Swashbuckling Adventures

[Messageboard Golem]

The core world setting of this game is Theah, the universe created for AEG's 7th Sea RPG. 256 pages, hardbound. Nearly 100 new Character and Prestige Classes. Over 100 New Feat. Over 100 new Artifacts and Magic Items. Ship-to-Ship and Mass Combat Rules.

 

[Psion]

Swashbuckling Adventures

7th Sea was a game by AEG meant to emulate romanticized swashbuckling heroism as portrayed in many films and literature. The game was set in a close analog of renaissance era earth called Theah. After the coming of the d20 Rokugan setting, AEG announced that it would create a conversion of its 7th Sea game, but not exactly in the same vein as Rokugan. The result, Swashbuckling Adventures does provide the basic material you need to run a d20 system game in Theah, but is also intended in large part as a general "swashbuckling" sourcebook.

The difference in approach is understandable. There already exists a genre sourcebook for Asian-style fantasy, Oriental Adventures; Rokugan is built on this book. However, there is no equivalent book for "Swashbuckling" type fantasy, so AEG had to start from the ground up.

A First Look

Swashbuckling Adventures is a 256 page book priced at $34.95

The interior text is dense, with a small body text font and an appropriately sized header font. Unfortunately, there are many noticeable editorial gaffes, including homonym confusion (e.g., using "role" instead of "roll", and using "effect" as a verb), mismatches between text and tables, references to skills or feats that don't exist in the d20 system or this book, and omitted ability explanations.

The interior uses brown ink for borders, header text, and artwork. Some art is good, but most of it is only passable.

A Deeper Look

In large part, Swashbuckling Adventures is intended to adapt the 7th Sea campaign world, Theah, to the d20 system. The world of Theah is very strongly based around Earth (and thence, primarily Europe) in the 17th century. For example, there are close analogs of England, France, Spain, and Italy amongst the described nations. This is probably in an effort to emulate the feel of many tales of swashbuckling heroism that are the game's inspiration. Even so, I am ill at ease with settings that are merely re-warmed historical Earth.

However, the book is very "crunchy" and may be of good use to you if your campaign has any renaissance feel at all, and the book does not outright assume that you will be using it to play a d20 Theah game. Some minor parts are Theah specific. The first chapter introduces a number of nationalities. All characters in a Theah are human, but the nationalities tweak the human baseline by exchanging 2 of the bonus human skill points for 2 automatic class skills appropriate to the flavor of the nation.

To the end of recreating a lower magic swashbuckling feel to the game, Swashbuckling Adventures introduces three core d20 characters classes reworked to fit Theah game and 11 entirely new core classes.

The revised classes include the Thean Bard, Thean Paladin, and the Thean Ranger. These classes retain most of the abilities and characteristics of the core d20 version of the classes. However, they receive other special abilities in place of spellcasting abilities. For example, the Thean Bard receives an Iron Glare abilities that can cause opponents to lose actions in combat.

The new classes are:
- Alchemist: The alchemist can craft elixirs that are similar to potions, and can eventually brew potions without having access to the attendant spells.
- Assassin: The assassin is very similar to the rogue, except with fewer skills and some other class abilities. The assassin receives a powerful "ambush attack" ability that improves the critical threat range and multiplier of a small blade, which to me seems all too redundant with sneak attack. Further, the assassin has an ability with the unfortunate "can automatically take 20 on a skill check" convention. Those who are familiar with the d20 system rules should know that "take 20" is merely shorthand for retying until successful; abilities that allow you to "automatically take 20" are nonsensical. Essentially, what the ability is actually doing is giving the character the rogue's skill mastery ability with an additional +10 to the skill check thrown in!
- Courtier: The courtier here is very similar to the courtier in the Rokugan campaign setting. The courtier is a weak combatant, but receives many class abilities that allow them to maximize their skill use in social situations.
- Highwayman: The highwayman is a very specialized class, a bandit in a time where firearms are the norm. The class receives abilities that make them very good at handling pistols, but there are otherwise similar to rogues with impugned skill points.
- Inquisitor: The inquisitor is a religious character trained in rooting out heretics and striking at enemies of their faith. The have modest combat abilities and paltry skill points, but a menagerie of class abilities that aid in the pursuit of their duties.
- Musketeer: As the name should imply, the musketeer is a principled warrior in service to a monarch. They are very similar to fighters, but receive some other abilities at low level to help them fit the mold of duelist better.
- Noble: The noble class is a pc-caliber class representing the ruling elite of a nation. Nobles are modest combatants, and have class abilities centered on their leadership traits and social position.
- Pirate: Another very specialized class, the pirate is your typical seafaring bandit. Pirates are good fighters, but gain extra skill points at odd intervals, and learn a variety of tactics appropriate to such ruffians.
- Spy: Spies are masters of courtly intrigue. They basically resemble rogues with class abilities that give them a slightly stronger social bent.
- Swashbuckler: Another very fighter-like class, the swashbuckler is slightly tuned towards the type of finesse appropriate to swashbuckling campaigns.
- Wanderer: The wanderer is a rootless traveler with a variety of vocational and trade-oriented abilities.
- Witch: The witch is a low powered spellcaster, on the order of the adept. The witch only has 6 levels of spells. Witches initially prepare spells as a wizard, but as they gain experience, they gain a number of innate spells that they do not have to prepare.

