Aramis, Jesuits, and Swashbuckling Adventures

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

So, I've been mulling over the Swashbuckling Adventures book as soon as I knew it existed, 'cause the early modern period had it all figured out. I opened it up, I read it, and I found myself a impressed but looking at a lot of work.

Forgetting all the rules madness and various solutions, I am left looking at only a few holes in my grand scheme to do the period right:

Little Hole: No Poles and no Balkans. If you really want to hit the early modern period with both Flintlocks blazing you've got to do something about the Turkish invasions and that needs these two groups. No Carribean and no mysterious new world, either, but I bet they'll come around soon.

BIG Hole: No class to simulate Jesuit or even generic Catholic priests and protestant ministers. Sure there are inquisitors, but I never got the feeling that Aramis's training in the ways of mother church began with two masterwork weapons. These guys are everywhere in the genre, and had a much more distinctive role in both literature and history than can be simulated by one badly written skill feat, a diplomacy bonus, and a stipend.

I would appreciate any suggestions I could get for designing a magic light, intellect and charisma heavy, and heavily devoted Man of Theus class. I figure something flexible but peaceable is essential as we are depicting people ranging from Cardinal Richeleau to the characters in the Mission to the actual Jesuits, Calvinists, Episcopalians, Franciscans, and others who were so essential to the history of the period.

Faith based magic should run from light to optional, but some representation of the ritual significance of European clergy should certainly be represented.

Any suggestions about how the above cultures would fit into Thea and where would also be appreciated.

Please help. The fate of a future kick ass campaign may hinge on your responses.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

1.) Not much of a problem. No Poles and no Balkans. If you really want to hit the early modern period with both Flintlocks blazing you've got to do something about the Turkish invasions and that needs these two groups. No Carribean and no mysterious new world, either, but I bet they'll come around soon.

Poles/Balkans - southernmost Ussura, in the valley between the big Ussuran range (forget the name) and the Drachenbergen. It's heavily forested IIRC. That way it borders on the Crescent/Turks. Plus there's the kinship to Ussuran culture.

The New World exists in my version of the world, thanks to a quick import of Maztica. BTW, my version of Cathay is home to both Rokugan and Shou Lung, with some Indonesian/Malay feel on the island off to the southeast (home of L5Rs Mantis clan). Nyambe is also imported into the setting.

I would appreciate any suggestions I could get for designing a magic light, intellect and charisma heavy, and heavily devoted Man of Theus class. With faith based magic ranging from light to optional, but some representation of the ritual significance of European clergy certainly being represented.

Take a look at the old historical setting-book for 2e on The Crusades. IIRC, they have it set up so that low-level spells can be cast normally, with higher level ones represented by a percentage chance of them happening.

 

[Darkness]

I deleted the duplicate thread. But since this one is newer by ten minutes and has a slightly different text, I ported the reply over to this one.

- Darkness

 

[qstor]

Dr. Strangemonkey - your game sounds very interesting! Keep up posted. I would also sugguest the 2e historical supplement A mighty fortress they have a few kits that might be good. There is also some hints on what classes go with what nations and a list of 2e monsters that fit well in a low magic historical game.

If you haven't read the Solomon Kane books by Robert E Howard that might be good background reading. I developed background for a game in the 16th century that I ran once using GURPS. I'd like to play it in 2e. The next issue of Dragon (#301) is supposed to have more swashbuckler rules too. You might want to check out Occultism by Atlas Games. I was thinking of getting it to add to my developing 16th century campaign.

Mike

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Hy-Brasil and Utopia

Maztica was something I hadn't thought of. A very good idea.

The thing I missed most about the new world for this setting is its importance as a place of mystery, horror, and alternatives. So that the idea of Utopia and Hy-Brasil and other such notions of radically different and even magical lands out in the new world played very important role in both the European sense of themselves and the adventure literature of the period.

Of course the other aspect of that is movies like the Black Robe and Brotherhood of the Wolf, where adventurers move between Europe and America and always come back more or less scarred and more or less wiser.

By the way I cannot recommend the Black Robe enough. It is the best antidote to Last of the Mohicans in existence-though that is certainly also a good movie. Its depiction of how much trouble Europeans and the New World caused for each other could be a lot preachier and doesn't hold anything back about how similar and how alien the new world could be.

Plus being from the flattest and most treeless of lands, west Texas, myself, I appreciate that the devil lives in the forest.

Yeah, I hadn't thought of the mighty fortress book and I will read Solomon Kane. I might recommend the Fading Suns d20 book. While it is, in reality, depicting an earlier time period, the book does a great job of creating character classes for those who lead, those who pray, and those who work. Their system for social feats is super, and I'm surprised noone else has adopted something similar.

 

[Florin]

I'm not real familiar with Swashbuckling Adventures, but I'm very familiar with 7th Sea, which is what SA is based off of. From what I read of the review, I would probably use something like noble or courtier for a priest. Give him plenty of Knowledge (Religion) and maybe come up with an Ordained feat or something and there you go. The higher ranking members of the church lived at least as well as any noble, and they certainly participated in enough political manuevering to make most people's heads spin.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Naw too easy

I thought about that, but I decided that most of the higher ranking churchmen lived like Nobles because they were, and what I wanted was someone who was educated in a seminary and then went out to do the work of the curch, not run it.

Plus, the courtier and noble classes don't have the intellectual power the Thean setting leads you to believe the Vaticine priest can embody. I mean the Courtier has a lot of skill points, but they aren't really geared toward scientific training and research.

I did think about modifying the alchemist class to be something like the priest from Romeo and Juliet, but I think that isn't broad enough. Even in the play you have the sense that guy is a little unusual. So I would definitely allow someone who had taken the ordination feat, there is one, and either secret society Invisible College or that secret sisterhood who's name I'm blocking on to be Alchemists, but if someone said to me, "hey I want to play a Priest of Theus," that isn't the path I would recommend.

I know a fair amount about 7th Sea but I haven't seen the church resource book yet. Are there any cool advantages or backgrounds in there that I should know about?

 

[Florin]

The women would be Sophia's Daughters. As for the church book, I haven't picked it up either... I know there are some swordsman schools in there, for church defender types, but that's not what you're looking for...

I haven't looked at the ordained feat, but does it give you access to knowledge skills as class skills or give you some kind of bonus to knowledge skills or something like that? It may be a bit overpowered, even though knowledge skills are rarely game-breakers, but you could have a feat that gave you all knowledge skills as class skills and/or gave a +1 bonus to all knowledge skills. You could even split them into two feats, something like Church Schooling and something else along those lines that isn't too similar sounding...

Then you could be pretty much any class you wanted to and still be a priest.

 

[tsadkiel]

For a "cinematic" Jesuit character I'd use the Spy class, myself.

 

[Pyske]

Do they not have somehting similar to Castillian Education? If they do, it would be appropriate to allow churchmen to take it, as the Castillian Education is intended to reflect the world class education provided by the church schools.

Other possible feats or class abilities: immunity to prosecution, church sanctuary / safehouse, confessional (+2 to Gather Info and Sense Motive), Moral Authority (+2 Intimidate & +1 Will saves). As already suggested, Fading Suns is good for things like rallying the flock, etc.

. . . . . . . -- Eric