Nautical Sorcery
7th Sea is one of my favourite systems, and I’ve come to particularly enjoy the new edition (currently published by Chaosium). My only real bugbear with it is that Sorcery options are often quite limited compared to how they used to be. Here are a few more options for each of the corebook Sorceries, with a view to nautical adventures.
Hexenwerk
The signature Sorcery of Eisen is all about making unguents from parts of undead monsters and ingesting them for various abilities. Nations of Théah (vol 2.) introduced the Apostat – Hexes that leave Eisen rather than be regulated, which included a few more options for new unguents that worked on monsters generally, rather than just the undead.
The Atabean Sea is, canonically, full of monsters and so it would seem that a nautical campaign set there would be the perfect campaign for a Hexe, at least an Apostat (which they most likely would be so far from Eisen), but that still assumes a campaign focussed fairly heavily on the concept of monster hunting.
However, there is a thematic similarity between Hexenwerk and the mysterious Charter magic used by pirate crews of Aragosta (found in Pirate Nations). Whilst Charter magic doesn’t involve eating or drinking anything, it does use blood to bind people together for a common purpose and, in a similar principle, perhaps a Hexe could use themselves to provide power and strength for their crew.
New Background:
Zauberpirat (Sorcerous Pirate)
Having left your homeland, you’ve found that life on the waves, surrounded by people you can trust and who know they can trust you, suits you far better.
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you when you trust a fellow member of your crew implicitly, without asking for any explanation.
Advantages: Sorcery (Hexe), Leadership, Sea Legs
Skills: Aim, Brawl, Intimidate, Sailing, Scholarship
New Major Unguents:
Shared Expertise
Your own blood, some rum, a few exotic spices and a dash of salt. The amount of your blood that is needed varies depending on how potent an effect you wish to create. This concoction can be drunk by anybody to share one of your Advantages until the end of the Scene. When you make this Unguent, as well as the usual Hero Point cost, you must also take one Dramatic Wound per point cost of the Advantage you wish to share.
Some Advantages, obviously, can’t be shared this way, even with the justification of magic. For example, drinking a potion is not going to suddenly give you a Friend at Court. However, GMs are encouraged to be fairly lenient with this, as a change in luck and fortune can explain a great deal.
Unfailing Sense
Sea water, something from the target person (hair, nails, etc.) and fish scales mixed and distilled leaves a powder that, when spread on the eyelids, allows you to unerringly know where over the sea the target has travelled since you last saw them. If they reach a major landmass, you’ll be out of luck because this Unguent can only help you track their sea travel, but if they go to sea again whilst this Unguent is still in effect, you’ll know it. Travel that doesn’t involve the sea (such as Porte, or flight) won’t be tracked even if it involves crossing a sea.
New Minor Unguents
Essence of Teamwork
The blood of two people mixed together, along with shavings from a ship’s wheel and thread from a sail that was destroyed by a storm, diluted in sea water creates an unusual Unguent that is only effective if ingested by the two people whose blood was used near enough at the same time (within the same Round). This Unguent allows them to pool their remaining Raises, both acting from that same pool. This doesn’t increase the number of Raises available (in fact, due to the Raises that are needed to drink the Unguent, it decreases them slightly), but allows them to be rebalanced between the two characters. If only one part of the Unguent is ingested in a particular Round, then it is wasted.
Shared Fortune
Human blood boiled over flotsam, with soured wine added can make a surprisingly potent mixture. Drinking this Unguent gives a bonus Hero Point. However, remember that Minor Unguents only last for a Round, so you’ll need to use it quickly!
The signature Sorcery of Eisen is all about making unguents from parts of undead monsters and ingesting them for various abilities. Nations of Théah (vol 2.) introduced the Apostat – Hexes that leave Eisen rather than be regulated, which included a few more options for new unguents that worked on monsters generally, rather than just the undead.
The Atabean Sea is, canonically, full of monsters and so it would seem that a nautical campaign set there would be the perfect campaign for a Hexe, at least an Apostat (which they most likely would be so far from Eisen), but that still assumes a campaign focussed fairly heavily on the concept of monster hunting.
However, there is a thematic similarity between Hexenwerk and the mysterious Charter magic used by pirate crews of Aragosta (found in Pirate Nations). Whilst Charter magic doesn’t involve eating or drinking anything, it does use blood to bind people together for a common purpose and, in a similar principle, perhaps a Hexe could use themselves to provide power and strength for their crew.
New Background:
Zauberpirat (Sorcerous Pirate)
Having left your homeland, you’ve found that life on the waves, surrounded by people you can trust and who know they can trust you, suits you far better.
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you when you trust a fellow member of your crew implicitly, without asking for any explanation.
