RPGnet : The Inside Scoop on Gaming

AEG has seemed to hit its stride as the ‘one to watch’ gaming company. It is making it’s way into the second tier of gaming companies like the recently deceased FASA and White-Wolf. The role-playing and CCG games they have released have seen much critical and popular support. 7th Sea won last years GAMA award and is definitely on the upward cycle of its life as a game world. One of the game’s strengths is its lush setting. This setting has been expanded in the various Nation books. The Nation in question today? Castille.

For those of you unfamiliar with the 7th Sea setting, it is set in a psuedo-European land called Theah, where each country is going through its Renaissance at the same time. Think of the old Errol Flynn swashbucklers (or “The Princess Bride” for that matter) and you have the genre firmly in mind. Castille is the equivalent of Spain, but for those history majors among us, a bit of Mexico is thrown in as well. Castille is known for its devotion to the Church, its Armada, its swordsmen, and its gusto for life. The two problems facing the country are the war with Montaigne (France) and the Inquisition scaring the faith back into the peasantry.

The book is divided into four sections, each opened with a bit of fiction about the state of things in the country. The first chapter is full of the country’s history for the ancient past to the present. It talks about how the country became the seat of the Church’s power and how it lost the sorcery in the royal bloodline. Magic, in 7th Sea is inherited by blood and nobles generally are the only people that possess the proper bloodline. Castille has no sorcery because the Church believes sorcery is a sin…although you find out what the sorcery was and what people still possess it. This chapter is very good and is especially valuable for its information on the Church. While rumor has it the Church will be receiving a sourcebook of its own soon, this is enough info on the history to keep most 7th Sea players fed for a while.

The second chapter details the nobles and prominent persons in Castille. The persons in the chapter give the ‘public knowledge’ of what Castillians should know about them. Castille’s boy king and the leader of the Inquisition are the two most prominent persons (since they are pictured on the cover) but little mention is made of El Vago, the third person on the cover. He is the Zorro-like masked hero of Castille, making sure that the king doesn’t ‘fall ill and die’ and the Inquisition doesn’t get too strong. He should have at least gotten a small write up and picture but is only mentioned in the ‘Legends’ section.

Next come the toys. In the player’s section there are new Advantages, rules for playing one of the few remaining Castillian sorcerors, and new Swordman schools that feature whips, two swords, and bullfighting technique. The sorcery is neat. It allows the character to control fire. Not in the ‘Firestarter’ sense necessarily, but in the ‘arc of flame comes from the fireplace and smack the bad guy in the face’ sense. It’s admittedly pretty cool but the same can’t be said for all the Swordsman schools. The biggest disappointment is the Zepeda school, which teaches you how to fight with a bullwhip. Being a big Indiana Jones fan I wanted to see people being able to snatch swords out of hands and the like right away but to no avail.

The last section is the Game Master’s section, and this is where my biggest gripe with the book lies. In the original GM guide, it was told that El Vago’s identity would be revealed in the Castille sourcebook. There is no such information in this book. The revelation, instead, awaits in the Los Vagos book, which is another $20 dollars and feels a bit too much like trolling for more supplements. Even a brief mention of the identity of El Vago followed by a “For more information, see…” would have sufficed for me.

The Bottom Line: This Nation book is still an excellent buy for players and GM’s of 7th Sea. My only reservation is that some imprtant informnation is withheld until Los Vagos. However, AEG continues to do a wonderful job of making me want to come back to Theah. I only hope it can keep up the good work for as long as it can.

Castille
Castille Capsule Review by Rob Wieland on 06/07/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Castille is the Heart of Theus…but there seems to be something lacking... Product: Castille Author: Patrick Kapera Category: RPG Company/Publisher: AEG Line: 7th Sea Cost: $19.95 Page count: 128 Year published: 2000 ISBN: SKU: 7203 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Rob Wieland on 06/07/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Historical Espionage	AEG has seemed to hit its stride as the ‘one to watch’ gaming company. It is making it’s way into the second tier of gaming companies like the recently deceased FASA and White-Wolf. The role-playing and CCG games they have released have seen much critical and popular support. 7th Sea won last years GAMA award and is definitely on the upward cycle of its life as a game world. One of the game’s strengths is its lush setting. This setting has been expanded in the various Nation books. The Nation in question today? Castille. For those of you unfamiliar with the 7th Sea setting, it is set in a psuedo-European land called Theah, where each country is going through its Renaissance at the same time. Think of the old Errol Flynn swashbucklers (or “The Princess Bride” for that matter) and you have the genre firmly in mind. Castille is the equivalent of Spain, but for those history majors among us, a bit of Mexico is thrown in as well. Castille is known for its devotion to the Church, its Armada, its swordsmen, and its gusto for life. The two problems facing the country are the war with Montaigne (France) and the Inquisition scaring the faith back into the peasantry. The book is divided into four sections, each opened with a bit of fiction about the state of things in the country. The first chapter is full of the country’s history for the ancient past to the present. It talks about how the country became the seat of the Church’s power and how it lost the sorcery in the royal bloodline. Magic, in 7th Sea is inherited by blood and nobles generally are the only people that possess the proper bloodline. Castille has no sorcery because the Church believes sorcery is a sin…although you find out what the sorcery was and what people still possess it. This chapter is very good and is especially valuable for its information on the Church. While rumor has it the Church will be receiving a sourcebook of its own soon, this is enough info on the history to keep most 7th Sea players fed for a while. The second chapter details the nobles and prominent persons in Castille. The persons in the chapter give the ‘public knowledge’ of what Castillians should know about them. Castille’s boy king and the leader of the Inquisition are the two most prominent persons (since they are pictured on the cover) but little mention is made of El Vago, the third person on the cover. He is the Zorro-like masked hero of Castille, making sure that the king doesn’t ‘fall ill and die’ and the Inquisition doesn’t get too strong. He should have at least gotten a small write up and picture but is only mentioned in the ‘Legends’ section. Next come the toys. In the player’s section there are new Advantages, rules for playing one of the few remaining Castillian sorcerors, and new Swordman schools that feature whips, two swords, and bullfighting technique. The sorcery is neat. It allows the character to control fire. Not in the ‘Firestarter’ sense necessarily, but in the ‘arc of flame comes from the fireplace and smack the bad guy in the face’ sense. It’s admittedly pretty cool but the same can’t be said for all the Swordsman schools. The biggest disappointment is the Zepeda school, which teaches you how to fight with a bullwhip. Being a big Indiana Jones fan I wanted to see people being able to snatch swords out of hands and the like right away but to no avail. The last section is the Game Master’s section, and this is where my biggest gripe with the book lies. In the original GM guide, it was told that El Vago’s identity would be revealed in the Castille sourcebook. There is no such information in this book. The revelation, instead, awaits in the Los Vagos book, which is another $20 dollars and feels a bit too much like trolling for more supplements. Even a brief mention of the identity of El Vago followed by a “For more information, see…” would have sufficed for me. The Bottom Line: This Nation book is still an excellent buy for players and GM’s of 7th Sea. My only reservation is that some imprtant informnation is withheld until Los Vagos. However, AEG continues to do a wonderful job of making me want to come back to Theah. I only hope it can keep up the good work for as long as it can.