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The Avalon sourcebook (7th Sea Nations of Theah book 2) is a well-written, interesting, and useful supplement for the 7th Sea game. It manages to convey the mood and tone of the lands of Avalon in addition to providing a considerable amount of background information, new Advantages, Schools, and Backgrounds, and some hints as to what is to come in the official storyline. It manages to flesh out the lands of Avalon without contradicting or replacing the information given in the Players and Game Masters Guides.

Avalon is nation where "Arthurian" knights share the roads with people with guns. Pacts with the Sidhe (7th Sea fairies or elves, etc.) are being made in cities with growing mercantilist classes. Sidhe magic, druidic magic, and the church all coexist. In general, Avalon is a nation with one foot in 668 and the other in 1668, with plenty of magic to go around. This combination of time periods provides for a wide range or role-playing possibilities.

This book is divided into 4 chapters and an introduction. The introduction contains short pieces of dialogue and story that hint at what is to come. They set the mood of Avalon as a place where magic (Glamour) is very real, and where big events may soon unfold. These few pages at the beginning of the book are the only "flavor text" in the entire book- the rest is very densely packed with new, useful information.

The first chapter, "The Glamour Isles," provides information of the history, land, people, and culture of Avalon, Inismore, and the Highland Marches that nicely supplements the information provided in the Game Masters' Guide. Many parallels with the real world history of England (Avalon), Ireland (Inismore), and Scotland (Highland Marches) can be seen in this chapter- historical and legendary figures such as Robin Hood, King Arthur, Henry VIII, and Richard the Lion-hearted are identifiable (though their names have been changed). Historical events such as the Spanish Armada, the signing of the Magna Carta, and the Black Plague are also represented. The current ruler of Avalon, Queen Elaine, is an interesting cross between Elizabeth I and King Arthur. However, the history of Avalon is distinct from the history of England, particularly in the existence of Glamour and the Sidhe.

In addition to history, this chapter provides useful information on the geography and peoples of Avalon. The regions are described briefly, each with an accompanying plot hook on which a Game Master could base a story arc. These include mysteries, assassination plots, and other potentially interesting stories. There are unfortunately no maps of the regions in this book, so the reader must refer frequently to the small maps provided in the Game Masters' Guide and make up most of the details himself.

The Sidhe are also described in some depth in this chapter. This part of the book is truly essential for a 7th Sea Game Master running a game in Avalon. The different types of Sidhe, the rulers of the Sidhe, and some interesting Sidhe characters are described in some detail, along with useful hints about how they should be role-played. The only thing missing from this section was information on brownies- they are mentioned twice in the book, but no details are given in this section.

The second chapter "Hero," includes information on the major players in the story of Avalon, including such notables as Queen Elaine of Avalon, Derwyddon (think Merlin), and the rulers of the other islands. No stats are given in this section and some secrets are kept (at least until chapter 4) so that players as well as GMs can read this section without too much being given away. Most of the NPC descriptions include hints as to how they fit into the official storyline.

The third chapter, "Drama," includes the new game mechanics. It opens with the Avalon destiny spread- a way of creating a character partly using random cards from a Tarot deck. Except for the inherent coolness of Tarot decks, I see no reason why a regular playing card deck wouldn't work just as well, and is something that more people are likely to have at hand. The destiny spread allows a player to design a character somewhat randomly- cards for past, present, and future all provide free backgrounds or advantages (not all of which are advantageous). A Virtue or Hubris can also be selected this way. The importance of the Sidhe in Avalon is apparent from the possible outcomes- many of them have to do with Sidhe lovers, friends, kidnappings, and other Sidhe-related events. It is impressive, given the randomness of this method, that it is almost impossible to yield a contradictory result, though some combinations of past and present would require a bit of explaining (how could you hate Avalon, live somewhere else, yet still be a member of Elaine's Knights?). There seems to be somewhat of an Avalon bias to some of the possibilities, and a player using the destiny spread to design an Inish or a Highlander character may need to make some modifications in order to make the results fit their heritage.

This chapter also includes rules for the Sidhe. The basic rule is- don't fight them. Only under very specific circumstances would you even be able to affect them, and they don't even have stats. That doesn't mean that they are omnipotent- this section also outlines their limitations (such as the fact that their magic only lasts until the following morning under most circumstances).