With the exception of the assassin, I thought the mechanical implementation of these classes was fairly good. That said, I find that most of them were too narrow to be justified as core classes and many of them struck me as redundant. For example, the courtier struck me as way too close to the noble, and the musketeer seems merely a swashbuckler "in the king's service."

In addition to the new core classes, Swashbuckling Adventures includes a bevy of new prestige classes. Many of these prestige classes encompass specialized fighting styles, though some represent members of secret societies or other positions on high regard.

Most of the fighting styles are short (5 level or less) prestige classes. Many of them are concerned with fencing weapons common to the subgenre emulated by the book, but a fair number represent master of other weapons such as axes or greatswords. Overall, the fighting style prestige classes provide a great resource for those looking to add a bit more distinctiveness to fighting styles in their game.

A few of the prestige classes are unabashedly overpowered, with things such as attack progressions in excess of +1 per level. Though the book does warn you about this, I feel as if this was not the right way to handle these classes. If a character is a member of a society that grants them such great power, it is best to represent that power with actual levels, not create classes which circumvent the balance of the level system.

Just as there is a large selection of prestige classes, there are many feats. Though my impression of the prestige classes is positive, the feats strike me as more of a mixed batch. First off, the feats chapter is probably the biggest victim of the editorial oversights - there are frequent references to skills and feats that do no exist, and wording that does not make sense given the context and prerequisites of the feat. Many of the feats seem to have abilities that are too arbitrary or all encompassing. The book even reused the name "lightning reflexes" for one of the feats.

I found the "class skill expander" feats interesting. Each of these feats has 4 ranks in a particular skill as a prerequisite. The feat grants the character a variety of related skills as class skills. For example, the herbalist feat requires 4 ranks of wilderness lore, but grants wilderness lore, heal, alchemy, and knowledge (nature) as class skills.

In addition to the fairly normal types of feats, the book introduces an interesting and melodramatic spin on the feat, called arcana. Only good and evil characters can select arcane, and some arcana grant an extra arcana feat instead of using a feat. These are called hubris or flaws, depending on whether the character is good or evil. On the whole, the idea seems interesting and useful, but it seems as if some information is missing on how to use hubris or flaw feats in the game.

In addition to the many character options, the book provides some new equipment (including firearms) and magic items for use in Theah, as well as optional rules that you may wish to use in a swashbuckling game. The advanced rules include rules for bombs, called shots and specific injuries, mass combat, and ship-to-ship combat. The mass combat and ship-to-ship combat rules are comparable to other such rules on the market. While usable and seemingly well thought out, only a few pages are devoted to each topic, and you won't get as much mileage out of these rules as other d20 system rules dedicated to these topics.

Conclusion

I have never been a big fan of Theah in the first place, so I will leave the judgement as to how good an adaptation this is to more informed reviewers. However, I would have trouble seeing using this book as-is for the basis of a game. The core classes strike me as too close too one another, and many of the classes and feats are rendered unusable by editorial gaffes unless the GM cares to guess what the author meant and make the needed adjustments.

However, I do think that there are some good possibilities for this book. Many classes and feats are well conceived, and could be used in a number of games with an emphasis on swashbuckling or stylistic combat. The modified classes would make good alternatives in a low magic game, and the various style prestige classes would do well to add flavor to any campaign.

-Alan D. Kohler

 

[Messageboard Golem]

By Brad Mix, Staff Reviewer, d20 Magazine Rack

This review is for Swashbuckling Adventures by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) and retails for $34.95. This 256-page hardbound source book contains all the information needed to run a campaign in the world of Theah. A world of swashbucklers that you make you think of heroes like; Zorro, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Three Musketeers, and Wesley from the Princess Bride.

The first thing that you notice is that everyone in Theah is human. To help create some strife and adversity the world is divided into nine major countries. A person’s perception of the world is influenced by his nationality. Physical appearance is also determined by nationality.

