Set Up: The Treasure Hunt

We are going to start this game in the middle of a battle, just off shore of a jungle island. You will have been at sea for some time. By the end of the first session, you will all be on one ship, but that doesn't mean you have to start there. Everyone with the "Married to the Sea" advantage can have their own ship, but all but one will be lost or abandoned by the end of the opening game. Your advantages will be stacked onto a single vessel.

Each of your characters are hunting for the Lost City of Anteus. It is a common story, often told in childhood tales. It is said that those who find the city will be granted a wish.

What desire is so powerful that your character would be looking for a lost city on the off chance that they will be granted a wish?

7th Sea 20 Questions

I don't think of these as binding statements (unless you want me to), but rather some ideas to explore to try and get to what's neat about your character.

The questions are fully explained on pages 134-136.

1. What Nation is your Hero from?
2. How would you physically describe your Hero?
3. Does your Hero have recurring mannerisms?
4. What is your Hero’s main motivation?
5. What is your Hero’s greatest strength?  Greatest weakness?
6. What are your Hero’s most and  least favorite things?
7. What about your Hero’s psychology
8. What is your Hero’s single greatest fear?
9. What are your Hero’s highest ambitions?  Her greatest love?
10. What is your Hero’s opinion of his country?
11. Does your Hero have any prejudices?
12. Where do your Hero’s loyalties lie?
13. Is your Hero in love?  Is she married or betrothed?
14. What about your Hero’s family?
15. How would your Hero’s parents describe her?
16. Is your Hero a gentle?17. How religious is your Hero?  What sect of the Church does she follow
18. Is your Hero a member of a guild, gentle’s club, or secret society
19. What does your Hero think of Sorcery?
20. If you could, what advice would you give your Hero?

Take a look at these and reply with your answers!

An In-Depth Response to James's Email

I'm trying to not write multi-part, epic emails anymore. This is an extended version of the email I sent out on the 6th.

Re: 7th Sea Learning/Mechanics: I just got the preview document for the new edition last week, and I'm pretty sure Alex did too. I'd be happy to make it accessible to y'all, perhaps via Google Drive? It's a pretty simple mechanic (though not quite as simple as GUMSHOE). I'd love to bring it a (next?) meeting and if we had machines handy we could all indulge in a peruse. That said, I don't want to take away from the great game Alex is running, so maybe we should try and show up early on the day we decide to play around with them? Is this something we might want to do in July (seeing as Alex will be gone and he already knows the system)? 

Re: 7th Sea Campaign: 7th Sea is set in a Europe analogue 18th century (think Three Musketeers, pirates, colonization of the Americas, rise of Protestantism, etc). This makes it really easy for players to wrap their heads around the setting with only a bit of an info dump. I'm imagining something glob-trotter-y, perhaps archaeology with a dash of national politics. Play-wise, think shows like The Librarians, and movies like Indiana Jones and Princess Bride. Larger than life heroes and villains and set-piece adventures.

Re: Fate: I've got three big setting ideas for Fate. 

1) I'm a big fan of The Dresden Files. The game is based on a series of novels by Jim Butcher, and they are urban fantasy without much of a twist. That sometimes makes them a bit by-the-numbers as a read, but it also makes it a really easy to play a game in (unlike, say Firefly, that more or less requires a 17 hours of background viewing). If we were to play in it, I would still suggest reading one of the books. They are fast, easy, and engaging. Storm Front is the first one, but the series really gets going with Grave Peril. The game is a modified version of the older FATE games that really emphasizes the collaborative game world creation. So for this, I'm thinking a persistent setting with (largely) stable NPCs and power groups that the players would be navigating around and within. 

Recently, I've been considering three core settings for an urban fantasy game: Road Trip USA with an embrace of Americana (like the monument park on I-5 and other strange crap you see on the side of the road), something local (alternative Seattle, Tacoma, or Olympia), or something rural.

2) I have a long relationship with Interface Zero. It's a modern cyberpunk game with different parts of the world offering different genres, from a pretty standard Deus Ex pastiche in Chicago to post apocalyptic flooded San Francisco to mechs gone wild in Japan. It's got a more richly detailed game world that's growing and changing. I'm on quite friendly terms (though I wouldn't say friends) with the creator and have gotten permission to do more or less whatever I want with printing or sharing the years of play material. 

I'd be most interested in playing a game built around either building a coalition or supporting an up and coming power of some variety.

3) Fate Deadlands. I like the plot point campaigns (The Flood, which is set in California). 'Nuff said?

GMing Style: In any game I run, I want to focus on a couple of things:

1) Player-driven. Each of the players have their own plot that they wish to explore as they will. Everyone should have a concrete or abstract goal that they work towards. Connections to the setting and the story should be baked in a character generation.

2) Co-creation. Everyone works together to generate and maintain the game world.

3) Interesting Combat. Not every session needs a fight, but when it happens, it should be good. For example, I really liked the vampire fight from last month. This is likely my biggest growth area as a GM.

4) World-building. Have I mentioned that I love the conspiracy board? One of the best parts about it is how we just keep track of and add to the fiction.