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7th Sea Potluck Blog!

Dec 4, 2017

Interested in playing 7th Sea? Want to get the Tabletop Potluck squad’s takes on the game before you do? Good thing we’ve got a whole episode of TTPL where we all yell about what we thought! If you just want the crib notes, though, here they are. Again, we used the free online rule set and not the full book, so that’s all we’re discussing here.

We had a blast playing 7th Sea and would play it again in a heartbeat. The rulebook gives you plenty of scene-setting and mechanic guidelines and then hands you the reins to craft whatever kind of story you want within that. The character creation system has some neat quirks that get you thinking about possible conflicts your character might face before you’ve even touched the dice. Plus, the intricacy of Villain creation and handling makes them really juicy characters and formidable opponents, not just garden-variety bosses you have to plow through.

The worldbuilding is fun, but it’s just so darn easy to tease John Wick about how a lot of the game’s historical figures, events, and concepts are really just thinly veiled references to real life history. Still, each of the countries are distinct and flavorful and come with their own pros and cons to playing as a citizen of that country. We just wish we could have worked with some non-European countries. It’s great that John Wick Presents released free rules at all, and we wish more companies would do the same, but it’s pretty darn disappointing that they don’t include a single one of the Asian, African, or New World inspired countries.

The way the rules are written is tough to understand right away, but once you get into it, they’re much more intuitive. If you’re new to tabletop RPGs, 7th Sea might not be the best choice, unless you have a couple more experienced players to help folks put the pieces together. A lot of the mechanics are designed for players to delve into across a longer campaign, so a single session might not feel very satisfying.

All in all, the folks at Tabletop Potluck highly recommend 7th Sea. Check out the free rules here, or purchase the full rulebooks here. And if you’d like to catch more of the One-Sided Die crew and company, never fear, because we’ll definitely be returning to this campaign. In the meantime stay tuned for our Monsters and Other Childish Things session!