Ex Stasis Games

I FINALLY FOUND MY 7^th Sea PDFs! First edition is one of my favourite games, and I have spent years convinced the rewards for second edition came through Drivethru RPG, and wondering why they weren’t in my library. They were in Backerkit all along.

Making one character isn’t going to be enough, I’m going to lose days diving into nation books and all the expansions. But I’m going to start small, and make a lil’ guy using only the core book.

7^th Sea is a classic. The first edition’s from 1999, and I think I started playing it in 2000, or thereabouts. I’ve played it in standard groups. I’ve played it online. I’ve played by post. I’ve played by email. I have so much first edition lore in my head I’m going to get really confused by the updated setting, because I read 2e when it was released, then never picked it up again, despite backing Studio Agate’s full length campaign a while back. I’m so freaking ready.

I cannot assess this game objectively. I just want to go back to Theah, a world that is (or was) incredibly close to 17^th century Earth with some of the names changed and a splash of magic. I’ll let the book’s introduction explain it, for those unfamiliar:

“This is Theah in 1668 AV (Anno Veritas)! This book gives you all the information you need to tell stories of swashbuckling, sorcery, intrigue, romance and adventure! Get ready to enter a world of piracy, diplomacy, archaeology and exploration. It’s a world of musketeers, buccaneers and privateers, ancient sorcery and lost civilizations, secrets that hide in the shadows and monsters that hide in plain sight.”

Let’s Do This

There are so many ways to play 7^th Sea, from pirates living their best lives, free from the shackles of landlocked society, to noble intrigue and diplomacy, to archaeology and exploration, and romance and revenge. Honestly, the piracy aspect’s front and centre, but it’s never been my favourite part, so I’m going to lean hard into the other elements for this character.

The setting’s a major part of this game. Characters are from somewhere, and the place they were raised, and the place they’re loyal to now, shapes them. So before I start character creation properly, I’m going to need to do some reading. Oh no. Poor me.

Some interesting things have happened in the setting since first edition: Castille and Montaigne (Spain and France) are no longer at war, and Eisen (Germany) which was always a war-ravaged nation of horrors is… more so. The Sarmatian Commonwealth is an entirely new nation which, based on position and naming, looks like Poland and the Baltics (Google confirms it’s the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Neat!). I’m going to look closely at Montaigne (which is presumably closer than ever to its revolution), Eisen, and the Commonwealth for character inspiration.

Eisen is now monster-infested and fully gothic horror. It’s a brilliant place to play and I might set a game here, but it’s not hitting my desire for a glamorous, rakish character. I’ll pass over it for now.

Montaigne may, now the war is over, be a little further from its social tipping point, but it’s still close. I’m going to pass it by this time, because I’m made an unreasonable number of Montaigne characters in the past.

The Sarmatian Commonwealth is startlingly progressive and democratic: it’s even got a constitutional monarchy! It’s almost utopian and I don’t know what to do with this. I shall keep looking.

It turns out Vestenmannavnjar’s gotten interesting, too. This used to be both the Low Countries merchant empire, and a strange stub of Viking culture. It still is, but the two are much more harmonious now. “Two sides of the same coin”, in fact (literally, both groups are represented on the currency). This… sounds like an interesting space to play in.

So I’m going to make someone from the Vendel League (the merchants). Well-travelled, cosmopolitan, and excited about the future – which, of course, he expects to be an age where the Guilder is king and the Vendel League is the power behind a great many thrones. He’s still a hero: a good man, with a sense of fairness and the belief that people matter more than money. I think he’s also a bit of a romantic, and maybe a poet.

Vesten also wear multiple identities easily: they have a true name, and a “trade name”, a name they use with non-Vesten, or strangers who haven’t earned their trust yet. I don’t know, I just think it’s neat.

Now this does, unfortunately, mean I’ll be making a character who probably doesn’t interact with any of the setting’s extremely fun secret societies, and definitely doesn’t care about the central religious conflict (Vaticine Catholicism vs Objectionist Protestantism). There is still plenty to keep me going.

Step 0: Concept

I’ve… already done this. It says a lot about 7^th Sea that I was willing to fully sink into reading the setting and investing in a character concept.

There is, in theory, a set of twenty questions designed to help flesh out that concept. I think, however, I will pass on these (they’re optional, to be fair). They’re useful things, but it becomes a very long exercise. If I was making this lad for a game, I’d probably use them, because they provide a lot of useful sparks for the GM – motivations, loyalties, prejudices, and more. But I’m not.

Step 1: Traits

The five traits – Brawn, Finesse, Resolve, Wits, and Panache – all start at 2 (out of a possible 5), with 2 dots to place wherever I like.

I have read ahead, so I know I’ll be getting a bonus for my nationality, so I’m putting one of those points into Panache – this man has flair – and the other into Wits. This does make him remarkably scrawny for a Vesten. I think he’s the object of a lot of teasing, and he takes it with good humour. I think, in fact, good humour, a defining feature.

Step 2: Nation Bonus

Look. Some games have moved away from giving “racial” bonuses, but these are, and always have been, cultural. You get a small stat boost (to a choice of two stats, to emphasise different cultural tendencies), and unlock backgrounds and features unique to those raised in each nation. I feel it’s important to note that I could play someone born in Avalon (the UK) and raised in Vesten, and apply those Vesten bonuses because of the way he’s grown up.

Anyway, +1 Wits. Damn, he’s sharp.

Step 3: Backgrounds

What the character did before he was a hero. I get two of them, because nobody is just one thing. That is… really fun. Backgrounds provide a Quirk (a tendency common in people of that background), Advantages, and Skills. Some also have a Restriction.