Advantages: Sorcery (Hexe), Leadership, Sea Legs
Skills: Aim, Brawl, Intimidate, Sailing, Scholarship
New Major Unguents:
Shared Expertise
Your own blood, some rum, a few exotic spices and a dash of salt. The amount of your blood that is needed varies depending on how potent an effect you wish to create. This concoction can be drunk by anybody to share one of your Advantages until the end of the Scene. When you make this Unguent, as well as the usual Hero Point cost, you must also take one Dramatic Wound per point cost of the Advantage you wish to share.
Some Advantages, obviously, can’t be shared this way, even with the justification of magic. For example, drinking a potion is not going to suddenly give you a Friend at Court. However, GMs are encouraged to be fairly lenient with this, as a change in luck and fortune can explain a great deal.
Unfailing Sense
Sea water, something from the target person (hair, nails, etc.) and fish scales mixed and distilled leaves a powder that, when spread on the eyelids, allows you to unerringly know where over the sea the target has travelled since you last saw them. If they reach a major landmass, you’ll be out of luck because this Unguent can only help you track their sea travel, but if they go to sea again whilst this Unguent is still in effect, you’ll know it. Travel that doesn’t involve the sea (such as Porte, or flight) won’t be tracked even if it involves crossing a sea.
New Minor Unguents
Essence of Teamwork
The blood of two people mixed together, along with shavings from a ship’s wheel and thread from a sail that was destroyed by a storm, diluted in sea water creates an unusual Unguent that is only effective if ingested by the two people whose blood was used near enough at the same time (within the same Round). This Unguent allows them to pool their remaining Raises, both acting from that same pool. This doesn’t increase the number of Raises available (in fact, due to the Raises that are needed to drink the Unguent, it decreases them slightly), but allows them to be rebalanced between the two characters. If only one part of the Unguent is ingested in a particular Round, then it is wasted.
Shared Fortune
Human blood boiled over flotsam, with soured wine added can make a surprisingly potent mixture. Drinking this Unguent gives a bonus Hero Point. However, remember that Minor Unguents only last for a Round, so you’ll need to use it quickly!
Knights of Avalon
The Knights of Avalon are all Embodiments of the original knights of Elilodd which means, canonically, there can only ever be 20 of them. Of these, one of them (Sæwine) is The Sailor and an obvious choice for a nautical character. Obviously, there is nothing to stop a player taking a different Knight and making it work at sea, but they would miss out on the amazing Call the Sea Legendary Glamour (presented in Nations of Théah (vol 1.). If you happen to be in a campaign designed to be entirely Avalonian characters, this could be even more difficult.
At the moment, Glamour Sorcery only tells the stories of those 20 Knights – the most faithful of Elilodd’s servants. Perhaps the people that served those Knights – the squires, bodyguards, or other retinue members – have their own, albeit lesser, stories to tell.
New Background:
Squire of Avalon
You have been touched with Glamour, but fated to stay a little more in the background, serving another but still upholding the honour of Elilodd.
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you work to serve a superior when you will be disadvantaged by said work.
Advantages: Sorcery (Glamour Squire), Dynamic Approach
Skills: Convince, Empathy, Notice, Ride, Weaponry
New Advantage:
Sorcery (Glamour Squire) – 2 points
You gain Glamour Sorcery, but with a Squire Embodiment instead of a Knight one. Your Glamours cannot increase past rank 3. In all other ways, you have the same abilities as any other Glamour Sorcerer.
New Knights (Squires)
Note, whilst the generic term used here is a Squire embodiment, that does not mean that the character was actually a squire to one of the knights – simply that they had a connection to them. The Squires presented here served on Sæwine’s ship with her and form a part of her story.
Ælfswip, the Boatswain
Serving with Sæwine from the very beginning, Ælfswip kept the crew in order and ensured that nobody was ever able to board her ship. He led her crew both on ship and off, never seeing defeat until the end where it proved to be his final battle.
Major Trait: Panache Minor Trait: Brawn
Virtue: Courageous (Hero) Hubris: Doomed (Drowned Man)
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you are against impossible odds, but you stride forward to try to beat them anyway.
Legendary Glamour: Call the Sea
Leofflæd, the Quartermaster
Leofflæd is said to have been a beauty and the only one to ever manage to tame Sæwine’s heart. They sailed together with the Knight always knowing that she could rely on her quartermaster to both comfort her after a loss, celebrate with her after a victory, and ensure that the ship was kept provisioned.
Major Trait: Panache Minor Trait: Wits
Virtue: Intuitive (Witch) Hubris: Underconfident (Road)
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you take time out to help another character recover from a difficult event.
