This is going to have spoilers. If you're a player of 7th sea and want to know if you should pick this up, my advice is as follows - ask your GM after they've had a chance to read it. There are a few radical elements that they may or may not be comfortable allowing.
Background
Until the release of
Daughters of Sophia, the daughters were perhaps the least detailed of all the secret societies in 7th sea. They were not even included in the original printing of the book (Though they did make it into the second printing) and partly because of that, they have always had the feel of something of a bit player in the grand scheme of things. As described, they seemed an organization primarily interested in promoting women's rights, especially through running an underground railroad of sorts to smuggle fate witches out of Vodacce. It's been revealed in previous books that they have access to alchemical secrets of long life, but there has been little to disrupt that initial impression. Like Los Vagos, they were primarily a localized group with a narrow agenda, and as such were very easy to work into a game.
This sourcebook blows much of that out of the water, and reveals the Daughters to be an organization of sufficient scope that it is no great stretch to say that they are, perhaps the most powerful of Theah's secret societies.
The surprise element in this mix was that the Daughters have close ties to the Sidhe, in the form of the Lady of the Lake, one of the 3 queens of Faerie. The Daughters (and their male counterparts in Faerie, the Sons of Lugh) are primarily descended from the Lady, and while not all members share that bloodline, those possessing the unique scrying magic of the Daughters do.
Basically, long, long ago, the Lady of the Lake fell in love with a Knight, had kids, and then had to withdraw from the world along with the rest of the Fae, though she left a serum of youth for her knight and child. When she was finally able to return, the knight had vanished, and her daughter (Sophia) was an Oracle living in isolation. The Oracle had seen a horrible future (Syrneth returning, fire famine destruction and so forth) and she asked her mother to help avert this as she was dying.
The Lady agreed, and the Oracle gave her life to alter events in such a way as to allow the First Prophet to come to the world (or at least so they describe it). The Lady chose a new Oracle, and since then, the death of an oracle has Heralded the arrival of a prophet. In the intervening time, the daughters have grown as an organization, with the fixed goal of preventing the coming of the 4th Prophet, who they feel will sunder the barrier that protects the earth from the exiled Syrneth. To that end, they have aggressively recruited and grown, using their divinatory powers and extensive organization to help keep Armageddon at bay.
Definitely not what I expected.
As the oldest secret society in Theah, they have an unsurprisingly long history of attempting to avert Armageddon, including influencing wars, the development of nations, combating an apparently vast sorcerous society who they defeated soundly enough that no one else has heard of them. An interesting tidbit is dropped about a Queen of Montaigne betraying the daughters and bearing a child of a power beyond the barrier, but it seems mentioned only to tantalize (And presumably tie into upcoming events in Montaigne).
Today, the Daughters seem to be everywhere. It may be an unfair impression, but I think the number of female NPCs in the game who are Daughters probably outstrips the number who aren't by a fair number - sadly, I'm not bored enough to go through all of my books and check. The only other group that might even match them in scope does not exist, and even that is a tough call.
The Daughters are active throughout Theah, with a leader (called a Handmaiden) in each nation, as well as the Crescent Empire and Cathay (though the Handmaiden of Cathay remains a mystery), albeit with varying degrees of direct influence. They keep themselves fully apprised on the activities of other Secret Societies, though they keep themselves isolated from most of them, excepting the Rilasciare, who they have an alliance of sorts with, and the Invisible College, who they wish to help, but also wish to direct away from studies that the Daughters do not wish to see explored.
Rules
As is to be expected, there are a few new rules in this book. The Advantages are reasonable enough, though the addition of an appearance advantage is striking, in that it sees a great deal of use among the statted NPCs. It also includes all the benefits of membership in the Daughters, and wow, it's an amazingly good deal for 5 points, possibly a little too good. The new Backgrounds are odd, tying into the connection between the daughters and the Fae. The new skills (Alchemy & Herbalism) are both pretty solid.
There is one new fencing school, an assassination school, in the same vein as those presented in Rilasciare and Die Kreutzritter, though the flavor is definitely suited to the Daughters. The abilities suggest Lady DeWinter very strongly.