New Advantages are also outlined in this chapter- including membership in Elaine's Knights, MacEachern Heritage (you know the secret of forging Sidhe-killing weapons), MacEachern Weapon (you own one of these Sidhe-killing weapons), Sidhe Ally, Sidhe Blood (with its blessings and curses), Gesa (druidic spell on you), and Sidhe Weapon. The new Background "Sidhe Lover" is introduced, along with Avalon-specific equipment, a new bard skill, and three new Swordsmen schools. Of these three new schools, only the MacDonald school actually teaches sword use (claymore). The Finnegan school teaches Inish pugilism, and the Goodfellow school teaches archery.

The Druid School and new Glamour knacks are also introduced. Unlike the AD&D "nature priest" druids, 7th Sea druids deal more with omens and Gesa than with plants and nature. A Gesa is a spell that affects a character's destiny. Lesser Gesa seem like curses: they are supernatural taboos such as "the hero may never remove his boots" or "must keep his head shaved." They provide no benefit except for 1 XP at the end of the story. Greater Gesa, which can only be cast by Masters of druidic magic, have much more tangible effects. They are "fortunes," such as "the hero can only be killed by fire" or "can only be killed on a rainy day." While a greater Gesa is beneficial to a hero most of the time, when his weakness does attack, he will go down more easily…

This book introduces 10 new glamour knacks, 2 for each trait. They seem to be in keeping with the Glamour Knacks from the Players' Guide- they are not considerably weaker or stronger. At the apprentice level, most allow you to add some multiple of your rank in the Knack to the trait or knack in question. All are useful. There is also a list of magic items, none of which are the mysterious Syrneth artifacts so common in the other 7th Sea books.

The 4th Chapter, "Legend," covers the rest. It includes rules for making full-blooded Sidhe heroes, gives away secrets about the backgrounds, motives, and futures of some of the major NPCs, provides role-playing tips, and describes some new, Avalon-specific monsters. The book ends with a map of Carleon (Elaine's capital) and example characters.

Only an extensive campaign involving Sidhe heroes could determine whether or not they would be unbalancing to the game. Sidhe heroes are fallen Sidhe, who have been cast out of the Sidhe society and become mortal. Every attempt was made to try to make them be at the same power level with the other characters, some of which seem somewhat arbitrary. There are 15 skills that are NEVER available to Sidhe characters, including swordsman schools, scholar, magic, and merchant. While this helps balance out their inherently better stats (all traits start at 2 rather than 1, and reach their maximum at 6 rather than 5), the reason behind some of these taboos eludes me. Why can a Sidhe character never gain any Knacks in the scholar skill? Will no Swordsman school accept him or her? If a Sidhe character is handed a Heavy Weapon, does he automatically drop it? While I understand the necessity to limit the abilities of the Sidhe to make them playable in the same group as non-Sidhe characters, some of the limitations seem to be completely arbitrary, existing only for reasons of game balance with no logic behind them.

The Avalon Sourcebook is a remarkable resource for players of the 7th Sea RPG. While it is possible to play a 7th Sea game (and even a 7th Sea game in Avalon) without it, this book provides so much interesting detail about the lands and people of Avalon that the Game Master and players would be missing out without it. It gives a good feel for the nation.

Possible Issues:

These are not so much problems as small details that certain players or Game Masters may take objection to depending on their preferred gaming styles. Most of the problems with this book are very minor and not of any real concern. And, as stated in the introduction- if you don't like something in the book, don't use it. If the new details provided contradict something already in place in your game, don't use the details. Not that there is much chance of that- the new additions enhance rather than contradict the details in the Players' and Game Masters' Guides. My 7th Sea campaign passed through Avalon (and had two Avalon characters) before I purchased the Avalon book, and I found nothing contradictory between what I had played and what appeared in this sourcebook.

The lack of maps is troubling. The small, not detailed maps of the Game Masters' Guide may not be sufficient for Game Masters planning extensive campaigns in Avalon. The details on the Highland Marches and Inismore geography are even more sparse.

There is a sense that you are supposed to purchase all of the supplements, for some information important to Avalon (such as details about Jeremiah Berek and his Sea Dogs) appears only in the Pirate Nations sourcebook. If you want to play 7th Sea for the pirates alone, this is NOT the sourcebook for you. There is almost nothing specifically relevant to pirates or sailors in the Avalon sourcebook. Also, one of the NPCs (Roland O'Toole) is listed as being a Master of the Rois et Reines school, which is defined in the Montaigne sourcebook. While the Avalon sourcebook can certainly stand alone (or at least with the Players' Guide and Game Masters' Guide), there are little details which require information from other sourcebooks. Nothing major, but enough to possibly irritate people who don't want to invest all of that money into every sourcebook. Many of the plot points that were hinted at in the Game Masters' Guide were resolved in the Avalon sourcebook. We now know that it is Elaine's daughter who will be the problem. We know who stands against Elaine. The information in the Game Masters' Guide is not complete- some details, especially those related to the official storyline, were left out to be dealt with in the supplement- a fact that is certain to irritate those people who prefer the basic books to stand alone.

