Seven Part Pact: An Extremely Complicated Game about Extremely Complicated Men

This is a session write up and review of the work-in-progress GM-full game Seven Part Pact by Jay Dragon. Jay describes it thusly, "The seven greatest wizards in the world convene upon the isles of Isha, their powers aligned in the service of an ancient Pact. Each governs their Domain, wielding power beyond comprehension, seeking to balance the responsibilities of their power with their selfish heart's desire. Will these wizards cooperate to hold Isha together, or will their petty thoughtlessness bring about the destruction of their homes?" But I would describe it as a roleplaying game about wizards, worldbuilding, power, masculinity, and loneliness. It's a game for GMs. All GMs. 3-7 GMs, in fact. This is the Seven Part Pact, an extremely complicated game about extremely complicated men.

Collage by me. Wizard (2025)

Selected diary entries from the diary of Father Elias Croft(1). 

Dear diary, early April

Temple business. Finally Belegor's(2) brother Lord Persuivant will join us in patronage of Temple Krolis(3). All involved are pleased with the negotiations.

More Scuttleport(4) peasants are hungry from the winter storm. I met with a farmer, Xaphir, who lost his livelihood to the storm and resorted to foraging for roots and spring water to survive the winter. My heart and body ached for him. I gave him food and water and a gemstone from my ring(5) but could do so little for his broader problems. There is so much need! There is so much greed. Oh, poor Xaphir! Poor Scuttleport.

I did speak to that young pirate lord Finn Quickdraw(6) about the situation. My pleas for compassion were productive, I think, and he has offered additional resources. I also asked him to look after Valefor(7) for me and he agreed solemnly. Good.

Dear diary, mid-April

I pray to the Grandmother, to Notor, to Saint Justicar, even to Renner and Zuati(8). I presided over Saint Innocent's ceremony in Temple Hestar(9), and there, amidst the flowers and the obsidian stones, stood the most beautiful man I've ever seen. His name is Magnus. He is unattainable. He must be 30, a full half my age, from the Blue City-- no, it is the highest sacrilege to write these words!! I betray both my god Ithax and Jean(10). I must pray to be released from my sin. And if I must sin, let it be with Jean.

Liberari me a diabolo. Dimittantur peccata mea. Concedatur innocentia mea. Sit cor meum firmum.

Dear diary, late April

Two happenings. Firstly, I had a portentious omen, a strange vision while I meditated. A wizard, one of the pact members I assume, was riding a wave towards an unknown isle, brimming with destructive intent and magic. And at the last second, I stepped forward and stopped him with a wave of my hand, dissipating the magical power. A strange thing. Dream or omen?(11) Jean told me I was shaking so hard that it woke him up. Sorry Jean!

The wizardmoot met for the first time in years. The boy Adric,(12) our neophyte, urged us to return to the use of magic. I feel... I have not cast proper magic in 20 years. Not since disposing of... I have forgotten his name somehow-- I feel my age now-- Valefor's foul predecessor.(13) What was he called?? Confound it.

Well. I shall obey the command of this young sage, I suppose. It is a new era, with so many young men on the council. Adric, Valefor, and Akhlut(14) are all under 25 years of age. It's good, I think. Belegor, Arcadian(15), Aberrak(16), and I are old now. It is heartening to have young energy around us.

Dear diary, early May

Literacy Week with Lord Persuivant(17) was a great success. Luc(18) ran a most excellent little reading class for Blue City youths. I told him I was very impressed. Nadia selected well. I also met a very sweet young boy, Simón, who intends to become a sailor. I gave him a blessing and the littlest of my tea-cups(19). And Rosa(20) was there with her gorgeous twins! They are able to sit upright on their own now, and look so like Rosa and Petunia at that age that it is uncanny.

I looked for that young man Magnus in the crowds but to no avail(21). I confess that even when I laid with Jean that night, my mind drifted sometimes to Magnus. Ithax forgive me! I must redouble my prayers.