In the world of Theah magic is limited to bloodlines, and magic works much differently than in most other campaign worlds. The following classes do not exist in Theah: Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, and Wizard. Other magic using classes like Ranger, Paladin, and Bard all have alternate abilities. If you want to include these classes some changes are recommended. Clerics take the role of priest and religious leaders. A monotheistic religion is suggested with the different alignments representing different factions of the same church. Druids tend to take the role of Shamans. Peasants may turn to them to help with struggling crops. Druids are often hunted by the “true” church and charged with heretics. Sorcerers and Wizards are looked on differently depending on the country.

Of the modified classes the Bard is the best suited for Theah. Their storytelling and entertaining song goes well in the heroic world. No changes are needed for the Barbarian, Fighter, Monk, or Rogue. Although the background and nationality may be limited.

New character classes Alchemist, Assassin, Courtier, Highwayman, Inquisitor, Musketeer, Noble, Pirate, Spy, Swashbuckler, Wanderer, and Witch help fill the void of the banned classes. These are mostly variations of Fighters and Rogues with different skills.

Chapter 3 details over 90 prestige classes and divides them by nationality. Unfortunately these too are mostly variations of Fighters and Rogues. They remind me of kits from 2nd edition rules. Many of them are identical except for a few different skills and weapon proficiencies.

There are a lot of good new feats listed. Some of the highlights include: Ranged Expertise that allows a penalty to attack for a bonus to AC. Road Scholar that allows for unskilled knowledge check at +1. Six Fingers that allows for a +1 to attack and to dex checks. Sneak Attack Training adds an additional 1d6 to sneak attack damage. Tagging is a particularly flashy attack designed to dishearten an enemy. Arcana feats can be taken as well at first level. These are basically character traits such as Brilliant, Courageous, and Focused. Some negative ones, or Hubris as they are called, also exist. If a negative on is taken a bonus feat is gained. Some of them include: Hedonistic, Overconfident, and Megalomaniacal.

Equipment is detailed with special emphasis on sea going items. Firearms are included and many different kinds are listed.

Chapter 7 gives some advanced rules for Theah. Bombs are the first item covered. Nothing fancy about bombs, you put a fuse in a barrel of gunpowder and hope that you can run away fast enough as to not get caught in the blast area. A chart is given for the blast area and damages are given. Buildings can be destroyed and each type of building is given a demolition rating. The higher the rating the bigger the bomb has to be to bring it down.

Dramatic criticals allow for extra threat range. If you increase the threat by 3 before an attack is made you can score extra damage if the rolls are high enough. By doing this you also increase the critical failure. So instead of a 1 being a critical failure a 1-4 is now a failure for that attack. After a few critical fumbles a prosthetic might be needed. Luckily prosthetics is included and explains how they are made and what kind of penalty or bonus is applied.

Mass combat and ship-to-ship fighting are very well detailed. This is probably the best part of the book. The rules are easy to follow and add a lot of realism to an attack.

Chapter 8 details some secret societies that work to advance their own agenda.

A timeline and history of Theah is given and details how some of the countries attitudes towards each other developed.

Lastly some tips of how to play a Swashbuckler are included. Banisters were made to be slid down; Chandeliers were made to be swung from. A carpet was made to yanked on when someone is standing on it. Remember to have fun, smile a lot and try not to sleep with the Barons daughter!

I really enjoyed this rulebook. It is put together well and is easy to understand and for $34.95 it is a decent price. Anchors away!

To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.

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(I've added an additional review done by another member of our review staff so that you may see the differences in their style of reviewing and gain a better informed opinion about this book. - Steve)

By Bruce Boughner, Staff Reviewer d20 Magazine Rack and Co-host of Mortality Radio

This review is for Swashbuckling Adventures, a 250-page hardcover book written by Erick-Jason Yaple and published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). The book retails for $34.95.

AEG, a company best known for picking up the Rokugan Oriental Adventures setting/Legend of the Five Rings, has stepped up to the plate and tagged the Grand Slam of accessories, Swashbuckling Adventures. Nearly every previous attempt at creating a genre in the Three Musketeers/Count of Monte Cristo vein have always left me a little dry. This book skewers them all, at the tip of their rapiers!!!

Based on The’ah, the swashbuckling CCG, this book brings pirates of the Caribbean, orders of swashbuckling swordsmen, secret orders and intrigue of a psuedo-17th century Europe to life. As I am currently fopping my way through my own Sunday night campaign and in The SCA, I was humongeously impressed with the over-abundance of classes, feats, skills, settings and other goodies in the book.

Chapter One, rather than races, deals in nationalities. All basic characters ARE human. This book deals with the emerging Empirical Dynasties of a pre-Industrial Age Europe, shortly before the settling of the Americas by England, France and Spain, or Avalon, Montaigne and Castille, as they are called here. Europe and the Eurasian continent, are described in great detail, through Ussura (Russia) all the way to the Empire of the Crescent Moon (Arab sub-continent and India) to Cathay (China and Japan).