Legendary Glamour: Call the Sea
Stithulf, the Carpenter
Sæwine’s ship, The King’s Justice, is almost as famous as she. The man that kept it that way was Stithulf, her trusted carpenter who could repair the ship of any damage even whilst at sea, and always kept her sailing no matter the weather.
Major Trait: Panache Minor Trait: Resolve
Virtue: Adaptable (Coins) Hubris: Proud (Sun)
Quirk: Earn a hero point when your ship is directly competing with another one, either in a race, a battle or any other circumstance where the quality of the ship matters as much as the skill of the crew.
Legendary Glamour: Call the Sea
The Knights of Avalon are all Embodiments of the original knights of Elilodd which means, canonically, there can only ever be 20 of them. Of these, one of them (Sæwine) is The Sailor and an obvious choice for a nautical character. Obviously, there is nothing to stop a player taking a different Knight and making it work at sea, but they would miss out on the amazing Call the Sea Legendary Glamour (presented in Nations of Théah (vol 1.). If you happen to be in a campaign designed to be entirely Avalonian characters, this could be even more difficult.
At the moment, Glamour Sorcery only tells the stories of those 20 Knights – the most faithful of Elilodd’s servants. Perhaps the people that served those Knights – the squires, bodyguards, or other retinue members – have their own, albeit lesser, stories to tell.
New Background:
Squire of Avalon
You have been touched with Glamour, but fated to stay a little more in the background, serving another but still upholding the honour of Elilodd.
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you work to serve a superior when you will be disadvantaged by said work.
Advantages: Sorcery (Glamour Squire), Dynamic Approach
Skills: Convince, Empathy, Notice, Ride, Weaponry
New Advantage:
Sorcery (Glamour Squire) – 2 points
You gain Glamour Sorcery, but with a Squire Embodiment instead of a Knight one. Your Glamours cannot increase past rank 3. In all other ways, you have the same abilities as any other Glamour Sorcerer.
New Knights (Squires)
Note, whilst the generic term used here is a Squire embodiment, that does not mean that the character was actually a squire to one of the knights – simply that they had a connection to them. The Squires presented here served on Sæwine’s ship with her and form a part of her story.
Ælfswip, the Boatswain
Serving with Sæwine from the very beginning, Ælfswip kept the crew in order and ensured that nobody was ever able to board her ship. He led her crew both on ship and off, never seeing defeat until the end where it proved to be his final battle.
Major Trait: Panache Minor Trait: Brawn
Virtue: Courageous (Hero) Hubris: Doomed (Drowned Man)
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you are against impossible odds, but you stride forward to try to beat them anyway.
Legendary Glamour: Call the Sea
Leofflæd, the Quartermaster
Leofflæd is said to have been a beauty and the only one to ever manage to tame Sæwine’s heart. They sailed together with the Knight always knowing that she could rely on her quartermaster to both comfort her after a loss, celebrate with her after a victory, and ensure that the ship was kept provisioned.
Major Trait: Panache Minor Trait: Wits
Virtue: Intuitive (Witch) Hubris: Underconfident (Road)
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you take time out to help another character recover from a difficult event.
Legendary Glamour: Call the Sea
Stithulf, the Carpenter
Sæwine’s ship, The King’s Justice, is almost as famous as she. The man that kept it that way was Stithulf, her trusted carpenter who could repair the ship of any damage even whilst at sea, and always kept her sailing no matter the weather.
Major Trait: Panache Minor Trait: Resolve
Virtue: Adaptable (Coins) Hubris: Proud (Sun)
Quirk: Earn a hero point when your ship is directly competing with another one, either in a race, a battle or any other circumstance where the quality of the ship matters as much as the skill of the crew.
Legendary Glamour: Call the Sea
Mother’s Touch (Dar Matushki)
Matushka has been a part of the 7th Sea setting since the first edition, though the sorcery that she sponsors undergoes a great many changes between the two editions! Moving from shapeshifting to a more general exchange of gifts and restrictions broadens out the sorcery in some way. Nations of Théah (vol 2.) introduced Tură’s Touch with extra powers, a restructuring around tasks rather than restrictions and more backstory into the ancient Ussuran creatures, the Leshiye. Perhaps strangely, there is no listed Leshiye of the sea, though powers from both Matushka and Tură offer some that are suitable.
Russian myth, however, speaks of Tsar Morskoi, the King of the Seas. He is the father of mermaids and ruler of the oceans. Perhaps an adventurous Ussuran might encounter him?
New Background
“Blessed” by Tsar Morskoi
You have faced the storm and braved its voice. You have made a bargain with Tsar Morskoi and, in so doing, saved your ship.
