7th Sea - Revision history

imported>Administrator: 147 revisions imported

2023-06-17T15:13:44Z

147 revisions imported

← Older revision	Revision as of 15:13, 17 June 2023
(No difference)

1d4chan>SpectralTime: /* Rules System and Notable Changes */

2023-02-13T16:11:26Z

Rules System and Notable Changes

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:11, 13 February 2023
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	The original edition had some novel ideas for preventing [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP\| the traditional pitfalls of its system]], such as having advanced knacks be more expensive at character creation and cheaper afterwards, otherwise keeping similar pay-tables for purchasing later on, and having ''all'' five stats be important to combat, to prevent [[Dump stat\| picking one you don't care about and ignoring it to have more points to spend on the rest]]. It wasn't perfect, and it still had many built-in perverse incentives, but it was a damn sight better than anything that's ever used [[White Wolf\| the Storyteller system]].		The original edition had some novel ideas for preventing [[Linear Build Quadratic EXP\| the traditional pitfalls of its system]], such as having advanced knacks be more expensive at character creation and cheaper afterwards, otherwise keeping similar pay-tables for purchasing later on, and having ''all'' five stats be important to combat, to prevent [[Dump stat\| picking one you don't care about and ignoring it to have more points to spend on the rest]]. It wasn't perfect, and it still had many built-in perverse incentives, but it was a damn sight better than anything that's ever used [[White Wolf\| the Storyteller system]].

	Brawn was needed for making Wound checks and damage rolls (most weapons are melee weapons or don't ~~add typically add stat to~~ damage rolls, like firearms and bows, and even the rare exception, the Goodfellow archery school, still uses Brawn), Finesse governs all to-hit rolls, Resolve was needed for having a high pool of Dramatic Wounds and resisting Repartee, Fear, poison, and various mind-affecting sorceries, Wits was needed for all ''defense'' rolls and passive defenses, and Panache granted an action each round per point.		Brawn was needed for making Wound checks and damage rolls (most weapons are melee weapons or don't let stats affect damage rolls, like firearms and bows, and even the rare exception, the Goodfellow archery school, still uses Brawn), Finesse governs all to-hit rolls, Resolve was needed for having a high pool of Dramatic Wounds and resisting Repartee, Fear, poison, and various mind-affecting sorceries, Wits was needed for all ''defense'' rolls and passive defenses, and Panache granted an action each round per point.

	However, by far the biggest problem was the Drama Die system, whereby all XP-equivalents were earned at a very slow rate in a byzantine and confusing system, could be destroyed by enemy maneuvers, and were needed for extra dice on important rolls. And the GM gets a huge pool of them to fuck with the players each session, while the players' come back the honest way (read: hard and slow). Also, because you always roll stat + skill but keep stat, high stats break the game, and the system does tend to fall apart at high levels of play, while at low levels of play the cost of sorcery or a swordsman school in this supposed "swashbuckling and sorcery" setting were brutally high, particularly given how weak and useless many sorceries feel "out of the box," and the starting character points are ''very'' stingy, all-but forcing players to ignore the "positive" Arcana they had to spend points for and instead gain points by taking a "negative" Hubris, which the books, written from a bit of an old-school mindset, instruct the GM to exploit via that huge pool of free Drama Dice to fuck with the players constantly.		However, by far the biggest problem was the Drama Die system, whereby all XP-equivalents were earned at a very slow rate in a byzantine and confusing system, could be destroyed by enemy maneuvers, and were needed for extra dice on important rolls. And the GM gets a huge pool of them to fuck with the players each session, while the players' come back the honest way (read: hard and slow). Also, because you always roll stat + skill but keep stat, high stats break the game, and the system does tend to fall apart at high levels of play, while at low levels of play the cost of sorcery or a swordsman school in this supposed "swashbuckling and sorcery" setting were brutally high, particularly given how weak and useless many sorceries feel "out of the box," and the starting character points are ''very'' stingy, all-but forcing players to ignore the "positive" Arcana they had to spend points for and instead gain points by taking a "negative" Hubris, which the books, written from a bit of an old-school mindset, instruct the GM to exploit via that huge pool of free Drama Dice to fuck with the players constantly.

2A02:8108:49C0:A04:75BD:CF2:4711:C8EE: /* Avalon */

2022-11-12T15:11:33Z

Avalon

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:11, 12 November 2022
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	A mystical version of England. Dominated by Arthurian style knights and fae. The Knights of the Rose and Cross is a secret society based in Avalon and Montaigne, although they seem more inspired by Musketeers than Medieval knights. Their racial magic, gained from bargaining with the Sidhe rather than necessarily inherited from the powers of Legion, involves invoking personas of heroes from Avalon (''just'' Avalon, sorry El Vago fans). They don't even have to be dead first; there's an heroic NPC who's a "living legend" because of his incredible luck and fortune. Doing so offers different benefits depending on the legend in question.		A mystical version of England. Dominated by Arthurian style knights and fae. The Knights of the Rose and Cross is a secret society based in Avalon and Montaigne, although they seem more inspired by Musketeers than Medieval knights. Their racial magic, gained from bargaining with the Sidhe rather than necessarily inherited from the powers of Legion, involves invoking personas of heroes from Avalon (''just'' Avalon, sorry El Vago fans). They don't even have to be dead first; there's an heroic NPC who's a "living legend" because of his incredible luck and fortune. Doing so offers different benefits depending on the legend in question.