Some Game Masters or Players might have issues with how much of the future of Avalon seems to already be written. Both the Game Masters' Guide and the Avalon Sourcebook hint at the future as well as the present and past of Avalon. The NPC Derwyddon (Merlin) has seen certain future events (Elaine's betrayal, Inish and Highlander armies marching on Carleon). But if the future is already set, why bother playing? There is still a lot that the characters can do to change things, but there is a certain air of inevitability around some of the major events that are going to happen. In Avalon, more than in other parts of Theah, the future seems to already be set. Does this mean that there is nothing the players can do to change these things? That depends on your GM. I guess it is just a problem inherent with an official storyline- some players and GMs might feel restricted in the scope of their plots and actions if they want to conform to what is planned.

Another small detail- Avalon is a very interesting place. However, the year is supposedly 1668, yet the feeling of a lot of the material is more middle ages. Knights roam the countryside, swords are preferred over firearms, and pacts with the Sidhe of legends are still being made. Avalon seems to be stuck in some kind of anachronistic fairy tale- the roads and buildings are modern, the merchant class is growing, "Napoleon" is wandering around the continent, etc. yet there are Arthurian knights, Sidhe, and monsters roaming around. So when is it, 1668 or 668? While this combination of time periods makes for a very interesting and unique role-playing environment, historical purists may prefer to leave out one or more aspects of Avalon to make it conform more to one desired time period.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the 7th Sea gaming world. It is not without faults, but the information contained and the quality of the writing in this book make it a very worthy contribution to this line of gaming books.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

What do you think?

Visit the above forum to let us know!