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you voluntarily give up the opportunity to acquire wealth or anything else that could have contributed to paying off your Debt.
Advantages: Sorcery (Morskoi’s Touch), Sorcery (Morskoi’s Touch), Sea Legs
Skills: Convince, Intimidate, Notice, Sailing, Tempt
Morskoi’s Touch uses the same rules as Matushka’s Touch but with a different selection of Gifts and, in this case, Trades. Morskoi isn’t interested in teaching people lessons, nor is he concerned with the feud between Matushka and Tură – he is simply greedy and will offer his power to any who pay him for it. That payment need not be in terms of money or wealth – he will often accept payments such as a song or a story. Morskoi isn’t found randomly, and only the foolish would seek him out. He arises if angered by sailors who do not respect his domain, the sea, to destroy their vessels. His voice can be heard in the storm and then you might plead with him for his favour.
Each time you purchase the Sorcery advantage, you gain two Gifts. Your Trade Debt is always considered to be a number of points equal to your total number of Gifts. This Debt is due each month of in-game time and can be paid in a variety of ways:
Those blessed by Morskoi can purchase the Command, See and Storm Gifts from Matushka (though Command and See can only be used for aquatic creatures) and Read the Wind from Tură. Morskoi also offers the following gifts:
Find Prey
You can sense the location of the nearest vessel that has wealth that you may attempt to capture. There is no guarantee that the vessel will not be the ship of a friend or ally, or that it will be particularly feasible for you to capture – the only promise is that it will have plunder.
Merform
You can take on a merform for a Scene – your legs join together and become a fish tail. Whilst in this form you can breathe both water and air, and can speak with aquatic creatures (though they will not necessarily obey you unless you use the Command gift).
Swift Winds
You can call upon Morskoi to speed your ship’s travel. You will arrive at your current destination in approximately two thirds of the time you would normally expect.
Matushka has been a part of the 7th Sea setting since the first edition, though the sorcery that she sponsors undergoes a great many changes between the two editions! Moving from shapeshifting to a more general exchange of gifts and restrictions broadens out the sorcery in some way. Nations of Théah (vol 2.) introduced Tură’s Touch with extra powers, a restructuring around tasks rather than restrictions and more backstory into the ancient Ussuran creatures, the Leshiye. Perhaps strangely, there is no listed Leshiye of the sea, though powers from both Matushka and Tură offer some that are suitable.
Russian myth, however, speaks of Tsar Morskoi, the King of the Seas. He is the father of mermaids and ruler of the oceans. Perhaps an adventurous Ussuran might encounter him?
New Background
“Blessed” by Tsar Morskoi
You have faced the storm and braved its voice. You have made a bargain with Tsar Morskoi and, in so doing, saved your ship.
Quirk: Earn a hero point when you voluntarily give up the opportunity to acquire wealth or anything else that could have contributed to paying off your Debt.
Advantages: Sorcery (Morskoi’s Touch), Sorcery (Morskoi’s Touch), Sea Legs
Skills: Convince, Intimidate, Notice, Sailing, Tempt
Morskoi’s Touch uses the same rules as Matushka’s Touch but with a different selection of Gifts and, in this case, Trades. Morskoi isn’t interested in teaching people lessons, nor is he concerned with the feud between Matushka and Tură – he is simply greedy and will offer his power to any who pay him for it. That payment need not be in terms of money or wealth – he will often accept payments such as a song or a story. Morskoi isn’t found randomly, and only the foolish would seek him out. He arises if angered by sailors who do not respect his domain, the sea, to destroy their vessels. His voice can be heard in the storm and then you might plead with him for his favour.
Each time you purchase the Sorcery advantage, you gain two Gifts. Your Trade Debt is always considered to be a number of points equal to your total number of Gifts. This Debt is due each month of in-game time and can be paid in a variety of ways:
- One point of wealth sacrificed to the sea pays one point of Debt;
- If you wish to perform a story or song, you should take a Risk with a number of complications equal to the level of Debt you are wanting to pay off. If you succeed at this Risk (i.e. can avoid all complications with a Raise to spare), then that part of the Debt is paid off;
- You can sacrifice a signature item or other significant item for 2 points of Debt, or however many story stages were required to acquire it (whichever is greater);
- Or other ways that you can discuss with your GM.
Those blessed by Morskoi can purchase the Command, See and Storm Gifts from Matushka (though Command and See can only be used for aquatic creatures) and Read the Wind from Tură. Morskoi also offers the following gifts:
Find Prey
You can sense the location of the nearest vessel that has wealth that you may attempt to capture. There is no guarantee that the vessel will not be the ship of a friend or ally, or that it will be particularly feasible for you to capture – the only promise is that it will have plunder.
