Just about every group has them, and I've seen people mention them here and there, so I thought it might be nice to have a place to collect them 
. Obviously we don't know enough about 2E yet to really work out house rules, and it'll be months before we all get to play the full official rules, but we can start with 1E stuff and add 2E as we learn more.
The one big house rule we had for 1E was the number of kept dice. As my character's skills increased, it became clear that eventually it almost wasn't worth spending XP to improve Knacks because adding a dot to a Trait added a kept die to every related roll. The last straw was when my (ridiculously high, like .01% odds) roll on 7k4 beat El Camaleón's 9k3 on a Disguise roll. He has a Disguise of 6, but he only keeps three dice.
So we house-ruled it to keep the higher of Trait and Knack instead. This seemed to work out well and is a dirt-simple change.
Morgan Wolfe
aka Capt. Doña Sir Kestrel of Avalon http://silver-gateway.com/7sea/
This one goes beyond "house rule" and into "fan supplement," but this was an idea my husband had that never made it past the editorial staff (to be fair, I'm not sure he ever seriously pitched it): Théan Wizardry (full write-up at http://silver-gateway.com/7sea/wizardry.html)
Description
There are many mysteries in the world of Théah, not the least of which is the origin of sorcery. Some believe it to be a natural birthright, others a curse from Evil itself. What is certain to those who know of the world's powers is that sorcery is not the only such power. These powers do not all come from Bargains, good or evil. Some are based on faith and will.
Wizardry -- literally, the practice of the wise and clever -- is among the rarest of these powers. It is also among the greatest.
This is not to say that neophytes in the Wise Art can levitate wagons, discern the thoughts of men, or step across space and time. (Note: This distinction may not apply if using standard d20™ system wizardry; consult with your GM.) Certainly, the most powerful masters can do all these things and more, but such power takes a lifetime to achieve.
Théan Wizardry is, for the most part, a more subtle and arcane force than sorcery or regular fantasy spellcasting. Even the mighty masters of this art rarely use their power over creation's fabric, save in self-defense. Its powers are more akin to the Fate Witch's ability to follow, and influence, the loom of destiny, as well as gifts of divination familiar to more secretive organizations. Most of the Wizard's arts take more time to use, especially at early stages, but Théan Wizards are more versatile than the vast majority of their supernatural brethren.
Wizardry isn't going to be for everyone. Also, these rules haven't been fully play-tested because it's just the two of us. So, if anyone does give Wizardry a go, we'd like to hear how it works in play.
Morgan Wolfe
aka Capt. Doña Sir Kestrel of Avalon http://silver-gateway.com/7sea/
House rules? I rewrote 7thSea 1.0 from the ground up (obviously keeping alot) - so I have house rules for sword schools and sorceries, knack usage (what you keep varies by knack type), in fact almost every part of the original rules got changed... And I also rewrote it so that I could run a Star Wars version; and an Ars Magicka version; and a martial arts version... basically lots of house rules.
PM me if you want a copy of them - they are not fully written up though!
This gets a bit big...
I was slightly put out that the Alchemy Guild e-Book didn't actually give any rules for Alchemy, particulatly after the INvisible College came out with the Alchemist advantage, and then didn't do anything with it. So I wrote my own rules. The below is the first bit, I have another document on blood alchemy with other sorceries.
At its heart, Alchemy is the study of transformation. Alchemists aim to understand the process of transformation and, thus enlightened, transform their own body and spirit to a higher level. There are four main branches, or mysteries, to traditional alchemy.
The First Mystery is the mystery of inanimate matter, and is also that which most laymen think of when they envision alchemists. It is concerned with the transformation of one substance into another through the use of various catalysts, reagents and processes. The pinnacle of the First Mystery is the transformation of base metals into alchemical gold. Many have attempted this, but only a very few have succeeded.
The Second Mystery is the mystery of animate matter. This mystery is focused upon living creatures and how they change. The frog, the butterfly and the nature of decay are all of primary interest to practitioners of this path and they are greatly interested with how dead meat will generate living maggots. The pinnacle of the Second Mystery is the creation of life from certain rare earths, resulting in a living being, a haemonculous.
The Third Mystery is the mystery of the human body. Through the study of this mystery the alchemist aims to transform his own body into a superhuman being, or allow others to be so transformed. There are many steps along the way with incremental improvements in many of the characteristics of the body. The pinnacle of development in the Third Mystery results in a body that is immortal and immune to the effects of aging. So far no alchemist has achieved this lofty goal.