	There are also two other isles, Inismore (totally-not-Ireland) and the Highland Marches (totally-not-Scotland). All three are called Glamour Isles, and are in theory independent. In practice, both "Mad Jack" O'Bannon (boss of the Inismore, don't confuse him with Jack'O'Lantern, he doesn't have pumpkin head) and James MacDuff (first-among-equals of Highland Marches' clans) decided to follow Queen Elaine (chosen by the graal, descendant of sidhe, beautiful, and, if needed, incredible bitchy). Mostly for protection against Montaigne, and to honor the graal, fapping to her portrait is optional. Since they were lucky enough bastards to have their own island (and thus have no land borders with those Montaigne bastards), they put lots of effort into maintaining powerful navy. Namely, they hire anyone willing to attack any ship belonging to any nation they don't like (mostly ~~Monatigne~~). Land of fae, sidhe, legends and other silly stuff for kids.		There are also two other isles, Inismore (totally-not-Ireland) and the Highland Marches (totally-not-Scotland). All three are called Glamour Isles, and are in theory independent. In practice, both "Mad Jack" O'Bannon (boss of the Inismore, don't confuse him with Jack'O'Lantern, he doesn't have pumpkin head) and James MacDuff (first-among-equals of Highland Marches' clans) decided to follow Queen Elaine (chosen by the graal, descendant of sidhe, beautiful, and, if needed, incredible bitchy). Mostly for protection against Montaigne, and to honor the graal, fapping to her portrait is optional. Since they were lucky enough bastards to have their own island (and thus have no land borders with those Montaigne bastards), they put lots of effort into maintaining powerful navy. Namely, they hire anyone willing to attack any ship belonging to any nation they don't like (mostly Montaigne). Land of fae, sidhe, legends and other silly stuff for kids.

	They broke with the Vactine church for reasons you probably know if you know much about European history, and their rag-tag navy of privateers kickstarted Castille's ongoing woes by pub-stomping the fancy armada sent to punish them for it. Their other big metaplot involves the inevitable tragedy of Queen Elaine, who has sworn to love nothing more than Avalon itself, and is probably going to break that promise and shatter the connection between Avalon and the Sidhe for good (arguably a good thing), leave Avalon diminished and weakened forever (arguably a bad thing), remove Glamour as a force in the world (''indisputably'' a bad thing; it's the one sorcery that ''strengthens'' the Barrier with use), and leave the evil Sidhe plotting the whole thing behind (a mixed-bag, since unbeknownst to them it will ''also'' weaken them into things that can be easily killed and cut off their slayers from the rest of their kinds' vengeance).		They broke with the Vactine church for reasons you probably know if you know much about European history, and their rag-tag navy of privateers kickstarted Castille's ongoing woes by pub-stomping the fancy armada sent to punish them for it. Their other big metaplot involves the inevitable tragedy of Queen Elaine, who has sworn to love nothing more than Avalon itself, and is probably going to break that promise and shatter the connection between Avalon and the Sidhe for good (arguably a good thing), leave Avalon diminished and weakened forever (arguably a bad thing), remove Glamour as a force in the world (''indisputably'' a bad thing; it's the one sorcery that ''strengthens'' the Barrier with use), and leave the evil Sidhe plotting the whole thing behind (a mixed-bag, since unbeknownst to them it will ''also'' weaken them into things that can be easily killed and cut off their slayers from the rest of their kinds' vengeance).

24.68.164.8: /* Crescent Empire */ added some stuff about the coffee lore

2022-05-30T15:02:59Z

Crescent Empire: added some stuff about the coffee lore

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:02, 30 May 2022
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	===Crescent Empire===		===Crescent Empire===
			A !notMuslim Empire that owes it's wealth due to being the only place in the world that coffee beans can grow. So much so that in the Crescent Empire, things are valued based on how many coffee beans they could buy.

	Largely based on Turkey, but with a smattering of various Arabic and Persian influences as well. Mostly-despised and isolated for killing the Second Prophet and refusing to follow the same religion as the others, though the two are so similar to one another as to use the same Bibles. The supplement for this nation was largely intended for very high level characters as most everything will kill new players in no time at all.		Largely based on Turkey, but with a smattering of various Arabic and Persian influences as well. Mostly-despised and isolated for killing the Second Prophet and refusing to follow the same religion as the others, though the two are so similar to one another as to use the same Bibles. The supplement for this nation was largely intended for very high level characters as most everything will kill new players in no time at all.

1d4chan>Zimriel at 23:28, 11 August 2021

2021-08-11T23:28:28Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:28, 11 August 2021
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			'''7th Sea''' is an [[RPG]] of swashbuckling pirate action. Created by [[Alderac Entertainment Group]].

