Usual caveats when asking rules questions:

• John Wick is generally a little bit of a vague rules-writer, so it’s not always useful to approach the rules as one would a legal text.
• The Core Book itself expressly tells us that it’s about “Rulings, Not Rules.” So do whatever works best for your particular game.

That said, I’m asking 1) how do you think the following rules are intended to be used, and 2) how do you run it in your particular games?

The question is:
After a losejas has invoked a Major Favor or a Minor Favor they have not specifically purchased, and is still currently working on (and not yet completed) the task to repay the Favor… are they still allowed to invoke their purchased Minor Favors since they are part of the initial bargain they made with the demon?

I'm fully certain that the losejas cannot ask for an additional Major Favor or Minor Favor that they have not purchased until they complete the outstanding task. But the original Minor Favors have already been paid for, so to speak... so I'm inclined to think they would still be allowed. I'm curious for other opinions.

Pertinent excerpts from the CORE BOOK p.223 - 224:

DEALS

The losejas selects two Minor Favors for any Deal her dievas has, and can always invoke those Favors by spending a Hero Point. […] The bargain she made with the demon includes these minor Favors.

If the losejas wants to make a Minor Favor that they have not purchased, they can spend a Hero Point (and a Raise, if during an Action Sequence), to ask their dievas for such a Favor.
The typical cost for a Minor Favor that the losejas has not purchased would be something like...

• “The next time you are in Sperus, find a one-armed man named Markos. Buy him a comfortable pair of shoes.”

A dievas can always deliver a Major Favor, but it is costly.
The typical cost for a Major Favor would be something like...

• "Go to Carleon. Find Captain Horatio Oakes, of the Royal Avalonian Navy. Make certain that he loses his commission.”

If a losejas doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain, they cannot invoke any Favors (Minor or Major) until they do so.

My friends and I are planning on playing 7th Sea 2e. I was wondering if there was any consensus on what was the best adventure scenario to run. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm brand new to the game, but am an old hand at RPGs.

I am interested on getting feedback on the player stories driven advancement system. How well received by players is it, and what (if any) modifications have you made to adapt it to your table and style of play?

Happy New Year!!! Attempt 9 to find news.

Last year in retrospective
Feb 19, 2024 "However, we will be selling copies on our website once Backers have received their copies.You will be able to find them on Chaosium.com this Spring. Maybe sooner."

April 21, 2024 "The Khitai books are still shipping to Backers. It won't be too much longer until we sell them on our website, and to game stores."

May 23, 2024 "Soon!Keep an eye on our social media. :)"

Oct 31, 2024 "Your email is being forwarded to Mike Curry. You may reach him directly at:[mike.curry@chaosium.com](mailto:mike.curry@chaosium.com)"

Dec 26, 2024 "I have no information about any further Khitai releases, including a book called Fuso. My apologies for not having more information about this title."

these have been a few talks with Mr Wright via customer service email listed on the website. I feel like if a bunch of us email Mike Curry, which can also be accessed on Chasoim, We will get some news or enough interest will be shown theyll finally release the books. Is there anyone that backed the kickstarter that has not gotten their books yet? Kickstarter last update was Feb 16, 2024

Hey everyone, I recently concluded a homebrew campaign of a Viking flavored RPG. I used 7thsea 1e as the basis. Who doesn't love Vestenmannavnjar? Anyways I'm posting the adventures on our blog (https://subterraneanacquisitions.wordpress.com/) with all sorts of NPCs, monsters, and battles loosely based on the Viking invasion of England and the establishment of the Danelaw. Enjoy!!

Hi,

I'm starting a new campaign and one of the characters has a background (aristocrat), because he "is" one, except that he was disowned by his family prior to the start of the campaign. I did not notice it at first, but I just realized that aristocrat comes with the rich advantage (I don't know if that's the exact name, I have the books in Spanish), which doesn't make sense at the moment.

So, my question is: would you ignore his current state and assume that he somehow managed to still have some credit at his name, would you replace his advantage with something (befitting) else, or would you use it as if he didn't have it? This last option would be in detriment of his character (3 lost points in advantages), so it's my least favorite. I'm not sure if I'd ask him to change the background, my favorite is the second option.

