Letters to Isabel, Redux

Marcello recounts a game played by the adventurers in his latest missive to his dear Isabel.

I love this, integrating another game played by the players into the context of their characters and the game-world, in this case the board game The Resistance. It's one of those things I've done for many years, and it never ceases to make for a fun game-day.

Added bonus: The campaign now has an Obsidian Portal wiki going for it.

Letters from Isabel, Redux

Jedediah at Book Scorpion's Lair channels a little Ricky Nelson for the latest installment in the continuing adventures of Marcelo and friends.

This whole campaign is awash in swashbucklery goodness, and I'm so glad that Jedediah is posting them as a resource for the rest of us - I have to add that I really enjoy the personal letter format as well; I like Marcelo's voice as a correspondent.

Letters to Isabel, Redux

The title of the post says it all: courtly intrigue.

I'm often left at more than a little bit of a loss when referees complain that all their players want to do is hack-and-slash. I mean, I get it, but it also leaves me a little sad, because this right here is a very big part of what makes roleplaying games fun for me. Manipulating friends and outwitting and outmanoeuvering enemies is something I fall into naturally at the game table, which is why it was no surprise to be at all to find out my Bartle test profile was Socializer.

It's also why one of my favorite skills in a roleplaying game is Bribery.

I know this is one of the reasons the cape-and-sword genre appeals to me so much for gaming. My predilection to turn everything I run into a spy caper and my passion for the endgame are both perfectly at home in swashbucklers.

Letters to Isabel, Continued

The latest installment of Jededian's 7th Sea actual play reports find Marcello confronted with his comrades' discomfiture over being too good a scoundrel.

Marcello continues to be a character after my own heart.

Resolved

My 2012 New Year's resolution was to start a blog about cape-and-sword roleplaying games.

Okay, that's done. Now, what's next?

Jedediah at Book Scorpion's Lair recounts participating in two reading 'challenges' this past year, the Graphic Novels Challenge and the Library Books Reading Challenge. The former looks like fun - I'd already been planning a post about cape-and-sword graphic novels anyway, so this expands on that and gives it a purpose.

I'm not gonna try to be a hero here: I'm shootin' for Level 1, with an option on Level 2, and I'm gonna stick with the Basic challenge, but try to hit a number of the Advanced categories as well.

Look for the first installment later this week.

Letters to Isabel, Redux

"Dear Isabel,
You may find parts of what you are about to read sickening and I apologise for that. But I'm not in the habit of lying to you and you know yourself fully well what a dark place this world can be, so I am not going to sugarcoat what has happened."

The stakes of Marcello's game rise precipitously in Jedediah's ongoing 7th Sea campaign.

Addendum (11/4/12): Part 2 of Marcello and friends' adventures include a dangerous duel.

Letters to Isabel, Redux

FIGHT!

Letters to Isabel, Redux

Marcello's impersonation takes a seductive turn in the latest actual play log of Jedediah's 7th Sea campaign.

I hope we're not heading down a path toward Fifty Shades of Don Gabriel.

And I get the feeling we'll be hearing more about the dangerous M. du Doré.

I appreciated the behind-baseball commentary, but I really like seeing the campaign through Marcello's eyes, at least as much of it as he's willing to share with Isabel.

Letters to Isabel, Reprise

The plot thickens in Jedediah's latest 7th Sea update.

I really like Marcello's decision to impersonate Don Gabriel - very clever.

More importantly, I like that the characters have a plan more involved that, Come in hard, rapiers blazing. Intrigue is, to me, just as fundamental to cape-and-sword tales as dueling.

Letters to Isabel

Jedediah at Book Scorpion's Lair has another post on his 7th Sea campaign up, and that Marcello is a nasty piece of work.

This is a campaign after my own heart.

The Cat Out of the Bag

Jedediah at Book Scorpion's Lair has another actual play log from his 7th Sea campaign, in which the intrepid adventurers learn something interesting about El Gato.