	~~'''7th Sea''' is an [[RPG]] of swashbuckling pirate action.~~ The setting is a fantasy version of early modern era/age of sailing time period Europe where magic users are born not made (in fact, the noble families are nobles because they can do magic shit like open portal from the point a to the point b or summon legendary popular culture characters), catholic church burns the witch and all the pirates seem to come from a bad movie adaptation of Stevenson's Treasure Island. Did I mention there's a [[Kharn]] version of Captain Hook who carries around a scythe that cuts like Wolverine's claws?		The setting is a fantasy version of early modern era/age of sailing time period Europe where magic users are born not made (in fact, the noble families are nobles because they can do magic shit like open portal from the point a to the point b or summon legendary popular culture characters), catholic church burns the witch and all the pirates seem to come from a bad movie adaptation of Stevenson's Treasure Island. Did I mention there's a [[Kharn]] version of Captain Hook who carries around a scythe that cuts like Wolverine's claws?

	==Edition History==		==Edition History==

1d4chan>SpectralTime: /* Castille */

2021-01-24T01:14:22Z

Castille

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:14, 24 January 2021
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	Spain simultaneously experiencing their post-armada-calamity malaise, one of their many wars of succession, and the Reconquista, save that they're hoping to reconquer their country from France rather than Muslims, whom they beat a while ago. The supplement highlights the nation, but also has large sections on the Vaticine Church (their version of the Vatican) and the nation's nearly-extinct racial fire magic. Instead of Sorcery, (though, unlike many examples of nearly extinct sorcery, El Fuego Adentro ''is'' available to player characters, if something to keep secret), Castillan characters and nobles get access to their nation's high-quality public education, which is nice, if not necessarily fair trade. The Los Vagos secret society is based out of Castille, a vigilante group somewhat akin to Zorro and somewhat akin to Anonymous who protect the king from the external threat of Montaigne and the internal threat of the rampant Inquisition by serving as a support network for the swashbuckling vigilante El Vago.		Spain simultaneously experiencing their post-armada-calamity malaise, one of their many wars of succession, and the Reconquista, save that they're hoping to reconquer their country from France rather than Muslims, whom they beat a while ago. The supplement highlights the nation, but also has large sections on the Vaticine Church (their version of the Vatican) and the nation's nearly-extinct racial fire magic. Instead of Sorcery, (though, unlike many examples of nearly extinct sorcery, El Fuego Adentro ''is'' available to player characters, if something to keep secret), Castillan characters and nobles get access to their nation's high-quality public education, which is nice, if not necessarily fair trade. The Los Vagos secret society is based out of Castille, a vigilante group somewhat akin to Zorro and somewhat akin to Anonymous who protect the king from the external threat of Montaigne and the internal threat of the rampant Inquisition by serving as a support network for the swashbuckling vigilante El Vago.

	A decent nation beset within and without by threats to its good-hearted and intelligent but woefully-inexperienced king, whose position is not helped by having one of his top advisers literally be the head of the Inquisition.		A decent nation beset within and without by threats to its good-hearted and intelligent but woefully-inexperienced king, whose position is not helped by having one of his top advisers literally be the head of the Inquisition. As of Second Edition, he has a twin sister who used to sub out with him sometimes, but the villains have her under house arrest.

	~~As of Second Edition, he has a twin sister who used to sub out with him sometimes, but the villains have her under house arrest.~~ While Castille's culture is kind, open, and even somewhat-accepting to outsiders, with a high standard of living thanks to the Church's advanced science and a culture of duty and proper conduct among the nobles, Montaigne's invasion and the rampant Inquisition are squeezing the country like a vice between them. In particular, the head of the Inquisition firmly believes the Fourth Prophet (who will usher in the end times) is right around the corner, and he and his literally-Cobra-masked henchmen need to save as many souls as possible by setting everyone on fire.		While Castille's culture is kind, open, and even somewhat-accepting to outsiders, with a high standard of living thanks to the Church's advanced science and a culture of duty and proper conduct among the nobles, Montaigne's invasion and the rampant Inquisition are squeezing the country like a vice between them. In particular, the head of the Inquisition firmly believes the Fourth Prophet (who will usher in the end times) is right around the corner, and he and his literally-Cobra-masked henchmen need to save as many souls as possible by setting everyone on fire.

	's a good job that there's a dashing, benevolent nobleman to serve as the king's other adviser to counterpoint him, and that dashing hero El Vago is there to foil his evil plans.		's a good job that there's a dashing, benevolent nobleman to serve as the king's other adviser to counterpoint him, and that dashing hero El Vago is there to foil his evil plans.

