This is a simple conversion for the 7th Sea roleplaying game (from Alderac Entertainment) to the elegant Castle Falkenstein rules from Mike Pondsmith and R. Talsorian Games. Except where noted, use the regular rules from the Castle Falkenstein rulebook. Enjoy!

Abilities

Like Castle Falkenstein, abilities are divided into four suits, based on the Sorte deck. They are Swords (physical abilities), Wands (intellectual abilities), Cups (emotional abilities), and Disks (material or social abilities). Abilities are rated Poor (2), Average (4), Good (6), Great (8), Exceptional (10), or Extraordinary (12).

Athletics (swords): Covers all sorts of physical activities, essentially identical to the Falkenstein and 7th Sea abilities of the same name.

Brawn (swords): The hero’s physical strength and toughness, equivalent to Falkenstein Physique.

Comeliness (cups): The hero’s appearance and, to a lesser degree, style.

Connections (disks): Social class, influence and the “circles” the hero moves in.

Courtier (disks): The ability to fit into social settings with style and grace. Equivalent to Falkenstein Social Graces.

Doctor (wands): The ability to diagnose and treat illness and injury. Equivalent to Falkenstein Physician.

Education (wands): General “book learning” on such topics as History, Philosophy, and Science, along with Languages. An important ability for Castillian heroes.

Fencing (swords): Ability to fight with a sword and related dueling weapons.

Faith (cups): Believe and faith in a higher power (usually Theus, the god of the Vaticine Church). It’s up to the Narrator whether or not this ability is good for anything. At the least, it can substitute for Resolve in most situations. At best, it might allow the hero to resist Sorcery or even perform minor miracles.

Hunting (swords): Tracking prey, laying traps, cleaning and dressing kills, etc.

Marksmanship (swords): Use of ranged weapons, from bows to flintlocks.

Panache (cups): Style, charisma, and the ability to influence others. Roughly equivalent to Falkenstein Charisma.

Performance (cups): Skill at singing, dancing or acting, including playing an instrument and other performance skills.

Pugilism (swords): Unarmed combat and street fighting along with “ruffian” weapons. Equivalent to Falkenstein Fisticuffs.

Resolve (cups): The ability to show resolution and coolness in the face of danger, willpower. Equivalent to Falkenstein Courage.

Riding (swords): The ability to ride a horse effectively.

Sailing (swords): The ability to handle sailing or navigating a ship.

Scoundrel (disks): Ability in matters criminal and illegal, things like sneaking, spying, thieving, gambling, and so forth.

Sorcery (wands): The ability to use a form of magic, see below for more.

Wealth (disks): The character’s “means,” the money and ready cash at their disposal. Roughly equivalent to Falkenstein Exchequer.

Wits (wands): The ability to notice things, pick up clues, also how fast you are on the uptake. Equivalent to Falkenstein Perception.

The Arts of Sorcery

Sorcery in 7th Sea works more like the faerie abilities from Castle Falkenstein than it does like Falkenstein sorcery. In essence, a sorcerer has a particular area of ability and can perform magical feats in that area. The difficulty of any given feat is up to the Narrator. Thaumic energy is not required, but sorcerers are far more limited in the sort of things they can do compared to Falkenstein.

Glamor (Avalon): Glamor is based around channeling the power of certain legends from Avalon, giving the sorcerer extraordinary powers. The player and the Narrator should decide which legends the hero knows. The most common include: Robin Goodfellow (used for archery and marksmanship), Jack (used for illusions and shapeshifting), the Horned Man (used for feats of Brawn),

Laerdom (Vendel): Laerdom revolves around the knowledge and use of runes. Each rune has a particular effect, described in the 7th Sea Player’s Guide. The Narrator and the player should decide how which runes the hero knows to start, a number equal to his or her Sorcery number. So a Good Laerdom sorcerer knows 6 runes. A hero can only invoke a number of runes per day equal to his ranks of Sorcery above Average (so a Good sorcerer can invoke once per day, while an Extraordinary sorcerer can invoke four times).

Porte (Montaigne): Porte involves ripping holes in the fabric of space into an alternate space known as “the Walkway.” Porte sorcerers treat items with their blood and use them as “anchors.” They can then rip a hole to bring a blooded item to them, or to travel to it. A Porte sorcerer can have a number of blooded items equal to his or her Sorcery number, minus 3. So a Good sorcerer can have 3 blooded items, while an Exceptional sorcerer can have as many as 9.

Pyryem (Ussura): Ussuran sorcery is based around assuming animal form. The sorcerer may have two animal forms per rank of Sorcery above average (so a Good sorcerer has two forms, while an Exceptional sorcerer has eight). The sorcerer must attempt a feat to turn into the animal and to return to human form. Pyryem sorcerers can also speak with animals.

Sorte (Vodacce): The Vodacce women have the talent of Sorte, the magic of Fate. They can read the threads of fate binding others, learning their ties to other people and places. They can read a man’s virtues and vices, and can manipulate the threads of fate to cast curses.