I'd like to hear read opinios about it.

Episode 4: Two Coins For the Ferryman

Two months of delays and we actually got two sessions in a row! But it's been busy with the hoidays and I haven't had time to type them both up. Episode 5 will be up soon.

Our cast tonight includes:

Vera Nikilorov of Ussura
Audra Aorsi of the Sarmatian Commonwealth
Sigrid Olvadette of Vesten
Adélard Benoît Félix of Montaigne

The players of Pen de Medici of Castille and Killian of Inismore were unable to join us, so it is assumed they stayed hidden about The Oyster with Captain Leone.

Our heroes were lead to Captain Leone by Inez, who assumed they were all missionaries heading to Mont du Flambeau. After accepting payment from Inez, he pushed off. He advised they all stay below decks until he was sure it was safe for them to come topside.

His ship, The Oyster, was a fishing schooner. After an hour of sailing, he was approached by a Brig flying the colours of the local Marquis. They asked the Captain his business, and he explained he was just out doing some night fishing. The others stayed below decks, and the Brig let The Oyster continue on.
After they were out of sight, he told our heroes they could come above decks. They spoke to him during the journey, asking about his business. He explained he ferries missionaries to Mont du Flambeau, as it was good, easy money. It came out that he was not one for gods or any sort of supernatural things, he believes what he can see right in front of him, and does not believe in magic. Vera turned herself into an owl before his eyes, which gave him some things to think about. It also came out that he holds no loyalty to the Bishop Cardinal, he simply brings people to the island who pay him to do so.

He also mentioned that there are some he has brought who he has not seen since, either when dropping others off, or when he has been invited to eat with the Bishop and the other missionaries. When asked who among his followers may foster disloyalty or could be turned against him, he suggested the kitchen staff, as they are not part of the monks.

There were two of the Bishop’s Monks waiting to meet the new missionaries and take them to their quarters. They were told that breakfast was at 7 bells, until then their doors would be locked so they did not go wandering the grounds at night and get lost, or fall off the cliffs into the water.

They quickly found their way out.

Vera picked the lock, and then turned into an Owl and flew out the window. The others snuck out, trying to find their way to the kitchen. They saw some Monks leaving a room and walking down a corridor, the place they left both looked and sounded like a kitchen. They managed to sneak past the Monks, and overheard a bit of their conversation.

“It’s hungry again, it will need to be fed soon, it seems to like children best” was what they pieced together.

However, in trying to listen in while not being detected, they did not see the stone wall open up, and the three of them were grabbed by something and pulled into it’s lair.

Vera saw this, and flew down through the opening before it closed again.

They found themselves in a large cave with pillars of stone, lit by torches that cast shadows around the room. They were quickly attacked from the shadows by a strange humanoid lizard creature. It got a few slashes in but between Felix’s dueling, Vera as an owl, and Sigrid & Audra pressing hard on the creature, they were able to dispatch it. The fight ended with Sigrid running up a stone outcropping, and jumping high, bringing an axe down on the head of the thing.

That is where we left our heroes. The next episode is titled “We Who Walk In Shadow”

Your ship is hit by enemy cannons. They inflict 20 superficial damage. What does trait does your ship roll for the "hit check" to see if it soaks the superficial hits or takes critical damage? Surely it isn't brawn? Brawn makes sense for an individual, it's their physical strength and robustness. For a ship, brawn is the power of your cannons. We are a few weeks into a sailing campaign and its only come up a couple of times and it never feels right.

I’ve been getting into 7th sea and been watching videos on YouTube.

To get a feel for the system as I plan on running it I’ve watched a short actual play on Geek and Sundry which was only like a 6 part mini series.

Does anyone know of actual full scale let’s plays of this game? I’ve only been able to find like 3 actual gameplay videos.

Thanks in advance

Hi all. I'm looking at running the 2e quickstart for a group of friends in the new year. Whilst reading through it I can see that there are a lot of things that I'm going to need to keep track of, are there some pre printed sheets for GMs to keep track of bonuses and things?

