, so he can walk away from the scene (e.g.,
the party is holed up somewhere recuperating while the enemy is also regrouping,
and Bob has to be moved before the Inquisition discovers the party's hideout)
would have been 30, now it's 15. Isn't that nicer?
Surgery is not instant. It requires a full day to undergo surgery, though a doctor can perform multiple surgeries in a single day (getting drunk enough to have the doctor cut you open, then recovering from that, takes at least a day). Recovery of Dramatic Wounds is not instant either, or at least it is not automatically instant. The default healing rate is now one Dramatic Wound per location is healed per week by successful surgery.
Example: Fred the Avalon gets carved up in a fight, and has taken three Dramatic Wounds to his right arm and one to his head (see Hit Locations). He goes to Wilma the surgeon, and she decides that she will try to heal three of his Dramatic Wounds - two on his arm, and one on his head. She succeeds at her roll. At the end of one week, Fred will heal one wound on his arm, and one on his head. A week later the second wound on his arm will heal.
It is possible to speed up the process by taking Raises to your attempt at Surgery. For one Raise, Dramatic Wounds will heal at the rate of one per location per day instead of one per location per week. For two Raises any Dramatic Wounds healed will return after one day (a day after surgery you are fixed up). Remember that Surgery can only be performed once per act.
One added benefit of surgery is that you are no longer considered to be
Knocked Out after surgery has been performed on you - you can putz around
even if you are suffering from more than twice your Resolve in Dramatic Wounds.
However, if you take a single Dramatic Wound in combat you will be Knocked
Out - and then of course you will naturally be pretty close to being dead.
OK, OK, I admit it - I put this one in here entirely because I really dislike the way that Surgery is used as a "Cure Light Wounds" spell in this game. Surgery wasn't THAT advanced even assuming that you give Theans a 200 year jump on the real world of that time period. Note that the new Surgery rules have been developed in conjunction with the new Hit Location rules.
An unsuccessful surgery roll can leave you worse off than you were before. If a doctor fails a surgery roll, then make a second diagnosis and surgery roll using the same number of wounds as the first. If the second surgery roll succeeds, there are no ill effects - the doctor simply didn't make you any better. If the second surgery roll fails, however, there are two effects. First, the character suffers an additional Dramatic Wound unlessthis would kill the character in which case it is ignored. Second, roll on the following table.
June 5, 2003
Players are now allowed to spend their own Drama dice on Surgery rolls that affect them. In other words, if Sara de Grijalva, Queen of the Castilles, is performing surgery on Don Lucas Aldana, then Shawn can spend some of his own Drama Dice to help Marce with her roll.
From a roleplaying standpoint it can include will to live, grit, general toughness and resistance to shock, etc. From a player standpoint it keeps the doctor from having to accept less experience per adventure because the players are now able to spend their own drama dice to give a boost to what's really only a direct benefit to their own characters. This also allow PCs to visit city or town doctors, have the GM set a skill level for the doctor, and then the PCs can spend drama dice for success if the NPC doctor doesn't make his roll - less deus ex machina, since the GM won't have to decide whether or not to 'allow' PCs to heal with an in-town doctor. The drama die expenditure in toto for the party remains the same, it might even increase, but they would be spent by the people who gain from them rather than by the one person who decided to take doctor skills for the party's benefit. [Rule suggested by Shawn Connor.]
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OK, OK – I hear you. Here are my quick and dirty rules for cover.
There are three levels of cover – light, medium, and heavy. Only light and medium cover apply to hand-to-hand combat (I might make an exception if two characters are standing on opposite sides of an arrow slit in a stone wall trying to poke one another, but I think that will be pretty infrequent). Note that cover must be particularly substantial in order to stop such things as cannon balls. Firearms count cover as one level less than it actually is under most circumstances due to the high likelihood of the ball actually penetrating the object.
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Yeah, yeah – I hear you again.
This is a change to the rules as stated in the book. When you purchase a new skill package with experience points, you MAY add levels in knacks that you already have to your current knacks.
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From now on, using an Active Defence Knack out of sequence (e.g., "Abort
to dodge") costs only your next action, not two actions as in the original
rules.
Parry is the universal Active Defense knack. Although other defense knacks are still used for determining Passive defense under appropriate circumstances (e.g. "Balance" while aboard a ship) and may still be used for Active Defense, Parry may now be used for Active Defense under any applicable circumstances (i.e., in melee).
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The TN for a resolve roll against a Fear effect is now 5 + (5*Fear rating). For example, when facing a creature with a Fear rating of 1, the TN of the Resolve roll is now 10, not 5. This is done primarily so that certain Arcana which give characters a Fear rating of 1 aren't completely USELESS!
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Just for clarification purposes, here are the skills that are used with various aspects of the Witty Repartee table
| Action | Trait + Skill used | TN | Trait + Skill defense | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charm | Wits+Oratory/Seduction | 5 x Target's Wits | Wits+Oratory/Seduction | When successes = Target’s resolve, target is convinced. Failure = Target not convinced, no further Charm attempts possible. |
| Intimidate | Resolve + Fear rating (+ bonus for being Large if applicable) | 5 x Target's Resolve | Resolve + Fear rating (+bonus for being Large if applicable) | When target acts against you there is a penalty of 1 unkept die +1 additional unkept die for every raise you made. This lasts until the end of the scene. |
| Taunt | Panache + Sincerity | 5 x Target's Panache | Panache + Etiquette | Target must take one raise to act against the character, +1 additional raise for every raise the character made. |
| Busking | (Performer Knack) + (Applicable Trait) | 5 x Target's Resolve | N/A | Increase money received from your performance. Take = (Successful check – TN) in cents. One check per hour. |
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This is a reprint of the Reputation rules, along with some expansions on how Reputation dice are used.
