When Sky and Sea Were Not Named

A ROLEPLAYING GAME 

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༄ Create a Hero

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A realm of floating islands drifts precariously through the bottomless Skysea.

From beyond the realm's boundaries, raiders and monsters rally for invasion. 

From beneath the clouds, undead spirits in clay bodies rise from a lost kingdom. 

The forces of chaos and death are closing in. The Skysea needs heroes. Who will answer the call?

Illustration by Sansiia

Hail, heroes!

When Sky and Sea Were Not Named (WSSWNN for short) is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game. To play, you'll need a set of gaming dice, your imagination, and a few friends. 

One player, the Guide, narrates the story and sets up challenges for the rest of the group. The other players take on the roles of heroes who set forth upon doomed floating islands, rescue people from their fates, and rebuild civilization.

Download the Game

Get free PDF versions of the rules and adventures, plus printer-friendly hero sheets and island sheets.  ༄ GO TO ITCH.IO

All the game rules are here, on this site. To learn how to play, keep on reading!

✧  How to Play →

Welcome to the Skysea

When Sky and Sea Were Not Named takes place in the distant future on the planet Jupiter— although characters wouldn't recognize that name. They call their world the Skysea. 

Countless eons ago, the Skysea shifted its orbit around the sun to descend upon and absorb Earth. The remains of Earth—the Shattered Planet—still drift among the Skysea's clouds as floating islands, serving as terra firma for humankind’s descendants. 

Only a few sages have any inkling of the true history of their worlds. Earth’s technology, for the most part, is long lost. And a mysterious substance called the Rephaim—which many believe is composed of the undifferentiated souls of the dead—flows along the Skysea's windcurrents, collects in whorls and eddies, and responds to the intentions of those who wield magic.

The Near Skysea around Tel-Kanan. This map shows only the largest islands and is not to scale.
Illustration by Arturo Gómez Martínez of Nerdy Maps.

A Realm Between Death and Dream

The game's central setting is Tel-Kanan, a vast cyclone in the Skysea, bordered by the Sea of Death below and the forces of Chaos beyond. A combination of fluid mechanics, magnetism, and the Rephaim's magic has long held the realm’s floating islands aloft—until now. Islands everywhere are drifting out of their once-stable orbits. 

The realm of floating islands, Tel-Kanan, circles a vast cyclone. Traders and adventurers of diverse origins ply the windcurrents of this cyclone, drifting from island to island in magical hot-air balloons or airships called skyremes. 
An empire of science and sorcery rules Tel-Kanan from afar, though its power wanes precipitously. Imperial officials and sentinels are common sights in large towns, instantly recognizable with their animal heads. 
A lost kingdom drifts in the bottomless depths below Tel-Kanan. Long ago, its citizens transferred their souls into clay bodies. Some of these bodies stand as statues in the realm above, inert in dreamless slumber—until now. 
The turbulence of Chaos surrounds Tel-Kanan, home to fearsome monsters and remnants of ancient technology—and a mysterious dreamtouched people who've somehow tamed these forces. 
Illustrations by Sansiia

Gameplay

A game of When Sky and Sea Were Not Named might be limited to a single island that players explore in a few hours. Or it can be a sprawling adventure spread out over months of play, with heroes steadily gaining more powerful abilities and technology. Some key ideas:

The system keeps the action spotlight moving rapidly from player to player. Dice rolls are quick to resolve, with little math. Tactical complexity emerges from the risk of lowering your defenses versus the reward of daring actions.

Beyond action scenes and combat, WSSWNN is about your heroic characters and their journeys together. You can learn new lore from other characters—perhaps allies you've rescued, or even foes you've graced with mercy. You can invoke your hero's ideals in dramatic moments, potentially turning failure or struggle into success. 

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Inspirations

The setting is based on the Bronze Age collapse—loosely of course, there are dragons—and particularly on the history and mythology of the ancient Canaanites, who were later known as the Phoenicians. 

The open-air gameplay of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the simple-yet-complex gameplay of Sid Meier's Civilization, and the tactile magic of Avatar: The Last Airbender are also big influences.

WSSWNN also owes many ideas to other tabletop RPGs, including Agon, Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, Dungeon World, Exalted, and Quest. 

Reviews

The Folks Behind the Game

Call me Daniel. I'm the game's author and designer. This project has been a labor of love for several years now. 

I'm excited to offer the game for free, and I'm eager to continue improving it. But I couldn't have gotten this far without a lot of help. 

Thank you, playtesters! 

Cheers to Raiste for help with Phoenician writing, and Getty Ritter for help with Egyptian and Cuneiform. 

Special Thanks

I'd also like to thank the many fine folks on r/RPGDesign and r/RPGCreation who gave me invaluable feedback and encouragement over the years. 

✧  How to Play →