Liberari me a diabolo. Dimittantur peccata mea. Concedatur innocentia mea. Sit cor meum firmum. Liberari me a diabolo. Dimittantur peccata mea. Concedatur innocentia mea. Sit cor meum firmum. Liberari me a diabolo. Dimittantur peccata mea. Concedatur innocentia mea. Sit cor meum firmum.

Dear diary, mid-May

I am very, very busy. The crowds are devoted this month, perhaps because of Hangman's Day becoming a feast week this year. Nadia and I spoke about what the coins represent to the Hanged Man, even briefly quarreling about the topic! She stretches my brain though, especially when we disagree, and for that I am grateful(22). The weather has been unseasonably bad but no one in Scuttleport has been deterred from the festivities. People from other isles visited as well. I spoke with some young women from the Graven Isles about their wishes for their pregnancies. Blessings to you, Sara, Sade, and Carmen!

But wait-- I had a strange encounter today near Temple Notor(23). I had invited the young Adric to venture with me into the crowds to see the Hangman's Feasts, to discuss my recent dream-vision(24) and any questions he might have about life on the council. We ended up in a strange little temple to escape a burst of thunder and were greeted not by festivalgoers but by strange men with no eyes who refused my holy coins(25). At the time, I thought little of it, but as I write these words, the hair rises up on my arms and shoulders. I should perhaps ask that boy Finn to investigate, or even Valefor. I miss Valefor(26). Nevermind, that is my own fault!! Still, a disquieting omen! Scuttleport's suffering takes strange forms sometimes.

Dear diary, late May

Calamity! Shame! Horror! Grace(27) has been imprisoned by the King. Nadia is beside herself that she was not in attendance at that dreadful party(28), although I can scarcely see how she could have prevented the situation. That horrible Clan Uroch cad Belir(29) claimed during a duel at the queen's baby shower of all places that dear Grace was cheating on her husband with him. (I misjudged Zorn, it appears, if he believed it to be appropriate to duel at an event like that. The poor queen! Poor Grace!) Regardless, the cad Belir, having publicly humiliated Grace, himself, and poor Zorn, then killed Zorn! In front of the King! The queen was led away and fell unconscious, a bad sign for her pregnancy(30). Grandmother protect her! It was folly, pure folly, to ever let Grace become involved with court politics!! She is 20 and already a widow and disgraced in the court. She may face banishment or execution. I cannot believe I did not listen to my misgivings about the dangers of court!! I cannot believe that I could have failed so utterly as a father to protect Grace. She must be terrified. I must see her immediately. I should seek Belegor's advice. Confound it all! Confound it all! Confound it all!

(1)  Father Elias Croft, the guilt-laden and compassionate Hierophant of Isha. He is head of the church of Ithax and responsible for the lives of the common folk of Isha. His domain is the populous central mountainous island Ishana and the smaller, sacred isle of Tahv. Elias was played by me. 

(2) Lord Belegor Ix, the charming and brutal Warlock whose role involves managing the affairs of the court and enforcing hierarchies of gender, power, and violence. His wife is friends with Elias's wife (although both men are secretly in lavender marriages). Belegor respects Elias in a demeaning sort of way, as he thinks commoners are less important than the people of court. Elias finds Belegor stressful to be around. Belegor was played by Elizabeth Fortson (as seen in the HELLO//GOODBYE magazine). 

(3) The largest of the temples, built at the center of the Blue City on Ishana, and the site of many massive festivals.

(4) A slum city island to the northeast of Ishana, run by pirates and built on top of the wrecks of innumerable ships. Elias frequently visits to tend to the most charity-oriented of his temples and to occasionally hear news about his estranged adopted son Valefor. 

(5) Elias’s ring is a powerful magical artifact that holds the Hierophant's portion of pact magic. It is emblazoned with the various temples along its curve and can produce food, water, and gemstones when Elias wishes without the need for proper spellcasting. Elias uses it for humanitarian purposes.