The Fourth Mystery is the mystery of the human spirit. This path is the least practiced, despite the fact that all alchemists are encouraged to travel along each simultaneously, so that insight in one mystery can be transferred to understanding in the others. By transforming his soul an alchemist will gain the ability to transcend this plane of existence and move to a higher layer of being. A true sign of transcendence will be when the alchemist's body is found dead but perfectly preserved and undecaying. There are rumours that such a body has been found in far Cathay.
A final branch of Alchemy is not recognized by mainstream alchemists. The so-called Fifth Mystery was christened so by Alvara Arcinega, a renegade in the eyes of the guild. This is supposedly the mystery of the supernatural, focusing specifically on the effects of and preparation of elixirs and cordials. These are made from the blood of sorcerers, leading some to call the practice Blood Alchemy.
In recent years the activities of the Invisible College have been drawing practitioners away from Alchemy, particularly those with interest in the Second and Third Mysteries. The advances made by Ravenild Hibbot would, just 20 years ago, have been connected with alchemy, but these days Natural Philosophers are at the forefront. As a result of this codification of what they are calling ‘Science’, the Invisible College is gradually marginalising the more esoteric practices of alchemists and removing their credibility.
There are persistent rumours that it was an alchemist who had achieved mastery of the Fourth Mystery who set up the Knights of the Rose and Cross. These rumours go on to say that the Knights still practice an alchemy of the spirit at a high level. Most people, both within and outside of the Alchemists' Guild laugh at these ideas.
It seems that there are two distinct levels of alchemy, completely divorced from the Mysteries themselves. With a certain amount of skill and dedication anyone can produce some alchemical results: water which burns, a drink which reduces pain or a meditative trance to focus the mind. However, there are some more complex and mysterious effects that only a few can ever master: transmutation of metals, a salve to remove scarring and a tincture that will temporarily make the user twice as strong. Science accepts no such division and labels those effects that cannot be repeated by anyone who tries as ‘unprovable’, ‘hearsay’ or even ‘the fancies of liars’. True Alchemists know that there is more than just ingredients going into their processes, something that cannot be learnt.
There are 3 kinds of alchemical preparations
Firstly are those items and compounds that can be produced by anyone with the relevant skills and ingredients, eg Phosphorous lamps. This is much like modern Chemistry, although with some more unusual practices. Treat any sort of research in this area as you would Invisible College research, but using Alchemy as the primary knack, rather than the more common Natural Philosophy.
Secondly there are the extracts that are created by Blood Science, the so called Fifth Mystery. Once a procedure has been established, anyone with the Alchemist advantage can follow a set of instructions to produce the same result.
Finally there is True Alchemy, the creation of philtres and concoctions that act to transform the body and spirit. True Alchemists can also create some esoteric items. Only a character with the Alchemist advantage can make these, and each person has to develop their own formula.
Alchemical research is similar to scientific research, with the same three stages: Conception, Design and Construction, although in alchemy it is more likely to be Formulation. However, there are a number of areas where Alchemy differs. Alchemy can only research areas of change or transformation, but they are allowed to carry this out in areas which would normally be impossible.
To represent the interconnected nature of all Alchemy, an Alchemist receives a free raise if he has completed an experiment with an equal or higher TN belonging to a different Mystery (other than Fifth).
All of the True Alchemy items assume that they are being made for use by the maker. The following extras all require raises:
Being made for a specific character with the True Alchemist advantage (1 raise)
Being made for a specific character without the True Alchemist advantage (2 raises)
Being made for use by an unspecified person (1 additional raise).
Phosphorous Lamp
Conception TN: 6
Mystery: First
True Alchemy: No
Red Phosphorous
Conception TN: 82
Mystery: First
True Alchemy: No
Fine Gunpowder
Conception TN:
Mystery: First
True Alchemy: No
Salve for the Removal of Scars and other Blemishes
Conception TN: 15 (2 Leaps of Logic)
Mystery: Third
True Alchemy: Yes
Painkiller
Conception TN:
Mystery: Third
True Alchemy: No
Permanent Hair Dye
Conception TN: 15 (2 Leaps of Logic)
Mystery: Third
True Alchemy: Yes
Potion of Strength
Conception TN:
Mystery: Third
True Alchemy: Yes
Universal Solvent
Conception TN:
Mystery: First
True Alchemy: Yes
Increase Potential
Conception TN:
Mystery: Fourth
True Alchemy: Yes
Transmutation
Conception TN:70 (3 Leaps of Logic)
Mystery: First
True Alchemy: Yes
Haemonculus
Conception TN: 80 (4 Leaps of Logic)
Mystery: Second
True Alchemy: Yes
Receives a Free Raise for successful completion of Transmutation.