1d4chan>SpectralTime: /* Avalon */

2021-01-24T01:11:02Z

Avalon

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:11, 24 January 2021
Line 53:		Line 53:
	A mystical version of England. Dominated by Arthurian style knights and fae. The Knights of the Rose and Cross is a secret society based in Avalon and Montaigne, although they seem more inspired by Musketeers than Medieval knights. Their racial magic, gained from bargaining with the Sidhe rather than necessarily inherited from the powers of Legion, involves invoking personas of heroes from Avalon (''just'' Avalon, sorry El Vago fans). They don't even have to be dead first; there's an heroic NPC who's a "living legend" because of his incredible luck and fortune. Doing so offers different benefits depending on the legend in question.		A mystical version of England. Dominated by Arthurian style knights and fae. The Knights of the Rose and Cross is a secret society based in Avalon and Montaigne, although they seem more inspired by Musketeers than Medieval knights. Their racial magic, gained from bargaining with the Sidhe rather than necessarily inherited from the powers of Legion, involves invoking personas of heroes from Avalon (''just'' Avalon, sorry El Vago fans). They don't even have to be dead first; there's an heroic NPC who's a "living legend" because of his incredible luck and fortune. Doing so offers different benefits depending on the legend in question.

	There are also two other isles, Inismore (totally-not-Ireland) and Highland Marches (totally-not-Scotland). All three are called Glamour Isles, in theory independent. In practice, both "Mad Jack" O'Bannon (boss of the Inismore, don't confuse him with Jack'O'Lantern, he doesn't have pumpkin head) and James MacDuff (first-among-equals of Highland Marches' clans) decided to follow Queen Elaine (chosen by the graal, descendant of sidhe, beautiful, and, if needed, incredible bitchy). Mostly for protection against Montaigne, and to honor the graal, fapping to her portrait is optional. Since they were lucky enough bastards to have their own island (and thus have no land borders with those Montaigne bastards), they put lots of effort into maintaining powerful navy. Namely, they hire anyone willing to attack any ship belonging to any nation they don't like (mostly Monatigne). Land of fae, sidhe, legends and other silly stuff for kids.		There are also two other isles, Inismore (totally-not-Ireland) and the Highland Marches (totally-not-Scotland). All three are called Glamour Isles, and are in theory independent. In practice, both "Mad Jack" O'Bannon (boss of the Inismore, don't confuse him with Jack'O'Lantern, he doesn't have pumpkin head) and James MacDuff (first-among-equals of Highland Marches' clans) decided to follow Queen Elaine (chosen by the graal, descendant of sidhe, beautiful, and, if needed, incredible bitchy). Mostly for protection against Montaigne, and to honor the graal, fapping to her portrait is optional. Since they were lucky enough bastards to have their own island (and thus have no land borders with those Montaigne bastards), they put lots of effort into maintaining powerful navy. Namely, they hire anyone willing to attack any ship belonging to any nation they don't like (mostly Monatigne). Land of fae, sidhe, legends and other silly stuff for kids.

	They broke with the Vactine church for reasons you probably know if you know much about European history, and their rag-tag navy of privateers kickstarted Castille's ongoing woes by pub-stomping the fancy armada sent to punish them for it.		They broke with the Vactine church for reasons you probably know if you know much about European history, and their rag-tag navy of privateers kickstarted Castille's ongoing woes by pub-stomping the fancy armada sent to punish them for it. Their other big metaplot involves the inevitable tragedy of Queen Elaine, who has sworn to love nothing more than Avalon itself, and is probably going to break that promise and shatter the connection between Avalon and the Sidhe for good (arguably a good thing), leave Avalon diminished and weakened forever (arguably a bad thing), remove Glamour as a force in the world (''indisputably'' a bad thing; it's the one sorcery that ''strengthens'' the Barrier with use), and leave the evil Sidhe plotting the whole thing behind (a mixed-bag, since unbeknownst to them it will ''also'' weaken them into things that can be easily killed and cut off their slayers from the rest of their kinds' vengeance).

	Home of the Goodfellow archery school, also known as the only real reason for a PC to ever touch a bow, the Peeke school of staff-fighting, and the Donovan fencing school, which is the only school in the game to actually use the buckler half of swashbuckling. Also, them Inismore mates rival Ussurans in the "drunken boxing" discipline, even having a formal training system for it. The Highland Marches, naturally, focus on the use of the claymore, and on fucking shit up by going all-in on damage.		Home of the Goodfellow archery school, also known as the only real reason for a PC to ever touch a bow, the Peeke school of staff-fighting, and the Donovan fencing school, which is the only school in the game to actually use the buckler half of swashbuckling. Also, them Inismore mates rival Ussurans in the "drunken boxing" discipline, even having a formal training system for it. The Highland Marches, naturally, focus on the use of the claymore, and on fucking shit up by going all-in on damage.