(6) Young, charming, and handsome, Finn Quickdraw is one of the Pirate-Lords of Scuttleport who flagrantly reject the laws of the King. He is friends with Elias's estranged adopted son Valefor (and unbeknownst to Elias, is also in love with Valefor).

(7) Valefor, the youthful thief-prince Faustian. He holds at bay the Devil himself. After the previous Faustian reached an untimely end, he was plucked from obscurity and “raised” by the pact, which mostly meant growing up in the house of a loving but negligent Elias and his strict and zealous wife Nadia before running away at 16. His godfather and sometimes role model is Belegor (which causes Elias some concern). Valefor was played by Red. 

(8)  Holy prophets of the god Ithax. None of them have the power to make Elias less gay.

(9) The holiest of the temples, built upon the sacred isle of Tahv where the god Ithax brought fire to the world. It is the site of countless pilgrims' travels.

(10) Elias's one ongoing sin is his affair with his best friend Jean, a carpenter in the Blue City. His wife Nadia doesn't mind as long as her religious, familial, and political (those are all the same thing to her) ambitions are supported, but the god Ithax certainly does!

(11) Omen

(12) Adric, Dawn by the Waning Moon, is the youngest of the pact. As Sage, he is responsible for dreams and destiny and can see glimpses of the future. (He used to be a girl, but destiny remolded him so that he could serve on the pact.) He was played by Alex Marinkovich-Josey of MixUpPixels.

(13) Valefor's predecessor was corrupted by the Devil, a sad but not unusual fate for a Faustian. He betrayed and killed the former Hierophant (and Elias's master) Father Olivier, who was a good and pious man. Elias, then a young man, swore vengeance, killing him with Belegor's support. But this is old news. 

(14) Akhlut of Clan Lark is the Mariner, and responsible for managing the storms and wild beasts of the seas around the archipelago of Isha. He would blend into the crowd if not for the pair of gull wings sprouting from his back. He was played by Tall Bird.

(15) Archmagus Arcadian Ix is the oldest and most intellectual of the seven wizards. As the Sorcerer, his domain is the rules and laws of magic, and his long white beard and pointy blue hat make him the archetypal wizard in the eyes of the public. He was played by Moly.

(16) Aberrak, or Abe for short, is middle aged but new to the title of Necromancer. His responsibility is ferrying the dead through the gates and preventing the undead from rising up. (The others aren't quite sure what to think of him. He was the prentice of the old Necromancer Igor and went over his master's head to contact the pact and have him executed. Although Aberrak claims Igor went weird, and to be fair the pact agreed, it was still a bit disquieting to have a prentice successfully engineer his master's demise.) Aberrak was played by Izzy. 

(17) Belegor's brother and a patron of Temple Krolis in the Blue City.

(18) Elias's nephew and prentice Luc is 16. Elias's wife Nadia selected him as prentice, and so far he has been dedicated and eager to please. Luc is a second chance for Nadia to groom a successor to Elias after failson Ricardo and Faustian Valefor.

(19)  From a set of bowls and cups made from carved seashells, said to have been the vessels of the god Ephris before he departed this world. They produce warm water for tea. Elias recovered them from the sea, and should really have given them to the Temples, but he kept them for himself. He views that act as a small, shameful abuse of power but also has no intention of returning them.

(20) One of the four daughters of Elias and Nadia. Like her twin sister Petunia and younger sister Polina, she married a monk and has dedicated her life to raising children in the service of Ithax. Like her sisters, she will never be good enough to earn Nadia's love.

(21) Unbeknownst to Elias, Magnus is actually a pawn of the devil, so it's probably a good thing he couldn't find him.

(22) Nadia is Elias's intellectual and spiritual equal, but as a victim and perpetrator of patriarchal social values, has had to channel her intelligence and ambitions through her family (to their detriment—her eldest son Ricardo became an atheist fisherman to avoid succeeding Elias, Valefor is no-contact, and the four girls were ruthlessly married off).

