I'm sure someone could make a rogue out of this tour poster, and there's more than enough inspiration in the band's...

I'm sure someone could make a rogue out of this tour poster, and there's more than enough inspiration in the band's music.
http://41.media.tumblr.com/6c6cd4c1bef15c6cf138cce2b82d374c/tumblr_nkf8ebgGjv1qf9k19o1_500.jpg

tony dowler just released an awesome map on his Patreon that you could run Swords off of for months.

tony dowler just released an awesome map on his Patreon that you could run Swords off of for months. You should probably go back him. If you do it at $5, your mini-fridge could be covered with postcards as awesome as the ones my mini-fridge is covered with!
https://www.patreon.com/creation?hid=1756807

#SundayAMSwords at #dreamation

#SundayAMSwords at #dreamation

Good morning, my rogues!

Good morning, my rogues! I am, unfortunately, trapped on top of a mountain and unable to join you this morning. Though I suspect many of you are at conventions this morning, the rest should feel free to give it a go.

Sunday Morning Swords: 15 February, take 2

Sunday Morning Swords: 15 February, take 2
#FalseSpringEdition

Good morning! I would have you play with me this morning. Comment below to be invited to the hangout, we will start about 9:30 Pacific Time. If we have enough brave souls, that is! New players welcome.

Image by Charles Lee

“The Acidic Fury of Ancient Bara”

“The Acidic Fury of Ancient Bara”
A tale of #SundayAMSwords
Opening eidolon: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/503629170805306548/

Four rogues, clinging to fragment of aircraft carrier, afloat upon a lake of acid. Hooting and hollering from the spiky shores. Taryb: A flurry of motion from stone to stone amidst the hungry yellow acid. The Scythian’s spell highlighting the handholds to climb a carved, rocky pillar. Arvin the Shadow hurling a rope tied to a throwing knife. The toppled pillar, a bridge. Beneath, a banshee machine trapped by height for the good of all.

Walking amidst the sharp-edged badlands. On open ground, a banshee machine, hovering on cushion of green energy. Flails coated in gore. Two red eyes locking on Baltazar. “Felinoid acquired.” Rock shattered into flying shrapnel. The Shadow’s quick blade. A raging machine, blind in one eye. Lurching. A flail cracking open a geyser of acid and spinning it around. The Scythian’s shield dissolved. Baltazar cornered, tossing vial to Taryb. “Use this!” Blind machine turning toward voice. Facing danger, it is sometimes best to remain unnoticed. Taryb atop the machine, dodging flame jets. The vial with no opening smashed. Bright yellow fluid tracing all the seams and inner workings. The sound of machinery grinding the opposite way it should.

Tribe of small figures in slick, black leathers. Examining the banshee wreckage and rogues’ tools. The rogues in small caves, blocked by stone bars.

The Shadow hears whispers of the moon: The ancient Bara empire, builder of fleets of banshee-machines. Machines built to house the ghosts of conquered peoples and to be used to conquer more peoples. Baltazar seeing that the banshee machines had killed his people. Their souls its fuel. The Scythian discerning the sturdiness of this acid-proof rock. Pterosaur alighting with more leather-clads. Examine your surroundings, but not too closely lest you get them on you.

There is some ruckus as the leather-clads come to take the secrets of defeating the banshee-machines from the rogues. Ancient rivalries renewed.  Taryb evading the leather-clads. Breaking the storage tank in the heart of the banshee-machine. The souls spilling out, hoisting her aloft. Glum, quiet ghosts. Baltazar laying the ghosts of his people to peace. The Scythian’s MEGATOME to the rescue! The sturdy rock cracking. A geyser of acid! The Shadow, unnoticed, gathering the Ghost Scroll from the banshee-machine. Upon the pterosaur, the rogues safely gone.

The Scythian portrayed by Aaron Feild  Taryb portrayed by Keith Stetson  Arvin the Shadow portrayed by Richard Ruane  And, introducing in his first game of Swords, Baltazar portrayed by Thomas G. 