Classes feature predominantly in Chapter Two, starting with the core D&D classes and how they relate to this milieu. Clerics are recommended to become priests in a monotheistic setting, while druids are converted into shaman. Sorcerers and wizards are closely regulated. Depending on where you are in the setting, sorcerers can be honored members of society, while wizards are seen as outcast deviants. Bards are enhanced to fit the genre and paladins are transformed into Crusaders. Rangers are also adapted to fit into The’ah, barbarians, fighters, monks and rogues are unchanged. New classes feature the Alchemist, Assassin, Courtier, Highwayman, Inquisitor, Musketeer, Noble, Pirate, Spy, Swashbuckler, Wanderer and Witch, all uniquely and exquisitely crafted into this game.

The third chapter leads into Prestige classes, Seventeen universal Prestige Classes and 71 Prestige classes divided among the countries of The’ah! Favorties like Avalon’s Goodfellow Archer (Robin Hood archetype), Castille’s Gustavo Horseman (gaucho), Eisen’s Nibelungen Smiths and Montaigne’s various sword schools among other familiar icons.

Feats are the focus of the fourth chapter; it is not one of the shorter chapters in the book! It contains a great wealth of feats specific to the 88 classes in this volume. Things long underused or unseen like riposte (fighter), coven member (witch) or river boat pilot (general, profession) are among the large number of gems here.

Equipment is in Chapter Five, again, tailored for a swashbuckling campaign, there are a number of things I have long sought to include for my characters. Also a great number of firearms, from grappling guns to musket carbines are detailed here. Wondrous items from poisons and alchemical concoctions to fancy coats and magic sails, enchanted blades and guns of all calibers fill the chapter.

Chapter Seven covers advanced rules such as bombs, tripwires and fuses, new combat options such as called shot and disarming shot, prosthetics, mass melee rules and ship to ship combat are detailed here. They lose points for leaving out the cannon rules, but it is available in downloadable errata.

Chapters Eight details secret societies. Much like the Free Masons and the legendary Illuminati, the how-to build and run such a group is in this brief section, seven are briefly listed. Chapter Nine goes into the history and description of The’ah. The timeline parallels our own history, allowing for game alterations and followed with a country-by-country almanac that includes typical inhabitant sketches. An appendix, rich with character tips and suggestions round out the book.

The artwork is very rich and done in a similar manner to TSR’s Red Steel campaign, with the artwork in a sepia tone. If the book suffers at all, it suffers from AEG’s habit of cramming a lot into a little and following up with numerous supplements. But given that WotC did the same thing after the core rules came out with supplements for the classes I am not going to protest too much, I just can’t stand the wait for more. If they are anything like the Rokugan supplements, they are more than worth the wait!! Buy it or I shall thrash you a second time, you silly Avalonian knnnigit!!!!

To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to The Critic's Corner at www.d20zines.com.

 

[Messageboard Golem]

Note: I bought this book to use as a sourcebook for my D&D campaign. I do not intend to use it to run a game in the world of Theah.

This book is great for anyone who would like to run a swashbuckling campaign.

The rules do not work well if simply dropped into a standard Dungeons and Dragons campaign, but with a little bit of work, you can reap large rewards. The main problem that I have seen is that the classes and feats from the Swashbukling Adventures book are not very compatible with those from the D&D PHB. Magic would rock the world of Theah, and the dextrous experts of unarmored combat tear apart heavy armor fighters. An example of unbalance is the Unarmored Defense Proficiency feat. It provides the character with a moderate bonus to his/her BASE armor class contingent upon level. A mid-level character with one or more Unarmored Defense Proficiency feat is almost invulnerable to touch attacks. In addition, because the bonus is to the character's base, being caught flat-footed is hardly a penalty.

The rules would work very well if you were trying to create a city based D&D campaign with a low magic level. Swashbuckling Adventures adds many options to create unique characters reminiscent of The Three Musketeers. There are numerous feats that expand a character's class skills. IMHO this is essential for a city based campaign. These feats allow classes with limited class skills to gain access to the skills that are very important to a city campaign such as bluff, diplomacy, gather information, etc.

The equipment chapter is one of the best. It provides many sword modifications that add flavor and specific bonuses. These help make up for a lack of magic and magical weapons. This chapter can be very useful in generating ideas for low-magic campaigns or for equipment with flavor. An example of sword modifications is a serrated blade which provides the bonus of an increased critical multiplier.

Only 40 of the 234 pages of non-appendix material are devoted to the Theah campaign setting. Because Theah is based on Renaissance Europe, this material couple potentially be useful to many DMs. The remainder of the book is devoted to new classes, feats, and mechanics dealing with a swashbuckling, city campaign.

I highly recommend this book.

 

[Committed Hero]

Effect is a rarely used synonym of the verb "to cause."