What Kind of Game Is This?

***SEAROUL*** is a tabletop roleplaying game of swashbuckling and intrigue, exploration and adventure, taking place on the  continent of Vénchis, a land of magic and mystery inspired by our own Europe. Players take the roles of heroes thrown into global conspiracies and sinister plots, exploring ancient ruins of a race long vanished and protecting the rightful kings and queens of Vénchis from murderous villains. This game uses the rules of **Dungeons and Dragons (5e)**.

This is Vénchis in 1668 AV (Anno Veritas)! This wiki gives you all the information you need to tell stories of swashbuckling, sorcery, intrigue, romance and adventure! Get ready to enter a world of piracy, diplomacy, archæology and exploration. It’s a world of musketeers, buccaneers and privateers, ancient sorcery and lost civilizations, secrets that hide in the shadows and monsters that hide in plain sight. That’s quite a mouthful, so let’s take it one step at a time.

## Swashbuckling and Sorcery

***Searoul*** is a world where an order of musketeers guards the lives of the nobility, but also the virtues of honor, integrity and fraternity. It is a world of sharp blades and sharp wits, where a cutting retort can be just as deadly as a sword’s point.

It is also a world where the nobility control the most powerful force of all—sorcery. Powerful magic pulses in the hearts of the noble class, power that was given to them long ago. Some assume the forms of animals. Others rip through the fabric of reality or play with the forces of Fate itself.

The hard edge of steel coupled with the shadowy substance of sorcery: that is the world of ***Searoul***.

## Piracy and Adventure

The pirates of Searoul are united by a common cause: freedom. Freedom from the tyranny of sorcerers and kings. Freedom from the shackles of the Church of the Prophets. Freedom from greedy landowners and moneylenders. Pirates sail where they want, take what they please and live a life of freedom unknown by any other in the world of Searoul.

With the decline of the Church, things have become even better for pirates. Vénchis’s nobility hire daredevils to explore the unknown and bring back the booty they discover. Of course, if those adventurers lower their guard for even a moment, they’ll ﬁnd themselves facing the threat of pirates, looking for easy prey.

## Diplomacy and Intrigue

In the world of ***Searoul***, kingdoms are on the verge of becoming countries. In the courts of kings and queens, diplomats dressed in powdered wigs, lace and silk try to resolve the disputes of Nations. A swelling tide of nationalism grows in the hearts of men and women, and a new kind of conﬂict—covert warfare—is ﬁnding its way into the world.

A new kind of espionage is making its way into the world, as well. Agents trained in the arts of deception live perilous lives of illusion as they pillage enemy secrets with only their beauty, cunning and wits...and a willingness to do anything for crown and country.

## Archæology and Exploration

Beyond the kingdoms of Théah lie the ruins of an ancient civilization, lost centuries ago: the vast cities of Lost Syrneth. Who knows what ancient secrets and treasures remain, unseen by human eyes, untouched by human hands?

Men and women who call themselves “archæolo-gists” unearth these treasures and bring them back to noble hands. Daring the perilous ancient ruins, these scholars are all the rage in the noble courts and the subjects of romantic novels all across the land. They hope to discover the secrets of the Syrne in hopes that they may uncover the key to humanity’s own origins, and possibly the secrets of the universe itself.

## Romance and Revenge

Poets say those who fall in love become lovesick. You can’t eat, you can’t think, you can’t do anything. And the only cure for your illness is the cause of your illness: the one you love. Revenge causes the same kind of illness. You can’t eat, you can’t think, you can’t do anything. The only cure for your illness is the cause of your illness: the one who must pay for your pain.

Romance can be the source of all kinds of stories, especially in a world where arranged marriages are commonplace. While Vénchises are a bit more enlight-ened than their 17th Century Earthly counterparts, they are still human and prejudices, jealousy and other ugly emotions still exist. Meanwhile, revenge is a dangerous path, leading some Heroes straight into the warm embrace of villainy. The greatest test a Hero can face is having a Villain at his mercy.

## What Kind of Game Is This?

***Searoul*** is a cooperative storytelling game. A lot like playing cops and robbers, except with more sophis-ticated rules. When players get together to play ***Searoul***, they tell tales about the adventures of a group of characters in Vénchis. Players use their collective talents to make the stories come alive for everyone involved.

While any number of players can participate, three to six is usually optimal, including one player—called a Game Master—who arbitrates uncertain moments in the narrative and helps guide the story along. Each session of the game is called an Episode, a portion of the story in which the Heroes have adventures and solve problems, like a weekly television series.

### The Players

Each player sits down with a copy of this book and creates a Hero to portray. Many people who play roleplaying games enjoy creating Heroes with back-grounds, skills, attitudes and abilities totally unlike their own. Often, these characters will do things their players would never dream of doing.

When you play ***Searoul***, you sometimes speak as your character, delivering dialogue as if you were in a movie. Other times, you talk about your character in the third person, describing what your Hero does in the face of danger and adventure.

Heroes have daring adventures: foiling villainous plots against monarchs, rescuing kidnapped nobility, discovering ancient and forbidden secrets and protecting the common folk from danger. It isn’t an easy job, but that’s why they’re Heroes.

### The Game Master

The Game Master (or “GM”) is a very important part of the game. While each player creates a single Hero to portray, the GM creates all the people, places and things the characters meet. She creates plot seeds and situations for the characters and improvises plot twists, responding to the players’ input.

The GM is, in essence, the players’ ﬁve senses. She describes everything they experience, from the trembling lip of the spoiled princess complaining about her saddle sores, to the whining laugh of the scheming villain, to the sickening crunch of the hardtack as the characters learn that it’s meant to be soaked in liquid before being eaten.