Here’s our virtual tabletop: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/15WajFT1FKO4ntPPa9If5brjP3cbOfydC6z1EW44kk8U/edit?usp=sharing
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/503629170805306548

Sunday Morning Swords: 15 February 2015

Sunday Morning Swords: 15 February 2015
#WindyWintryWonderland

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, and we'll start around 9:15-9:30 EST.

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

My first Rogue (feedback always appreciated):

My first Rogue (feedback always appreciated):

Baltazar
The Sun Wanderer 

"Let the human have their pantheon. We need no gods to thrive. Even a mortal such as I can capture part of the sun's power."

All That Deserves a Name

Salaria: the Southern peninsula where the proud Kitnin tribes settled aeons ago following the Great Exile.

Rha: ("Sun" in the Kitnin tongue) The Kitnin reject all deities. Instead we revere Rha, the source of life, passion and magic in the world.

Rha'nan: (or "Sun Guide") The name of the spear that guides me on my journey.

Feats Heroic

Jovial: I enter a trance as my spirit is set ablaze with elation and the compulsion to forge my own path.

Glum: A sense of confusion takes hold of my body as I feel trapped with nowhere to go. I take a moment to meditate and channel the flow of unrestrained energy surrounding me.

Rogue Trick

Adroit Prowess -- Exceptionally nimble (acrobatic). Before the Overplayer chooses a new phase, you may demand that it is a Rogues’ Phase and that the Overplayer opens it with a demand that highlights this feature.

Apparently, I'm not doing anything tomorrow and I could join some of you for some #SundayAMSword action.

Apparently, I'm not doing anything tomorrow and I could join some of you for some #SundayAMSword action. What do I need to do to get ready? It will be my first time with the game.

Apologies if you're seeing this twice.

Apologies if you're seeing this twice. I wanted to include the folks who follow the Swords Without Master community as well.

Originally shared by Michael Miller

Character creation systems are one of the parts of game design I struggle with the most. Anyone want to take the current version of With Great Power hero creation for a spin? If so, it's in the attached PDF.

I'm particularly looking for feedback on:

~I am assuming that 75 years of superhero media have taught my players the genre. That said, is this enough of a prompt to get people thinking, or do I need more?

~This version of With Great Power is derived heavily from Swords Without Master. As such, it is meant to be a very quick-playing game. Does this creation process bog down creativity?

All feedback welcome. Thanks!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B75oJr2Y1roRcXRIZlRUY0RPSTA/view?usp=sharing

Hmm hmm....fancy having a Glum pencil and a Jovial pencil?

Hmm hmm....fancy having a Glum pencil and a Jovial pencil?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/d20e/pencil-dice

Teaching Swords

Teaching Swords

Many of us who have played a good deal of Swords have run up against the fact that it's not your run of the mill RPG. Sometimes the differences can be jarring and hard to comprehend for new players. This discomfort can be mitigated by teaching the game well. I will freely admit I am rather crap at this. I just want to sit down and get my Swords on. So my comrades in arms, I ask you for help:

How do you teach Swords?

Paging especially one Stras Acimovic

Non-traditional Thunders

Non-traditional Thunders

Thunders, in my experience if not in definition, seem to largely be threats of physical harm. What else could we use as Thunders?

-Your parents' disapproval
-Exile from town
-Penury
-Amnesia
-Love
-Ridicule/embarassment
-...?

Sunday Morning Swords: Feb 8 2015

Sunday Morning Swords: Feb 8 2015
#WayOutWestEdition  
Who's up for some more Swords Without Master? Looking to start at about 9:30 PST, which is 12:30 EST. Comment below to be invited to the hangout! Neophytes and newbies welcome.

