Fantasy on the Sword's Edge
about 7 years ago
– Sat, Mar 25, 2017 at 11:11:11 PM
Last update I posted about a campaign scenario with Sword’s Edge in an alternative history setting. This time, let’s go straight fantasy.
This is cross-posted to the Sword's Edge Publishing website.
One of my ongoing games is a fantasy set in an alternate Korea in which the PCs are villagers in the far north, on the edge of “civilization,” whose village becomes the target of dark forces. Strange beings attack the village and carry off most of its inhabitants, and the PCs heroically seek to free their neighbours and confront the evil.
I’m going to share the evil shaman narrative character and then two challenges the PCs faced. Challenges are built the same as narrative characters, it’s just that they are not individuals, they are obstacles. In this case, each success changed the narrative somehow. But first, the evil shaman.
The sorcerer is a regular in order to leave him somewhat vulnerable – he can survive three Stress before being removed from the scene – but he is provided with Elements to represent his magic.
And the obstacles. I’m going to include all the notes I made for each obstacle as well, to help give a better idea of how these run.
If not PCs have skills that can track the wolf, just have the players provide a narrative explanation for how they track it.
Success in "Tracking the Beast" reveals 1) What becomes obvious is that it was likely a wolf that took the child, though a wolf larger than any you have ever seen. 2) The wolf ran on four legs, not two, and it looks like it is dragging the child. 3) The wolf weighed around 400kg (880 lb) when it is rare for a wolf to weigh more than 55 kg
For each Success against the obstacle, the PCs learn one fact: 1) You easily discern the booted feet of soldiers – the villagers all wear rope sandals or shoes, even in the winter (feet are bundled against the cold). 2) Although the tracks are not clear given the number of feet, you would guess there were maybe 25 or 30 soldiers and perhaps double that number of villagers. 3) They are moving at speed and the villagers are unlikely to keep this pace for long.
So there you have some examples of narrative characters for a fantasy campaign.
Sword's Edge, What Is It Good For?
about 7 years ago
– Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 09:53:58 AM
I wanted to post some examples from different campaigns I have run using Sword's Edge, but the formatting for updates isn't really helpful. So, the actual statblocks for the narrative characters will be posted as images. I hope that's okay.
Anyway, on with the update!
Cross posted at Sword's Edge Publishing.
Sword’s Edge is a generic role-playing game, that is to say it is not tied to any genre or inspirational fiction. Instead, Sword’s Edge provides mechanics that can be used over a wide range of stories and campaigns. I should note that I am a believer that system does matter, and that I have created very targeted games using Sword’s Edge that have changed its mechanics – those being Sword Noir: A Role-Playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery, and Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death. However, I have also run a bunch of campaigns in varying genres with the base Sword’s Edge system. I wanted to share some of those with you and some of the narrative characters and obstacles used in those games. This is a supplement to the Genres section in the book, which details character ideas, opponents, and inspiration for fantasy, swashbuckling, western, modern military, and science fiction genres.
For these examples, each will have the name of the character, then – in parentheses – their rank and type. The number is the base Target Number which their Concept, Traits, and Elements can modify (if they apply and if the character has them). Minions are the weakest and go down after one Stress, Regulars are slightly tougher, with Traits and the ability to sustain three Stress, and then Heroes are basically the narrative character version of the PCs, and who lose ranks equal to the Stress sustained until their rank drops below Weak.
Due to length, I’m going to break this into separate updates. The first of these is going to be alternate history campaign.
Back in the day, before I updated Sword's Edge, I ran a very short game set in an alternate Rome centred on Alba Longa – this was before the creation of Centurion: Legionaries of Rome. The characters were are “exploratores” – legionary scouts and spies – with Legio VI Ferrata (Ironclad), under the Legate (general) Titus Fabius Valens based in a fortress along the Dacian Ister Wall, on the banks of the massive Ister river. The story involved a rising in the barbarian lands to the North and the PCs finding out about this and embedding with the barbarians to protect the Alban Empire from this threat.
A couple of narrative characters from the campaign were Buretaxes, a Roxolani (Sarmatian) champion and Ostios, an Alban spy among the Roxolani. For a Minion example – the lowest level of narrative character – there is one of the Julong, the fictional barbarian tribe that are an early version of the Mongols.
These examples would work just as well in an actual Roman campaign, especially if you were planning to run a more “cinematic action” style of campaign. Centurion: Legionaries of Rome is designed more for a relatively gritty tone, where the characters are not extraordinary, but it might be fun to run something with high octane action, and Sword’s Edge can totally do that.
As The First Day Closes
about 7 years ago
– Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 06:17:36 AM
As the first 24 hours of the campaign approaches, we are at 30% of our funding, which is a good sign. I’m hopeful, based on this result, that we will see a successful conclusion to the campaign. I appreciate all of your support, and I will keep you up to date on our progress and with information on the campaign and the game you are helping to fund.
For now, please boost the signal to anyone you think might be interested in this game. While I am optimistic we will reach the funding goal, it would be great if we could hit the first stretch goal and I could get some cool art for “Lawless Heaven,” my homage to Korean action cinema using Sword’s Edge. “Lawless Heaven” also has some rules expansions, introducing Flaws (an Aspect that imposes a Weakness) and chase rules.
Thanks again for your support. I literally cannot succeed with you.
Fraser