I choose Courtier, to represent Oskar’s (he’s acquired a name) work as a diplomat and negotiator for the Vendel League. I consider Artist for his second Background, but as a Vesten he could be a Skald: a keeper and singer of the old tales. I like this, because I want to play someone who’s very “modern” Thean, and this will help me keep a link to Vesten culture, which I’d otherwise probably lose.

The Quirks suit Oskar well: earn Hero Points (they do exactly what you think they do: make it easier to do hero stuff) when he turns the tide of violence with wit or flair, or when he uses seidr knowledge to help another Hero solve a problem.

My Advantages are An Honest Misunderstanding, Friend At Court, Seidr, and Sea Legs. Without reading them, these all sound like they’re going to fit well, and like I’ve made the right choice.

I get points in Empathy, Perform, Ride, Tempt, and Weaponry (oh good, he can defend himself) from Courtier. I also get Brawl, Intimidate, Perform, Sailing, and Weaponry from Skald – which means I get 2 points in Perform and Weaponry. Nice. This definitely works better than 1^st edition: I’m ending up with someone who will be useful in most gameplay modes, from swashbuckling adventure, to social intrigue, to mischief on the high seas.

Step 4: Skills

I’ve got 10 dots of Skills to place, to customise Oskar. I can’t go above 3 ranks, but getting to 3 gives me a special feature: one reroll when I take a Risk with that Skill. If you know me, you know I push my luck a lot, so I’m going to need that.

I immediately blow 5 points getting 3 ranks of Convince (it’s his entire job) and getting Empathy to 3. I would quite like him to be able to shoot straight, so I buy 2 ranks of Aim.

Sod it, let’s go for Perform 3, too. When he talks, and especially when he performs, people listen.

Two points left, and I’ve kind of got everything I want. It’s interesting how skilled 7^th Sea characters all are: it’s hard to carve out a specific niche for your character. This is, overall, probably a good thing, but I do wonder how easy it is to get a spotlight moment.

I burn the last 2 points on Notice, because that’s always helpful and I think, as well as being persuasive, he pays attention to what’s happening around him.

WAIT! NO! I just read Tempt. It includes bribery, and getting people to do things not in their interest. 1 in Notice, and I’m boosting Tempt to 2.

Step 5: Advantages

I get 5 points of Advantages to customise Oskar. These range from fun perks like Able Drinker to game changers like Sorcery, duellist academy training… or Seidr. Heh.

I’m grabbing:

• Linguist (1 point), so I can read any language. He’s travelled a lot.
• Connections (2 points), to represent the rest of the Vendel League. They’re everywhere.
• Indomitable Will (2 points). I can spend a Hero Point to avoid being influenced. Oskar knows his own mind, and is extremely familiar with attempts to sway it.

Step 6: Arcana

Ah, some tarot. Sorry, Sorte. Heroes are special. They have an aura, which Fate Witches can read, represented by their Arcana. There are 20 of these, and they’re all juicy. I choose The Road, which gives me the Virtue of every Villain treating me as friendly the first time I meet them, and the Hubris Underconfident: I get a Hero Point when I decide I can’t do something alone, and make another Hero help me (at a cost to them. Sorry.). That makes a lot of sense: he’s charming, approachable, and the Vendel League is a pragmatic and open-minded group. And he’s used to working in a team, and it comes a touch too easily.

Step 7: Stories

Every Hero has baggage… and a plotline.

Now. I was not planning for this. I do not know what Oskar’s damage is.

There are some guidelines: every story has a goal and a predefined reward. The bigger the reward is, the more complex the storyline should be, and the more steps it should take to complete. When one is complete, you get another one.

Since the reward is something concrete, I can pick something I want and work back from there. I quite like the Patron advantage (3 points). So…

• Tangible Value: I’m underestimated and undervalued; I will prove my merit, and loyalty, to someone worthy.
• The story ends when I receive thanks, and a formal relationship, with someone more powerful than me.
• This is a three step story that will earn Oskar the Patron advantage.
• The first step is to find someone I respect and trust enough to pledge loyalty to.

It’s not quite as passionate or emotional as the example stories, but… I think it’ll play.

There are actually a set of sample stories I could have picked from, but I think this one grows out of what I’ve already decided, rather than being bolted on after the fact. For anyone struggling though, Lost Love and Hunted are very easy picks. Every character benefits from a love interest or a nemesis.

Step 8: Details

I think these final steps will fall into place pretty rapidly. Also, shoutout to this section for providing one of the most baffling, context-free images I’ve ever seen in an RPG.

Reputation is dead easy: like most starting characters, I don’t have one yet.

Languages is similarly easy: I have the Linguist advantage.

Secret Societies are out, because none of them quite suit him (at least, the ones in the core book. I suspect there are more.). This might be the first time this has ever happened to me.

Wealth starts at 0.

Then we’re into Wounds, and it’s weird that they’re here because they’re the same for all Heroes. Some traits make you less likely to take Dramatic Wounds (which are what’ll put you down in the end), but everyone has the same Death Spiral. Yes, there’s a feature called the Death Spiral (you get more vulnerable, but also more dangerous, as you get hurt). Yes, I love it.

And that’s it. That final step was a bit underwhelming, honestly.

I’ve got bits and pieces to do – figuring out Oskar’s trade name, and maybe going back through the Twenty Questions to flesh him out, but I’m pleased with who I have. Here he is:

Final Thoughts

Tonight’s exercise has been a big lesson. This is not the sort of game, or character creation, that I’m drawn to these days. I go fast and hard with character creation, and figure out who I’m playing once I’m at the table. 7^th Sea doesn’t work like that – and making a more detailed character, more grounded in the setting, has reminded me that it’s good, actually.

I have to be more invested in a game for this to be worthwhile, and there are too many games in the world I want to play. But… maybe it’s time to really sink my teeth into a long campaign, and fall in love with a world again?