introducing a cast of thousands...

[reverancepavane]

I recently had the opportunity to run the gamma playtest rules of Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies for some newbies that haven't encountered the previous incarnations of the rules. Which was useful to see how they interpreted the new edition (compared to how we interpreted the beta edition, which I think we managed to break a couple of times). Unfortunately due to illness on my part and the difficulty of contacting the participants, it was mainly a crunch session (although we did get distracted in actual play by actual play). However it heavily simulated what will probably be the normal situation with the game: one player (who has bought the game), being very enthused and rounding up a group of players to play at the spur of the moment. I tried to minimize my impact (basically acting as a semi-intelligent index to the rules), and let them interpret the rules directly. Here is what they came up with. This also meant that I didn't go through my normal process of evolving the characters with a lot of backstory, since we lacked the opportunity for extensive negotiation. Which is why the characters may seem a bit dry. Name: Zenna the Eyebright Foible: Glowing Eyes Motivation: Good [+2] Freedom Nationality: Good [+2] Viridia Past: Slave Swashbuckling Forte: Master [+6] Koldun Swashbuckling Techniques: Chimera, Quilin, Dragon, Thunderbird, Unicorn Additional Fortes: Good [+2] Fencing "Went from childhood on Viridia to slavedom on Viridia. Koldun abilities came late and strong, I was able to master them quickly. I value freedom over captivity." Was played at a high fantasy level (this had been decided at the setting of the dials), so she spent a lot of time having fun with the Ruq and his rider by pretending to be an identical Ruq using the Gift of the Chimera. Highly reccomend that Koldan wards be considered common equipment if you decide on the high fantasy setting, and that most people, ships, and buildings have them as a matter of course. Name: Xavier the Bold Foible: Secret member of the Brethern of the Skulls Motivation: Good [+2] Freedom Nationality: Good [+2] Ilwuz Past: Good [+2] Skysailor Swashbuckling Forte: Expert [+4] Brethern of the Skull Swashbuckling Techniques: Dramatic Entrance/Exit, Bars & Taverns Additional Fortes: Good [+2] Fencing, Average [+0] Gift of Thunderbird, Average [+0] Vehicle (Average [+0] Glider with Good [+2] Fast) Other Techniques: Sarcastic (unchained!) Was tempted for a while by the Foible of "Doesn't know where Ilwuz is or when it arrives, but knows where it will be." Only player I've encountered who chose to take an unchained Technique (usable with any Forte). Naturally it was an Idiom. In a full game, as member of a crew interested in pirate hunting, his secret would have caused him lots of trouble, both on the ship and back home. Name: Sebastian Moreson Foible: Perfect Gentleman Motivation: Good [+2] To Make a Name For Himself Nationality: Good [+2] Colronan Royalist Past: Good [+2] Aristocrat (Younger son of a Noble) Swashbuckling Forte: Master [+6] Vehicle (an Expert [+4] Sky Junk (the Rosabella) with Good [+2] Speed and Good [+2] Maneuverability) Swashbuckling Techniques: Navigation, Dodge, Sure-Fire Cannon Additional Fortes: Good {+2] Fencing Other Techniques: Parry (Fencing) The player wanted to be a Colronan Royalist because they baked good quality bread (and invented the "Good Sky" taboo that no bread must be baked while crossing the sky). Took Vehicle as his Swashbuckling Forte, which initially seemed unusual, but a valid choice by the rules. It well suited him, as the Rosabella became his pride and joy. This also means that the Swashbuckling Techniques applied to the Vehicle itself (although I probably would have ruled it was only the case when he was in command in an extended campaign). However we discovered that reducing the quality of a vehicle definitely didn't make sense under the vehicle dueling rules, so she would have been better off with a Master {+6] Sky Junk which was Good [+2] Fast than what she took. (To be continued)