OSSR: Swashbuckling Adventures Campaign Setting Ruleboox
Posted: Tue May 26, 2020 2:50 pm
Spoilers below for size.
Swashbuckling Adventures: Campaign Setting Rulebook
The year is 2002. Both the 3.5 revision to the d20 rules and the surprisingly successful movie Pirates of the Carribean: the Curse of the Black Pearl remain a year in the future. But despite the fantasy-medieval trappings of D&D, loads of players enjoy an age of sail adventure or two.
Which also means nobody has gotten absolutely sick of Captain Jack Sparrow yet, either
I admit it, I’m in based on the premise
The book itself is hardbound with 256 numbered pages, published by AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group). The primary authorship is credited to Erik-Jason Yaple with a dozen additional writing credits (including Mike Mearls!!!), 4 editors, ten play testers (one of whom was an editor, but mostly it looks like that’s their sole contribution) and various layout designers, artists and cartographers.
Let’s get started!
On the inside covers (front and back) is a world map (Théah) and like the name itself it’s very much real-world Earth with the names scrambled around. There are some Scandanvian countries in the far North, Avalon where England would be, Montaigne represents France, Eisen represents Germany, Castille represents Spain, Ussura represents Russia, The Empire of the Crescent Moon represents Turkey/Arabian peninsula/the Entire Middle East, and Cathay represents China/Far East. The only country that’s not immediately obvious to me by looking at it is Vodacce – I would assume Italy or Greece, but it’s squeezed in between Castille and the Empire of the Crescent Moon. Curiously, there’s a river that completely bisects the continent on the east/west axis from sea to sea; all of the countries border it (except Cathay which is mostly across the sea.
Oh yeah, pictures are worth a thousand words. Here you go.
This is a by-the-numbers early d20 book, so nothing surprising about the layout per the table of Contents.
We’ve got:
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Races and Nationalities (7 pages)
Chapter 2 – Character Classes (33 pages)
Chapter 3 – Prestige Classes (81 pages)
Chapter 4 – Feats and something called Arcana (29 pages)
Chapter 5 – Equipment (10 pages)
Chapter 6 – Wondrous Items (18 pages)
Chapter 7 – Miscellaneous Rules like bombs and ship to ship combat (15 pages)
Chapter 8 – Secret Societies (4 pages)
Chapter 9 – Setting information (29 pages)
Appendix (16 pages)
I think it’s a bit of an odd choice to start in with things like races and classes without knowing more about the setting, but that’s the choice they made, so I feel obligated to follow their example.
Introduction
The introduction is one column of fiction about a Zorro-esque character cinematically fighting a group of swordsmen, a noble with a pistol, and a squad of musketeers. The types of things described are generally impossible with the action economy of d20 – he stabs someone, leaps to a table, smashes someone’s nose in, disarms someone, kicks someone, throws a sword, rides a rope up to an upper floor as a chandelier crashes down when FINALLY attacks from the enemy happen, but none of them hit before he escapes out the window. The book promises it’ll deliver this in a ‘modular’ format that’s not tied to a single world suitable for incorporating into your standard fantasy game or helping you with historical gaming. But we’ve got to earn our fun, right? Let’s look at Nationalities.
Chapter 1: Nationalities
All the races of Théah are humans and the standard human racial package opens the chapter. The fact that each nation is supposed to map directly to a real-world culture is made explicit. The cultural descriptions aren’t very detailed – enough for a very superficial description of a character. In terms of crunch, each nationality loses 2 of a human’s normal 4 bonus skill points at 1st level and are given two skills that are a class skill (regardless of what classes they take). Admiral Ackbar, what do you think?
If you were planning on playing a class with access to a particular skill, there’s no benefit to choosing a nationality that also gives that skill – you’d be down 2 skill points with nothing to show for it. If you were planning on playing a class without normal access to that skill, it might help if the skill was valuable. So let’s see what you get.
If you’re from Avalon (whether English, Irish, or Scottish), you get Gather Information and Knowledge (Sidhe) as class skills. They did tell us that Sidhe are faeries in the description of the country, but what that does for us has to wait. Castillians (Spanish, but also the seat of the Vatican) get Knowledge (religion) and Sense Motive. The Crescent Empire get Balance and Ride (and that’s true whether you’re a city-dweller, a desert raider or part of a harem).
