Sunday Morning Swords: 23 November 2014

Sunday Morning Swords: 23 November 2014
#TheWizardIsSwampedEdition    

Good morning, rogues!

Unfortunately, I will not be able to do #SundayAMSwords  today, as I am up to my nostrils in work. But feel free to use this thread as an organizational one. Comment below if you're interested in playing this morning and mention if you're comfortable being an Overplayer and whether or not you have play Swords before.

Feel free to punt to a later time should that work out for more of you.

Also, feel free to use the hashtag #SundayAMSwords should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias.

P.S. Got some tips on how to do this and links to useful files here: http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords
http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords

Trying to diagram out some thoughts about the creative interplay of Swords.

Trying to diagram out some thoughts about the creative interplay of Swords.

Red lines are inspiration/constraint from external sources, that is, not another player.

Green lines are primary creative input from one person to another.

Blue lines are secondary creative input, that is, creative reactions to green lines.

Purple lines are tertiary creative input, or reactions to blue lines.

Brown is 4th-level reactions to purple lines. The Discovery Phase gets pretty involved!

Hi everyone, i am running SwoM for the first time on Saturday.

Hi everyone, i am running SwoM for the first time on Saturday.

How does the game scale up to 5 players? Do you have any tips in particular?

Thanks,
R.

The Healing Process

http://goatz.deviantart.com/art/The-Healing-Process-188057757

http://sorcerersskull.tumblr.com/post/103561351060/art-by-grimbro

http://sorcerersskull.tumblr.com/post/103561351060/art-by-grimbro

Another take on those heroes much-beloved by the Sunday AM Swords community.
http://sorcerersskull.tumblr.com/post/103561351060/art-by-grimbro

Ever edited mentally your description because you felt that a rapier should be a light, darting dueling weapon?

Ever edited mentally your description because you felt that a rapier should be a light, darting dueling weapon?

Think again!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efZLw-tlIOs

2014 Nov 23 (Gammon)

2014 Nov 23 (Gammon)
“Queen of the Painted Wastes, Part One”
A tale of #SundayAMSwords

Opening eidolon: https://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/48469937/hd/01352bb5d06fbb8b559c6c7fee1f7326.jpg

The painted wastes. Flora is beautiful, but drives those who eat it to endless throes of babbling ecstacy. Three thirsty rogues. Beneath the rock overhang, a swirling prismatic pool. Liquid colors never mixing. How did Amahia know which part was safe for her 6-legged steed to drink? The swirls formed words in her script identifying orange as the color of life. Prismatic swirls in a pool forming ephemeral words. A potion that never has the same effect twice.

Lord Malivrax, oblivious to the feathered eel in the pool. Why were feathered eel hunted nearly to extinction? Their venom can inoculate men to the poisonous miasma of the Saffron Queen’s troops. Local warlords pay peasants handsomely for the eels.

Atop the overhang, The Scythian viewing plants. Who gardened plants into geometric shape? The shape is this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Radiation_warning_symbol_2.svg/600px-Radiation_warning_symbol_2.svg.png. Gardened by the metallic minions of the Saffron Queen. Minions spy The Scythian. “A high place gives a good view to you and your enemies.”

Lord Malivrax and the Queen’s robots both shouting DANGER.

Attack of the Harvester of Souls! (like this, but 3 stories tall, with blades and spiked flails, and stuff: http://www.wd-bearing.com/upload//201307/12/20137121409170.all.jpg) Amahia sending swirling sands highlighting air currents. Tangled chains diverting harvester into the small column supporting large overhang. Rockfall on Lord Malivrax. A specifically arranged pile of stones. Stones form the sigil of the Saffron Queen and glow with energy, corrupting the swirls of sand. The defiling action of poison.

The Scythian’s flying mount unable to land upon the Harvester. “How can we get through the harvester’s shield?” The Scythian diving and drinking deeply of the pool. A scream and convulsing form. Lord Malivrax pulling helm, one arm, and torso up on top of the rocks. Hurling his sword, the Unbending Light, into the heart of the Harvester. Silence.

