[TSOY] Swashbuckling of Yesterday

[Barna]

I have an almost three year long 7th Sea campaign and I´ve decided to migrate from the R&K system due to several issues. A lot of people have suggested TSOY as an interesting alternative, so I might be giving it a try. Still, I´m thinking of some modifications in order to keep the swashbuckling feel of it all. I would like people to comment on this and also to suggest others.

First of all, I think I will be using a modified set of pools representing personality assets. I´m thinking of using Courage, Wits, Resolve and Panache. Not sure how these will refresh though. I would like to have some sort of edge which can tell a bit about the "stats" of a character (strength, dexterity, etc.) but not in the usual "formal rated stats" way. Perhaps use Edges as Fireborn does.

Also, there´s the issue of combat. As much as I lke the BDTP mechanic, I would like combat to be a bit more mechanic-intensive, as it is in the R&K system (swordsman schools, maneuvers, etc.). Do you think this is doable in TSOY?

Thanks for your time!

[Judd]

Have the pools refresh in a way that reinforces the genre.  For panash, have the player describe their clothes or they could flirt with someone.

For courage, have them practice their swordplay, have a scene where they load their muskets or polish and sharpen their swords or explain the history of a given weapon.

For resolve they must make a mighty oath or pray for guidance or discuss a plan with a co-conspirator.

Wits doesn't feel like a pool for some reason, it just felt off to me.

Sword Schools could easily be secrets without a problem, check them out.

As to making the system more mechanically like the R&K, I have no idea.

Hope that has helped.

[Eero Tuovinen]

This is an easy and fruitful variant, and the best news of all: you don't have to introduce any new mechanical components into the game! TSOY has everything you need, barring some new pools, abilities, secrets and keys. Some pointers to hint the way forthcoming, but also a suggestion: fix the pools yourself, and leave most of the rest for play. Take your 7th Sea books with you and simply lift skills and secrets from there in cooperation with the players. This way you don't have to create excess package, and everybody gets to contribute in setting the mechanical pieces you'll play with.

My hints on 7th Sea TSOY:
- The Pools are fine as is, although I'd be willing to change them if there really were need. Courage, Wits, Resolve and Panache are all suitable Abilities, mainly used for bonus dice with other Abilities. Note that they're all tied to Reason or Instinct. This is also the way to do traditional "stats"; broad abilities with few direct uses, but broad support roles.
- For Abilities, when you're working on them with your players, make sure you name cultural abilities for the pertinent cultures of 7th Sea. All kinds of cool stuff that differentiates them from each other. Like, "Wilderness Survival" could be a cultural ability for the northern barbarians in the relatively civilized 7th Sea setting.
- Secrets will take care of your sword schools and magic. Just make every 7th Sea sword school specialty (whatever they were called) a separate secret, with the same requirements for previous secrets etc. Note that Secrets will provide all the mechanic-intensity you could hope for, as far as combat is concerned; just pick more complex Secrets.
- Courage, Wits, Resolve and Panache: don't forget the corresponding Keys. That's a simple way to reward showing those qualities.

[Judd]

- Courage, Wits, Resolve and Panache: don't forget the corresponding Keys. That's a simple way to reward showing those qualities.

Very nice.

I dig this even more.

[Barna]

In the R&K system, Wits is a mix of your reflexes, perception and how "quick" you are mentally. In combat, when you attack, the Stat you use is Finesse (which is basically Dexterity), but when defending, Wits is used. It´s all part of the "all attributes are used in combat" idea that R&K enforces. Under this interpretation, do you still think it fails to qualify as a pool? I´m not sure really.

All these pools are "personality" traits; does anyone have any idea on how I can create some sort of Edge or the like to represent if a character is particularly dexterous, strong, charismatic, etc?

I first thought of secrets as a way to emulate duelling techniques and the like, but I´m not sure if that will do. I want swordplay and combat to be swashbuckly but also strategic. Perhaps I can device some sort of plugin which brings further detail to combat when the Pain is brought down...

[Barna]

I really prefer the four pools I´ve just mentioned to the standard TSOY pools which do not please me "setting wise". Still, there´s the issue of refreshing. From what I´ve read, refreshing pools is generally done in a situation outside of the main conflict or "adventuring" of the story. Wits could refresh in a way similar to Reason, but I´m stumped for Courage and Resolve. Panache could be refreshed when the character spends money on quality clothes or his flair and style are publicly recognized.

[Twobirds]

If you haven't, you might want to look at the original Fudge rules.  They have a lot more crunch to them than SoY, though I think SoY is way more involving for players.  The harm-tracker in Fudge is larger, that is, you have, say, eight or nine levels of hurt before you admit defeat.  I particularly like the idea of scratches in this case, wounds that don't have penalty dice attached to them, must be filled before 'Broken' is acheived, and disappear when you finish the combat (unlike the other levels).  They would fit below 'Bruised'.  This would mean that immediate rolls of Broken are impossible, since the limit on a roll (in SoY) is 7 and your harm tracker is larger than that.  But that just means sword duels last longer, maybe that's what you want.

Your Courage, Wits, etc. abilities could be a roll you squeeze in during combat.  You could, say, roll Wits AND your Sword-waving ability during a round of Bringing On The Duelling, but with a penalty die to the latter.  Successes on the Wits roll reduces the number on thee roll of your opponent's Sword-waving ability.  Successes on a Finesse roll would be added to your own Sword-waving roll.  Or, you could always roll twice, skip the penalty die (which has a tendency to murder die rolls in my limited experience) and always do a double-roll on your turn.  Assuming the effects are broad enough, the player's strategy can be to play defensive, go for the kill, etc.

I hope that's not too complicated.

edit: If you change the pools, you would have to re-set all the abilities.  That's up to you, of course.  Courage would work similar to Vigor, I think.  Get into a physical contest with someone else (at your level of skill or greater), or do something to try and break a record.  Resolve might be refreshed through mundane work, something tedious that must be overcome.  Though that's not much fun to role-play.  Unless your GM introduces someone new at the docks you're carrying barrels at.

I like your idea for Panache.  I am imagining a character buying successively more outrageous hats in the course of a long adventure.

George

[Barna]

I´m straying a bit off-topic here, but although I´ve considered FUDGE (and FATE also) I´m not so sure about the "attributes do not influence skills" thing.

Basically, my gripe with the original R&K system is that attributes matter way to much. Swashbuckling is, IMHO, about the character´s natural talent and gifts, but also about mastering a skill, being "the best" in a particular ability, etc. In R&K someone with high Wits and a begginer´s talent in Medicine will outroll someone with regular Wits who is a Master in Medicine. That, I find odd. Attributes should matter; they should make low-difficulty rolls easy and provide the chance for more spectacular success (the idea of "potential") but not overpower raw skill.

[Twobirds]

I agree.  Fudge is nice, but there are very few rules on actually connecting Attributes to Skills.  In Fudge they barely enter the equation, in R&K it sounds like they dominate it.  Ditching the Attributes and making bowls of - essentially - trait-specific Fudge points works really well.

[Clay]

I found functionally little difference between 7th Sea and TSoY.  The nations would remain nations, their secrets would become their secrets.  Swordsman knacks would become secrets restricted by nation, as others have mentioned.  Because many

Most of the knacks I would keep as abilities, although I might pare down some of the combat related abilities into more general abilities, to reflect the way that TSoY combat works. 

Arcana would become a mixture of secrets and keys; I haven't made up my mind yet exactly how I would break those out.  The character that I'm playing has an arcane trait of Inspirational, which is clearly a secret, but a lot of the arcana, like Vendeta, clearly fit into the category of keys.