OH! I get it now!
Montaigne (French) get Bluff and diplomacy, while the Ussurans (Russians) get Knowledge (nature) and Wilderness Lore. The Nordic lands are divided by a group called the Vendel which are mercantile sort of like the Dutch, but they’re in conflict with the Vestenmannavnjar who are traditionalists. Even though they’re of the same ‘race’, they’re culturally distinct. The Vendel get Appraise and Bluff, while the Vestenmmanjar have Intimidate and Sense Motive. Voddace turns out to be mostly Italy – but the main cultural center is the islands well south of the mainland. It’s a super-Venice with all kinds of political backstabbing. Voddace get Bluff and Sense Motive.
The last group is ‘others’. They’re from one of these countries, but they’ve cut ties so completely that they get the normal skill allotment and no bonus skills.
Within the descriptions of nationalities there’s a description of styles for unmarried women versus married women. As far as explicit descriptions of gender roles, it’s generally unfavorable to women. For example:
And I will, but maybe I’ll save it for the last section when we talk about the ‘gazetteer’ style entries later.
But I will talk about skills!
Giving someone more class skills but not more skill ranks doesn’t encourage them to take those skills. This was pretty clear from the release of 3.0 – a ‘knowledge domain’ cleric gets a lot of extra class skills, but with 2 + Int skill points and the need to prioritize other skills like Concentration and Knowledge [religion], you don’t see Knowledge Domain clerics actually knowing anything. The fact that skills in 3.x generally work for low-level characters is a good thing, but skill ranks have ALWAYS been too stingy (and of course, accounting for class/cross-class skills was always a problem – especially if creating higher level characters). The fact that a Rogue 1/Fighter 1 and a Fighter 1/Rogue 1 were VASTLY different was a major problem.
If you’re creating a 3.x system, and you want people from a particular region to be known as good at telling lies, or being good at Diplomacy, sure, making it a class-skill is the LEAST you can do. But seriously, just give them free ranks or a fixed bonus. If everyone from Vodacce gets 4 ranks in Bluff/Sense Motive in addition to their normal skill points, it would support the ‘stereotype’. As it is, very few characters are going to bother putting ranks into these skills just because they COULD.
Next up: Character Classes.
Swashbuckling Adventures: Campaign Setting Rulebook
The year is 2002. Both the 3.5 revision to the d20 rules and the surprisingly successful movie Pirates of the Carribean: the Curse of the Black Pearl remain a year in the future. But despite the fantasy-medieval trappings of D&D, loads of players enjoy an age of sail adventure or two.
Which also means nobody has gotten absolutely sick of Captain Jack Sparrow yet, either
Two hundred years from the world of high fantasy, a different kind of world exists: where daring musketeers fight injustice in the name of the king, bold pirates claim riches with a blast of grapeshot, and matters of honor are settled at the end of a blade. It is the world of Errol Flynn and Alexandre Dumas, the world of Captain Blood and the Count of Monte Cristo. It is the world of swashbuckling…and now, it is open to you.
Learn what it means to seek hidden treasure, to plot terrible revenge, to protect the innocent with nothing more than a quick tongue and a quicker sword. Sail with daring privateers in search of fabulous riches, plunder the wealthy as a charming highwayman, or thwart dastardly villains as one of the famous musketeers. From the halls of power where noble courtiers plot endless intrigue, to the wharfside docks where vicious sailors will kill you for your boots, it’s all waiting between these covers.
Welcome to Swashbuckling Adventures!
I admit it, I’m in based on the premise
Let’s get started!
On the inside covers (front and back) is a world map (Théah) and like the name itself it’s very much real-world Earth with the names scrambled around. There are some Scandanvian countries in the far North, Avalon where England would be, Montaigne represents France, Eisen represents Germany, Castille represents Spain, Ussura represents Russia, The Empire of the Crescent Moon represents Turkey/Arabian peninsula/the Entire Middle East, and Cathay represents China/Far East. The only country that’s not immediately obvious to me by looking at it is Vodacce – I would assume Italy or Greece, but it’s squeezed in between Castille and the Empire of the Crescent Moon. Curiously, there’s a river that completely bisects the continent on the east/west axis from sea to sea; all of the countries border it (except Cathay which is mostly across the sea.
Oh yeah, pictures are worth a thousand words. Here you go.