A long, narrow room: http://www.vectura.sk/sk/files/7.jpg Lord Malivrax in pieces on a slab. The Scythian sweating and twitching in a cage. Amahia’s hands chained to wall. Amahia stretches feet toward the Megatome, her hand slipping free. The Scythian vomiting rainbows. Her form stretching and twisting unnaturally, still confined.

The Saffron Queen atop the metal box, rallying troops. A cityscape with a broken arch: http://wearemoviegeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/dystop.jpg “All will know their place. There will be order, like the Ancients had. Not one will stand against me, all will kneel.”

A text in a language none can read: “DANGER: Radiation Hazard” 

Lord Malivrax’s theme plays: Black Sabbath-Neon Knights(1980) The Unbending Light slices the metal box in half. Purple light seeping through ill-fitting armor. The robot wearing his armguard bent before him. His armor whole once more.

The Scythian glowing with the Saffron Queen’s power. Melting robots left and right.

The Saffron Queen summoning and boarding an ethereal train. Amahia failing to stop her steed from drinking the purple potion of death.

The Scythian, contemplative, atop the broken arch, seeing where the Saffron Queen fled to. “We can find her, and stop her.”

Starring Aaron Feild  as The Scythian, Keith Stetson  as Amahia, and Epidiah Ravachol  as Lord Malivrax.
https://m1.behance.net/rendition/modules/48469937/hd/01352bb5d06fbb8b559c6c7fee1f7326.jpg

Sunday Morning Swords: 23 November 2014

Sunday Morning Swords: 23 November 2014
#TryingToGetTheNextIssueDoneEdition  

Good morning!

Here's our organizational thread. Comment below if you're interested in playing this morning and mention if you're comfortable being an Overplayer and whether or not you have play Swords before.

When we get an Overplayer and three or four Rogue Players, those players will run off and start their hangout. For now, let's focus on getting everyone into a group. We'll probably wait until 9:15 or 9:30 EDT to start the last group. I will be a swing player, jumping in where needed to fill out the final groups so we can make sure we have 3-4 Rogue Players in each group.

Feel free to enjoy some breakfast or brunch while playing. I know I'll be having some coffee and cinnamon toast sans crunch, myself.

Also, feel free to use the hashtag #SundayAMSwords should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias.

P.S. Got some tips on how to do this and links to useful files here: http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords
http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords

For tomorrow's #SundayAMSwords

For tomorrow's #SundayAMSwords

Baern, the Second-Last

All that deserves a Name

The Hungry Sprite: As Baern lay dying on the battlefield which claimed his kin, this small living flame breathed life into him on the orders of a long-forgotten god. The flame burns neither flesh nor coal, but memories, leaving Baern's past a slowly crumbling fortress. The one memory it will never burn away is the terms of their arrangement: to be rid of the sprite which drives him ever onwards, he must sire a child in the dead god's name.

Unwell: His father's sword, or so he assumes. The blade is broken at the halfway point, but remains ever-sharp and free of rust.

Hoferth the Keeper: The first man Baern remembers meeting in his second life. Hoferth runs the Mead Hall at the Center of the World, whose taps are fed by the golden bounty of the Conqueror Bees, defeated and bound in servitude until their Queen's rebirth.

The Feats Heroic

Glum: Staring into the hungry sprite's flames, searching for something he can't possibly know the nature of.

Jovial: Laughing at the top of his lungs and casting his weapons aside, challenging his enemies to kill him once more.

Rogue Trick
Older than Memory–Once during the game, before a phase begins, you may make the next phase a Rogues Phase and the Overplayer must start it by demanding to know how you deal with a place you do not remember, but which very clearly remembers you.
http://peter-ortiz.deviantart.com/art/Valkyrie-57333708

We play Swords Without Master by Epidiah Ravachol.

Originally shared by Aaron Feild

We play Swords Without Master by Epidiah Ravachol. Come learn to play and experience a sword and sorcery short story in the space of a couple hours! Right through your magic computing machine. No experience necessary. 9AM Pacific, 12PM Eastern, 5PM UTC.

If you need to play 3 hours earlier, there's a game at 6AM Pacific, 9AM Eastern, 2PM UTC. Look in the SWM Community for the organizing post at that time.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/104194230537983273846

More info:
http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords
#SundayAMSwords  
events/cbc3lm7t0m97j0q18cqmdq1orsc

Speaking as an ambitious and unqualified amateur, have there been any Star Wars hacks attempted for the system?

