When Sky and Sea Were Not Named
A downloadable game
When Sky and Sea Were Not Named is tabletop RPG about heroes who protect a realm of floating islands from the forces of chaos and death. It takes place on a far-future science-fantasy version of the planet Jupiter—called the Skysea by its denizens.
The game features original mechanics and a setting inspired by the mythology of the ancient Canaanites, later known as Phoenicians—the fine folks who invented the alphabet. It's got:
- Ancient sentient pool noodle weapons
- Battle-jellyfish and skyseahorse mounts
- Clay golem amnesiacs from a lost kingdom
- Dynamic combat focused on risking your defenses
- Empire with animal-headed citizens and magical technology
- Four origins, six callings, and ~40 types of lore, yielding tons of character options
- Guide (GM) supports, including two sample adventures and 40+ NPCs
- Hero pregens (six of 'em) for players who want to jump right in
- Ideals that can be invoked to gain advantage on actions and challenges
- Jump attacks
- ... and more!
The game includes, all for free:
- 170-page core rulebook
- Hero Sheets and Island Sheets, both online and print
- 50-page adventure book for Guides
- a Foes & Folks tracker for Guide-controlled NPCs
There's also a mobile-friendly, searchable website with all the rules and hero options: https://www.whenskyandsea.com
If you're curious about the game, want to meet other players, or have any feedback, visit the WSSWNN Discord server—I'd be honored to hear from you!
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Check out One Way to Paradise, a ready-to-play adventure for WSSWNN's upcoming second edition.
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- Cover and full-color character illustrations by Sansiia.
- Map illustration by Arturo Gómez Martínez of Nerdy Maps.
- See the core rulebook or website for a list of folks who graciously helped playtest the game.
- No A.I. was used to create artwork or content for this product.
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100% of payments will go toward commissioning more artwork for the game. Thank you for supporting human artists!
Updated | 8 days ago |
Status | In development |
Category | Physical game |
Rating | Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars (12 total ratings) |
Author | A Purple Person |
Genre | Adventure |
Tags | bronze-age, Character Customization, Fantasy, Homebrew, mythology, No AI, tabletop-role-playing-game, Tabletop role-playing game, zelda |
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Rulebook and Adventures: Now with Bookmarks!Dec 19, 2023
- New map of the Skysea!Dec 09, 2023
- What's Next for the SkyseaOct 25, 2023
- Fixed item table costs in core rulebookSep 06, 2023
- Small fix on Hero Sheet for PrintAug 22, 2023
Comments
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I actually stumbled on this while browsing elderly Reddit RPG design threads, and fell down a magical rabbit hole
I do wonder if having four depletable defences might prove a bit much in actual play but on a gut level it feels pretty manageable: I suppose it's really no different from, say, attribute damage in other systems, and it seems a pretty integral mechanic (in terms of someone being forced to sacrifice something even on a relative "miss", I love glancing blows/graze mechanics)
But put short, I'd love to play this and see if it's as good in practice as it is on the page! What a great system, and a solid setting to boot
Why thank you! From my perspective, the variable defenses are indeed pretty key. But it is admittedly a lot to track (especially for the Guide running NPCs).
I'm working on a new edition that keeps the variable defenses but streamlines a lot of the other gameplay elements. If you're interested in playing and don't mind being a guinea pig for the new rules, I'll be running a few one-shot adventures for new players soon, so don't be a stranger!
Really lovely game with great setting and mechanics. Love the game, Purple Person team.
Thank you for the kind words—if you and your friends give it a shot, may the winds of fortune blow with you!
This game has probably one of the more unique settings I've played in. I also think this game does an excellent job of incorporating that setting into its world, allowing me to immerse into my character. There's a lot of potential to be had and I'm excited to see how this game progresses down the line!
High praise coming from the creator of the amazing Realms of Legacy—thank you!
Hi hast du das Spiel entwickelt oder wie kam es dazu. Sieht sehr ansprechend aus🙋🏻♂️✨💫💥🌈🦩🤙🏽
Guten tag! Er, I don't know German at all, but (based on Google translate) thank you for the kind words! I've been developing this game for 3+ years now.
I hope you enjoy it if you give it a try, and I'd love to hear what you think (language barrier notwithstanding...)
Hallo. Zunächst entschuldige ich mich, wenn ich etwas falsch buchstabiere, da ich einen Übersetzer verwende. Ich habe „When Sky and Sea were Not Named“ nicht erstellt. Aber ich habe es getestet, indem ich mich mit dem Ersteller getroffen habe, und es hat Spaß gemacht. Sie haben einen Discord-Server, falls Sie daran interessiert sind, es auszuprobieren, obwohl ich denke, dass die Hauptsprache, in der sie Spieltests durchführen, Englisch der Vereinigten Staaten ist.
Yo, just started reading, and just wanted to say: this setting is cool as hell.
Am really enjoying the weird/offbeat world set up and vibes, the formatting is sleek, and art is cool.
Looking forward to getting into the rules/characters etc. this whole thing looks really well done. (Will post more updates as I go)
You are too kind, stranger. Thanks for taking a look—I hope you enjoy the rest!