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Chaosium | Additional Explorer's Society Guidelines

NOTE: The below is the alpha version and is still under revision.

What can I use in my titles for 7th Sea Explorer’s Society?

Your work can use any rules and setting materials from the following 2nd Edition books published by John Wick Presents:

  • 7th Sea Core Rulebook
  • Heroes & Villains

John Wick Presents will make additional stock art and templates available through OneBookShelf, and you’re welcome to use these in your Explorer’s Society titles as they become available. All other art from officially published materials is not to be used, but you are free to commission your own art for use within your products.

The 7th Sea Explorer’s Society is a community resource. This means that you’re also welcome to expand on and adapt work that other authors have created here. You can write part 2 of an adventure you enjoyed, use another author’s villains, or repurpose community-created dueling mechanics. If someone’s work inspired you, and you’d like to build on their characters, stories, or settings, please do credit their original work! It helps the entire community grow.

What can’t I use in my Explorer’s Society Titles?

For now, we’re only accepting content from the location that appears in the Core Rulebook—Théah . As new books are released, we’ll open up submissions for other locations such as Ifri, Aztlan, and more!

We’re also only accepting 2nd Edition materials, which means that you’re welcome to update 1st Edition materials to 2nd Edition, but we can’t accept anything written specifically for 1st Edition games.

Finally, titles can’t include 7th Sea mechanics used in non-7th Sea products. Even though we love all sorts of roleplaying games (superheroes, mechas, urban fantasy), we won’t accept other settings that use the 7th Sea system here.

AI Content

We are concerned about the ethics of AI art and its impact on the livelihoods of artists, and the ability of artists to maintain control over use of their creations. Effective 31 March 2023, AI Art (e.g. Midjourney, Dall-E) is not permitted in new Chaosium community content titles, including the Jonstown Compendium.

Chaosium follows DriveThruRPG and Roll20 Guidelines in regards to AI Writing and Editing. Update July 19th, 2023: While we value innovation, starting on July 31st 2023, Roll20 and DriveThru Marketplaces will not accept commercial content primarily written by AI language generators. We acknowledge enforcement challenges, and trust in the goodwill of our partners to offer customers unique works based primarily on human creativity.

Where can I use Explorer’s Society art?

Explorer’s Society art packs are published under the Community Content Agreement for the Explorer’s Society program, and are licensed for use in content submitted to the Explorer’s Society. The art is not licensed to be used for any other purpose.

I’d like to write in a way that matches the tone of 7th Sea. Any advice?

In 7th Sea, a sharp tongue might get you out of a battle quicker than a sharp blade. While a villain may not immediately reveal his identity to the Heroes, there’s not a lot of moral gray area. Heroes are heroes and villains are villains, and both heroes and villains come in many forms.

It’s also great to think outside of the box when dreaming up a hero. The best stories are from 7th Sea heroes that come from all social classes, all genders, and even other lands—like Aztlan and Ifri.

What types of content are prohibited?

While the continent of Théah isn’t without its problems, John Wick Presents is a company committed to positive, diverse representation. We won’t accept content that contains: gratuitous depictions of violence, objectifying descriptions of people’s bodies or cultures, or content we find offensive or hurtful.

Parts of Théah might be sexist or racist, but your text should be free of anything that might confuse the in-game setting with how players should play it. Vodacce might be a land where women aren’t treated equally, but the text should always distinguish between how the Merchant Princes see the world and how the players/GMs think about women.

I’ve created a custom setting that 7th Sea players might enjoy. Can I upload it to the Explorer’s Society?

Explorer’s Society content should be created for the 7th Sea system and should take place in Théah or other approved settings within Terra. We love space pirates and far-future solarpunk settings, and we encourage you to explore the edges of the galaxy in your games, but published Explorer’s Society content should take place in the universe of 7th Sea.

Can I create and sell content for 1st Edition 7th Sea?

We’re only accepting content designed for 2nd Edition. If there’s something from 1st Edition that you really like, you can update that material with rules for 2nd Edition and share them here!

Can I adapt 1st Edition content for 7th Sea 2nd Edition and publish it here?

Yes! We’d love to see 1st Edition adapted, with a few exceptions:

  • Settings that have not yet been released in 2nd Edition yet.
  • No direct reprints of adventures, or directly copy/pasting large paragraphs of text. If you’d like to publish something based around a classic adventure you might consider:
    • Creating a prequel or sequel. We’d love to see a new take on an old adventure, or a story told from a different perspective.
    • A step-by-step conversion guide, without reprinting original content.

Can I copy information from 7th Sea rulebooks into my Explorer’s Society title?

You’re free to reference the text of official JWP products, but please don’t copy things outright unless you absolutely need to do so. In general, your text should be your original work.

Can I use iconic characters in my Explorer’s Society pieces, like Queen Elaine, Captain Reis, or Jeremiah Berek?

Yup! We’re happy to see major figures from 7th Sea in all sorts of materials.

Can I publish other materials to the Explorer’s Society, like artwork, comics, a custom card deck, or an app?

Right now we’re only accepting RPG titles. If this changes we’ll update that information here!

Can I also sell my Explorer’s Society titles in print?

Yes, you can sell your title through OneBookShelf’s print-on-demand program, as well as in PDF. However, preparing print specification files requires some skill with Adobe InDesign or a similar program. If you or someone you know has such skills, then refer to the details here.

When you have print files ready, use the Contact Us page to get in touch with us about the next steps. OneBookShelf staff will not be able to coach you on print file creation, so make sure you (or someone you have contracted) have used the print file templates and checklists and have covered all of the detailed specs for your print files.  

How do I prepare the PDF of my title for sale?

There are many different programs to lay out and prepare your book for digital download. Here are some things to help you make sure your PDF will download properly and look great!

CREATE - If you want to lay out your Digital PDF from scratch...

PREP - You've already created your PDF and just need to see if it is all set to upload.

ENHANCE - You've already created your PDF and want to add enhancements.

READY - Once your print files are ready to upload...

UPLOAD - Will show you where and how to upload your files for digital download.

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