Speaking as an ambitious and unqualified amateur, have there been any Star Wars hacks attempted for the system? It seems to me that Light Side and Dark Side have enough wealth of character to substitute for Glum and Jovial, and the general system structure would do well at giving those who use the Force and those who do not equal narrative primacy (which, sadly, even Fantasy Flight's efforts don't seem to quite do).

I'd be interested to see if anyone else has thought the same, or if there is an ecological niche to fill.

Hello, everyone!

Hello, everyone! New to the community, and to Swords in general. Got pointed in this direction via Aaron Feild. Swords looks to be a very cool game, and I'd love to get in on a game and see what it's all about!

I don't suppose there's a #SundayAMSwords going on this Sunday, by any chance? :3

Just dropped my mug. But he story's actually kind of cool in fragments.

Just dropped my mug. But he story's actually kind of cool in fragments.

“Mission to Gearbury”

“Mission to Gearbury”
A tale of #SundayAMSwords

Link to opening simulacrum: http://danieldociu.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/0/0/13009351/8372412_orig.jpg

Night in the Ocean of Gears. Each gear its own city-state. Gears halt every night at 9:37PM. Rogues on Duke Agnes’ mission: Retrieve her stolen sceptre of power. Tracked to Gearbury.

The Bridge to Gearbury. Eternal clicking and ticking of the Clockwork Watch-hounds. Kthoh-Arok shattering the hound. Gammon: “These are not the sort of companions we had in the heavens.” Leaping over guards like rotoscoped astronauts.

Ballrooms on pulleys like the counterweights of grandfather clocks. Dancers chained to posts that click around the room. Four half-reptile men with curved swords: Hela monster, Horny Toad, Gecko, Crocodile. A corpulent man, lounging, brandishing the sceptre, bearing scars of battle. Gammon bouncing too high in the dance, spotted by the corpulent man. When a wolf dons sheep’s clothing, beware the appetite of other wolves. Two old servants at the fat man’s feet, reading his mind and doing his bidding, alerting the reptilian guards.

The reptiles—behind us! Battle is joined. The Scythian fending off Croc with a dancer’s chain. Toad facing Kthoh-Arok, A spurt of blood hitting with the force of a firehose. Gecko holding Gammon while Hela raises his sword. The Scythian striking Hela in the back, and throwing sword into Gecko. Kthoh-Arok hurling Toad across the room. Croc seizing The Scythian in its jaws—blocked by Megatome. Croc starts the death roll! Gammon plunging scongs into mechanism. The dancers’ chains retract, constricting Croc. The dancer’s arm caught in the tightening chain, breaking. When titans battle, it is the innocent who bleed.

Weightlessness for all. An entire ballroom in freefall. The ballroom nearing the fires below the gears. A calm, disembodied voice chanting the ancient mantra, “T-minus fifteen ... fourteen ...” The Scythian casting a spell from the Megatome—fires to halt the decent. Oppressed miners leaping for the ballroom, and plunging to their fiery doom. “That great leap would have been a small step among the stars.”

The corpulent man pulling down a massive chain. The ballroom slowly starting to rise. Kthoh-Arok hurling Toad into the corpulent man. Unmoving mountain of a man. When bathed in blood, be mindful of your balance. The Scythian breaking the dancers’ chains. Kthoh-Arok cutting the corpulent man’s belt to retrieve the sceptre. Gammon extending the scongs to Kthoh-Arok and The Scythian. Kicking Toad’s corpse. A final spurt of blood as the countdown reaches zero. A miasma of green energy and blood rocketing them up through the skylight.

THE END

In my mind, the corpulent man looked like this: https://38.media.tumblr.com/af2c04308883530209a69325d4885764/tumblr_nf18hlvkJT1rx5px6o3_1280.jpg

Link to our virtual tabletop: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1I5jOdjgZmuJP9iLkbVUm8-AhsnFfZTplB6taQATFyTQ/edit?usp=sharing

Featuring + Aaron as The Scythian, +Sean as Kthoh-Arok, +Eppy as Overplayer, and me as Gammon.
http://danieldociu.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/0/0/13009351/8372412_orig.jpg

Sunday Morning Swords: 16 November 2014

Sunday Morning Swords: 16 November 2014
#ABreakFromTheConsEdition  

Good morning!