1d4chan>SpectralTime: /* Others */

2021-01-23T19:16:44Z

Others

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:16, 23 January 2021
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	* '''The Vaticine Church''' used to be a super-cool version of Catholicism, 100% supporting scientific progress as "uncovering the puzzle of creation" and only trying to exterminate the kinds of magic that literally come from Hell and actively erode reality to let demons in. It has been led by three prophets at different points in its history, with a fourth prophet's arrival signifying the end of the world. Unfortunately, between the disappearance of the last Pope/Hierophant (whom Le Empereur ''totally'' didn't murder by literally pushing him down some stairs), the inability to pick a new one thanks to the disappearance of Montaigne's cardinals (whom Le Empereur ''definitely'' didn't have kidnapped so his nation would have no gods before him and sorcery), the disastrous Objectionist revolution, and the Sun King of Montaigne breaking away to proudly reveal that his nation still has its sorcery and intends to rule it forever as a nation of evil magic, their better elements have fallen on hard times. The current dominant power are a bunch of shitty hypocritical fuckwits called the Inquisition who're actively trying to kill all scientists, burn all books, and hasten the end of the world, with the other factions unable to unite to stop them as they undo the work of centuries in brief years. Their internal combat styles are the mostly-obsolete Rossini school of polearm fighting, used by the Hierophant's personal bodyguards, and the Swords of Solomon school that uses a weapon and shield to be a more effective bodyguard.		* '''The Vaticine Church''' used to be a super-cool version of Catholicism, 100% supporting scientific progress as "uncovering the puzzle of creation" and only trying to exterminate the kinds of magic that literally come from Hell and actively erode reality to let demons in. It has been led by three prophets at different points in its history, with a fourth prophet's arrival signifying the end of the world. Unfortunately, between the disappearance of the last Pope/Hierophant (whom Le Empereur ''totally'' didn't murder by literally pushing him down some stairs), the inability to pick a new one thanks to the disappearance of Montaigne's cardinals (whom Le Empereur ''definitely'' didn't have kidnapped so his nation would have no gods before him and sorcery), the disastrous Objectionist revolution, and the Sun King of Montaigne breaking away to proudly reveal that his nation still has its sorcery and intends to rule it forever as a nation of evil magic, their better elements have fallen on hard times. The current dominant power are a bunch of shitty hypocritical fuckwits called the Inquisition who're actively trying to kill all scientists, burn all books, and hasten the end of the world, with the other factions unable to unite to stop them as they undo the work of centuries in brief years. Their internal combat styles are the mostly-obsolete Rossini school of polearm fighting, used by the Hierophant's personal bodyguards, and the Swords of Solomon school that uses a weapon and shield to be a more effective bodyguard.
	* '''The Sidhe''' are eldritch horrors and sea-dwelling creatures. A.k.a. Fae, and not exactly the nice fairytale sort. Some of their kind were actually made playable in the Avalon sourcebook, which was expanded upon in ''The Sidhe Book of Nightmares'' supplement for the ''Swashbuckling Adventures'' label, this kind is mostly associated with (obviously) Avalon. They have a very large number of powerful, practical advantages out of the gate, but cannot gain drama dice, and thus, cannot ever gain XP or advance. There's a thick subplot about ancient wars between Sidhe and Syrneth, the latter being, so to say, more evil (and are most likely the walled-off evil with whom Bargainers dealt for the noble's magic.) But honestly, it is such a [[skub\| skubby]] mess of storytelling, much of which later writers abruptly dropped, that it is better left forgotten. They are hypocritical sadistic monsters who enjoy torturing, abusing, and generally parasitizing humanity, but the authors have a great deal of unearned sympathy for them and so we are supposed to as well. Notably, their tight ties to Avalon involve a great deal of intra-court politicking that we are supposed to be invested in, even though the only change from the eventual winner will be one of degree rather than kind. Also, the book outright instructs DMs to make them immortal and basically unbestable in contests of combat, so as to present players with challenges that need to be out-thought and otherwise beaten creatively, and to hunt down and slaughter or worse any PCs who don't play along and be good sports about them, but this has the unfortunate side effect of making the advantage and items meant to fight them practically useless and ensuring the race as a whole will forever be beyond the reach of justice.		