Merform
You can take on a merform for a Scene – your legs join together and become a fish tail. Whilst in this form you can breathe both water and air, and can speak with aquatic creatures (though they will not necessarily obey you unless you use the Command gift).
Swift Winds
You can call upon Morskoi to speed your ship’s travel. You will arrive at your current destination in approximately two thirds of the time you would normally expect.
Porté
Porté, one of the most iconic sorceries from 7th Sea, is already much more interesting in second edition than it was in first, with a lot of utility coming from very minimal investment in the option. As it stands, it’s very useful almost everywhere. However, it did lose a couple of tricks in the transition between editions, and those tricks were well suited to a life at sea.
Passing
If you have placed a Major Mark upon a person and they are also a Porté Sorcier, you can open a portail to pass an object to that person. This can be a note with some writing on, a weapon, a clock (useful for working out longitude) or anything else that could ordinarily be pulled through. During an Action scene, it costs one Raise to Pass an object to somebody.
Catching
If you are targeted by a missile weapon, you may open a very small portail just in time to catch it and avoid it striking you. These portails are open for such a short time, that only a single wound is caused by opening it, rather than a Dramatic Wound. However, if it is a bullet, then you need to spend a Hero Point as well. It costs one Raise to Catch a missile attack.
Really Big Portails
It’s all well and good being able to take yourself somewhere, or maybe a few others if you have the Hero Points to spare, but what about your ship? Could it be possible to make a portail big enough to sail a ship through?
The answer in 7th Sea tends to be that if something is cool, then sure – you should be able to do it! However, a big portail needs a lot of blood. At least 4 Dramatic Wounds worth, though this can be split amongst several different Porté Sorciers as long as they all have a Major Mark to the desired destination. One of the Porté Sorciers involved should be the pilot of the ship. Of course, if they are the sole Sorcier performing this action, they’ll almost certainly pass out as soon as the ship gets out the other side.
Surprise Cannonball
Once you’ve boarded a ship, your cannons are generally out of action – after all, it would be daft to keep shooting at the ship that your people are on board. However, if one of your boarding party are a Porté Sorcier, perhaps you can still use a timely cannon shot.
If that Sorcier had marked a cannonball, and could time their action to Pull it carefully enough, they could open the way to it just as it was fired, and let it explode out at a target of their own. That timing really would have to be precise though.
The character firing the cannon should spend a Raise to create an Opportunity on that Raise count. The Porté Sorcier needs to both have a mark on the cannonball that was fired and be able to spend Raises themselves on the same count. They can spend as many Raises as they wish on this attack. Anybody targeted by it (one Villain or one entire Brute Squad) must spend at least as many Raises to avoid the attack or be taken out.
Of course, the Porté Sorcier will take a Dramatic Wound from the attempt whether it works out or not, so this isn’t a tactic to be used lightly.
Porté, one of the most iconic sorceries from 7th Sea, is already much more interesting in second edition than it was in first, with a lot of utility coming from very minimal investment in the option. As it stands, it’s very useful almost everywhere. However, it did lose a couple of tricks in the transition between editions, and those tricks were well suited to a life at sea.
Passing
If you have placed a Major Mark upon a person and they are also a Porté Sorcier, you can open a portail to pass an object to that person. This can be a note with some writing on, a weapon, a clock (useful for working out longitude) or anything else that could ordinarily be pulled through. During an Action scene, it costs one Raise to Pass an object to somebody.
Catching
If you are targeted by a missile weapon, you may open a very small portail just in time to catch it and avoid it striking you. These portails are open for such a short time, that only a single wound is caused by opening it, rather than a Dramatic Wound. However, if it is a bullet, then you need to spend a Hero Point as well. It costs one Raise to Catch a missile attack.
Really Big Portails
It’s all well and good being able to take yourself somewhere, or maybe a few others if you have the Hero Points to spare, but what about your ship? Could it be possible to make a portail big enough to sail a ship through?
The answer in 7th Sea tends to be that if something is cool, then sure – you should be able to do it! However, a big portail needs a lot of blood. At least 4 Dramatic Wounds worth, though this can be split amongst several different Porté Sorciers as long as they all have a Major Mark to the desired destination. One of the Porté Sorciers involved should be the pilot of the ship. Of course, if they are the sole Sorcier performing this action, they’ll almost certainly pass out as soon as the ship gets out the other side.
Surprise Cannonball
Once you’ve boarded a ship, your cannons are generally out of action – after all, it would be daft to keep shooting at the ship that your people are on board. However, if one of your boarding party are a Porté Sorcier, perhaps you can still use a timely cannon shot.