(23) The most charitable of the temples, half-flooded at the edge of Scuttleport, and always filled with congregants seeking shelter. Counts among its patrons the pirate-lord Finn Quickdraw. 

(24) That dream that Elias had was definitely a glimpse at his destiny, despite Adric's commonsense refusal to confirm it.

(25) Also pawns of the devil. The devil has had a special interest in Elias since the days of Father Olivier's death.

(26) Despite having been a neglectful father, Elias loves and misses Valefor very much. He's tried to stay in touch with Valefor, but it's not reciprocated.

(27) Elias and Nadia's youngest daughter Grace, a beautiful and spoiled young woman who was the talk of last year's ball season, was recently married off to Zorn Caravel, trusted advisor to the King. Although this was the peak of Nadia's political maneuvering, Zorn is 20 years older than Grace and not particularly attractive to her.

(28) The poor young queen's baby shower. (In addition to the events described by Elias that he witnessed, the devil's agents were well afoot, with Valefor even summoning the devil directly to deal with him.)

(29) Belir Uroch, the king's champion, is a handsome, strapping young man with a sharp tongue and poor impulse control. (Grace and he were definitely having an affair, although Elias can't bring himself to admit it). 

(30) Although Elias missed this in the drama of his daughter and her lover's arrest and the unsanctioned killing of her spouse, Valefor had bigger problems to deal with. The devil's vile follower Mistress Emerald Uroch transformed the unborn royal heir into a spawn of the devil and knocked out Belegor's wife. Not good! Can Valefor succeed in undoing the devil's foul deeds through canny dealmaking? Or will his deal with the devil to save the child backfire? Can he escape the trap that his predecessor fell into, 20 years prior, or will history repeat? Only time will tell…

Final Thoughts

I know, I know I'm several months late with this review. But in my defense, I've been a bit busy.*

If you couldn't tell from this session write up, Jay Dragon's work-in-progress GM-full game Seven Part Pact (7PP) is full of promise. The caveat to this review is that since scheduling for a table of 7 was of course difficult, we limited ourselves to only two sessions, so this isn't based on extensive rounds of playtesting. But I have some thoughts to share regardless.

7PP is unlike any tabletop game I've played before, with a level of complexity beyond what a single GM would normally be able to manage. Each player is responsible for their character, certain NPCs, certain adjudication responsibilities, and then if that wasn't enough, certain game systems that were completely independent of what any other player was doing and completely opaque from the outside. It goes without saying, but this is not a game that you can just roll up to the table and play without everyone actively studying the rules well in advance. I could not even begin to understand what any other player was doing at any given moment. I knew that I had to oversee the feast days, meet the needs of the people who showed up to the temples, and solicit temple patrons. I had the most clue what the Warlock was doing, because Elizabeth had a (comparatively) relatively straightforward map of courtly relationships to manage. The others? I could not tell you a single detail about what any of the other classes did when they interacted with their domains. The Necromancer had gates to worry about? The Faustian used playing cards?

In some ways Seven Part Pact feels like it will open new avenues into gaming. The idea of a GM-full game is so rich with possibility. You can imagine a whole genre of Pact-like games, where responsibilities for managing elements of the world are distributed to each player and expanded out into subsystems beyond what a single GM could handle. Maybe this subgenre already exists, and I somehow missed it. But I've played 45 different systems, and none of them were like this. 

On the other hand, it feels like Seven Part Pact, although still in development, has already somehow perfected the form, at least on a thematic level. Of course the player characters are super powerful wizards, each with their own domain of power, in a pact together. What else would you possibly do in a GM-full game? The metaphor is so rich. Any other set up would emphasize the divide between the roles of GM and PC in a way that you just don't notice here. The theme and system support each other perfectly, and the game's focus on the exploration of patriarchy just makes it even smarter. Of course the vast powers of wizardry are unequally distributed/gatekept and those with such power are isolated, fractious, and lonely. Of course there's a claimed monopoly on violence and the common people resort to homophobia and other base beliefs about what's natural when they feel threatened by the wizards’ vast power. Of course the wizards’ great power is only possible with the support of companions that make sacrifices and practice care work to ensure that the intellectual, emotional, social, and physical needs of the Wizards stay met. And of course the companions’ reproductive labor is undervalued in comparison to the productive labor of the exclusively male wizards. Although I really can't speak for the complexities of the mechanics, on a thematic level, the game just works. 

