Swashbuckling Adventures

[Gorilla726]

Hey all. Anyone know how good Swashbuckling Adventures? I saw the rulebook in a game store the other day and flipped through it. I'm really interested in it and I like the idea/genre of the game, but I don't want to blow $34.95 on it if I don't like it... lol. Anyone know if it's any good? Thanks in advance. See ya!

Gorilla

 

[thundershot]

Psion's review is HERE...

I don't have the book, though. Not really my style.



Chris

 

[Ace]

Psion's review is HERE...

I don't have the book, though. Not really my style.



Chris

This from someone with a Princess Bride quote in their sig. Go figure

BTW I recomend the book and other than not finding the New Core Classes too hot I mostly agree with Alans review. I would consider it a must buy but YMMV

 

[DonAdam]

I bought the book and was very disappointed.

The only new core class that I thought was worthwhile was the courtier, but I already had that from Rokugan.

I found almost nothing in this book to be pluggable into different settings. There are horrible, horrible balance issues here. The problems are much less if you run strictly from this book, but they are still there.

 

[thundershot]

This from someone with a Princess Bride quote in their sig. Go figure

While the Princess Bride is my all-time favorite movie, and I would LIKE to do seafaring adventures, I simply can't pull it off as a DM. I'd like to be able to do it with the PC's my players currently have, not with a gajillion classes and feats I'll never use. I would want the feel without having to force feats and classes upon my players.

Now... if someone were to attempt a Princess Bride d20 game, I'll do everything in my power to MAKE it work.


Chris

 

[Banshee16]

I purchased the book and have found it pretty good. There are lots of interesting ideas in it, and I'm seriously considering a 7th Sea campaign.

There are lots of really cool feats...the fencing ones are particularly good (ie. parry, riposte, counterattack, etc.). Plus there are the unarmored defense rules, which are sorely lacking in the Core Rulebooks (big oversight on behalf of WotC). And I even think those rules are better done than the variants used by WotC for Star Wars and Wheel of Time. Sure, your characters get AC bonuses when armored, but they have to blow valuable feats to get them...

One of my favorites is more finesse. Basically, after you stick finess on your rapier, you get More Finesse on that blade too, and now your DEX score counts for dmg with that weapon, instead of STR. I think that more accurately represents the use of light fencing weapons.

The firearms rules are much needed, including feats for sharpshooting, piercing armor, etc. (builds upon the idea from 2nd Ed. that firearms are excellent against knights in armor).

Some of the core classes seem a little redundant....like the swashbuckler and musketeer, which are pretty similar. The main differences being that the musketeers get d10s vs. d6s, but the swashbucklers get more little abilities.

The setting is low magic, so they've made an assassin class, as a core class, with no spells.

There are rules for ships and mass combat, but oddly, there are no rules for canons. Those are offered for free on the official website (www.7thsea.com).

The prestige classes are a mixed bag. Some are quite interesting, and others seem less necessary. But there are a whole swack of prestige classes that are 5 levels, and really help in customizing your character by having her follow a specific school of fighting.

There are some balance issues, and some editing problems, but overall, I found it a pretty good book, and a lot better than much other d20 stuff I've found on the market. And given that WotC really hasn't addressed swashbuckling games.....ever, I found it a much needed addition to the rules.

Is the book perfect? No. Is it pretty good, with stuff that can be used for a 7th Sea campaign, or mined for use in your own? I think so.

Does that help?

Banshee

 

[Yonshalmnu]

You should buy it. Very interesting classes, neat world, high adventure.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I found an awful lot in the book that basically leaped off of the page, grabbed me by the hair, and screamed "USE ME IN YOUR GAME!" Yes, there are lots of editing mistakes, but I can live with that. Some of the classes seem similar, but after reading them a couple times I can really see how they're supposed to be distinct - i.e., nobles and courtiers represent completely different concepts, etc. Unlike one of the previous posters, I had no problem finding tons of things that could be plugged into different settings. I don't know jack about Theah, but I still want to use lots of this book.

 

[Zef]

The problem 've got with the whole swashbuckling game is the way to keep a group going.

I can't think initially how to have a group in that sort of campaign

But boy i'd love to play it

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I don't see how it would be any harder to have a group in a swashbuckling campaign than in any other kind of campaign. After all, the best part about the Three Muskateers was that there were four of them.