#sundayamswords

“The New Neon Knights and the Valley of Needles”

“The New Neon Knights and the Valley of Needles”
A tale of _#SundayAMSwords_

Opening eidolon: http://st.gdefon.com/wallpapers_original/wallpapers/388941_art_pejzazh_bashni_ushhele_tuman_reka_kamni_1680x1050_%28www.GdeFon.ru%29.jpg

In the Valley of Needles at the bidding of the Wizard-Whales, to deposit a pearl of great price at the top of the tallest needle.

Emerging from cave. The knee-deep water under the algae floor. Fibula hovering on enchanted wicker board. Malivrax tripping over submerged obstacle, finding silver helmet of fellow Neon Knight, Lord Malinth. Remains of a fallen comrade, felled by foul fate. Looking into empty eye-sockets, seeing friend’s last moments: The valley as the city it was. The 3-headed guardbeast. Malinth defeated the first, stumbled before the second, defeated by the third.

Fibula alighting the rocky shore. Tibia, her fox, finding a series of small openings in the rock face. Not an opening, a maw! The fox swallowed. Let the little guy go first.

Three  heads rise, with needle teeth like moray eels. A rocky body with a hundred centipede legs. Each mouth enough to swallow a rouge in one bite.

Malivrax dragging himself on rocky perch. It is the beast! Tail squeezing armor.

Taryb leading one head on merry chase, betwixt its legs. A monster trips itself in its enthusiasm. Body crashing upon Taryb—rocky above, slimy below.

Fibula arranging symbols of bone. Holding forth staff and half-understood chant. Bones melting into the earth, then growing as needles, piercing the beast.

Taryb levering off the massive bulk. Spindly legs piercing solid stone, weakening the foundation. A hidden entrance!

Malivrax removing his helmet. A needle of pink-purple light piercing the sky. Cue the screaming guitars! Lord Malinth’s helmet will not be borne. Malivrax laid low.

Fibula weilds Malivrax’s Unbending Light. The beast butchered, but no fox to be found. Where do things consumed by the Guardian(s) end up?

Partway up the needle, an open colonnade with balcony above. Wardrums! Archers! A warning—shouted and shot. Malivrax—headless, wearing the two helmets chained like a mantle—bellowing his laughter of old. Climbing the tapestry to the balcony. Bearing arrows like porcupine quills.

The Captain dropping unharmed from the balcony. His breastplate of Lord Malinth. A foe armored in a fallen comrade. Bearing an orange Unbending Light. “I warned you once to leave this—” Taryb swinging salt-encrusted lock upon sash to take off his head! A sash of punishment used as a weapon. Dropped like a punk.

From the balcony, the shape of a fox with the colors all wrong. Antifox biting Fibula’s arm. Tapped nose and spoken word. The antifox sicced on Fibula’s foes.

In the balcony, four more Neon Knights helmets. Grim trophies made of the helmets of fallen comrades. An archer seizing the two chained helmets like a mighty flail. Malivrax rising. A beam of solid purple light sweeping the battlefield.

The cold, dead hand of the Captain gripping Taryb’s ankle. What happens to Lord Malinth's armor now that it has no human head controlling it? Taryb climbing with the great weight below. Smashing Malinth’s helmet on its headless shoulders. Helmet bound to shoulders with kelp-green sash. A sickly brown light oozing from the armor.

In the valley, a raucous funeral dirge for the fallen knights. The knight that was and might yet be Malinth unable to hold a sword. Can the knights rise again from such a state?

----
Lord Malivrax portrayed by Epidiah Ravachol​​​  . Taryb portrayed by Keith Stetson​​​ . And introducing Fibula, portrayed by Jim Crocker​​​  I was overplayer. Our virtual tabletop: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1g5N14KaF7kxAOSQ3cuKupDTVt4rttZaw70_VJNmK-cc/edit?usp=sharing

Sunday Morning Swords: 8 February 2015

Sunday Morning Swords: 8 February 2015
#TheSorcererSeesHisShadowEdition   

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 EST 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.

It sounds as if this early morning game might be a bit thin on players, but fret not, I hear rumors that a later game may be starting up in a few hours.

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

What more extreme 'reskins' of the thunder have people used?