This is a by-the-numbers early d20 book, so nothing surprising about the layout per the table of Contents.
We’ve got:
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Races and Nationalities (7 pages)
Chapter 2 – Character Classes (33 pages)
Chapter 3 – Prestige Classes (81 pages)
Chapter 4 – Feats and something called Arcana (29 pages)
Chapter 5 – Equipment (10 pages)
Chapter 6 – Wondrous Items (18 pages)
Chapter 7 – Miscellaneous Rules like bombs and ship to ship combat (15 pages)
Chapter 8 – Secret Societies (4 pages)
Chapter 9 – Setting information (29 pages)
Appendix (16 pages)
I think it’s a bit of an odd choice to start in with things like races and classes without knowing more about the setting, but that’s the choice they made, so I feel obligated to follow their example.
Introduction
The introduction is one column of fiction about a Zorro-esque character cinematically fighting a group of swordsmen, a noble with a pistol, and a squad of musketeers. The types of things described are generally impossible with the action economy of d20 – he stabs someone, leaps to a table, smashes someone’s nose in, disarms someone, kicks someone, throws a sword, rides a rope up to an upper floor as a chandelier crashes down when FINALLY attacks from the enemy happen, but none of them hit before he escapes out the window. The book promises it’ll deliver this in a ‘modular’ format that’s not tied to a single world suitable for incorporating into your standard fantasy game or helping you with historical gaming. But we’ve got to earn our fun, right? Let’s look at Nationalities.
Chapter 1: Nationalities
All the races of Théah are humans and the standard human racial package opens the chapter. The fact that each nation is supposed to map directly to a real-world culture is made explicit. The cultural descriptions aren’t very detailed – enough for a very superficial description of a character. In terms of crunch, each nationality loses 2 of a human’s normal 4 bonus skill points at 1st level and are given two skills that are a class skill (regardless of what classes they take). Admiral Ackbar, what do you think?
If you’re from Avalon (whether English, Irish, or Scottish), you get Gather Information and Knowledge (Sidhe) as class skills. They did tell us that Sidhe are faeries in the description of the country, but what that does for us has to wait. Castillians (Spanish, but also the seat of the Vatican) get Knowledge (religion) and Sense Motive. The Crescent Empire get Balance and Ride (and that’s true whether you’re a city-dweller, a desert raider or part of a harem).
OH! I get it now!
The last group is ‘others’. They’re from one of these countries, but they’ve cut ties so completely that they get the normal skill allotment and no bonus skills.
Within the descriptions of nationalities there’s a description of styles for unmarried women versus married women. As far as explicit descriptions of gender roles, it’s generally unfavorable to women. For example:
I think there’s a lot to unpack there.In Vodacce, only noblewomen are gifted with sorcery. These “Fate Witches” are able to forsee future events, and sometimes alter them. They can tell when someone will die, from what direction the threat will come, who is paying the assassin, and what emotions he feels towards the victim. To handicap these frightening abilities, noble women are kept illiterate and powerless, controlled by their husbands, brothers and fathers.
And I will, but maybe I’ll save it for the last section when we talk about the ‘gazetteer’ style entries later.
But I will talk about skills!
Giving someone more class skills but not more skill ranks doesn’t encourage them to take those skills. This was pretty clear from the release of 3.0 – a ‘knowledge domain’ cleric gets a lot of extra class skills, but with 2 + Int skill points and the need to prioritize other skills like Concentration and Knowledge [religion], you don’t see Knowledge Domain clerics actually knowing anything. The fact that skills in 3.x generally work for low-level characters is a good thing, but skill ranks have ALWAYS been too stingy (and of course, accounting for class/cross-class skills was always a problem – especially if creating higher level characters). The fact that a Rogue 1/Fighter 1 and a Fighter 1/Rogue 1 were VASTLY different was a major problem.
If you’re creating a 3.x system, and you want people from a particular region to be known as good at telling lies, or being good at Diplomacy, sure, making it a class-skill is the LEAST you can do. But seriously, just give them free ranks or a fixed bonus. If everyone from Vodacce gets 4 ranks in Bluff/Sense Motive in addition to their normal skill points, it would support the ‘stereotype’. As it is, very few characters are going to bother putting ranks into these skills just because they COULD.
Next up: Character Classes.