Roleplaying Truths from Michael

Some of these are short, some are long. Deal with it. Feel free to comment.

1) I hate the Alternate Character Generation Rules that Gregory adores for Cyberpunk.

2) Original worlds are cool for any "generic" system like D&D or RoleMaster, but they only work when the players know the basics of the world. Without that knowledge, it's like walking through a strange house in the dark. Playing in an unfamiliar world is incredibly frustrating, even if you know a few facts.

3) NPCs should never overshadow the PCs for more than a scene at a time, if that.

4) Immersive RP is the best way to make Michael happy. Overly pretentious prose is the fastest way to make him want to strangle you (unless it's IC.. say, you're a Montaigne or Castillian swordsman). If your goal is to make us marvel at your wordsmithing, you've gone too far. This rule, of course, does not apply to Bards or Galliards.

5) For sheer fun factor, nothing beats 7th Sea. I mean it. Although... endless waves of Musketeers bent on stopping you at all costs is a bit excessive.

6) There is NO Truth 6!

7) I love RPing with my friends. I hope we're doing it when we're old. A letter to "Dragon" I read while at GameKeeper told of a father who borrowed his son's gamebook to see if he approved. When he gave it back he said "I envy you. When I'm in my 80s, I'll be playing pinochle with my friends. When you are in your 80s, you'll be roaming the land, slaying evil dragons with yours. That's cool."

Amen to that.

7th Sea Ad. Deal.

Seventh Sea is a roleplaying game of swashbuckling and sorcery, piracy and adventure, diplomacy and intrigue, archeology and exploration. It's a world of musketeers, pirates and privateers, ancient sorcery and lost civilizations, horrors that hide in the shadows and horrors that hide in plain sight.
That's quite a mouthful, so let's take it one step at a time.

It is a world where an order of musketeers guards the lives of the nobility, but also guard the virtues honor, integrity and - above all else - fraternity. It is a world of sharp blades and sharp wits, where a cutting retort can be just as deadly as a sword's point.

It is also a world where the nobility control the most powerful force of all: sorcery. Dark magic pulses in the hearts of the noble class, power that was given to them in occult bargains made long ago. Some control the weather. Others weave illusion. Some rip through the fabric of reality, while others play with the forces of Fate itself.

The hard edge of steel coupled with the shadowy substance of sorcery: that is your first step into the world of Seventh Sea.

Perhaps more than anything else, Seventh Sea is about exploring the unknown and making a healthy profit while you're at it!

The waters of Seventh Sea are populated with the robbers of the waves: the deadly pirates of the Brotherhood of the Coast. The pirates of Seventh Sea are united by a common cause: freedom. Freedom from the tyranny of the sorcerer-kings. Freedom from the shackles of the Church of the Prophets. Freedom from greedy land-owners and money lenders. Pirates sail where they want, take what they please and life a life of freedom unknown by any other man in the world of Seventh Sea.

And with the decline of the Church, things have become even better for pirates as Kings and Queens hire daredevil adventurers to explore the unknown and bring back the booty they discover. Of course, if said adventurers lower their guards for even a moment, they'll see the black flag just a moment too late.

In the world of Seventh Sea, kingdoms are on the verge of becoming countries. A swelling tide of nationalism is beginning to blossom in the hearts of men and women throughout the known world, and a new kind of war is finding its way into the world. But in the courts of kings and queens, diplomats dressed in powdered wigs, lace and silk try to resolve the disputes of nations. Of course, if such diplomacy fails, there is the cold steel of the dueling sword waiting just under all of that lace and silk.

A new kind of espionage is making its way into the world as well. Men and women trained in the arts of deception are living perilous lives of illusion and artifice as they pillage enemy secrets with only their beauty, cunning and wits and a willingness to do anything for crown and country.

Beyond the borders of the kingdoms of Seventh Sea lies the ruins of an ancient civilization, lost centuries ago. Hidden beneath thousands of years of dust and the waves are vast cities of Lost Syrne, and who knows what ancient treasures remain, unseen by human eyes, untouched by human hands.

Men and women who call themselves "archeologists" are hired by the kings and queens of Theah to unearth these treasures and bring them back to be held by noble hands. Daring the perilous ancient ruins, these men and women are all the rage in the noble courts, and the subjects of romantic novels all across Theah. Praised as heroes, they hope to discover the secrets of the Syrneth, in hopes that they may uncover secrets of man's own origins, and possibly, the secrets of the universe itself.

And that, in a nutshell, is the world of Seventh Sea.

It is a great deal like our own, but at the same time, not at all like our own. More like a distant cousin than a twin sister, Theah is a whole new world to explore. So, get your digger coat on, strap on your sword and oil up that buckler.

It's a brand new world from the creators of Legend of the Five Rings.

A world with a different kind of honor, and a different kind of steel.

The world of Seventh Sea.