Immortality
Conception TN: 90 (5 Leaps of Logic)
Mystery: Third
True Alchemy: Yes
Receives a Free Raise each for successful completion of Transmutation and Haemonculous
Ascension
Conception TN: 100 (6 Leaps of Logic)
Mystery: Fourth
True Alchemy: Yes
Receives a Free Raise each for successful completion of Transmutation, Haemonculous and Immortality.
I think Rob mentioned a horrible proposed Alchemy system, which leads me to believe we might see a not so horrible one in the new edition.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.”
- H.L. Mencken
I added simple wind direction rules to the ship combat.
Set the ships on the hex map, roll a d10, the wind won't start out coming from the direction the ship is facing, begin 1 square clockwise 1-2, 2 squares on a 3-4, and so on.
I'll try to dig them up, they include stealing wind in a chase, and getting caught turned into the wind at the end of a round.
@Morgan Wolfe
I have toyed with with the idea of witchcraft and wizardry in Theah as well, although the approach I favor would be more spell 'crafting' than spell 'casting'. Basically you have to gather a bunch of componants, prepare them in a very specific way and chant an incantation to make it work. Then you have a potion/ointment/other that you carry with you and can activate at the proper time. Sort of like what they did in King's Quest 3 and 6, if you are familiar with those games.
Finding the components can make for all kinds of adventure hooks, good or bad (mostly bad). The Inquisition is sure to come a-calling eventually. :D
I've got one 2nd ed. house rule so far, and a couple of things I do to help things out.
The house rule is that players can suggest Opportunities as well. It's so minor a thing I almost don't count it.
Since I had a whole bunch of fancy dice for Drama and Reputation dice from 1st ed, I put them out on the table in 3 groups: sparkly silver ones for sparkling descriptions, shiny dark red and green for new skill uses, and shiny red and gold ones to spend Hero points on. I find that they've helped keep people aware of Flair and the potential for Hero point usage.
Just how many alterations of the Destiny Spread were made? I count ten - Avalon, Castille, Eisen, Montaigne, Pirate Nations, Ussura, Vodacce, Vesten runes and both Vendel & Crescent astrology. It seems off to segment the concept so much. I know the goal is to give players more variation in designing their characters, but from a setting point of view it doesn't make sense to have someone's nationality have such a key role in shaping their "destiny."
A lot of the Destiny spread results are similar, just fluffed differently for each nation so that the player had regional and thematic context. I bet if I looked over the spreads, I could condense a lot of it into some "universal" spread which would generate pure mechanics, but I think the appeal of the spread was always the fluff.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.”
- H.L. Mencken
As someone who used it to help me better understand the mechanics and setting of 7th Seas 1e, I can say that the fluff did help a lot. That being said, a more condensed and streamlined version would be nice. By that, I mean one that uses all four suits and is universal. I generally like the connection of the hubris and virtue to the major arcana. I hope that stays the same.
This is what I put together for my last couple of years:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xJklFU8q5daLvri5nqrJd76oJmb3mgy-WzdF...
Any comments?
This is awesome! Thank you so much.
If you don't mind, I might tweak it a little further to use for astrology instead of tarot.
Carry on, although I'll note that I was trying to aim for balance mostly.
Ohhh boy... its been a while since I opened my 7th sea folder and I had forgotten how many rules our group wrote, rewrote or just plain ignored. Probably the most interesting house rule was for the always vexed issue of armour. In this one we had a series of cards I made up with a single item of appropriate attire which could be activated by spending a drama dice and expending the item to reduce flesh wounds before they were added, or in the case of the book of the prophets nullified actual wounds that occurred. Each piece was thematic, "very big hat" for worked for heroes and villains but not henchmen. Book of the prophet only worked for characters with the appropriate faith advantage. Imperiturs watch only worked with man of will advantage. Normally the flesh wound reduction was significant but since it cost a drama dice and the item in question until it could be repaired It seemed to work. Best of all it encouraged through something tangible players to describe their characters by their dress and manner if nothing else.
