When I originally posted Sharktooth Conroy's article to the 7th Sea 2nd Edition Facebook group, I got asked by the admin to try my hand at updating the Quick Start heroes to the proper 2nd edition rule set. Now admittedly, there's not a whole lot of background on them, but since they're written for a very brief one-shot adventure, that's not much of a surprise.
What was a surprise was coming to realize just how much the rules for 7th Sea's second edition had changed in between the Quick Start and the final printed product. Some of these "conversions" could more rightly be considered reinterpretations given how many changes had to be made to keep with the general spirit of their Quick Start versions. I did opt to keep them at the level of starting Heroes, which fits what what I feel is the general sense that the player-characters can have a major impact on the world around them (a welcome contrast to the game's 1st edition where the player-characters felt more like observers and supporting characters to a metaplot centered on GMPCs).
You can download a copy of the Quick Start adventure here, courtesy of the 7th Sea 2nd Edition fansite
So now that you've got the adventure, let's take a look at how the Heroes turned out in the finalized 2nd edition rules.
Religion:
Vaticine
Traits: Brawn
4, Finesse 2, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Panache 2
Backgrounds:
Aristocrat, Army Officer
Skills: Aim 2,
Athletics, 2, Convince 2, Empathy 2, Intimidate 2, Perform 1, Ride 2,
Scholarship 2, Warfare 3, Weaponry 2
Advantages:
Academy, Direction Sense, Disarming Smile, Indomitable Will, Leadership,
Reputation, Rich
Arcana:
Trusting (Hubris), Willful (Virtue)
Starting
Reputation: 1 (Principled)
Starting Wealth:
3
Languages: Old
Thean, Sarmatian, Vodacce
Personal Items:
Cavalry saber, expensive clothing
Background: A
young, idealistic Prince who will do almost anything to see his people freed
from the bondage imposed by their own nobility.
Aleksy has a sharp tactical mind and a great deal of personal charisma,
but his political skills leave something to be desired.
Notes: I was
able to get pretty close on converting Alexsy without losing too much in the way
of Advantages. To be honest, I wouldn’t
see too much of a problem with swapping out Direction Sense for Large if you
want to hew a bit closer to his stats from the Quick Start adventure.
Domenica
Vespucci, Fate Witch
Nation:
Vodacce
Religion:
Vaticine
Traits: Brawn
2, Finesse 2, Wits 3, Resolve 3, Panache 3
Backgrounds:
Courtier, Sorte Strega
Skills:
Convince 3, Empathy 3, Hide 2, Notice 1, Perform 2, Ride 2, Scholarship 1,
Tempt 3, Theft 1, Weaponry 2
Advantages: An
Honest Misunderstanding, Come Hither, Connection (Vespucci vassals), Friend at
Court, Linguist, Sorcery (x2), Time Sense
Sorte Weaves:
Blessing (major, minor), Curses (major, minor), Read
Arcana: Intuitive
(Virtue), Proud (Hubris)
Starting
Reputation: 0 (Resourceful)
Starting Wealth:
0
Languages: All
Thean languages
Personal Items:
Whip, fine quality black dress
Background:
Engaged to the Prince of the Commonwealth, Domenica arranged the marriage
herself, using her father’s name and seal without his knowledge. Upon seeing the Prince, she immediately
insists that they must run, as “a bloody thread” is drawing tight around his
neck.
Notes: Well,
Domenica certainly illustrates just how much changed between when the Quick
Start was written and the final version of 2e’s rules were sent to the
printer. Her Wits are only at a 3
instead of the 4 that the Quick Start version has, and many of her skills there
don’t really have a proper equivalent in the proper rules. I had to choose between giving her either
Reputation or Connection for her last two points of Advantages, and felt that
Connection was the better suited of the two, even if the Ally Advantage doesn’t
exist outside of the Quick Start rules.
Same with her Virtue, as Perspicacious was probably deemed too
troublesome and got excised along the way, so I gave her Intuitive which fits
the general theme and feel of a Fate Witch.
Nation:
Vodacce
Religion:
Vaticine
Traits: Brawn
2, Finesse 4, Wits 2, Resolve 2, Panache 3
Backgrounds:
Bravo, Duelist
Skills: Athletics
3, Convince 1, Empathy 3, Hide 1, Notice 2, Perform 1, Sailing 1, Tempt 2,
Weaponry 3
Advantages: Duelist
Academy (Ambrogia), Hard to Kill, Indomitable Will, Poison Immunity, Quick
Reflexes (Weaponry)
Arcana: Hot-Headed
(Hubris), Glorious (Virtue)
Starting
Reputation: 0
Starting Wealth:
0
Languages: Old
Thean, Vodacce
Personal Items:
Rapier and main-gauche, fine-quality clothing
Background:
The brother of Domenica and a famed Vodacce duelist, Ennio was sent to ensure
her safety throughout the wedding and beyond, as well as make sure the match
was a good one. He’s also old friends
with Roberto Gallo, as the two of them were inseparable many years ago, but
their duties have kept them apart.
