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Jacob Ross
Jacob Ross's picture
The New Story
story

So I was wondering how the new story in 2E differs from or is the same as that in 1E? Like how in the first edition all the magic was actually science? I liked that. How zombies were tissue controlled by a parasite, "magic" was genetic alteration and so on. Also, do Sophia's Daughters still suck? Are there Jews now?

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Old-timey AEG fan

Donovan Morningfire
Donovan Morningfire's picture

As far as "the story" goes, we really don't know, as we've only gotten bits and pieces.

Magic in general does seem to be more magical and less science-based in 2e, though it's worth noting that largely gone is "the Bargain" of 1e that created the various types of sorcery in the first place, and with it the "alient invaders" from behind the Barrier.  Porte and Sorte are still passed along through bloodlines, and Hexenwerk is a rather creepy/ghoulish from of alchemy, though Castille Heroes do have alchemy available to them.  Pirate Nations introduces some new types of magic that rely upon invoking/channeling the power of god-like entities, with nothing even remotely "scientific" about them.  Zombies (or Wights as they're called now) are left up in the air, though there's suspicition the condition is caused by a disease.

The Sophia's Daughters have been scaled back from 1e's female-run Illuminati to a Vodacce-centric branch of the Rilascriare, devoted to improving women's rights, but lacking the Sidhe connections or overpowered scrying magic they had in 1e.  They're not as Mary Sue-ish as they were in 1e, but your call on whether they "still suck" or have improved.  But then again, a lot of the Secret Societies have gottne dialed back in terms of scope, with Los Vagobundos probably being the only one to get upgraded (they've gone from Castille-centric to multi-national and focused on defending Heroic leaders and rulers and deposing the Villainous ones).  Die Kruezritter are now an Eisen-centric society of monster hunters instead of being the Vaticine Church's black ops crew fighting an alien invasion.  Rose & Cross are back to being a grand society of do-gooders without the "golden spirit" or "Third Prophet was a fraud!" trappings.

Dono's Gaming & Etc Blog
http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/

Jacob Ross
Jacob Ross's picture

Well, that does seem to make SD suck less. I have to say that I liked the alien and science angle. They helped to make Thea much more unique than anything else out there. Still no Jews, though?

Old-timey AEG fan

Donovan Morningfire
Donovan Morningfire's picture

Nothing that I would identify as such.  It seems that as far as religion goes, John Wick is sticking with the 1e faiths of Vaticine, Objectionist, and Ussuran Orthodoxy in the Thean mainland.  The only "fringe" group we might see are a version of the Roma, who showed up in the 1e Vodacce sourcebook but didn't get much mention beyond that, but I'm not couning on it.

Dono's Gaming & Etc Blog
http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/

BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

John Wick is on the record saying a Jewish-pastiche is coming in the Crescent Empire book.

Donovan Morningfire
Donovan Morningfire's picture

Huh, obviouslyi I missed that.

Am kind of surprised, especially given how much of a hot topic Isrealites and the Middle East in general can be for some folks.  But if he feels he has a way to introduce something like that and make it truly belong as part of the setting, then more power to him.

Dono's Gaming & Etc Blog
http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/

Joachim Deneuve...
Joachim Deneuve du Surlign's picture

It's worth noting that a number of things have been rolled back to where they were as at the beginning of 1E.  A lot of the metaplot came in the secret society books and later.  With that in mind, the only groups that have changed from the initial descriptions are Die Kreuzritter, Los Vagabundos and Sophia's Daughters.  Of those, the Daughters are quite close, if you remove the 'cell of the Rilasciare' bit.

In addition, there are a number of new ones.  The Core book treats The Brotherhood of the Coast as a Secret Society (it's no less secret than the Explorer's Society) and introduces Grandmother's Shawl: who're kind of like a Rennaisance Red Cross out of Sarmatia.  Pirate Nations has two more: La Cosca which is basically the romaticised Mafia; The Riroco which is a sort of guerilla movement for people being exploited by the ATC.

 

As far as religion goes, it's actually got a reasonable amount of fringe stuff going on.  I'd guess that just over half of Théah is Vaticine, and there's a sizeable chunk of Objectionists and Orthodox.  However, the Sarmatian and Ussuran bits make me think that there's as many people who still adhere to 'the Old Ways' as there are Orthodox, although it's hard to say whether Curonian Paganism is the same as Ussuran Paganism.  Likewise, there are probably more people involved in some version of Druidism than the Church of Avalon in the Glamour Isles.  Finally, you have the Vesten reverence for the Allfather.

Now, once you add Pirate Nations, there's more interesting religions.  Pantheon worship is basically the Graeco-Roman gods and is prominent in Numa.  Kap Sevi is Santiera.  A Crescent religion is mentioned, but not elaborated on.  Finally, Mama Yaya is the native religion of the Atabean.  There's also a tiny minority of people you could call atheists dotted about.

 

Harliquinn Whit...
Harliquinn Whiteshadow's picture

Granted, I'm no expert, but I took Kap Sevi to be the "Not-Vodou/Voodoo" of the 7th Sea world, given that an alternative spelling for Loa is Lwa. 

Ben Woerner
Ben Woerner's picture

You are correct-ish. Obeah is also mixed in there a bit with Voudon and Santiera.

Joachim Deneuve...
Joachim Deneuve du Surlign's picture

It was the comments about how they'd adopted the names and images of Vaticine saints for their gods that made me lean towards the Santiera side.

Ben Woerner
Ben Woerner's picture

My People, da Jews, are coming in the Crescent Empire. Yachidi is their name. :)

Jacob Ross
Jacob Ross's picture

Interesting, Ben. So are they going to be mixed in a bit with the Yazidi people? Or is that more of a coincidence that the not-Jew name sounds like Yazidi? 

Old-timey AEG fan

Ben Woerner
Ben Woerner's picture

More coincidence and nature of etymology of regional languages, I THINK, I don't know, but the Yazidi might be getting some love in Crescent, but don't quote me on that, I'm not working on the book. 

Jacob Ross
Jacob Ross's picture

Also, Hey! It's Ben Woerner!

Old-timey AEG fan

Ben Woerner
Ben Woerner's picture

It'sa ME! :D 

Far more learned people are writing them for the Crescent Empire and I have full confidence in their ability to get them right. :)

When they come out you better believe I'm going to be running my Baruch Spinoza, MAN OF (Science) ACTION! character again. :D



 

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