* '''The Sidhe''' are eldritch horrors and sea-dwelling creatures. A.k.a. Fae, and not exactly the nice fairytale sort. Some of their kind were actually made playable in the Avalon sourcebook, which was expanded upon in ''The Sidhe Book of Nightmares'' supplement for the ''Swashbuckling Adventures'' label; this kind is mostly associated with (obviously) Avalon. They have a very large number of powerful, practical advantages out of the gate, but cannot gain drama dice, and thus, cannot ever gain XP or advance. There's a thick subplot about ancient wars between Sidhe and Syrneth, the latter being, so to say, more evil (and are most likely the walled-off evil with whom Bargainers dealt for the noble's magic.) But honestly, it is such a [[skub\| skubby]] mess of storytelling, much of which later writers abruptly dropped, that it is better left forgotten. They are hypocritical sadistic monsters who enjoy torturing, abusing, and generally parasitizing humanity, but the authors have a great deal of unearned sympathy for them and so we are supposed to as well. Notably, their tight ties to Avalon involve a great deal of intra-court politicking that we are supposed to be invested in, even though the only change from the eventual winner will be one of degree rather than kind. Also, the book outright instructs DMs to make them immortal and basically unbestable in contests of combat, so as to present players with challenges that need to be out-thought and otherwise beaten creatively, and to hunt down and slaughter or worse any PCs who don't play along and be good sports about them, but this has the unfortunate side effect of making the advantage and items meant to fight them practically useless and ensuring the race as a whole will forever be beyond the reach of justice.
	* '''Explorer's Society''' are an organization dedicated to the exploration of various uncharted territories of Theah, including the alien ruins of the weird precursor civilization. This may or may not be a terrifying and horrible idea, depending on how you feel about being chewed up by a [[Tomb of Horrors\| deathtrap of a dungeon]], only to hand over what turns out to be a primitive nuclear device to a mad scientist. Their two schools are the Shield Man, a combat school ''entirely'' focused on improvised weapons and quick thinking, and Syrneth Tinkering, a completely non-combat school with some school-based mechanics revolving around repairing, refuelling, and potentially even merging or recreating Syrneth devices.		* '''Explorer's Society''' are an organization dedicated to the exploration of various uncharted territories of Theah, including the alien ruins of the weird precursor civilization. This may or may not be a terrifying and horrible idea, depending on how you feel about being chewed up by a [[Tomb of Horrors\| deathtrap of a dungeon]], only to hand over what turns out to be a primitive nuclear device to a mad scientist. Their two schools are the Shield Man, a combat school ''entirely'' focused on improvised weapons and quick thinking, and Syrneth Tinkering, a completely non-combat school with some school-based mechanics revolving around repairing, refuelling, and potentially even merging or recreating Syrneth devices.
	* '''Sophia's Daughters''' are a secret society of prostitutes said to have more connections throughout the world then any other. Their sourcebook revealed them to actually be an entire society of Mary Sue half-sidhe women who are beautiful and immortal and have unique magical powers. One of those powers is ''literally'' the ability to tell whether a character is a Hero, Villain, Scoundrel, or Henchman, which is just as powerful as it sounds. Also has a broken-as-fuck assassination school that revolves almost entirely around the use of bodice-daggers to poison enemies who can't even notice you doing it. It was [[derp]]. They are in neck-deep with the Sidhe, and even unleashed the setting's equivalent of the Black Death for supposedly-justified reasons to prevent the destruction of the barrier, but just as the writers have a great deal of unearned sympathy for the Sidhe despite their being parasitic, sadistic, psychotic, hypocritical monsters, so too do they have sympathy for these, their human pawns, so we are also supposed to find ''them'' sympathetic. Admittedly, in a very Die Kreutzritter sort of way. Speaking of which...		* '''Sophia's Daughters''' are a secret society of prostitutes said to have more connections throughout the world then any other. Their sourcebook revealed them to actually be an entire society of Mary Sue half-sidhe women who are beautiful and immortal and have unique magical powers. One of those powers is ''literally'' the ability to tell whether a character is a Hero, Villain, Scoundrel, or Henchman, which is just as powerful as it sounds. Also has a broken-as-fuck assassination school that revolves almost entirely around the use of bodice-daggers to poison enemies who can't even notice you doing it. It was [[derp]]. They are in neck-deep with the Sidhe, and even unleashed the setting's equivalent of the Black Death for supposedly-justified reasons to prevent the destruction of the barrier, but just as the writers have a great deal of unearned sympathy for the Sidhe despite their being parasitic, sadistic, psychotic, hypocritical monsters, so too do they have sympathy for these, their human pawns, so we are also supposed to find ''them'' sympathetic. Admittedly, in a very Die Kreutzritter sort of way. Speaking of which...