Avalon Sourcebook (Nations of Theah: Book Two)
Author: Rob Vaux and John Wick Category: game Company/Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group Line: 7th Sea Cost: $19.95 Page count: 128 Capsule Review by Lindsay McHenry on 02/14/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	The Avalon sourcebook (7th Sea Nations of Theah book 2) is a well-written, interesting, and useful supplement for the 7th Sea game. It manages to convey the mood and tone of the lands of Avalon in addition to providing a considerable amount of background information, new Advantages, Schools, and Backgrounds, and some hints as to what is to come in the official storyline. It manages to flesh out the lands of Avalon without contradicting or replacing the information given in the Players and Game Masters Guides. Avalon is nation where "Arthurian" knights share the roads with people with guns. Pacts with the Sidhe (7th Sea fairies or elves, etc.) are being made in cities with growing mercantilist classes. Sidhe magic, druidic magic, and the church all coexist. In general, Avalon is a nation with one foot in 668 and the other in 1668, with plenty of magic to go around. This combination of time periods provides for a wide range or role-playing possibilities. This book is divided into 4 chapters and an introduction. The introduction contains short pieces of dialogue and story that hint at what is to come. They set the mood of Avalon as a place where magic (Glamour) is very real, and where big events may soon unfold. These few pages at the beginning of the book are the only "flavor text" in the entire book- the rest is very densely packed with new, useful information. The first chapter, "The Glamour Isles," provides information of the history, land, people, and culture of Avalon, Inismore, and the Highland Marches that nicely supplements the information provided in the Game Masters' Guide. Many parallels with the real world history of England (Avalon), Ireland (Inismore), and Scotland (Highland Marches) can be seen in this chapter- historical and legendary figures such as Robin Hood, King Arthur, Henry VIII, and Richard the Lion-hearted are identifiable (though their names have been changed). Historical events such as the Spanish Armada, the signing of the Magna Carta, and the Black Plague are also represented. The current ruler of Avalon, Queen Elaine, is an interesting cross between Elizabeth I and King Arthur. However, the history of Avalon is distinct from the history of England, particularly in the existence of Glamour and the Sidhe. In addition to history, this chapter provides useful information on the geography and peoples of Avalon. The regions are described briefly, each with an accompanying plot hook on which a Game Master could base a story arc. These include mysteries, assassination plots, and other potentially interesting stories. There are unfortunately no maps of the regions in this book, so the reader must refer frequently to the small maps provided in the Game Masters' Guide and make up most of the details himself. The Sidhe are also described in some depth in this chapter. This part of the book is truly essential for a 7th Sea Game Master running a game in Avalon. The different types of Sidhe, the rulers of the Sidhe, and some interesting Sidhe characters are described in some detail, along with useful hints about how they should be role-played. The only thing missing from this section was information on brownies- they are mentioned twice in the book, but no details are given in this section. The second chapter "Hero," includes information on the major players in the story of Avalon, including such notables as Queen Elaine of Avalon, Derwyddon (think Merlin), and the rulers of the other islands. No stats are given in this section and some secrets are kept (at least until chapter 4) so that players as well as GMs can read this section without too much being given away. Most of the NPC descriptions include hints as to how they fit into the official storyline. The third chapter, "Drama," includes the new game mechanics. It opens with the Avalon destiny spread- a way of creating a character partly using random cards from a Tarot deck. Except for the inherent coolness of Tarot decks, I see no reason why a regular playing card deck wouldn't work just as well, and is something that more people are likely to have at hand. The destiny spread allows a player to design a character somewhat randomly- cards for past, present, and future all provide free backgrounds or advantages (not all of which are advantageous). A Virtue or Hubris can also be selected this way. The importance of the Sidhe in Avalon is apparent from the possible outcomes- many of them have to do with Sidhe lovers, friends, kidnappings, and other Sidhe-related events. It is impressive, given the randomness of this method, that it is almost impossible to yield a contradictory result, though some combinations of past and present would require a bit of explaining (how could you hate Avalon, live somewhere else, yet still be a member of Elaine's Knights?). There seems to be somewhat of an Avalon bias to some of the possibilities, and a player using the destiny spread to design an Inish or a Highlander character may need to make some modifications in order to make the results fit their heritage. This chapter also includes rules for the Sidhe. The basic rule is- don't fight them. Only under very specific circumstances would you even be able to affect them, and they don't even have stats. That doesn't mean that they are omnipotent- this section also outlines their limitations (such as the fact that their magic only lasts until the following morning under most circumstances). New Advantages are also outlined in this chapter- including membership in Elaine's Knights, MacEachern Heritage (you know the secret of forging Sidhe-killing weapons), MacEachern Weapon (you own one of these Sidhe-killing weapons), Sidhe Ally, Sidhe Blood (with its blessings and curses), Gesa (druidic spell on you), and Sidhe Weapon. The new Background "Sidhe Lover" is introduced, along with Avalon-specific equipment, a new bard skill, and three new Swordsmen schools. Of these three new schools, only the MacDonald school actually teaches sword use (claymore). The Finnegan school teaches Inish pugilism, and the Goodfellow school teaches archery. The Druid School and new Glamour knacks are also introduced. Unlike the AD&D "nature priest" druids, 7th Sea druids deal more with omens and Gesa than with plants and nature. A Gesa is a spell that affects a character's destiny. Lesser Gesa seem like curses: they are supernatural taboos such as "the hero may never remove his boots" or "must keep his head shaved." They provide no benefit except for 1 XP at the end of the story. Greater Gesa, which can only be cast by Masters of druidic magic, have much more tangible effects. They are "fortunes," such as "the hero can only be killed by