Swashbuckling Adventures: 7th Sea d20 review

[Tsyr]

The ONLY thing about the book that's tempting, really, is the concept of fighting style prestige classes... And I'm not sure how well most of them would translate to my campagin world.

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

Yes, I'm reading a hard copy. My shop only had one in stock, which I promptly bought. I still don't regret the purchase, despite all the @#$%* errors in the book.

There are lots of mechanically sound ideas, like the Wanderer core class (a souped-up rogue/expert for PCs with some very cool "luck" and "jack of all trades" abilities but no sneak attacks). At 1st level, he gets Evasion, plus for every 1 rank he buys in a Craft, Knowledge or Profession skill, he gets two bonus ranks to spend on any two other Craft, Knowledge or Profession skill, which may not seem that amazing, but these bonuses really add up quickly to make the character proficient in a wide variety of jobs. Once per day (at 2nd level), the wanderer can turn a natural 1 into a natural 20 due to his amazing luck and survival instincts. Uncanny Dodge comes in at 3rd level. 8 + Int skill points per level and choose any 12 skills as class skills, plus you get all Craft, Knowledge and Profession skills as class skills. Good Reflex saves, too. This class is perfect for those seeking a rogue/expert alternative, or a non-magical bard. I'm playing one right now and am having a blast (just made 2nd level)!

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

The ONLY thing about the book that's tempting, really, is the concept of fighting style prestige classes... And I'm not sure how well most of them would translate to my campagin world.

There are a TON of fighting style PrCs (3-5 levels each), with at least 3 different ones per country. Axes, Swords, Whips, Daggers, are all well-represented. I haven't really gone over any of them with a fine tooth comb, but they look good on a glance-through. With over 90 PrCs, you're bound to find some of them useful. They can't ALL be broken, LOL.

 

[tsadkiel]

There are lots of mechanically sound ideas, like the Wanderer core class (a souped-up rogue/expert for PCs with some very cool "luck" and "jack of all trades" abilities but no sneak attacks).

You know, I've been wanting exactly this sort of class for a while now. If they throw in a non-musical and non-magical social munchkin class as well, I'm sold, typos and all.

 

[mearls]

You know, I've been wanting exactly this sort of class for a while now. If they throw in a non-musical and non-magical social munchkin class as well, I'm sold, typos and all.

There's a class in there called the courtier that should fit what you're looking for. I designed it, along with the wanderer (glad you liked it, Kaptain) and a few other new classes.

IIRC, the courtier's abilities are:

Can grant a competence bonus to allies like the bard class, though the courtier does this through encouragement and direction rather than song.

Competence bonus to social skills, plus a seduction special ability that can be used to force secret info out of NPCs who miss a Will save.

Ability to taunt an opponent, causing penalties to attacks and social skill checks.

Iron glare: can cause someone to pause momentarily and lose an action with a successful Intimidate check.

Improved Leadership: gains leadership for free and leadership score goes up by +2 at 14th and 19th level.

Command: The courtier can use the sheer force of her personality to control others much like the command spell.

Plus d8 hit points, cleric BAB, 4 skill points, and standard weapons for swashbuckling (firearms, rapier, simple weapons).

It pretty much completely replaces the noble in my own D&D campaigns. It kind of puts players in their place when they mess with the duchess and she uses Iron Glare to make them stop, shut up, and shuffle their feet awkardly.

(The wanderer is a personal favorite of mine. I always wanted to play a guy who wasn't necessarily the toughest guy in a fight or some sort of archmage, but always seemed to know how to get the party out of a tight spot.)

Once the d20 7th Sea book is out for a bit, I'll post D&D conversions of the classes to my (thoroughly neglected) web site. The D&D rules would revolve primarily around weapon proficiencies. I designed the classes on the assumption that heavy armor and weapons weren't appropriate for the setting.

 

[Tsyr]

There are a TON of fighting style PrCs (3-5 levels each), with at least 3 different ones per country. Axes, Swords, Whips, Daggers, are all well-represented. I haven't really gone over any of them with a fine tooth comb, but they look good on a glance-through. With over 90 PrCs, you're bound to find some of them useful. They can't ALL be broken, LOL.

Not so much broken, but my world has a high a lot of noble houses, which each tend to have their own distinct fighting style. I'm not sure styles focused on only one weapon are really what I'm looking for.

 

[tsadkiel]

There's a class in there called the courtier that should fit what you're looking for. I designed it, along with the wanderer (glad you liked it, Kaptain) and a few other new classes.

Ding, ding, ding. When I find a copy, I'll buy it.

(The wanderer is a personal favorite of mine. I always wanted to play a guy who wasn't necessarily the toughest guy in a fight or some sort of archmage, but always seemed to know how to get the party out of a tight spot.)

It's a really common archetype in fantasy, mythology, and folklore. (*cough*Bilbo Baggins*cough*) I'm glad someone's finally done something with it.

 

[JoeGKushner]

There are lots of mechanically sound ideas, like the Wanderer core class (a souped-up rogue/expert for PCs with some very cool "luck" and "jack of all trades" abilities but no sneak attacks).

This sounds great. I liked the Wanderer from Whell of Time but didn't want to do the conversion to D20. Is this good to go then in a standard D20 game? Is there a listing of core classes around?

 

[Kaptain_Kantrip]

The Wanderer is "good to go" for a regular D&D or d20 game. The Courtier is a great class too (it's also listed in their Rokugan book). The Highwayman is also excellent--one could simply convert his pistol feats to bow or crossbow feats and use in a more medieval setting.

They have non-magical core classes for priests, assassins, pirates, and more. I think there are a dozen new core classes in all, plus the 90+ PrCs.

There are dozens of fighting style PrCs for every type of weapon (but mostly various swords). Bows (mounted or not), Hatchets, Knives (throwing or not), Axes, Harpoons, Claymores, Whips, Zweihanders, Two Weapon Fighting combos, etc.

There are Robin Hood and Friar Tuck type PrCs and a million ones for sailors and pirates of every stripe. The Man of Will PrC is a neat 3 level class for toughening up the Willpower of fighter types.
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MIKE: The book is a veritable goldmine of much-needed crunchy bits but someone needs to slap the editor over at AEG upside his pointy little head, LOL. It's ridiculous that the book was ever released in this fashion. This could have been "Spycraft" caliber given another few weeks to a month of editing. It's shameful that they rushed this out the door in its present state. I know I'll get my $35 out of it, but it could have been so much better. As is, it may very well kill any enthusiasm for 7th Sea d20... or was that their idea all along? Like Chaosium dropping the ball on Call of Cthulhu d20? I sure hope not. Anyway, Mike, once again you've done a first rate job of giving us great crunchy bits. Keep up the good work! Your name guarantees a book will have something good in it. BTW: Your Quintessential books for Mongoose (Rogue, Wizard) are miles above the others, which were rather flat.

 

[Agamon]

Meh, think I 'll just stick to 7th Sea for my swashbuckling...