1d4chan>SpectralTime: /* Others */

2021-01-23T19:14:49Z

Others

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:14, 23 January 2021
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	* '''Sophia's Daughters''' are a secret society of prostitutes said to have more connections throughout the world then any other. Their sourcebook revealed them to actually be an entire society of Mary Sue half-sidhe women who are beautiful and immortal and have unique magical powers. One of those powers is ''literally'' the ability to tell whether a character is a Hero, Villain, Scoundrel, or Henchman, which is just as powerful as it sounds. Also has a broken-as-fuck assassination school that revolves almost entirely around the use of bodice-daggers to poison enemies who can't even notice you doing it. It was [[derp]]. They are in neck-deep with the Sidhe, and even unleashed the setting's equivalent of the Black Death for supposedly-justified reasons to prevent the destruction of the barrier, but just as the writers have a great deal of unearned sympathy for the Sidhe despite their being parasitic, sadistic, psychotic, hypocritical monsters, so too do they have sympathy for these, their human pawns, so we are also supposed to find ''them'' sympathetic. Admittedly, in a very Die Kreutzritter sort of way. Speaking of which...		* '''Sophia's Daughters''' are a secret society of prostitutes said to have more connections throughout the world then any other. Their sourcebook revealed them to actually be an entire society of Mary Sue half-sidhe women who are beautiful and immortal and have unique magical powers. One of those powers is ''literally'' the ability to tell whether a character is a Hero, Villain, Scoundrel, or Henchman, which is just as powerful as it sounds. Also has a broken-as-fuck assassination school that revolves almost entirely around the use of bodice-daggers to poison enemies who can't even notice you doing it. It was [[derp]]. They are in neck-deep with the Sidhe, and even unleashed the setting's equivalent of the Black Death for supposedly-justified reasons to prevent the destruction of the barrier, but just as the writers have a great deal of unearned sympathy for the Sidhe despite their being parasitic, sadistic, psychotic, hypocritical monsters, so too do they have sympathy for these, their human pawns, so we are also supposed to find ''them'' sympathetic. Admittedly, in a very Die Kreutzritter sort of way. Speaking of which...
	* '''Die Kreutzritter''' are even more spoiler-tastic than most of the rest of these, but think Christian versions of the Hashishin/Nizari and you'll be in the right ballpark. Allegedly killed to a man centuries ago, they actually went underground, with the Hierophant's blessing, and operate as secretive assassins, spies, and guardians who always fake their own deaths before joining. They did this because they uncovered ancient precursor artifacts that allowed them to discover the Barrier, and sorcery's effect on it, leading them to abandon national ties and swear to defend all humanity. Use a special shadow magic that's super-potent and synergizes well with their school, but permanently marks users in a way that makes what they are obvious to everyone in the know, which is admittedly few. Are in a constant war not only against the forces of demonic corruption in the world, but with insane undead members of their own organization that have lost their humanity to shadow and are (currently) still trapped in the other dimension they access with their shadow powers. Their school is an awesome assassination school revolving around double-wielding stilettos and eventually causes them to gain a bulky Fear rating.		* '''Die Kreutzritter''' are even more spoiler-tastic than most of the rest of these, but think Christian versions of the Hashishin/Nizari and you'll be in the right ballpark. Allegedly killed to a man centuries ago, they actually went underground, with the Hierophant's blessing, and operate as secretive assassins, spies, and guardians who always fake their own deaths before joining. They did this because they uncovered ancient precursor artifacts that allowed them to discover the Barrier, and sorcery's effect on it, leading them to abandon national ties and swear to defend all humanity. Use a special shadow magic that's super-potent and synergizes well with their school, but permanently marks users in a way that makes what they are obvious to everyone in the know, which is admittedly few. Are in a constant war not only against the forces of demonic corruption in the world, but with insane undead members of their own organization that have lost their humanity to shadow and are (currently) still trapped in the other dimension they access with their shadow powers. Their school is an awesome assassination school revolving around double-wielding stilettos and eventually causes them to gain a bulky Fear rating.
	* '''The Knights of the Rose and Cross''' are a swashbuckling version of the Knights Templar, and the historical kind rather than the fictional kind. They're awesome, heroic people fighting the good fight against evil, and have the fewest skeletons in their closet compared to the rest. Unfortunately, one of them is that they are thoroughly penetrated by an evil super-duper secret society, though they are less of a catspaw than they could be since their Grandmaster has a conscience and they aren't very centralized. Their biggest secret is The Secret: that the Third Prophet the rest of Theah acknowledges is was a fraudster, and the ''true'' Third Prophet taught them mankind's inner power, which doesn't need sorcery. (This is ''barely'' a spoiler, an extremely cursory reading of the Player's Handbook makes it clear how much of an aberration the Third Prophet was~~, and~~ he helpfully founded the Inquisition, just in case you needed more convincing.) Unfortunately, their sword school is trash and most players can literally buy a better version of its master benefit as an advantage at character creation. And not an expensive one either.		* '''The Knights of the Rose and Cross''' are a swashbuckling version of the Knights Templar, and the historical kind rather than the fictional kind. They're awesome, heroic people fighting the good fight against evil, and have the fewest skeletons in their closet compared to the rest. Unfortunately, one of them is that they are thoroughly penetrated by an evil super-duper secret society, though they are less of a catspaw than they could be since their Grandmaster has a conscience and they aren't very centralized. Their biggest secret is The Secret: that the Third Prophet the rest of Theah acknowledges is was a fraudster, and the ''true'' Third Prophet taught them mankind's inner power, which doesn't need sorcery. (This is ''barely'' a spoiler; an extremely cursory reading of the Player's Handbook makes it clear how much of an aberration the Third Prophet was. And he helpfully founded the Inquisition, just in case you needed more convincing.) Unfortunately, their sword school is trash and most players can literally buy a better version of its master benefit as an advantage at character creation. And not an expensive one either.
	* '''El Vagos''' are a support network for Castille's home-grown local hero, El Vago, that dashing Zorro wearing a Spanish-styled ''V for Vendetta'' mask, one with growing reach across Theah. Founded to counteract the dark forces of Montaigne and the Inquisition, they are easily the most benign of all secret societies here, using heroic means to heroic ends. While their founder and the original El Vago is indeed that dashing nobleman from the Castille section, hitting high enough rank reveals the spoiler that there's actually many members who wear the mask of El Vago at different times, letting all of them maintain plausible deniability and also adding to his mythical aura. Unfortunately, most modern compilation-album character-building documents just flop that one out there for all to see, so it's one of the more-well-known spoilers. Their internal school, El Punal Occulto, revolves around the use of a fencing weapon and a spring-loaded hidden knife in the hilt or the off-hand, for wince-inducing pommel strikes.		* '''El Vagos''' are a support network for Castille's home-grown local hero, El Vago, that dashing Zorro wearing a Spanish-styled ''V for Vendetta'' mask, one with growing reach across Theah. Founded to counteract the dark forces of Montaigne and the Inquisition, they are easily the most benign of all secret societies here, using heroic means to heroic ends. While their founder and the original El Vago is indeed that dashing nobleman from the Castille section, hitting high enough rank reveals the spoiler that there's actually many members who wear the mask of El Vago at different times, letting all of them maintain plausible deniability and also adding to his mythical aura. Unfortunately, most modern compilation-album character-building documents just flop that one out there for all to see, so it's one of the more-well-known spoilers. Their internal school, El Punal Occulto, revolves around the use of a fencing weapon and a spring-loaded hidden knife in the hilt or the off-hand, for wince-inducing pommel strikes.
	* '''The Rilasciare''' are anachronistic anarchists and pro-democrats who want to make away with the social order and free the peasantry from the shackles of the nobility. Depending on who's writing them at the moment they're either a bunch of bomb-throwing idiot stereotypes or a valiant, ancient order who knows more than all of the rest of them. Either way, they were the ones who exterminated Zerstrong for good, and more power to them for taking out ''that'' trash. Their Vipera ex Morsi fighting style is a perfectly-good assassination double-stiletto school in a crowded market, with a focus on building up penalties even on missed shots and dirty fighting.		* '''The Rilasciare''' are anachronistic anarchists and pro-democrats who want to make away with the social order and free the peasantry from the shackles of the nobility. Depending on who's writing them at the moment they're either a bunch of bomb-throwing idiot stereotypes or a valiant, ancient order who knows more than all of the rest of them. Either way, they were the ones who exterminated Zerstrong for good, and more power to them for taking out ''that'' trash. Their Vipera ex Morsi fighting style is a perfectly-good assassination double-stiletto school in a crowded market, with a focus on building up penalties even on missed shots and dirty fighting.