fire" or "can only be killed on a rainy day." While a greater Gesa is beneficial to a hero most of the time, when his weakness does attack, he will go down more easily… This book introduces 10 new glamour knacks, 2 for each trait. They seem to be in keeping with the Glamour Knacks from the Players' Guide- they are not considerably weaker or stronger. At the apprentice level, most allow you to add some multiple of your rank in the Knack to the trait or knack in question. All are useful. There is also a list of magic items, none of which are the mysterious Syrneth artifacts so common in the other 7th Sea books. The 4th Chapter, "Legend," covers the rest. It includes rules for making full-blooded Sidhe heroes, gives away secrets about the backgrounds, motives, and futures of some of the major NPCs, provides role-playing tips, and describes some new, Avalon-specific monsters. The book ends with a map of Carleon (Elaine's capital) and example characters. Only an extensive campaign involving Sidhe heroes could determine whether or not they would be unbalancing to the game. Sidhe heroes are fallen Sidhe, who have been cast out of the Sidhe society and become mortal. Every attempt was made to try to make them be at the same power level with the other characters, some of which seem somewhat arbitrary. There are 15 skills that are NEVER available to Sidhe characters, including swordsman schools, scholar, magic, and merchant. While this helps balance out their inherently better stats (all traits start at 2 rather than 1, and reach their maximum at 6 rather than 5), the reason behind some of these taboos eludes me. Why can a Sidhe character never gain any Knacks in the scholar skill? Will no Swordsman school accept him or her? If a Sidhe character is handed a Heavy Weapon, does he automatically drop it? While I understand the necessity to limit the abilities of the Sidhe to make them playable in the same group as non-Sidhe characters, some of the limitations seem to be completely arbitrary, existing only for reasons of game balance with no logic behind them. The Avalon Sourcebook is a remarkable resource for players of the 7th Sea RPG. While it is possible to play a 7th Sea game (and even a 7th Sea game in Avalon) without it, this book provides so much interesting detail about the lands and people of Avalon that the Game Master and players would be missing out without it. It gives a good feel for the nation. Possible Issues: These are not so much problems as small details that certain players or Game Masters may take objection to depending on their preferred gaming styles. Most of the problems with this book are very minor and not of any real concern. And, as stated in the introduction- if you don't like something in the book, don't use it. If the new details provided contradict something already in place in your game, don't use the details. Not that there is much chance of that- the new additions enhance rather than contradict the details in the Players' and Game Masters' Guides. My 7th Sea campaign passed through Avalon (and had two Avalon characters) before I purchased the Avalon book, and I found nothing contradictory between what I had played and what appeared in this sourcebook. The lack of maps is troubling. The small, not detailed maps of the Game Masters' Guide may not be sufficient for Game Masters planning extensive campaigns in Avalon. The details on the Highland Marches and Inismore geography are even more sparse. There is a sense that you are supposed to purchase all of the supplements, for some information important to Avalon (such as details about Jeremiah Berek and his Sea Dogs) appears only in the Pirate Nations sourcebook. If you want to play 7th Sea for the pirates alone, this is NOT the sourcebook for you. There is almost nothing specifically relevant to pirates or sailors in the Avalon sourcebook. Also, one of the NPCs (Roland O'Toole) is listed as being a Master of the Rois et Reines school, which is defined in the Montaigne sourcebook. While the Avalon sourcebook can certainly stand alone (or at least with the Players' Guide and Game Masters' Guide), there are little details which require information from other sourcebooks. Nothing major, but enough to possibly irritate people who don't want to invest all of that money into every sourcebook. Many of the plot points that were hinted at in the Game Masters' Guide were resolved in the Avalon sourcebook. We now know that it is Elaine's daughter who will be the problem. We know who stands against Elaine. The information in the Game Masters' Guide is not complete- some details, especially those related to the official storyline, were left out to be dealt with in the supplement- a fact that is certain to irritate those people who prefer the basic books to stand alone. Some Game Masters or Players might have issues with how much of the future of Avalon seems to already be written. Both the Game Masters' Guide and the Avalon Sourcebook hint at the future as well as the present and past of Avalon. The NPC Derwyddon (Merlin) has seen certain future events (Elaine's betrayal, Inish and Highlander armies marching on Carleon). But if the future is already set, why bother playing? There is still a lot that the characters can do to change things, but there is a certain air of inevitability around some of the major events that are going to happen. In Avalon, more than in other parts of Theah, the future seems to already be set. Does this mean that there is nothing the players can do to change these things? That depends on your GM. I guess it is just a problem inherent with an official storyline- some players and GMs might feel restricted in the scope of their plots and actions if they want to conform to what is planned. Another small detail- Avalon is a very interesting place. However, the year is supposedly 1668, yet the feeling of a lot of the material is more middle ages. Knights roam the countryside, swords are preferred over firearms, and pacts with the Sidhe of legends are still being made. Avalon seems to be stuck in some kind of anachronistic fairy tale- the roads and buildings are modern, the merchant class is growing, "Napoleon" is wandering around the continent, etc. yet there are Arthurian knights, Sidhe, and monsters roaming around. So when is it, 1668 or 668? While this combination of time periods makes for a very interesting and unique role-playing environment, historical purists may prefer to leave out one or more aspects of Avalon to make it conform more to one desired time period. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the 7th Sea gaming world. It is not without faults, but the information contained and the quality of the writing in this book make it a very worthy contribution to this line of gaming books. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) What do you think? Visit the above forum to let us know!

Avalon Sourcebook (Nations of Theah: Book Two)

What do you think?