7TV fantasy skirmish

 I'd been looking at 7TV as a skirmish engine for many years, and managed to pick up the fantasy variant recently.

 It has the advantage that it is designed around tropes, not just the usual fayre of D&D and Lord of the Rings, my preference being more toward the Sword and Sorcery tropes of Robert E.Howard, H.P.Lovecraft, Lieber, Ashton Smith and Moorcock, anyway.

A classic...and no hobbits.

 It also gives a great platform forthe hordes of sword and sorcery miniatures that I managed to amass, then do nothing with, when I was a little busier than now.

 The rules for 7TV are built around the premise that you are making an 80s movie. Now, set that aside the narrative that a good set of rules and good scenario give (and the absolute lack of narrative, that a bad set of rules, and poor scenario, does not), and you can immediately see why this ruleset ticks all the boxes. The best games roll like movies, the action unpredictable, and the characters coming out of the game.

 I also managed to type into various AIs 'give me a trilogy scenario for 7TV with a sword and sorcery trope' and I obtained some fantastic stuff. I get that it's not really AI per se, and all the engine does is garner ideas and original content from hundreds of websites, to create a story, but it saves me having to do it! More from the AI later...

 So this was a playtest of the rules,. more than anything. There are some fiddly bits, and the systems aren't always intuitive, but you very quickly 'grok' it.

 

There is a a Director's guide for rules, a producers guide for settings etc., and it references a fictional movie production company called Minerva, as the basis for stealing movie tropes from the 60s through 80s; much of the available scenario sets (in VHS Video boxes) are beautifully put together citing 80s fantasy movie tropes (Conan, Krull, Sinbad etc.). The whole thing for this new edition, was designed by University writing studies students, and it shows (in a good way). Who wouldn't want assignments based on watching 80s movies, for instance? 

It's a well stocked box...

The other advantage the game has, is hundreds of character profiles on cards - making assembling a scenario from a book or setting, easy (though ask AI if stuck).

The turn sequence operates around three phases:

• Initiative - with plot points awarded, the action economy
• Trilogy - there are cards for acts 1 ( mainly engagement advantages), act 2 (combat heats up) and act 3/Finale (the coup de grace actions)
• Action Phase - where stuff happens - each character has two actions per plot point, and you have to manage these VERY carefully. Each character or group has hit points, though there is tactical nuance in using 'stuns' and effects, to handicap the opposition. Spells, 'hard stares', intimidation, and feints can all be used thereby, subtly and effectively, and very in keeping with the genre.

 An excellent game, once you get used to how things work. 

The village outside the borderlands wall

The Evil Wizard Boden Cukrooch, with Patch, his pet Minotaur, has summoned an Earth elemental and the undead prince from the churchyard

'Now listen..I want a nice clean fight!'

The good guys (or so the prologue says); Zonan the barbarian, Ulstar the dwarf, Bryan the Cleric, Pete the Paladin and Jemima the apprentice sorceress

'Sic'em Patch!'

Zonan gets bonuses and heads for the magic item -- the horn of Agrilkskskks something, that gives him wild defensive bonuses.

Jemima hits Boden with a wall of thorns

The elemental goes for a flank, but the paladin (who is a little slow) sees it

Fireballs n magics n fogs n stuff

Ulstar gets in first digs, blattering himself, more than the elemental

Zonan's character card - a lot of the rules mechanisms, and the complexities of the moving parts, get summarised here

Effects can slow or de-stabilise - the effects of spells or unique talents

Zap!

Undead on the move 

The Cleric handles the healing, but Boden takes a distinct dislike to Jemima

Zonan, clearly having had enough of this vile sorcery, steps in to sort him out

As the undead creature of purest malignant evil considers a career in politics

'Ho there vile dead creature....Pete the Paladin is here!'

The Earth Elemental 'earthquakes' Ulstar

...and moves in

Nearing the finale, the music heats up

ZOnan kills Boden, and moves in for Patch. Both sides were due to have their casts' axed' and thus end the game, though both passed morale rolls to continue

'Come and 'ave a go if ye think yer hard enuf!'

Paladin goes down...but will recover

Victory...at great cost...

Zonan and Pete go to the pub - a hard fight...

 More to come from these - very good for a two player game.

I asked AI to give me a trilogy based on Moorcockian Sword and Sorcery (amongst others); it looks like scenarios aren't a problem - here's an interesting excerpt:

 

The trilogy's overall plot

The campaign follows the actions of the "Star" player, an aspect of the Eternal Champion, a cursed and sickly sorcerer-prince. The trilogy focuses on a quest to retrieve a powerful artifact to stave off the decay of their ancient, decadent empire, and culminates in a confrontation with the fundamental forces that govern the multiverse. The opposing player will field casts representing forces of both Law and Chaos, who seek to manipulate or destroy the Champion.

Act I: The Decadence of Imrryr

Plot summary: The sorcerer-prince must secure a powerful magical MacGuffin from the ruins of their own decadent, crumbling city. This act establishes the hero's reliance on both cunning and powerful, but dangerous, magic.

·         Episode 1: "The Spire of Whispers"

o    Setup: A decaying palace with a central tower (the "Spire of Whispers"). The player's cast, led by the sickly sorcerer-prince, must retrieve a MacGuffin—the "Crimson Talisman"—from a secure vault at the top of the spire.

o    Villain cast: The forces of a rival noble house, seeking to claim the Talisman for themselves, or perhaps a group of bestial extras who have grown resentful of the sorcerer-prince's rule.

o    Scenario goals: Retrieve the MacGuffin while surviving a series of escalating traps and battling the rival cast. The scenario is won by securing the Talisman and escaping.

·         Episode 2: "The Dreaming Maze"

o    Setup: An ancient, labyrinthine dream-library filled with psychic hazards and illusions.

o    Villain cast: A Chaos Sorcerer and their demonic minions try to corrupt and disorient the sorcerer-prince's mind. Models in the library can be subject to new "dream-logic" special effects triggered by random events.

o    Scenario goals: Navigate the dream-library and find the "Lore of the First Kings," an ancient text that reveals the Talisman's true purpose. The Sorcerer-Prince must make Willpower checks to avoid mental scarring.

 

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