I'm trying to think of other possibilities for GM-full games that would work on a thematic level similarly well. I could imagine a diplomatic game where players play as representatives of various nations at a treaty-making conference and must manage the internal conditions of their nations too. You could also imagine each player playing a soldier in a military unit, then the players each managing some element of a war or army. You could imagine the players as Gods, with each player having a different world to manage. Other than that, I think you'd need to do something stupid like make each character have nothing to do with the GM system they're managing. You're playing a regular D&D party, and Steve is responsible for all monsters, Ophelia manages the layout of the dungeons, Shannon designs the puzzles and environmental dangers, you control the treasure and the friendly NPCs, and I'm responsible for twists of misfortune. Actually, hang on… 

I know that playtesting and refining for Seven Part Pact will continue, and that the game version we playtested is already probably outdated. I wish I could say that that's why I'm focusing more on theme than mechanics in this review, but in truth I'm completely intimidated by the complexity of the systems and their interactions. I work in operations now, so I need my brain to try a little harder to understand processes, but I don't feel confident in offering any opinions other than “Hierophant felt fine so far.” But I think Hierophant is one of the simplest roles, basically just fun-flavored addition and subtraction, and the complexity anyhow is in how the game's subsystems interact. Most notably this is handled through the Orrery, a map of the planets’ trajectories. Said planetary trajectories govern what occurs in each players’ domain in any given month and, what's more, they can be moved forwards and backwards by wizards during play, completely changing what happening in other wizards’ domains. For example, the Hierophant moving Jupiter into alignment with Venus means that the Masses are Devoted, giving both another Patron who provides resources and a Throng of Petitioners who have needs that you can spend those resources on. That's all fine and good, but if you're the Mariner, Jupiter means a monster appears somewhere on the map, while Venus means new winds and new Routes opening up. But if by chance it's Venus and Mercury together, it means a storm. But also it depends on what month of the year it is to know what kind of monster, what kind of weather, what direction the winds are coming from, and how many Routes open. And I haven't even touched on any of the other 5 roles yet.

This complexity is interesting, because it creates plenty of consequences that are hard to understand or predict (what's that? Another allegory about decisionmaking and power?) but it creates a real difficulty in balancing the game on a designer's side. Yes, unintended consequences are fine because it creates interesting problems for the wizards to solve. And they're wizards. They have extremely powerful spells at their disposal to solve all kinds of problems (what's that you said? Summon 1001 imps you said? Summoning 1001 imps will solve all your problems you said? No? You didn't? You sure? Well, it's too late now…) But as a game designer, what the hell? How on earth are you going to map out the possible in-game combinations from the positioning of five planets and the sun across four different seasons? Which again, fine, the wizards are powerful. But wouldn't you like to have the faintest clue of how the mechanics in your own game work?

This isn't a critique, to be clear. The whole point of having seven GMs is to experience something beyond what a single GM could manage, and the complexity and corresponding confusion is glorious to experience in play. It spikes my dopamine levels past what feels healthy or normal to even remember the game, even months later. But I'm certainly intimidated by the prospect of designing Pact-likes, and I wouldn't be surprised if it takes Jay years and years to refine 7PP. But even in its WIP phase, it's already expanded the frontiers of the tabletop game design imaginary forever (at least for me.) Not bad at all, Jay. Not bad at all. 

*Got a job for an immigration non-profit, raised $20,000 for legal aid, then ICE showed up in Charlotte. Yuh.