I search up the module through Google. GitHub is there, but when I’m in foundry and search for the system nothing comes up. Anyone have an idea what I’m doing wrong?

To be clear to start, this is about the first edition of the setting, not the second.

I was, ironically enough, introduced to the 7th Sea setting by the Cathay sourcebook, as a result of looking for a rules set for Feng Shui geomancy. Despite this, I feel like the Cathay book does a complete disservice to all the other books in the series. Frankly, I feel like whoever wrote it didn't even read the other books preceding it, including ones that were fairly recent. It almost feels like someone just plopped their own homebrew D&D setting into the continent with little regard for how it would actually fit.

​

Off the top of my head, the Cathay sourcebook contains bits of lore that contradict lore established in the following sourcebooks: the Nation books for Vodacce, Ussura, the Crescent Empire, as well as Waves of Blood.

Regarding the Vodacce sourcebook, it is established within the first couple paragraphs that Vodacce is the cradle of human life itself, and it is heavily implied that humanity originated there when either the Thalusians or the Setine altered their own genetics to become human, possibly to hide from the Rahzdost. the Cathay sourcebook states that humanity instead started in Cathay, starting with an entirely different, snake-like species who they insist aren't Syrneth or Sidhe. Both of these cannot be true, unless humanity is in fact two different species, which is a problem for obvious reasons.

The Ussuran sourcebook states that Cathayans are capable of passing through the firewall whenever they want, or at least that there is an exiting gap in the wall through which they trade with Ussura. The Cathay sourcebook states that the wall was created by the Emperor to keep Cathayans IN, and they claim that there is a conspiracy to bring the wall down precisely so they can move through it. No mention is made of the city of Breslau, which is supposed to have some kind of significance to them.

Both the Ussuran and Crescent books claim that the religion of Sud'ya originated from Cathay. No mention of Sud'ya is made in the Cathay sourcebook. Additionally, the Crescent sourcebook claims that the Crescent Empire was the ancient hub of Syrneth civilization (hence Cabora), which would suggest that there should be Syrneth tech in the area, all along the Cathayan coast, but the Cathay sourcebook again insists that there are no such ruins.

Waves of Blood establishes that the first trigger that Kheired-Din triggers to raise Cabora was in Cathay, but the Cathay sourcebook is quite insistent that there have never been Syrneth in the area. To be fair, this discrepancy is addressed, but it shouldn't have been introduced in the first place.

​

There are other issues. The sourcebook claims that Cathay doesn't have a Barrier. What does that even mean? The Barrier is supposed to cover the planet, how can there be a place without it without producing tears in reality everywhere?

Fu Sorcery is also poorly explained; it's clearly one of the weakest sorceries ever introduced, with hyper-specific capabilities, none of which are capable of creating large-scale effects, yet it made the GIGANTIC WALL OF FIRE. The description of the ritual used to make the wall makes very little sense either, especially regarding the importance of the charms used to make it, since it seems like you would only need one to make it work. It's power source is also unclear; it was apparently developed based on the symbols seen on a Primordial Dragon, which implies that the power source is similar to Laerdom, but there is no equivalent to the Living Runes that we know of.

The gods of Cathay clearly exist in some capacity, but their explanations of what they are or how they interact with the people are completely lacking, along with most of their names. They seem to wield powers on par with or exceeding those of the Rahzdost or Sidhe, yet we rarely see them use it.

If this were, say, a D&D setting, these wouldn't really be problems, since D&D tends to just kind of accept the gods as existing with no explanation, but this isn't D&D, it's 7th Sea.

​

Finally, the book is just formatted terribly. There are missing rules, incorrectly named tables, and even one table with completely wrong information in it, copied from a previous table. It's a mess.

​

To my knowledge, it is the only sourcebook in the entire series with so many strange contradictions. I don't understand why they included it.

​

Sorry for the wall of text, I had to rant.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how magic works in 1st edition. It seems there's no such thing as a "spell" (I cannot find it mentioned in the players' guide, but apologies if I am incorrect). Is it feasible to have magical scrolls as loot? Eg, a scroll to heal for a small amount. How do other DMs handle this?