If that Sorcier had marked a cannonball, and could time their action to Pull it carefully enough, they could open the way to it just as it was fired, and let it explode out at a target of their own. That timing really would have to be precise though.
The character firing the cannon should spend a Raise to create an Opportunity on that Raise count. The Porté Sorcier needs to both have a mark on the cannonball that was fired and be able to spend Raises themselves on the same count. They can spend as many Raises as they wish on this attack. Anybody targeted by it (one Villain or one entire Brute Squad) must spend at least as many Raises to avoid the attack or be taken out.
Of course, the Porté Sorcier will take a Dramatic Wound from the attempt whether it works out or not, so this isn’t a tactic to be used lightly.
Sanderis
Sanderis, one of the new forms of Sorcery in 7th Sea 2nd Edition, is well covered already for nautical play, with the Storm and Sea Deals making natural choices for a character in a ship-based game. However, the existence of the Knowledge and Love deals present us with some scope to go with more ephemeral concepts for their basis, rather than natural forces or elements.
New Deals
Hatred
Dievai with the Hatred Deal often appear quite normal, almost presenting as a typical Théan. However, upon closer inspection there will something about them, specific to their losejas that irritates and, when encountering it every time, eventually leads to absolute loathing. They govern negative emotion and any feud between two people and have found the seas ripe with ship captains who hate each other.
Major Favours:
Hunting
Dievai with the Hunting Deal often appear as beasts, or at least bestial people, always sniffing the air and listening for any sign of prey. They promise their losejas that they will always find what they are searching for, be it man, beast or treasure.
Major Favours:
Sanderis, one of the new forms of Sorcery in 7th Sea 2nd Edition, is well covered already for nautical play, with the Storm and Sea Deals making natural choices for a character in a ship-based game. However, the existence of the Knowledge and Love deals present us with some scope to go with more ephemeral concepts for their basis, rather than natural forces or elements.
New Deals
Hatred
Dievai with the Hatred Deal often appear quite normal, almost presenting as a typical Théan. However, upon closer inspection there will something about them, specific to their losejas that irritates and, when encountering it every time, eventually leads to absolute loathing. They govern negative emotion and any feud between two people and have found the seas ripe with ship captains who hate each other.
Major Favours:
- Introduce a plague to a confined space (such as a ship). This will, fairly quickly, run rampant over the entire area unless there is other sorcery or an extremely skilled doctor present.
- Instil hatred for a target into everybody that loves them, forcing these people to attack mindlessly until the object of their ire is destroyed.
- Cause a feud to erupt between two people, even if they are close friends or even lovers.
- Know the answer to a single question regarding the object of a target’s hatred. The GM must answer this question honestly, but succinctly.
- Cause a target to attack you. They cannot spend Raises for any other purpose until they have attacked you.
- Cause a target to give into your argument and follow your advice, providing your argument was encouraging them to act against somebody or something they hate, even if the advice is unwise.
- Dispel hatred within a target and make them forget why they ever hated somebody or something.
Hunting
Dievai with the Hunting Deal often appear as beasts, or at least bestial people, always sniffing the air and listening for any sign of prey. They promise their losejas that they will always find what they are searching for, be it man, beast or treasure.
Major Favours:
- Create a great hunting beast and dispatch it after your prey. It will immediately set off hunting your prey but must travel to find them. It may not be quick, but it is guaranteed death for your target.
- Instil an obsessive need in a target so that every thought and action will be directed towards fulfilling that need.
- Know the direction and distance you must travel in to get to the target of your hunt.
- Force your target to stay within a mile of their current position for a day.
- Know the value of the target of your hunt.
- Speak and allow the target of your hunt to hear your words. They can’t reply, but this message can be sent over any distance.
- Double the effect of any Raises spent to apply Pressure to a target.
Sorte
Sorte suffered the most in the translation to 2nd Edition, losing a great deal of its utility. As much as I was disappointed to see the ability to strengthen, create and destroy strands go away, I can understand why they’ve been lost and I can’t disagree with the reasons, so I’m not using this as an excuse to put these abilities back into the game.
However, there are still pieces of Sorte which should be ok and have been missed out, and I don’t like that the sorcery is maxed out after four levels (you can start a character as the best Sorte Strega they can be) so I think some more is needed. This requires changing the level progression a little, so that the first purchase gets you Read, two Minor Weave and one Major Weave, and then each additional purchase of the Sorcery advantage gets you one additional Minor Weave and one additional Major Weave.
New Tesse
Suits Tesse
Each Suit (Coins, Cups, Staves, Swords) must have its Tesse purchased separately. The Minor Weave for each works the same way, but for different types of relationship, whereas the Major Weaves are different.