Here's our organizational thread. Comment below if you're interested in playing this morning and mention if you're comfortable being an Overplayer and whether or not you have play Swords before.

When we get an Overplayer and three or four Rogue Players, those players will run off and start their hangout. For now, let's focus on getting everyone into a group. We'll probably wait until 9:15 or 9:30 EDT to start the last group. I will be a swing player, jumping in where needed to fill out the final groups so we can make sure we have 3-4 Rogue Players in each group.

Feel free to enjoy some breakfast or brunch while playing. I know I'll be having some coffee and maybe a pastry if I can find it, myself.

Also, feel free to use the hashtag #SundayAMSwords should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias.

P.S. Got some tips on how to do this and links to useful files here: http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords
http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords

Ooops. I may have completely rewritten my rogue for #SundayAMSwords

Ooops. I may have completely rewritten my rogue for #SundayAMSwords

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs46/f/2009/233/f/4/Grey_Alien_Hybrid_by_umop.jpg

Gammon, Star Wanderer

All that deserves a name
Scongs: The strong, lightweight staff of the heavens, that lays low those who scoff at the wonders of the Ancients.  http://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?max_w=300&id=http://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/previews/5225p.jpg

Huu-Stun: The most sacred, holy center of all the world. Once more shall it control the world’s mission.

Emissary of the Orr-Bittar: Ancients of the stars have strengthened my flesh, that I might take back the magics stolen by the wizard-whales.

Tavli: The priestess who saw my six-fingered hands and tiny, twitchy frame as signs of the favor of the Ancients. She saved my life and set me on the path of Senet. Little did she know what potential I held.

The Feats Heroic
Glum: Closing his eyes and allowing the Tranquil Sea fill his soul, Gammon’s grey skin shimmers in time with the moonlight, hiding his passage

Jovial: Loping toward his foe in hops impossibly long, Gammon brings the Scongs to bear with shattering force.

Trick
Omen: Write down a Thunder: A calm, disembodied voice chanting the ancient mantra, “T-minus fifteen.” Before the Thunder is provided for a new phase, you may demand that it be this.

Canny Cognition: Pathway to knowledge: The stars are Gammon's old friends. When starlight falls upon the earth, it whispers secrets to him
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs46/f/2009/233/f/4/Grey_Alien_Hybrid_by_umop.jpg

Fists Without Master Alpha

Fists Without Master Alpha

A gritty martial-arts hack by David Hertz, tom Fendt, and myself.

This design could use more work, but my co-designers are feeling weary. Perhaps we will return to it and improve Fists. Perhaps you will use it as the beginning of something you create...

More discussion can be found here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/112039504234839788974/posts/TppUaHzK4aP

An Anatomy

An Anatomy

I've started on a document outlining all the moving parts of Swords Without Master along with some design principles. I've found it helpful. It may be useful to others. Right now, anyone can comment, but only Epidiah Ravachol , Keith Stetson and me can edit. I'm happy to bring in other editors, just ask!

Fists Without Master Playtest

Fists Without Master Playtest

FWM is a hack for gritty martial-arts action, like The Raid. This write-up for Keith Stetson.

I was the Overplayer for my co-conspirators tom Fendt and David Hertz, and one other player.

* The tones of Pain and Elegance work overall.
* Having so many Perilous phases is tiring! We should either design around it, advise more rogues phases, or drive hard for very short sessions.
* Our new Ritual of the Companion wasn't used, can't yet evaluate it.
* It's helpful for the Overplayer to jot down a list of signature weapons, martial-arts styles, and locations for fight scenes.
* We used the Add/Ban mechanic from Ben Robbins' Microscope to flesh out our world a bit before play.
* Should the Discovery phase stay? We used it only once.

Characters
* Fushida, Japanese drug dealer
* Ismail Cane, Senegalese sumo wrestler/underground fight club manager
* Dr. Adi, Indonesian mob doc/hitman

Moments
* The wrestler grabs two police officers by the legs and uses them as manchaku.
* "Show us your absolute resolve to kill Juan Duarrez."
* A fight between our heroes and every officer at the Police Ball in the ballroom of a vast yacht during a storm.