I am planning to use Duc Auguste Danceny du Rosemonde in my game (dipping a toe into blood alchemy/Arciniega/NOM plots). I know he's described in the Invisible College sourcebook, and that he's the one who tipped off Dominique about her father's plot to kill Montegue (the players will go into The Lady's Favor soon after this current adventure). He's referenced again at least once in the NOM pdf. Does anyone remember him being mentioned again in any other sourcebooks, and if he had any other developments in the main meta plot?

Also, I remember reading something once about a religious movement in Avalon that was clearly modeled on the Quakers. Did I make that up in my head? Or does anyone else remember such a group, or know where I might have read about them?

Just so I have a certainty I am about to apply the whole thing correctly in the campaign.

Dieva can't refuse minor favour that is part of the larger deal, but the losejas still pays the price each time. The price for agreed minor favours is something pretty petty and minor, though I am not sure if it is always the same as agreed for the deal or something dieva asks every time. But that seems like something that's up to the specific contract, so might play it both ways depending on circumstances.

Hi guys, i'm new to 7th sea 2ED and i'm about to start my first campaign with it, but i didn't understand precisely how guns work agains big evil guys. The manual says that after 4 dramatic wounds a bad guy is defeated but it also says that guns cause a dramatic wound and it's undodgeable. So...it's possible for a 4 members party to all shoot the bad guy on the first turn and kill it? Even a level 20 bad guy?!? Cause that would suck

How I understood quickstarts are best for learning both for players and gms. I have both Khitai quick start and Long Live the Prince! Quickstart. Which should i start from?

I have picked the Humble Bundle pack of 7th Sea books, since the vague theme of a swashbuckling adventure on high seas always appealed to me and now I am in early stages of preparing campaign for my group. But I find myself beset by doubts about certain aspects of the system as presented by the rulebook and thought I might just as well ask people who have more experience.

See, the systems we played so far are definitely crunchier than 7h Sea - The Witcher RPG and Cyberpunk Red by Talsorian games and Mutant Chronicles by Modiphius. They all had suggestions about the way a scenario or campaign should be structured, but non had systems in place the tied story progression to mechanics in the same way it seems 7th Sea does.

I can fit player stories within a framework of the way I tend to plot out my scenarios. Discuss the story idea and goal with the player, jot down their declared end point and the next step with agreed upon, then include it at some point during a session in a way that'll suggest the next step. Keep doing that until the story, effectively a personal side-quest is complete.

But implementing GM Stories the way they are described in GM Rules chapter (page 199 of Core Rulebook) seems somewhat antitethical to the way I usually plan scenarios for my group. I am pretty free-form about it, I tend to just drop an inciting incident and see where it goes. Sometimes there is an obvious end goal but often it is just a vague notion way down the line. I didn't try it so I can't be sure, but I am afraid it'll come down as artificial if I just drop an announcment to the tune of "This story is Heiress in Disguise, your end goal is to get Anna Anonymous back to her Castle safe and sound."

This goes double for larger story arcs that are part of a campaign. They tend to spiral out and not be obvious. For example the Mutant Chronicles campaign we played started with players investigating a murder at an auction of a Gallagher clan Claymore (think Dracheneisen weapons equivalent in the setting) that ended up, through a very circuitous and convoluted series of events, leading to an expedition to a forgotten habitat of clan Gallagher. It would be pretty non-sequitur and spoiler if I dropped the latter as the end goal of the campaign on day 1. And that is assuming I knew it would be a possible end point (I did in that specific case, but lot of my stories are way more meandering and malleable).

I am suspecting that I am missing something about the whole system or thinking about it in a completely wrong way, but it is giving me a bit of GM anxiety and I would certainly appreciate help. Especially some explanation how you guts implemented it in practice, on basic, technical level. I know that the book mentions the Golden Rule is to have fun and I am not bound to use the rules. But given that they are tied with player rewards and that I have deep personal dislike for cutting or ommiting rules unless I understand the reason to do so and full implications of doing so, I'd like to avoid spilling the baby away with the bathwater by house ruling pre-emptively.