The Coins suit represents strands connecting those with financial concerns to each other with the suit stronger depending on the level of relationship (for example, a great debt). It is not possible to tell from the strand which direction the relationship goes (for example, which character owes the other).
Cups represents connections of passion – either love or hate, with the strength of the suit representing the strength of the emotion. Again, it is not possible to tell from the strand whether the emotion is positive or negative, or even if it is felt by both sides.
Staves represents relationships of authority, where one individual due to the law, obligation or for some other reason owes loyalty to another. The strength of the strand represents the strength of that loyalty but, as with other strands, it does not tell you which end has the authority.
Swords represents conflict of all sorts, and so will often appear in concert with another strand. If two people are in conflict with each other for any reason, one of these strands will appear between them, with the strength representing the strength of that conflict.
Minor
Prior to players rolling a Risk, after you have heard what approach each other player intends to take, you may choose to tug on a strand that you have already Read. If the GM agrees that there is a relevant strand to the approaches chosen, you may then spend a Drama Point and take 1 or more Fate Lashes. For this Risk, you may split a number of bonus dice equal to your new total number of Fate Lashes amongst relevant other characters.
Major Coins
You may give another character a special Coins blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 5 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the other character will come upon an opportunity to gain Wealth equal to your ranks in the Sorcery Advantage. For low values, this may simply be that they come across it on the street, or for higher values it may require some kind of adventure, but an opportunity to gain that Wealth will soon come about.
Major Cups
You may give another character a special Cups blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 10 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the other character gains great ability with art, and the next piece of artwork they attempt to create will receive a number of bonus Raises equal to your ranks in the Sorcery Advantage.
Major Staves
You may give another character a special Staves blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 15 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the other character receives a number of ranks of the Reputation Advantage equal to your ranks in the Sorcery Advantage for one Scene. The target character may choose when to start taking advantage of this new found reputation.
Major Swords
You may give perform a special Swords blessing upon a melee weapon through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 20 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the weapon permanently becomes a Twisted Blade. The first time this is done, it becomes a Signature Item with the ability to allow you to deal Wounds equal to the Raises spent on an attack plus your Highest Trait when you spend a Hero Point. Subsequent uses of this ability on the same weapon provide the weapon with a number of bonus Hero Points that can only be used to activate this ability. These bonus Hero Points refresh every Scene. You may never perform this ability on the same weapon more times than you have ranks in the Sorcery Advantage.
Black Strand
The Black strand signifies death and seeing one is the worst portent a Sorte Strega can witness. Unfortunately, a black strand doesn’t link the doomed with the one fated to kill them – it loops around the character it is attached to until the other end is lost. However, once a Sorte Strega has read a Black Strand, they might be able to do something about it.
Minor
When a character is about to die, a Sorte Strega can twist fate to save them. You must spend a Hero Point and take as many Fate Lashes as the number of Raises that have been used to strike the killing blow. If you do this, the character is saved through some fluke of luck and are safe from death until the end of the Scene (though they can still be defeated).
However, death can only be averted so often. For each time that a Sorte Strega has used this ability on a particular character, the cost in Hero Points increases by 1.
Major
You may give another character a special Black blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 25 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, all of the target character’s fate strands appear to be black (though they are not in reality). This means that they are immune to further uses of Sorte (as their strands cannot be Read) and any Sorte Strega that attempts to Read them will take a number of Fate Lashes equal to the target’s lowest Trait.
Other uses of Sorte
The various Major blessings of the strands are presented here as ideas as how Sorte Strega can manipulate fate about a person or object without removing the agency of that character’s player (the problem with the rules in the 1st Edition). However, with the GM’s blessing, there is no reason to stop here. If you purchase the Major Weave of any Strand Tesse, you could weave the strands of fate into any object (such as the Twisted Blade example) or to give other relevant advantages (such as the Staves example).
Examples:
Sorte suffered the most in the translation to 2nd Edition, losing a great deal of its utility. As much as I was disappointed to see the ability to strengthen, create and destroy strands go away, I can understand why they’ve been lost and I can’t disagree with the reasons, so I’m not using this as an excuse to put these abilities back into the game.
However, there are still pieces of Sorte which should be ok and have been missed out, and I don’t like that the sorcery is maxed out after four levels (you can start a character as the best Sorte Strega they can be) so I think some more is needed. This requires changing the level progression a little, so that the first purchase gets you Read, two Minor Weave and one Major Weave, and then each additional purchase of the Sorcery advantage gets you one additional Minor Weave and one additional Major Weave.
New Tesse
Suits Tesse
Each Suit (Coins, Cups, Staves, Swords) must have its Tesse purchased separately. The Minor Weave for each works the same way, but for different types of relationship, whereas the Major Weaves are different.