So what Hacks have people actually tried running?

So what Hacks have people actually tried running? I know we like to do thought experiments with changes in tone, but I am wondering how well those would perform in actual play. During our fat-chewing session, Michael Miller and I agreed (I think we did, anyway) that hacking Swords was a much deeper level prospect than it originally first seemed. That is to say, changing tones is unlikely to be sufficient even if it is perhaps necessary.

Behold, the Alchemical Laboratory!

Behold, the Alchemical Laboratory!

In honor of Michael Miller​ and Keith Stetson​ playtesting their Swords descendants at #metatopia2014 , we're opening up a new section in the community dedicated to hacks, reskins, and other kin. A place to share everything from those two new tones you've been kicking around to completely rebuilt aberrations.

(Oh, I went through all the old posts and grabbed the ones I thought belonged here, but I might have missed a few. So if you find some that you think need to migrate, just plus me into them.)

Hacking Swords Question (which may necessitate a new section of our community).

Hacking Swords Question (which may necessitate a new section of our community).

I'm wondering how Epidiah Ravachol came up with the idea of having different phases with different rules and different intents. Beyond that, I'm interested in how the three main phases were developed. I think this discussion could help those of us who are hacking the game to look critically at which phases we need to keep, which we need to cut and where there may be a need for a new phrase.

I think Michael Miller also has something valuable to contribute about why he axed the Discovery phase for With Great Power...

After a fun but exhausting #Metatopia, it's nice to come home to find a receptacle waiting for me.

After a fun but exhausting #Metatopia, it's nice to come home to find a receptacle waiting for me. One capable of holding many fools' vile wisdoms.

Amahia (Uh-ma-e-uh)

Amahia (Uh-ma-e-uh)
Son of the West Wind
Child of the Trackless Sands

All that deserves a name:
The Six Winds: the nomadic spirits that govern the harsh lands from which Amahia hails and with which he communes.
Script: The writing of the Knowledgable, more notional than representational. A sort of written sign language.
Block: The writing of those who are not blessed or burdened with Knowledge. It cannot convey the same concepts as Script.
The Stillness: none know what the Stillness is, but all know that its coming is to be feared and that its coming it nigh. Some erroneously call it the Silence.

Feats Heroic:
Jovial: Amahia begins to dance, and the winds dance with him – or perhaps for him
Glum: Whispering sweetly to the wind spirits, Amahia draws forth the air from his enemies lungs.

Trick:
Destiny: The winds whisper to Amahia and their whispers foretell that which is to come. On each Motif, fill in one element before the first Overtone is rolled.

Sunday Morning Swords

Sunday Morning Swords
#EveryWolfHasHisDayEdition

Good morning! Who wants to play? Comment below and I'll start a hangout when we have enough people. We'll start at 9:30 am Eastern, and again at 9:30 am Pacific. Mention if you've played before or if you want to Overplay.

Feel free to have some breakfast while we play. Talk about the game with the #SundayAMSwords . Read more at http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords if you're curious!
http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords

Is there anyone in or near the UK who could run a game for me to see how SWM works?

Is there anyone in or near the UK who could run a game for me to see how SWM works? I'm keen to run it myself but would appreciate a guiding hand.

Sunday Morning Swords

Sunday Morning Swords
#DayOfTheDeadEdition  

Good morning!

Here's our organizational thread. Comment here if you'd like to play this morning. Also mention whether you might want to be an Overplayer, and whether you've played Swords before.

When we get an Overplayer and three or four Rogue Players, those players will run off and start their hangout. For now, let's focus on getting everyone into a group. We'll probably wait until 9:15 or 9:30 EDT to start the last group. We'll do a Pacific time edition today as well.

Feel free to enjoy some breakfast or brunch while playing.

Also, feel free to use the hashtag #sundayamswords  should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias.

P.S. Got some tips on how to do this and links to useful files here: http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords
http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/7/14/sunday-morning-swords

November Challenge!

November Challenge!
http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/blog/2014/10/24/november-eidolon-simulacrum-challenge