Notes: So for
Ennio, I wound up dropping the Consigliere background he had in the Quick Start
for Duelist, as that not only gave him Duelist Academy (since his whole thing
is being a duelist) but let him pick up some of the other Advantages that his
Quick Start version had listed. Another
big change was re-assigning his Traits so that he’d actually be good at the
Ambrogia school, now that it makes use of Wits instead of Panache; truthfully I
was sorely tempted to replace Ambrogia with a different style, but opted to
stick with it anyway. Although, thanks
to his high Finesse he’s still largely focused on being a swordsman, and a very
good one. Like his sister, his Virtue
got swapped for a new one, replacing Uncanny with Glorious, which in the
context of the Quick Start adventure still works very much to his advantage.
Nation:
Castille
Religion:
Vaticine
Traits: Brawn
2, Finesse 3, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Panache 3
Backgrounds:
Miriablis, Ship Captain
Skills: Aim 2,
Athletics 1, Convince 3, Empathy 1, Notice 1, Perform 1, Ride 1, Sailing 3,
Scholarship 2, Tempt 2, Warfare 1, Weaponry 2
Advantages: Able
Drinker, Handy, Leadership, Ordained, Married to the Sea, Sea Legs, Spark of
Genius, Valiant Spirit
Arcana: Exemplary
(Virtue), Foolhardy (Hubris)
Starting
Reputation: 0
Starting Wealth:
0
Languages:
Castillian Old Thean, Vodacce
Personal Items:
Rapier, flintlock pistol with powder and shot, traveling clothes, long cape,
spyglass
Background: A
dashing scoundrel with a devil-may-care attitude and a heart of gold, Roberto
was initially hired to transport Ennio and Domenica to Sarmatia. He is old friends with Ennio and wants to
convince the duelist to join him on his ship and live a life of adventure once
again.
Notes: So
Roberto had some of the same problems that his long-time buddy Ennio had in
converting him to the proper rules for second edition. Sailor got swapped for Ship Captain in terms
of Background to give him at least some of the proper Advantages, with Luck
being right out since the actual Advantage simply costs too many points, so I
settled on letting him start with an extra Hero Point each session
instead. Neither of his original Arcana
in the Quick Start really carried over, so I made the best thematic choices I
could. And of course the recurring issue
with the skill list being quite different, but that’s something I knew was
going to happen from the very start.
Nation:
Castille
Religion:
Agnostic
Traits: Brawn
2, Finesse 4, Wits 3, Resolve 2, Panache 2
Backgrounds:
Assassin, Hunter
Skills: Aim 2,
Athletics 2, Convince 1, Hide 3, Intimidate 2, Notice 3, Ride 1, Theft 3,
Weaponry 2
Advantages:
Fencer, Got It!, Psst, Over Here, Second Story Work, Small, Sniper, Streetwise
Arcana: Loyal
(Hubris), Victorious (Virtue)
Secret Society:
Los Vagabundos
Starting
Reputation: 0
Starting Wealth:
0
Languages:
Castillian, Old Thean, Sarmatian
Personal Items:
Rapier, crossbow with case of bolts, traveling clothes
Background: A
member of the secret society called Los Vagabundos, Azucena has maneuvered her
way into being hired as Prince Aleksy’s personal guard. Her objective is to ensure his safety and
survival in the hopes that he will serve as a symbol for justice and equality.
Notes: So Azucenahad the interesting quick of being the conversion I had to take the most liberties with, seeing as how most of her Advantages simply don't exist in the proper 2e rules, as well as her membership in a secret society being something that a character can take for free. While I could have gone Criminal or Explorer for her second Background, I opted for some further artistic license and gave her Hunter so that she'd be a crack shot with the crossbow her full character image shows her possessing but that her Quick Start stats give her zero proficiency with.
Notes: So Azucenahad the interesting quick of being the conversion I had to take the most liberties with, seeing as how most of her Advantages simply don't exist in the proper 2e rules, as well as her membership in a secret society being something that a character can take for free. While I could have gone Criminal or Explorer for her second Background, I opted for some further artistic license and gave her Hunter so that she'd be a crack shot with the crossbow her full character image shows her possessing but that her Quick Start stats give her zero proficiency with.
No comments:
Post a Comment