Reputation points allow you to have a pool of Reputation dice equal to (Reputation Points/10 round down). This pool is replenished at the end of every adventure. In this campaign Reputation dice will be represented by gold poker chips.
Reputation dice may be used to perform the following actions.
| Action | TN | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Major Aid |
|
Gain major aid from one neutral or allied NPC for one scene |
| Minor Aid |
|
Gain minor aid from one neutral or allied NPC for one scene |
| Witty Repartie |
|
Reputation dice may be added (rolled, not kept) to any use of the Witty Repartee system, either offensively or defensively. |
| Martyr |
|
Gain one ally (a formerly neutral or allied NPC) who will risk their life for your cause if need be. |
| Recognition |
|
You are recognized by a formerly unknown NPC you have chosen |
| Rescue |
|
NPC allies will work for your freedom or escape from imprisonment |
In addition, Reputation has the following effects:
Higher Wages: for every Reputation Point, increase your monthly income by 1%.
Patron: For every 25 pts of Reputation (round down) your
character acquires a Patron (or improves that Patron if you already have one)
| Reputation | Patron donation |
|---|---|
|
|
10 Guilders/Month |
|
|
20 Guilders/Month |
|
|
40 Guilders/Month |
|
|
80 Guilders/Month |
|
|
40 Guilders/Week |
Hangers On – When the character reaches 50 pts of reputation, he or she acquires a following of fans who begin approaching for aid, money, one-night stands, and other favors they have no reason or right to expect.
Citation – When the character reaches 75 pts he or she receives a citation of some sort (in the case of several of the PCs this is the right to wear the badge of the King’s Men openly – the character is now famous enough to get away with it).
Menace – at 100 Reputation Points the character is now powerful enough that he or she has attracted the personal attention of the likes of Giovanni Villanova and Reis. Such individuals begin devoting time and resources to your capture and ultimate horrible demise.
Membership – at 125 Reputation Points your fame has reached the level where you are offered membership in the Secret Society of your choice.
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The drama die spent on activating a Sorcery Knack can be applied to the magic roll, e.g., for changing form in Pyeryem.
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All right, it's time to end this "move anywhere, do anything" problem.
In a single action, characters can move a distance equal to their Panache*Finesse in hexes and still perform an action. If all you want to do is move then it's [(Panache*Finesse)*2] in hexes. If you want to move further then make a Brawn + Sprinting roll against a TN of 15. If you succeed then you move one extra hex +1 extra hex for each raise you take.
Any action that requires manipulation of some object counts as an action for purposes of your move. Drawing a weapon counts as an action. Picking up a rock counts as an action. Opening a door counts as an action. However, you may divide up your move any way that you please. For example, a character with a move of 6 who wants to pick up a rock can move three hexes to where the rock is, pick up the rock, then move three more hexes. Also, when picking up objects you can pick up two as a single action as long as they are in the same place (in the example above the character could pick up two rocks, as long as there were two rocks reasonably close to pick up).
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This is where new Skills and Knacks are described.
Basic Knacks:
Attack (Quarterstaff), Parry (Quarterstaff)
Advanced Knacks:
Disarm (as the Fencing Advanced Maneuver)
A quarterstaff counts as a heavy weapon (that is, it requires two hands to use) but does 2k2 rather than 3k2. However, you gain +1 unkept die when parrying with a quarterstaff.
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For many-on-one actions or skill rolls where many characters share the Knack and can assist, the player with the best Trait+Knack value makes his roll, and every other character who has the Knack rolls one die which can be used as an unkept die by the main character. That way, the players assisting can feel they make a contribution! [Rule suggested by Marce Connor.]
Example: A Wits+Rigging check is needed. Roberto rolls for his 3 Wits + 2 Rigging, and obtains 5, 4, 4, 3, 3 (rather sucky roll). Francesca also has the skill but at a lower level, so she rolls one die, a 9, to help with the rigging work. Roberto can then keep a total of 9+5+4 = 18.
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At the beginning of each Act, every character with the Leadership Knack can roll against at TN of 15. If s/he succeeds, s/he receives one Leadership Die plus one per raise called on the roll. Leadership Dice can be given to other players as additional unkept dice for a particular roll. The character who obtained the Leadership Dice cannot use them for his or her own rolls. Other players asking for Leadership Dice are automatically denied, although a player can nominate other people's characters. A leader (the character whose player made the roll) can give up to his Leadership rank in Leadership Dice on a specific roll.
For example, a character with a Leadership of 2 can give up to two additional unkept dice to another character for a given roll. Leadership Dice not used by the end of the Act simply go away.
Each character possessing the Leadership Knack can roll separately, and use the Leadership Dice thus obtained at her or his discretion.
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Note: Houserules © Edmund Metheny, 1999-2004. The picture is from the graphic novel seriesFanfan la Tulipe, written by Jean Sanitas, and illustrated by Christian Gaty and Lucien Nortier. Obtained from the unofficial Pif Gadget site by Denis Goulet. Used without permission, no copyright challenge intended. God, I miss those good old series. The Leadership rules are inspired by the Xcrawl Mojo rules. Xcrawl is © 2002 Pandahead Productions.