Is it accurate that by this time in the real world, most soldiers had stopped wearing armor, even breastplates and shin greaves? I like your idea for expanding armor rules a bit.
I believe that the answer to that is no. I remember seeing images of 17th century cavalry still wearing cuirasses: Border Reivers, Polish Hussars etc
We're talking partial armour, not complete suits, but it was still in use.
TAJ-07: Technopriest And Justicar Of 7thSea2e
To build on what others have said...
A lot depends on what you consider "this time in the real world:" 7th Sea covers between one and two centuries of real world history. If you place the "core" timeline around the end of the Thirty Years War, partial armor is still common among soldiers, as the typical infantry battle line includes both musketeers and pikemen. Almost all of this armor is specifically intended to negate or mitigate slashing and stabbing melee attacks: this is why, for example, Spanish armor of the period has a somewhat bulbous appearance, as curved surfaces dramatically limit the effects of a linear pike thrust. Functional armor does not disappear from the battlefield until after the Napoleonic wars, with the last truly armored warrior being the heavy cavalry (specifically the Polish hussars) until the advent of modern ballistic battle armor.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.”
- H.L. Mencken
To build on what others have said... 2.0.
The leather armors were something ussual during all XVII Century, but focused on the chest to avoid supperficial slashings. Even at the beggining of the century they continue ussing chainmail. The process of the breastplates and shields during the first half of the Century improved until be bullet-pruff. But their use was focused on leaders, captains or the first line of the musketeteers-pikemen of the period.
I'd argue that there were several reasons armor was left out:
1) The genre. Armor just isn't really a big part of the swashbuckling genre. And while a lot of more contemporary swashbuckling flicks love to throw the heroes into some leather doublets or coats, that's certainly not what actual leather armor would have looked like. Armor, even leather armor would be really bulky and hard to do all the swashbuckly things swashbucklers are known for. A big part of this is because swashbuckling stories tend to take place on the streets of cities and in the courts, not on battlefields, which is where armor was historically used. What's more, the "swashbuckler" genre draws heavily from the Carribean setting (pirates and all that) where amor was simply impractical. The Spanish conquistadors started shedding their armor pratically as soon as they got their hands on the cotton armor being used by meso-american nations, because wearing plate and leather in the Carribean is pretty much begging for heat stroke. Back in Europe, there are records from the 1630s of military leaders trying to get their musketeer batallions to leave their armor at home. Armor was on it's way out by the mid 1600s, and the introduction rifelry in the 1700s was pretty much the final death knell for it.
2) Hollywood has completely warped most people's idea of what history looks like. Most people I know, when they imagine the "Renaissance," actually imagine something closer to the early-to-mid Restoration period, the 1600s they imagine more like the late 1700s, etc. Of course, part of the issue is that the "Renassiance" as we talk about it spanned 3 centuries-ish; that's a lot of time, and while most people are familiar with terms like "Renaissance," "Napoleonic," and "Victorian" very few have hard of the "Restoration." And don't get me started on the absurd overuse of leather in most "period" movies and tv shows (don't get me wrong, I don't mind some anachronism, but...yeah...sometimes there should be limits.)
3) John Wick doesn't write games that worry about the nitty-gritty of rules and NEVER has, and what kind of armour you're wearing and where is definitly nitty gritty. If he's going to include a modification it's going to be for a "reason" that dramatically changes or loops back into the flavor of the game: "Oh, you want armor? Sure, you can wear armor, but it's just for looks. Although, if you REALLY want armor, you can get this super awesome magical armor called Dracheneisen." The philsocophy is why worry about things like, okay you have two pieces of leather armor gauntlets and a plate armor breatplate, which increases your TN to be hit by X, unless a called shot is made, in which case your TN to your chest is X while to your arms is Y and to anywhere else is Z, and you have these penalties when doing something related to athletics/swimming/acrobatics and the guantlets increase your TN to attack. Granted we got some weapon mods the 1st Ed books, but most of that all happened after he'd left the line.
I really doubt Dracheneisen will be around in 2nd edition. I seem to recall John Wick *hated* the idea, he thought plate armor was breaking the spirit of the swashbuckling genre, but some other guy had his heart set on people running around in full plate.
