I worked with a friend to create a comprehensive set of house rules for 7th Sea 1st Edition (Alderac Entertainment Group, 1999), reworking and expanding on its mechanics to create what we called 7th Sea 1.5 Edition. This project started as a way to address balance issues we noticed during play, streamline advancement, and modernize certain mechanics. The ultimate goal was to streamline certain features while giving players more dramatic and meaningful choices.
The work involved:
- Core System Overhaul – Replaced static resolution with contested rolls, revised Hero creation, and unified XP-based advancement.
- Degrees of Success & Drama Points – Designed a new resolution layer that makes dice results more cinematic, adding the potential for overwhelming successes and devastating failures.
- Rebalanced Sorcery & Swordsman Schools – Standardized advancement costs, removed bloodline restrictions on Sorcery, and created clearer mastery milestones.
- Traits, Skills, and Advantages – Converted everything to XP costs instead of character-building “Hero points,” removed or rebalanced problematic Advantages/Flaws, and introduced new ones like Duelist and Sorcerer Heritage.
- Narrative Backgrounds – Redesigned Backgrounds to tie directly into Connections, encouraging richer character backstories and stronger story integration.
The goal was to preserve the swashbuckling spirit of 7th Sea while giving players and GMs more tools for drama, risk, and storytelling at the table.
Note that this project is still under active development, and there are a lot of changes we’ll be making to our reworks as we playtest them. However, if you want to talk at all about TTRPG design, please reach out!
You can read our current set of reworks here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/windrule-dark-hobbit/a/7th-sea-15-edition-article
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