A RPG Campaign I'm unlikely to run...

...because who has the time?

(pause)

Well, I will have the time, but not to run this and do everything else that I want to do, which will hopefully involve yet a third RPG campaign, once the move's settled and we're situated and whatnot.

Anyway, for Seventh Sea...

Righteous Vaticine Fists of Thean Fury!

It is a dark time for Theah.  The Hierophant is feared dead - men whisper that he was cruelly murdered by the Emperor of Montaigne, l'Sorcereur, but none dare speak too openly about a sorceror powerful enough (and depraved enough) to rip a man's heart out with his mind.  The Vaticine Church reels under the mystic backlash from the severance of the link between Man and Theus - the Inquisition claims that it is holding back the worst of the disasters with the fruits of faith and reason, but its physical artifices of steel and steam can only be said - again, not openly - as a blight on the land, and its mental dominion seems no less oppressive.

There is supposedly war between Inquisition-ruled Castille and Sorceror-ridden Montaigne, but the war is apparently hottest elsewhere.  Eisen suffocates under the twin dooms of war and drought, its inhabitants mostly dead or fled.  Vodacce groans under various mercenary armies, supposedly fighting for Church or l'Sorcereur, but truly fighting for loot and pain.  The Vesten-Vendel League, almost a shadow of itself, grimly fights on against shadowy Inquisition navies, all the while cursing the fecklessness of their supposed Montaigne allies.  And no-one has left the Glamour Isles since that terrible day when a maddened O'Bannon attempted to destroy the Graal.  Only Ussura seems untouched... but for the howling in the woods...

Yet, there is hope.  It is said that when the Inquisition swept down to 'protect' the members of the Vaticine hierarchy, nine true Montaigne Archbishops eluded capture... because they had already been captured by l'Sorcereur for his own dark schemes.  But, thanks to the power of faith - and the Kreutzritter, the black-crossed clerics of the outlawed Society of Theus - they escaped that doom, as well, and now carry on the struggle among the oppressed people of Theah.  The Nine Celestial Bishops and their paladins fight against Montaigne Sorcery and Inquisitional Infernal Devices with their faith, True Science - and righteous fists of fury.  They took away our God and our countries and our Church... but they cannot take our hands, and thanks to our Inish and Eisen compatriots, those hands can now cleave with Theus' wrath.

Take back that which was ours! THEUS VULT!

This is, of course, a somewhat noncanonical version of Seventh Sea; at the least you'll need the Invisible College and Avalon sourcebooks to play it (the former for the techie stuff and the latter for the Finnigan unarmed combat school, which is by the way a sheer pleasure to have your PC know) - and, of course, a critical unwillingness to screw around with your players head by giving them a game where the Inquisition's steampunk, Porte magic is a bit less 'let me risk the integrity of the universe to get a good navigational fix' and a good deal more 'I wonder what color your spleen is.  Ah, the usual one', the Vesten made the Vendel an offer they couldn't refuse and Vodacce's politics more properly resembles that of Renaissance Italy's.

And Jesuits.  Why there weren't already Jesuits in that game is beyond me completely...

Comments

[Jaymiel]

So... limiting Porte to NPCs only, then? Since spleen-grabbing and trachea-crushing have rather similar effects, I'd think an adaptation of Star Wars Darkside rules might be appropriate?

I think I'd favor a new secret society for the Society of Theus. DKR isn't the most intellectual bunch of warrior-monks around. Granted, you could totally rewrite them, but the name's not that cool and they do perform a few useful functions as they stand. I could see them paired with the Society, actually - one serves to counter the Inquisitions metal monsters, the other its idealogical attacks.

Speaking of DRK's other functions, though - a wee bit more description of "mystic backlash" might be appropriate. I'd guess Girl Genius-style fights between Giant Monsters from Beyond Space and Time and Inquisitorial steam-mecha, but maybe you had something more... metaphysical in mind?

*sniff* Sidelining the Triple Kingdoms? No, laddie, no! Why don't we just have Mad Jack leave again and have a friendly little Inish civil war, with the Montaigne poking their noses in. Avalon might be interested except that you know Elaine loses that cup at some point and the Glamour goes awa', and there's more variations of who's dead, alive, marrying and invading than I can easily list. For preference, I think I'd have Elaine live, King Priam leading a very effective invasion into her south Avalon, and an alliance via marriage with MacDuff suddenly being a very real option. MacDuff, meanwhile, has nobles who want him to get involved in either war, on either side, and those who want the Marches to mind its own business.

(Of course, I suggest this for purely selfish reasons; I like playing Triple Kingdomers and it would be sad if all three islands were lost behind a veil of Glamour.)

[Moe Lane]

...or we could go with some of Jaymiel's suggestions, too. Can't comment on the Darkside, splitting off the DKR and Thesuits works for me, BEM vs Inquisition steam-mecha does seem sort of my schtick and your Avalonian angle does work better than mine. Obliged. :)