What more extreme 'reskins' of the thunder have people used? Seems to me for a different setting it could be a distant puzzle, opportunity, &c. rather than a threat. I'd worry about the Perilous phase, but hey, the Rogue's phase works fine without having both immediate and distant challenges; Discovery doesn't have both immediate and distant information sources. I think it would probably work.

OK, after playing Swords for a bit I think I know where the usual sticking points for me are, so I thought I'd ask...

OK, after playing Swords for a bit I think I know where the usual sticking points for me are, so I thought I'd ask for some advice.

-Who talks when: In the Perilous phase, the overplayer stops talking when a rogue player rolls the dice. Maybe we're just focusing too much on this as a rule, but is it fair to say the overplayer really may not narrate until the dice are once again picked up? In practice I have had to say "roll the dice, narrate just one thing(and its consequences), and then pick the dice up". Otherwise I've had players who want to keep control in order to keep me from hurting them. (I like to read "shields, scars, and other glories" out loud to new players but I still end up with an adversarial vibe a lot... players passing the dice and rolling as quickly as possible, for example, rather than ever holding on to them.)

As a side-note here, I like to explicitly encourage characters to narrate the consequences of their actions, rather than turning to me to find out if their swing struck home. Before I started doing that, even people who weren't that used to RPing expected the overplayer to decide.

But anyway, how have others been handling the rhythm of the perilous phase? Does the player who rolls get free reign until they say they're done?

-Discovery Phase: I've had a bit of trouble getting the Discovery Phase to go smoothly. Passing the dice without Storm or Challenge tends to feel very bare, and players don't know where to start. The discovery narration can tend to skip a lot of time. Maybe I need to focus it in more on small facts leading up to the fun part - the loaded question. Well, and maybe I need to get better at framing the discovery phase too. I'd be happy to hear any advice.

-Mysteries: To be honest, both Morals and Mysteries have been a bit awkward for people - it's hard to be abstract and pithy on morals right after making a concrete consequence for your actions. But with mysteries I have a specific question: how do people usually handle answering them? I've never had a mystery reincorporated during the endgame; people usually can't help but answer them a roll or two after they're thought up.

I realize there are two ways of taking mysteries - the rules call for something "unknown or supernatural", and I've always focused on the "unknown" part, having the stymie be literally a mystery rather than mysterious. So, maybe I should focus more on the imagery.

I've been playing swords for a couple of months now, and last week I finally had someone other than me be the...

I've been playing swords for a couple of months now, and last week I finally had someone other than me be the overplayer. Somehow this made me realize some things which maybe should have been obvious.

I've been madly reading and playing story games (or some such category of games) since being introduced to Fiasco in the fall, and Sword still stands out amongst them as unique; and I think I'm finally understanding why. The word I keep using for it is "imagery", though that's a little off. Maybe a better term would be "compelling narration". Either way, it's clearly something baked into the rules. Tone doesn't tell you what happens, it tells you how it should look or feel; and the thunder, whether it's used or not in a scene, ensures that there's some mood and color. Even more obviously, the motif cards focus everyone on cool, compelling images and ideas. Other story games might do a good job of making sure there's narrative material hanging around, but plot (or just plain worldbuilding) isn't everything.

Of course this makes me wonder how a focus on good narration could be taken further. What are some things people actually do to accomplish compelling narration? Sprinkle in detail, sometimes with smell or sound rather than just sight... Give a bit of unexpected perspective, such as an overhead view or from a character's view. Those are just the first couple of things to come to mind, but... what if the tones were changed to Detail and Perspective? Not that that's necessarily a great idea - it gets rid of the mood element, and these narrative details ought to feel relevant to the mood - but it might be interesting to try.

I have a couple other things to say but they're less speculative, so I'll give them a separate thread.

This is a place worth exploring! (Perhaps we should Lore Phase it?)

This is a place worth exploring! (Perhaps we should Lore Phase it?)


Hat tip to Sean Smith for bringing this to my attention.

