Using the Seafarers’ Guild in Your Game

May 19, 2010 · Posted in Powers and Abilities · Comment 

The Seafarers’ Guild with its specialized magics and abilities can take many forms, depending on the system you’re using it with. While there are as many ways to represent the Seafarers as there are GMs, below are some suggestions based on individual systems.

D&D 3.5/Pathfinder

Probably the best way to render the seafarers’ Guild in d20 terms is to make it a prestige class. Seafarers would be arcane casters with minimal magical abilities (probably not gaining higher than 3rd level spells.) and shapeshifting would be one ability they gain as they increase levels. While not every Seafarer is a shapeshifter or is magically inclined, there is something to be said for making the PCs (who are supposed to be extraordinary) a member of that privileged minority.

Ars Magica

While it would be up to individual storyguides to determine how well Seafarers would fit into their version of Mythic Europe (or any other setting they run using the system), one way of handling them would be to make the Guild a group of hedge wizards with strong Aquam abilities and make shapeshifting a Virtue or modify the ability and use the “Skinchanger” Virtue.

Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game

Very little adaptation would be required to add the Guild to an ADRPG game. Those PCs could purchase the Shapeshifting power and Power Words or Sorcery if they also choose to have magical abilities. The Guild itself would simply be background, unless you wished to make it an Artifact under the control of one of the characters, where it would be Horde, Shadow-wide, or Ubiquitous, depending on how wide-spread you want the Guild to be.

Classic World of Darkness

The Guild itself would be represented as Allies (for guild member characters) or Contacts (for characters with strong guild connections who aren’t actually members). The shapeshifting ability could be handled a variety of different ways, depending on which set of mechanics you’re using. In Vampire, for example, you could make it a variation on the Vicissitude Discipline; in Mage it would be Life Sphere magick (in which case you could introduce the Seafarers as a new Tradition or use them as a type of hedge wizard)

These are just examples and suggestions, of course. Feel free to implement the Guild any way that works for your game.

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Shapeshifting

May 10, 2010 · Posted in Powers and Abilities · 2 Comments 

Shapeshifting is a talent passed down through Seafarer bloodline since the sea dragon Shenlu took her first husband among human kind. It’s an innate ability, not a magical aptitude and is rare, even among Seafarers, and only occurs in those members who are descended from the original Seafarer bloodline. Characters have a 10% chance of being shapeshifters if they have one Seafarer parent, 25% if they have two.

Shapeshifting is taxing. Even automatic shifts have a small endurance cost. Full shifting causes fatigue. Staying in a shifted form for more than a few requires great endurance and a daily expenditure of fatigue/endurance points.

Every shapeshifter has a “natural form”. That’s the form his body was born to. When a character falls unconscious or his body performs an automatic shift, he reverts to his natural form. A shifter can only take the form of something of his approximate mass. He cannot get larger or smaller than he naturally is.

A shapeshifter’s body will adjust to keep a character alive, even if the character is unconscious or near death. If a character is bleeding out, the wounds will close (but further healing requires the usual procedures) and keep the character from dying. If the character suddenly falls into the water, say from the mast of a ship, her body will automatically shift gills. A character in danger of freezing will grow a thick coat of fur, etc. This takes no thought on the part of character and the endurance cost is minimal. If the character was in another form before she automatically shifted, her body will revert to her natural form as part of the survival process. As soon as the body is out of danger, the character reverts to her natural form (not any form she was in before). This is the body’s natural protection; if a character wants to prevent an automatic shift, she must be conscious and make a Will save to prevent the change.

The shifter may shift a single body part, but his takes practice and skill. For example, he may change a hand into a claw or grow wings. He may imitate any animal feature he’s seen, with practice. But he doesn’t automatically get that animal’s abilities. A winged character may learn to fly, but it’ll take practice and many, many falls before he can get it right.

A shapeshifter may also find herself hunted. Shapeshifter blood is magically potent and is often used to power magical effects or spells.