I recall hearing a similar story re: John hating the idea of Dracheneisen, but my point was just that if John is going to make a point of putting something into the game, he's going to do it in a way that leaves some sort of "impact" instead of being there just to make the rules more complicated.
We have been giving historical background to somebody who asked for houseruling. Not asking for have rules for armors in 2nd edition. I really dislike the medieval RPGs and their idea of wear a full armour until to sleep. Everybody who tried and armor (or carry a 30 kg bagpack) knows what I mean.
I was really happy in 1st edition without more armors than Dracheneisen. But it was something really interesting, fresh and expensive, not related with usual magic. I'm going to miss it a lot if the Dracheneissen don't return at all :(
At this point, I think it would be harder to cut Dracheneisen than convince John to keep it. I claim no special insight into the decision-making process but based on my (limited) experience with him, he seems to understand that 7th Sea has a kind of life of its own. I imagine it will be a super-expensive Advantage to have even a little of it, but I'd be more than a little surprised if it was gone completely.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.”
- H.L. Mencken
I would be...disappointed if dracheneisen didn't make the cut for 2nd ed. It is so intrigal to the "look" of Eisen. The whole, "I grab your sword with one gauntlet and proceed to beat you like a dog" is their thing. Take that away and you take away a big chunk of what makes them unique. Sure, you could replace it with something cool, but it would have to be pretty damn cool to make up for it.
Wasn't there some hint that it may be a Background, or was that just wishful thinking.
You have to be a member of the DK. From there, I believe its just a matter of currying favor.
Not my ideal. I really liked Dracheneisen and thought the look helped define Eisen. I don't think Hexenwerk is quite as accessible...or heroic....or iconic. Well, it's iconic. Just not in the way I'd like. :)
What's your opinion on Monster Hunters who can decide to ignore their wound penalties?
So basically, it is slash/parry using attribute instead of a skill, but without limiting it to once every beat?
That defeat the purpose of having a duellist : exemple using 3 raises (so the non duellist doesn't absolutely outshine the duellist)
your weaponery 3 duellist will do slash / feint / slash -> 8 damage a round
your braw 3 non duellist will do poke / poke /poke -> 9 damage a round
Since brawn 3 can easily be a starting attribute, it's kinda OP. Even at higher level, the weaponery duellist will only make 12 damage for 3 raises.
I think this is a bad idea. Charging an extra raise for the slash manoeuver could work better IMO.
Why not make it an Advantage? If it's important to the player to be able to duke it out with Brute Squads, but don't want to pay for a Dueling Academy, they should be willing to pay for it. Riot Breaker already allows you to take out any brute squad at the cost of a dramatic wound, and it's three points. So maybe something like:
Skull Cracker
Spend a Hero Point to do 2 wounds on a Raise against a Brute Squad.
Something like that. I'd make it 2-points, or 3-points if Duelists are allowed to exploit it.
Duelist VS Non Duelist:
At the begining I really disliked the idea of Non Duelist suffering VS Duelist a lot. But I remembered the films...
Yes. What the people without fencing needs to do with Swordmasters is shot or... avoid them. Soon or later they are going to start looking for a sword school, something much more easy in 2nd edition than before. We need to think now that 7th Sea 2nd Edition focus in everybody with sword school.
To fight a Villain fencer you need a fencer with the help of the others: Unus pro omnibus, omes pro uno.
Problem: With that sistem, we lost all the good things of dirty fight, pugilism and wrestling. That were the tools (+firearms) for the Non Duelist to fight Duelists.
I'm sort of wondering if we might see some dueling academy equivalents for other skills. For example the Finnegan, Loring, and Dobryna schools should key off of brawl instead of weaponry, and the Goodfellow and Rasmussen schools would interact with Aim.
I'd like to see these old schools get something cool even if they aren't technically "dueling" schools.
Of course once you open up dueling to skills beyond weaponry, you have possibilites for things like Eisen's command schools, or the Noblesse Oblique Courtier schools, or even unconventional stuff like the Syrneth Tinkerer.
That said, mayhaps these would be better suited as advantages with significant benefits that don't necessarily require their own system to flesh out. (Similar to the Alchemist and Seidr advantages)
I highly suspect that we'll see more "Dueling Styles" as we get into the supplements. Shield Man (the improvised weapon style of the Explorers,) Finnegan, and pretty much every other style you just mentioned came out AFTER the Player's Guide.