Additionally, rules for Scrying sorcery are presented. Because it works differently for men and women, it is effectively two different forms of sorcery, albeit with some overlap. Female scrying magic allows scrying (surprise) into the present at the outset, and eventually into the past and future. It also allows the brewing of magical potions, of which there are about 4 and a half pages listed (each potion type is a knack), and which look pretty useful. Male Scrying simply serves to increase the attributes and resilience of the sorcerer. These are passive, always-on sort of effects, so male scryers perform little magic so much as they simply accrue bonuses. Both sorts of sorcerers can breathe underwater and automatically tell if someone is good or evil by looking at them (in game terms, can tell if they're a hero, villain or scoundrel).
Secrets
The Daughters are awash in secrets. They know some of the future, they know about the Barrier, they know about the White Plague, they know about the False Prophet and they have their own secrets about the Lady of the Lake, near-immortal sisters and so on. Fortunately, these secrets are laid out in a fairly straightforward fashion for the reader.
Presentation
AEG has gotten these books down to a science, and with mild variations for things like new sorceries, you can pick up pretty much any of their books after Avalon and be comfortable that the layout will be consistent with other books of the type. It's a solid design, reasonably easy to read and reference most of the time. This book doesn't quite live up to that standard, because there seem to be so many exceptions where the daughters are concerned that it doesn't have the same sort of direct flow. Still, it detracts only slightly from the utility of the book.
Black & white artwork is used heavily throughout the book, generally of average to good quality, with the chapter frontispieces (full page)of higher quality. Quarter-page head portraits of all the statted NPCs are included with their writeups, as they are in all 7th Sea supplements, and they remain a very useful touch for GMs who like to have such things as handouts.
Impressions
I've tried not to let it show in the analysis, but it has probably creeped through - I am not particularly happy with this book for a variety of reasons. First, I instinctively cringe in the face of organization with the kind of scope the Daughters are presented as having. It is so big, so powerful and so secret that I feel its inclusion would radically alter the fabric of my gameworld.
Second, I have some mechanical concerns. Female scrying is fine - It's one of the most useful apprentice level magics, but probably no moreso than Pyrem. However, male scrying seems to exist only for reasons of abusing the system and creating combat monsters. Its presence absolutely boggles my mind.
Third, I am really unhappy with how many secrets the daughter know. The previous secret societies were made interesting by their incomplete pieces of the puzzle, which helped add some interesting tension to the interplay between them. Not so with the daughters. This is such a potential problem that even the book attempts to address it, with tips to the GM for how to deal with players who lord their knowledge as daughters over other players.
All of these pale in comparison to my last objection, which took me some time to put my finger on, until I went and started pulling down the other secret society books for comparison.
See, as presented, the Daughters are probably more like Die Kreutzritter than any other society. This is both good and bad. DK was probably the best of the society books, but it was also probably the one with the least swashbuckling flavor. DK know that there are awful things in the world, and they have to do awful things to stop them but have to maintain constant vigilance against themselves, lest they become monsters. This conflict of morality and responsibility make the DK a vibrant addition to the 7th Sea landscape, despite the difference in tone.
The Daughters are presented as being similarly ruthless, and may hold the distinction of having killed more people than any war Theah has ever seen. They are assassins and manipulators who justify their action for the greater good, but there is no sense of the dramatic tension that that situation brought to DK. There are no Daughters who feel at all bad about what must be done, or at least, so it is presented.
Instead, they're really powerful, they kill people who get in their way, and they're supposed to be the good guys. I admit to some bias, but this is not in keeping with my sense of Swashbuckling, and it doesn't offer me anything new to bring to the table dramatically, so I don't really see what value it brings.
Summary
Ultimately, I recognize that almost all of my objections are highly subjective.
Daughters is certainly well put together for what it is - a sourcebook for a vast, ancient conspiracy fighting to prevent doomsday. It does a good enough job at that, and any GM looking to introduce elements of that scope into her game should find that it will serve her needs admirably (except Male Scrying. That's just evil.)
This is also a valuable sourcebook for those interested in the meta-story (it's not a plot yet, until the revolution begins) of Theah, as it details a number of things, most notably an explanation of the White Plague which is still somewhat lacking in details (Especially considering the revelations in Invisible College) but answers most outstanding questions.
Additionally, this book may be godsend for those GMs who really enjoy the Fae, but for one reason or another aren't playing in Avalon. The Daughters represent an excellent way for fae-related activities anywhere on Theah, and the book includes a map with gates to the land of the Fae all over the continent.
Despite my personal issues with this book, I am obliged to concede that it is, at the very least, a solid contribution to any 7th Sea GMs bookshelf, though certainly not the first book I would suggest.
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