Originally shared by Chris Dickson

Guardians
By: Alexander Forssberg

“Rebirth of the Fortress Unnamed”

“Rebirth of the Fortress Unnamed”
A tale of #SundayAMSwords
Opening eidolon: http://img1.goodfon.ru/wallpaper/big/b/b6/art-blinck-ruiny-statuya.jpg

A natural canyon giving way to man-made walls. Shouted orders on the left. A rain of arrows. A scramble for cover. A bubbling cauldron brought toward the edge. A shout causing confusion. The cauldron and oil fall, shattering stone, burning flesh.

A squeal of ancient portcullis rising on the right. Arvin’s quick thrown dagger jamming ancient rusted gears. A dagger-stabbed body, falling far to the canyon floor. A rising corpse, spine and neck broken and wrong. Hajar’s blaze of fury leaving glowing trails of embers. Two physical and six magical arms of flame pummeling the undead. Hajar leaping up the wall from ledge to toehold. A claw from window grabbing leaping leg. The flames extinguished.

Grost sowing confusion amongst one’s enemies with but a shouted word. The name of Lennay sows dissention in their ranks.

A carved stone walkway inside the left wall, its proportions wrong for men of this age. The defiant guards, secretly cultists devoted to the blood of Lennay. The cultists split: Is Grost the foretold savior, or the foretold trickster?

Hajar overhearing conversation between his long-dead masters. Why sacrifice? The city’s ancient glory founded by Lennay, to restored by the blood of Lennay’s descendants.

Arvin’s whispered discussion with the cultists. Their ignorant words hold meaning revealed by his mystical scholarship. The trickster must die so his final screams will reveal the true name of the city, which the trickster stole. “You seem to know much of this trickster!” Arvin grabbed. A rogue should know when to keep his secrets quiet and mouth shut.

Grost with the cult leader. Flash of glowing green highlighting ancient memories hidden deep. The White Coats founded this place. Why? To protect their people when their enemies of the Red Sickle would unleash fire to end the world.

Carved stone giving way to poured concrete. The buzz of old technology, greeting new visitors for the first time in ages. A massive chamber, with shelves and broken containment pods. A clawed beast from the void of space, with two physical claws and six icy eldritch arms, striking from the shadows. Blood!

Lead cultist hurling Grost to table and binding him. “The pain will be but momentary, but the glory immortal.” A tube and sharp, slender needle. Tube of crimson blood, wreathed in green crackle and destruction. Lights shattering and a fall of icy slicing glass shards falling.

The beast beheading cultist, held at bay by Arvin’s daggers ebon. His fellow striking from behind. Hajar’s attack: A tangle of arms, fire and cold. One beast disarmed.

Arvin pulling needle free from Grost, and into cultist. The whispered secret name of the city’s former glory. The dark beast from behind, icy eldritch arms grab three hearts and begin to freeze.

A whirlwind of fire and a dozen arms, not all those of men. The beasts dispatched. Grost, with bleeding arm held high, laying claim to the city in the name of Lennay.

...

Grost was played by Andy Hauge  His link: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AndyHauge/posts/3KzL5u1a4af

 Arvin the Shadow played by Richard Ruane  His eidolon: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1b/3f/a5/1b3fa59cf28b8c09ddcefa0f6d26aeec.jpg

Hajar played by Patrick Brannick  His eidolon:  https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7c/a7/cc/7ca7cc0ee4d5f63070de5125330175ec.jpg

Our virtual tabletop, with links to the rogues: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1ULSn2Vukut_-jf5A5-GawPwGkuojnUNxNErQ8diuGSI/edit?usp=sharing
http://img1.goodfon.ru/wallpaper/big/b/b6/art-blinck-ruiny-statuya.jpg

Sunday Morning Swords: 2 February 2015

Sunday Morning Swords: 2 February 2015
#OMGitsEarlyEdition

Good morning! I'm up! I'm up! Sorta

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. I can't start until 9:30-9:45 EST.

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