When 7th Sea picked up its seven Gold, Silver, and Bests at the 2017 ENnie Awards, Filipino game designer Tobie Abad was credited for helping make the 2nd edition of the popular 90s role playing game (RPG) a successful RPG Kickstarter.
Philippine-based Abad was part of the team of writer-designers charged with rewriting the game’s prison island for the book 7th Sea: Pirate Nations.
7th Sea game master Dan Waszkiewicz posted praises for Abad on the Facebook wall of the De La Salle University graduate: “You are too kind. I’m really glad you are getting the publicity you deserve. I legit tell people that you have one of the best minds in the industry!”
“Personally, for me it was a dream-come-true moment. I know my parents aren’t completely clear about what a role-playing game is and why it has become such a passion for me, but to be able to let them know that I was part of a project that won such a huge award was something I’ve always wanted to offer back to them,” Abad revealed in a GMA News interview.
The Indigo Games senior designer recounted to GMA his contributions to the 7th Sea 2nd edition:
“I was tasked as a freelance writer to come up with the reimagination of La Bucca, the prison island that has turned into an independent nation of intrigue and freedom,” “This meant coming up with a somewhat similar yet new history for the island, locations of interest, plot hooks, and characters to meet.”
Abad worked with the original 7th Sea La Bucca elements, adding new aspects to the game update such as the Chapters (the Eye, the Fin, the Tentacle, etc.) and the idea of a monster lurking in the waters surrounding the island.
The Filipino game designer also picked up on local culture such as the animal tattoos granting magical powers to Tattoos pirates.
“I was thinking of the Pintados of Visayas and of that villain from that old cartoon ‘The Super Globetrotters’ and offered to him the idea that the animals pirates tattoo on their skin actually grants them certain animal-specific powers.”
Abad, a freelance writer, artist, director and actor, set up the crowdsourcing site Tag Thingies on Patreon for his games development projects, actually makes available to the public his slides for his talks to communities such as the Global Gaming Jam 2017 and the Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit – all in his mission to build up game designing in the country.
He admitted to GMA News, “To be honest, there are more Filipinos or people with Filipino ties already out there in the industry. I’m just happy to have helped bring up our visibility and I hope I help inspire more people to go for it and reach for their dreams.”
The 7th Sea RPG picked up the following ENnies:
Best Art, Cover
7th Sea: Pirate Nations (John Wick Presents)
Best Cartography
7th Sea: Map of Théah (John Wick Presents) *Silver Winner*
Best Free Product
7th Sea: Basic Rules (John Wick Presents) *Gold Winner*
Best Game
7th Sea: Core Rulebook (John Wick Presents) *Silver Winner*
Best Rules
7th Sea: Core Rulebook (John Wick Presents) *Gold Winner*
Best Supplement
7th Sea: Pirate Nations (John Wick Presents) *Silver Winner*
Product of the Year
7th Sea: Core Rulebook (John Wick Presents) *Silver Winner*
Abad has also contributed to John Wick’s upcoming Curse of the Yellow Sign: Fragments of the King.
