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After Playing 7th Sea for the last 7 month, my play group has been left with a feeling of wanting more. Not that there is anything wrong with core game system as a whole. But this shouldn't be a big surprise, since it is nothing more then a modified version of L5R, whuch has been tweaked to fit the swashbuckleing style of Captain Blood and the Three Musketeers.

The mechanics work well, character creation requires a good amount of story telling by itself, combat is fast and encourages "style" over simple die rolling. The magic system works, but leaves a lot to be desired. About the best thing I can say about the sorcerers of 7th sea is that they don't have to leaf through hundereds of spells in order to determine their powers.

Like L5R everything is kept clean and simple, with out resorting to a game system that comes across as to abstratct. There are a few innovations that are nice, like the Brute Squads ( who really wants to keep track cannonfodder hit points anyway?). The system used to deal with players abuseing Advantages and ignoreing Faults purchased during character generation is excellent. All in all I can find very little I can find fault with in the actual rule system.

The setting on the otherhand leaves much to be desired. Like many RPG's out there, AEG has choosen to set the 7th sea in a world that closely mirrors our own in the 17th century. The world is easy to recognize, Avalon is England, Eisen is Germany, the Vatacine churh is Catholic, etc. etc. Aside from a brief thumbnail of these kingdoms in the PHB, and a overview in the GMG, players will have to fork over $20 or more to get the full details of the world of Theah. The same is true for the multitude of secret societies covered in the GMG. This can add up quickly for anyone who wants complet knowledge of the 7th sea universe.

Another problem we had was the "Historical" blending that was employed when the game world was developed. Montainge is clearly 18th century France ( on the brink of revolution), while Germany is stuck in the 16th/17th century. The main problem causeing this is that the author chose a period of 100 years to draw background information from. If he wanted to choose a historical period, he should have narrowed his scope. Sure I know it's a fantasy world and all, but someing about this didn't sit well with me or the other. Eventually we were forced to agree on a set year ( chooseing 1643, placeing firmly in the Pike and Shot era). But this required a lot of work and creating a ship-load of house rules to create a more believable world.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 3 (Average)

7th Sea
Author: Wick, John Category: game Company/Publisher: AEG Line: 7th Sea Cost: $30 Playtest Review by Phil on 01/30/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	After Playing 7th Sea for the last 7 month, my play group has been left with a feeling of wanting more. Not that there is anything wrong with core game system as a whole. But this shouldn't be a big surprise, since it is nothing more then a modified version of L5R, whuch has been tweaked to fit the swashbuckleing style of Captain Blood and the Three Musketeers. The mechanics work well, character creation requires a good amount of story telling by itself, combat is fast and encourages "style" over simple die rolling. The magic system works, but leaves a lot to be desired. About the best thing I can say about the sorcerers of 7th sea is that they don't have to leaf through hundereds of spells in order to determine their powers. Like L5R everything is kept clean and simple, with out resorting to a game system that comes across as to abstratct. There are a few innovations that are nice, like the Brute Squads ( who really wants to keep track cannonfodder hit points anyway?). The system used to deal with players abuseing Advantages and ignoreing Faults purchased during character generation is excellent. All in all I can find very little I can find fault with in the actual rule system. The setting on the otherhand leaves much to be desired. Like many RPG's out there, AEG has choosen to set the 7th sea in a world that closely mirrors our own in the 17th century. The world is easy to recognize, Avalon is England, Eisen is Germany, the Vatacine churh is Catholic, etc. etc. Aside from a brief thumbnail of these kingdoms in the PHB, and a overview in the GMG, players will have to fork over $20 or more to get the full details of the world of Theah. The same is true for the multitude of secret societies covered in the GMG. This can add up quickly for anyone who wants complet knowledge of the 7th sea universe. Another problem we had was the "Historical" blending that was employed when the game world was developed. Montainge is clearly 18th century France ( on the brink of revolution), while Germany is stuck in the 16th/17th century. The main problem causeing this is that the author chose a period of 100 years to draw background information from. If he wanted to choose a historical period, he should have narrowed his scope. Sure I know it's a fantasy world and all, but someing about this didn't sit well with me or the other. Eventually we were forced to agree on a set year ( chooseing 1643, placeing firmly in the Pike and Shot era). But this required a lot of work and creating a ship-load of house rules to create a more believable world. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 3 (Average)