If not, I fully expect a whole slew of homebrews doing exactly that to be created as I'm definitly going to get my 2nd Ed version of Shield Man one way or another.
My groups and I always had a ton of houserules for 1st Edition based on the needs of the group.
==Scaled Magic/Dracheneisen: This was something I read on a site/forum years ago, and really liked it. You basically pay a set amount for the ability to access whatever it was, but it included no points in it. It was basically an early investment (or a way to get that ONE Dracheneisen item you wanted without going for broke).
==Sorcery Mods: The biggest mod we did was grant any sorcerer that needed to spend Drama Dice for their ability access to "Sorcery Dice" equal to their Mastery Rank. They could only be spent on sorcery. This way, a new Pyryem sorcerer could turn into a bear without wasting their precious Drama Dice to do so (and put them into the high TN).
I also introduced a way to have Walk via Porte right out of the gate by tweaking the time to open the portal and walk through based on mastery level. I know others talked about it in other forums, so I just hammered something out that worked for my group.
==Reputation: I allowed players to have both a Positive and Negative reputation. This way, they could be known for their good deeds while also being known for their bad deeds. Any reputation "gains" in either direction could be used to influence the other side (i.e. playing a Noble Pirate, gaining Positive reputation could either increase Reputation or lower the negative score).
==Bonus XP: One of the biggest gripes we had was the slow progression in the game. To speed things up and make things interesting, I awarded Skill/School/Sorcery-based Bonus XP; specifically, if you used your school's ability, your sorcery, or a specific skill (agreed upon early on), you gained bonus XP that can only be spent on that specific thing. It can be banked for future use.
==Minor Tweaks: There were always a few minor tweaks with TNs, specifically Fear (5+5*Fear rating) and Surgery (can't remember offhand the exact TNs).
So far, the Second Edition doesn't have anything that is too major for house rules. The closest I have to it right now that's not going to involve writing additional content (like the Grandmaster idea my old group and I are discussing) is being more lenient with magic and the like (as Seidr, Alchemy, and Hexenwerk are learned; Mother's Touch, Sanderis, and Knights of Avalon are bestowed upon others via other means; Sorte/Porte only involve having some ancestor with the ability), and a minor tweak to Corruption (we think the points rack up too fast, especially if you are considering bringing back the Lords Hands).
My group and I are hoping to start up within the next two weeks (we're all over the place right now and trying to schedule stuff online), so who knows when we'll get to see if we need more rules or if we are good where we are.
"Smilies exist because no one's bothered to create a sarcasm font." --Lost_Heretic
Anouther house rule:
Linked repeatable consequences and opportunities or "Tells".
7th sea 2nd ed takes the principle of "its the character not their equipment" at the core of its design. For those of us who just can't accept it is as easy to take down a foe with a spoon or a bastard sword, or that wearing an oil skin has no real impact against a raging storm on the high seas I present a small modification. The minor change to the character only principle is that drama is served by setting and equipment represented by "tells" that adjust character focus in minor but comprehensible and repeatable ways. "Tells" only apply when the weapon or scenes feature is used in the focus of a rounds approach so an approach defined as violence would apply the "tells" of a weapon for the turn but gracefully dancing through a room of traps does not.
As such I present the three weapon and two scene "tells", all of which are useable in action scenes.
It should be noted that tells are able to be represented by linked consequences and opportunities but are repeatable minor modifications not defining as opportunities and consequences should be.
Weapon tells,
Short: Weapons with this tell require an additional raise to deal a dramatic wound, but the first change of approach does not cost raises. Found on daggers, spoons, dirks, skillets, torches, saps, etc.
Massive: Weapons with this tell deal an additional wound when they deal a dramatic wound, but cost an additional raise when changing approach. Found on wooden spars, over sized weapons, iron Kettles, toilet seats, table legs, etc. if you need two hands or more to weld it is probably massive.
Devastating: Instead of dealing normal damage, weapons with this tell inflict wounds at 0 raises to all in the area of effect. Found on Cannon, Ball lightning, flame throwers, pans full of burning oil, etc.
Scene Tells,
Crowded: The scene causes change in approach to cost an additional raise but also allows the focus character to spend raises to avoid ranged weapon wounds including the dramatic wound from firearms (you can't dodge bullets but you can use cover). Found when: acting in twisting tunnels, fighting in a pressed crowd, or acting in a stacked warehouse or equally pressed environment.