The Coins suit represents strands connecting those with financial concerns to each other with the suit stronger depending on the level of relationship (for example, a great debt). It is not possible to tell from the strand which direction the relationship goes (for example, which character owes the other).
Cups represents connections of passion – either love or hate, with the strength of the suit representing the strength of the emotion. Again, it is not possible to tell from the strand whether the emotion is positive or negative, or even if it is felt by both sides.
Staves represents relationships of authority, where one individual due to the law, obligation or for some other reason owes loyalty to another. The strength of the strand represents the strength of that loyalty but, as with other strands, it does not tell you which end has the authority.
Swords represents conflict of all sorts, and so will often appear in concert with another strand. If two people are in conflict with each other for any reason, one of these strands will appear between them, with the strength representing the strength of that conflict.
Minor
Prior to players rolling a Risk, after you have heard what approach each other player intends to take, you may choose to tug on a strand that you have already Read. If the GM agrees that there is a relevant strand to the approaches chosen, you may then spend a Drama Point and take 1 or more Fate Lashes. For this Risk, you may split a number of bonus dice equal to your new total number of Fate Lashes amongst relevant other characters.
Major Coins
You may give another character a special Coins blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 5 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the other character will come upon an opportunity to gain Wealth equal to your ranks in the Sorcery Advantage. For low values, this may simply be that they come across it on the street, or for higher values it may require some kind of adventure, but an opportunity to gain that Wealth will soon come about.
Major Cups
You may give another character a special Cups blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 10 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the other character gains great ability with art, and the next piece of artwork they attempt to create will receive a number of bonus Raises equal to your ranks in the Sorcery Advantage.
Major Staves
You may give another character a special Staves blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 15 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the other character receives a number of ranks of the Reputation Advantage equal to your ranks in the Sorcery Advantage for one Scene. The target character may choose when to start taking advantage of this new found reputation.
Major Swords
You may give perform a special Swords blessing upon a melee weapon through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 20 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, the weapon permanently becomes a Twisted Blade. The first time this is done, it becomes a Signature Item with the ability to allow you to deal Wounds equal to the Raises spent on an attack plus your Highest Trait when you spend a Hero Point. Subsequent uses of this ability on the same weapon provide the weapon with a number of bonus Hero Points that can only be used to activate this ability. These bonus Hero Points refresh every Scene. You may never perform this ability on the same weapon more times than you have ranks in the Sorcery Advantage.
Black Strand
The Black strand signifies death and seeing one is the worst portent a Sorte Strega can witness. Unfortunately, a black strand doesn’t link the doomed with the one fated to kill them – it loops around the character it is attached to until the other end is lost. However, once a Sorte Strega has read a Black Strand, they might be able to do something about it.
Minor
When a character is about to die, a Sorte Strega can twist fate to save them. You must spend a Hero Point and take as many Fate Lashes as the number of Raises that have been used to strike the killing blow. If you do this, the character is saved through some fluke of luck and are safe from death until the end of the Scene (though they can still be defeated).
However, death can only be averted so often. For each time that a Sorte Strega has used this ability on a particular character, the cost in Hero Points increases by 1.
Major
You may give another character a special Black blessing through a reading of the Sorte deck. This ability costs 25 Hero Points to use. You may make up any lack with Fate Lashes.
After you use this ability, all of the target character’s fate strands appear to be black (though they are not in reality). This means that they are immune to further uses of Sorte (as their strands cannot be Read) and any Sorte Strega that attempts to Read them will take a number of Fate Lashes equal to the target’s lowest Trait.
Other uses of Sorte
The various Major blessings of the strands are presented here as ideas as how Sorte Strega can manipulate fate about a person or object without removing the agency of that character’s player (the problem with the rules in the 1st Edition). However, with the GM’s blessing, there is no reason to stop here. If you purchase the Major Weave of any Strand Tesse, you could weave the strands of fate into any object (such as the Twisted Blade example) or to give other relevant advantages (such as the Staves example).
Examples:
- Fated Sails - A Sorte Strega can use a Major Coins weave when sewing a ship’s sails to ensure that it always moves swiftly and catches the wind when on the tail of another ship that is carrying plunder.
- Figurehead of Malice - A Sorte Stega can use a Major Swords weave when carving a ship’s figurehead to ensure that the crew of the next enemy ship that sees it will suffer a Fear Effect of a rank equal to her ranks in the Sorcery Advantage.
- Wheel of Authority - A Sorte Strega can use a Major Staves weave when carving a ship’s wheel to allow the person touching it to act as if they had the “The Ocean’s Favourite” Advantage (in Pirate Nations) for a number of Scenes equal to your rank in the Sorcery Advantage.