1d4chan>SpectralTime: /* Others */

2020-10-18T14:36:27Z

Others

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:36, 18 October 2020
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	* '''The Invisible College''' is made up of adventurer scientists out to save science from the clutches of the Inquisition by being generally awesome. Unfortunately, they are thoroughly penetrated by an evil super-duper secret society using them for their own ends, one of which is the horrific pursuit of Blood Alchemy. They teach the Bonita fencing school, which emphasizes defense and escape rather than actually winning fights.		* '''The Invisible College''' is made up of adventurer scientists out to save science from the clutches of the Inquisition by being generally awesome. Unfortunately, they are thoroughly penetrated by an evil super-duper secret society using them for their own ends, one of which is the horrific pursuit of Blood Alchemy. They teach the Bonita fencing school, which emphasizes defense and escape rather than actually winning fights.
	* '''The Swordsman's Guild''' is an organization dedicated to the finer points of dueling and swordsmanship across all nations. They keep all the different swordmasters in all the different national styles from losing all their accumulated knowledge in a frenzy of honor-duels for rank via a few basic common-sense regulations. Many schools offer the non-zero benefit of free membership, those which don't must buy it as an advantage to gain membership. And it ''is'' a non-zero benefit; having that pin marks you as a man to respect and fear across the continent.		* '''The Swordsman's Guild''' is an organization dedicated to the finer points of dueling and swordsmanship across all nations. They keep all the different swordmasters in all the different national styles from losing all their accumulated knowledge in a frenzy of honor-duels for rank via a few basic common-sense regulations. Many schools offer the non-zero benefit of free membership, those which don't must buy it as an advantage to gain membership. And it ''is'' a non-zero benefit; having that pin marks you as a man to respect and fear across the continent.
	* '''Novus Ordo Mundi''' do not exist, aren't an Illuminati whose leadership is entirely composed of a council of the most-powerful and morally-warped supervillains of each nation and most secret societies, don't secretly run or at least have a hand in the better part of the world, corrupting and polluting all good things they touch in an effort to buttress and secure their own power as they grab always for more, and I wouldn't worry about it. Also, they ''definitely'' don't have the best knife-based assassination school in the game, surpassing even the Mortis school of Die Kreuzritter, at their disposal as the exclusive privilege of the greatest assassin in the world and a few of his most-trusted protegees who all do their bidding and mostly try to stop them murdering each other. That'd be pants-shittingly scary.		* '''Novus Ordo Mundi''' or '''NOM''' do not exist, aren't an Illuminati whose leadership is entirely composed of a council of the most-powerful and morally-warped supervillains of each nation and most secret societies, don't secretly run or at least have a hand in the better part of the world, corrupting and polluting all good things they touch in an effort to buttress and secure their own power as they grab always for more, and I wouldn't worry about it. They aren't in any of the resources intended for players, and definitely aren't mentioned exclusively in GM-only sections. Also, they ''definitely'' don't have the best knife-based assassination school in the game, surpassing even the Mortis school of Die Kreuzritter, at their disposal as the exclusive privilege of the greatest assassin in the world and a few of his most-trusted protegees who all do their bidding and mostly try to stop them murdering each other. That'd be pants-shittingly scary.

	==Collectible Card Game==		==Collectible Card Game==