7th Sea 2e - A Villain of Honor

So not all that long ago, I posted a plethora of Heroes for the second edition of John Wick Presents' 7th Sea RPG, and even included a write-up of the adventure I used to introduce my Friday Night Skype group to the game.

Well, I'm back with some new morsels of 7th Sea goodness, this time turning my attention to the Villains.  Now admittedly, coming up with stats for a Villain isn't that difficult, given they use a much simpler method to determine their capabilities, those being Strength and Influence, which combine to determine their Villainy Rank, along with any notable Advantages that the Villain might have.  Still, it never hurts to have a few ready-made Villains on hand for your Heroes to face, either for them to confront, confound, and vex, or to be confronted, confounded, and vexed in turn.

Now, I won't be posting these Villains quite as frequently as I did the cavalcade of Heroes, and will instead aim for one new Villain each Saturday for at least the rest of this month and perhaps a couple more going into October.

Captain Charles du Chevalier, Musketeer Captain

Nation: Montaigne

Villainy Rank: 10

Strength: 6

Influence: 4

Advantages: Connection (Montaigne Musketeers), Disarming Smile, Duelist Academy (Valroux), Reputation (Chivalrous)

Notable Items: Rapier and main-gauche, Musketeer uniform, flintlock pistol with powder and shot

Appearance: Charles is tall and muscular, with the grace of an athlete and the bearing of king.  He is clean-shaven, which makes him look younger than his twenty-nine years.  His nose turns upward slightly at the sight of commoners, and he always condescends to those beneath him.  He is always polite, however, and rigidly adheres to the code of chivalry at all times; arrogance and honor can go hand in hand.

Background: Captain du Chevalier is the epitome of a King’s Musketeer: honorable, noble, and devoted to king and country.  He’s also arrogant and more than a little condescending to his social inferiors, but his heart is good and he faithfully adheres to the Musketeer’s code.  The third son of a landed nobleman, he joined the army for the excitement it offered, and was eventually selected to join the Musketeers.  Charles is a valiant swordsman, and fights to uphold the honor of his native country.  He is also an aristocrat, and affects the elitist snobbery typical of Montaigne’s nobility.  He has a hard time believing that a gentle of any stripe could commit a crime, and rarely persecutes anyone of breeding.  If he does become convinced such individuals are a threat, he will hound them to the ends of the earth; in his mind, a noble foe is ten times as dangerous as an ignoble one.  Unlike many of his peers, he knows that the peasantry of his homeland suffer and realizes their complaints are genuine.  While he sympathizes, he also genuinely believes that they were meant to suffer as they do, often saying that “if Theus wanted them happy, he wouldn’t have dirtied their blood.”

Notes: Captain du Chevalier made his first appearance in The Lady’s Favor, Part One of the Erebus Cross adventure series.  He could make for a good recurring adversary for a group of Heroes, given that he’s highly capable but also a man of honor.  Under the right circumstances, he might even make for a capable ally, as his commitment to defending king and country are absolute, and if pointed in the direction of a serious threat to either, he’ll waste no time working to thwart that threat, or at the very least give the Heroes aid in doing so.  He's really not much for scheming, and tends to spend his Influence to call up a contingent of rank-and-file Musketeers in the form of a Strength 10 Brute Squad with the Duelists special ability, or instead to all upon the aid of a Musketeer Officer, who has a Villainy Rank of 5 (Strength 4, Influence 1) with the Deadeye and Fencer Advantages if it appears things might get tough.