7th Sea: Khitai - Kickstarter

At 9am EST yesterday, John Wick Presents launched the second kickstarter for 7th Sea 2nd Edition. The idea this time? To make a separate, but fully compatable, game of 7th Sea but for the East where the idea behind what constitutes a hero is a little different. 3 hours later - slower than the initial kickstarter but still fast - the game funded. As of the time of this writing, they're sitting just below the 100k line and looking to go forward.

It should be no surprise by now that I love 7th Sea. The game has a blend of indie game novely and big game crunch that's hard to come by. I'm intrigued by the mechanics, and amazed at how they handle some very complex things with a speed and efficiency I long accepted was simply impossible in table top.

Look, I could sit here and type the praises of the game, the world, and the makers forever. So all I'm going to say is this. The foreword of Crescent Empire, an expansion for 7th Sea second edition, included an anecdote where some people thanked John Wick because in his game they not only could be heroes, but were depicted as heroes throughout the book. That's the point of the game. 7th Sea is a world where anyone - no matter their race, creed, or class - is capable of rising up and being a hero, and finding out what that means.

It's a message we could use more of today.

So I hope you'll take a look at the kickstarter info presented here, and if you find it to your liking throw them a couple bucks and preorder a wonderful game. If nothing else, you can get access to the PDFs of every 7th Sea book released so far, both 1st and 2nd edition, and that's a great deal considering the price it is offered at.

[7th Sea] Lessons from GMing My First Session

On Friday I ran my first session of 7th Sea from the GM's side of the table. I felt I was fairly prepared, having been doing little but thinking about GMing 7th Sea since it came out, and participating in various discussions. Still, as anyone who has learned to drive can tell you: there's a big difference in knowing the theory, and the practical application. Today I want to talk about that, and some of the differences I noticed in the system.

[7th Sea] Building a Villain To Build an Adventure

We had a bit of bad news in our gaming group. The GM for our 7th Sea game won't be able to join us around the table for the foreseeable future. Their life is just swimmingly busy. In an effort to keep the group together I volunteered to take over GMing responsibilities. We're not doing the same world or plots, but we are doing the same game and I invited the Players to keep their current PCs if they wanted. It feels a little awkward, and I'm hoping the normal GM will be able to return soon, but until then I at least get to try GMing 7th Sea.

That said, in doing my prep I found something fun about 7th Sea. As a game, 7th Sea is all about Heroes and Villains. Villains are the ones who put plots in motions (their schemes), and villains are the only thing capable of giving a Hero a worthy adversary when it comes right down to it. Therefore, it feels to me, that if you want to run a 7th Sea adventure, you should start with the villain. The experience I've had now has me wondering why I don't do this, or something similar to this, in every game I'm running.

7th Sea: Core Resolution vs. Dramatic Sequence

On Monday we talked about three of the big things involved in GMing 7th Sea. Today I want to talk to the 'how' you handle those things at the table. I don't mean what you say and do, but the mechanics in place that lets you place conflict before the PCs and see how they resolve it. Today we'll be talking about the Core Resolution Mechanic, Dramatic Sequences, and how they differ. Shall we?

7th Sea 2nd Edition: GMing, Brute Squads, & Villains

One of the things I was most excited for at GenCon this year was 7th Sea. They had copies of the book there for sale, people running sessions of the game, and even several of the designers present to talk to. I must've stopped by the John Wick Presents booth at least 3 times a day just to check in who was there, ask questions, and talk about the game. It was a good time. Today, I want to take some of what I've learned and break it down here to help explain some parts of the game that seems to be causing confusion or discussion on threads. So let's get going shall we.

7th Sea - First Impressions

On Friday we had our first session of 7th Sea. It was an interesting session with two new members to the group, and a game that no one in our group had any ground in. Over all the session was a great first session, and everyone brought interesting characters to the table. Today I want to talk about how the session went, and what I learned from it.

7th Sea: A Different Kind of Character Progression

The 7th Sea Second Edition PDF is on sale now at Drive Thru RPG. One of the fun things - for me at least - about the system is how much the system does different from other games I've been exposed to. I'm not saying it's the most unique game out on the market, but it's the only game I've seen that does a lot of the things. One of the things that has had me confused as a prospective GM until recently, and that I now really like, is how character progression happens. Today, I want to talk about that.

Move Then Roll vs. Roll Then Move

One of the aspects of the new 7th Sea RPG I'm looking forward to is the rolling system. It's been under a lot of scrutiny for fans, and seems to be a polarizing element. Some people hate it, seeing it as making failure a thing of the past and overloading the GM with more to do. Other people love it, seeing it as an interesting way to take a game where failure may be optional, but that doesn't mean the hero gets everything he wants. Today, I want to talk about how the dice system works and how that is different from other games.