Oppressive (X): the scene deals X wounds at end of round to the focus character. Those without the oppressive tell must pay a sum of X/2 raises or wounds to affect the focus character directly this round. I.e. if X is 5 then heroes can accept 3 wounds or pay 3 raises to directly affect the focus character for the rest of the round. Paying through raises should be described appropriately such as in a storm describing the oil skins protection as the opponent forces their way through the scene to the focus character. Found when: acting in a hurricane, the edges of a lava field, a poison infested swamp, a soul sucking cave, the heart of a battle field, sand storm, etc.
Hmmm...so Tells are kinda like Aspects in Fate then?
The idea of tells is that they are repeatable, linked conditions and opportunities which don't cost a raise to instigate as the consequence is slightly more than the intended benefit and only apply when used in the approach. So yeah an aspect for approaches in the raise economy. The weapon tells are best examples of the idea with the scene tells more a work in progress. They portray an aspect like fate uses but unlike fate which has the benefit always the same here the tell links a benefit and conseqence together. I have tried to link minor effects together in the main as these allow personalities to remain in the foreground while bending the rule set without overriding it. Really i wanted a way of portraying the inanimate world in a dynamic fashion without ruining the character focused narative that would come about if we said x weapon does y wounds. I have found this plays surprisingly well instead. We have only used the 5 tells so far, have you any ideas?
Has the concept of a Reputation stat been officially discontinued for 2e? I'll admit to being a bit confused by how the 1e system was apparently supposed to work, but I like at least the concept of a mechanic for tracking fame.
Is anyone else a little disappointed by how much of the Dutch influence was reduced from Vesten? It's true that combining Holland and Norway was already odd and the "civil war" motif of 1e wasn't done as well as it probably could have. But I still like the idea of there being strife between forward-thinkers and traditionalists, and in my campaign I'll probably try to have more of a division than is present in 2e.
Is anyone else a little disappointed by how much of the Dutch influence was reduced from Vesten?
I'm a little disappointed by it as well. I know it was an 'odd mix' in 1e, but it provided for some interesting RP and scenarios.
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1959610/Cygnia
Wow, that's all new to me. Another reason I love this forum.
So I'm thinking about a couple of house rules for my 2e games-one for Glamour, one for firearms, and would welcome feedback!
This weekend I was helping some friends make new characters for 2e. One of them had a fun concept (An Avalon archaeologist/secret agent/glamour mage). But as I was looking through the rules for Gesa, I started thinking that making her follow EVERY gesa restriction seemed excessively difficult and could potentially limit role-playing opportunities. So I decided to do a quick house rule on the spot, and let my player select just one of the seven Gesa to follow instead. Does that seem reasonable?
Also, I had seen some discussion here expressing concerns about potential abuse of firearms-for example, a character carrying a dozen pistols and firing them all off in an Action Scene, causing ridiculous levels of Dramatic Wounds. While I think it's reasonable for characters to carry more than one gun, at the same time I don't want them abusing possible loopholes in the game. So here's my improvised house-rule restriction: Players may carry and fire a maximum number of loaded pistols in an Action Scene equal to their Aim skill. After those pistols are expended, the player must find a weapon from another source (eg taking it from a foe) or reload. Muskets, blunderbusses and other long guns count as two pistols for the purposes of this rule.
So, for example, a starting character with Aim 3 could have 3 pistols ready to fire when a fight starts; or 1 musket and 1 pistol. But at the same time, I want to give reasonable options for the "Loaded With Guns" type of hero-I had a player in my old 1e game who was a Rasmussen duelist and played it very well, plus one of the iconic pirate images of my childhood was an illustration of Long John Silver in my copy of "Treasure Island" carrying a couple of muskets and a bandolier bristling with flintlock pistols. (Even with one leg, he looked seriously tough!) So I'm thinking of also introducing a new Advantage to go with this house rule to accommodate firearms-themed Heros which will hopefully not be too game-breaking
PISTOLEER: (3 points) You may have a number of pistols readied in each Action Scene equal to your Aim Skill+2
Thoughts?
Thank you for the rule! It's really usefull. I think without adventage it can work well. In the future Rassmussen will solve more.
RULE: Limit to fireweapons that you can fire in a scene = your aim.
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