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Seafarers’ Guild Rumors

May 4, 2010 · Posted in World Background · Comment 

Below are some rumors about the Seafarers’ Guild. I haven’t really decided yet which ones are true, so please leave me a comment telling me which ones you would like to be true:

  • The guild reports to no one and is following the will of Admiral Limani without supervision or accountability
  • A new Emperor has been selected, but refuses to come forward while Emperor Hotashen lives. The guild actually reports to the new Emperor.
  • Emperor Hotashen isn’t really sick; the Guild still reports to him.
  • The Guild has captured the Emperor and hidden him away. The Harbingers Council made up the story of his illness to cover his disappearance. The want to put Lord Kenlo Ling on the Imperial seat because of his ties with the Guild.
  • The Council has kidnapped the Emperor and made up the story of his illness to cover it. The Guild is doing his best to find him.
  • The Guild and the Council are working together to overthrow the Emperor and have the Moot of Harbingers become the sole ruling body of Guang Keshar
  • The Guild has found a cure for the Emperor’s illness, but is withholding it for their own reasons.
  • The Guild is searching the world for a cure to the Emperor’s illness.
  • The Guild has found a cure, but it’s on the other side of the world in the hands of barbarians who won’t give it up for anything less than the hand of the Emperor’s daughter in marriage. Because the Emperor has no daughter, this is a problem.
  • Emperor Hotashen has named Admiral Limani as his heir, he just hasn’t made it publicly known yet. The Council knows this and is looking for a way to subvert it.

Which one of these should be true and why? Do you have any other suggestions for rumors? Please leave a comment below. What you suggest could become an official part of Lia Tsashu.

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The Seafarers’ Guild

April 26, 2010 · Posted in World Background · Comment 
explore 210 on Saturday, January 12, 2008 Buqu...
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The Seafarers’ Guild is a guild dedicated to the well-being of Guang Keshar’s commercial sailors and sailing ships. Having no House affiliation, the head of the guild, Admiral Limani Kukuri, reports directly to the Emperor. Even the Moot of Harbingers has no authority over the Guild.

The Guild has a monopoly on all commercial sea traffic in Guang Keshar. As per imperial law, no House may send out their own ships across the sea for the purposes of trade and commerce. Houses are still allowed to field navies and other military-purpose ships, as well as a single flagship with escort.

Most members are born into the Guild. An acknowledged child of one or more Seafarer parents automatically becomes a member of the Guild, as do all children born in Guild-controlled towns. Residents of Guild towns are also considered Seafarers, but are treated more like colonies than full-fledged members. Anyone else may join the Guild, if they can find a ship willing to take them on; after two years service at sea they become full-fledged members.

The advantages of becoming a member of the Guild are many. Upon becoming a full member, all previous obligations the new Seafarer may owe are completely forgiven. That means the Seafarer is free of all past debts, including indentured servitude. In fact, the Guild opposes indentured servitude completely: no Guild member is allowed to hold an indentured contract on anyone. That includes anyone in a Seafarer town.

Another advantage is lower taxes. Members are still obligated to pay imperial taxes, but the Guild doesn’t tax its members, who are likewise free of any tax burden to a House or lord. The Guild takes a percentage for each piece of cargo it ships, as well as charging for non-Guild passengers. All Guild members and their immediate families may ride free on any Guild ship, if there’s space available.

Unemployment is low among Guild members; the Guild does its best to provide every member with a job. The Guild also takes care of the member’s family, should he become lost at sea. It also provides for retired members.But Guild membership also has its obligations. Each member must serve two years on board a ship out of every ten. And ship definitely has its hazards. Few Seafarers make it to retirement age.

Ask anyone on Guang Keshar what word comes to mind when you say “Seafarers’ Guild” and they’ll immediately respond “shapeshifting”. Despite the fact that fewer than one quarter of all native Seafarers (those born to one or more parents carrying the Seafarer bloodline) actually have the shapeshifting ability, it’s the ability most associated with them. But more common than shapeshifting is the ability to use minor magics. These usually include cantrips for predicting the weather and means for communicating via magical mirrors from ship to ship.

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