http://www.blacksharkenterprises.com/#!20-Reasons-for-PCs-to-Adventure-Together/c1q8z/56d428670cf2bc6add12493a

http://www.blacksharkenterprises.com/#!20-Reasons-for-PCs-to-Adventure-Together/c1q8z/56d428670cf2bc6add12493a


I like randomizers/quick prep stuff and this is nice for setting up a company of Rogues.

http://www.blacksharkenterprises.com/#!20-Reasons-for-PCs-to-Adventure-Together/c1q8z/56d428670cf2bc6add12493a

My first Eidolon for Swords Without Master.

Originally shared by Jeremy M

My first Eidolon for Swords Without Master.

Thanks Eric!


I'm a street walking cheetah
with a heart full of napalm
I'm a runaway son of the nuclear A-bomb
I am a world's forgotten boy
The one who searches and destroys
Honey gotta help me please
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby detonates for me
Look out honey, 'cause I'm using technology !
Ain't got time to make no apology
Soul radiation in the dead of night
Love in the middle of a fire fight
Honey gotta strike me blind
Somebody gotta save my soul
Baby penetrates my mind
And I'm the world's forgotten boy
The one who's searchin', searchin' to destroy
And honey I'm the world's forgotten boy
The one who's searchin', searchin' to destroy
Forgotten boy, forgotten boy
Forgotten boy said
hey forgotten boy
https://youtu.be/EDNzQ3CXspU

EIDOLON: interstellar OST - no time for caution

EIDOLON: interstellar OST - no time for caution
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaJHFxCYUjI

Esle, The Invoker

ALL THAT DESERVES A NAME
The arch-grimoire - a tome containing the 101 invocations of yore.

A wooden flute - a reminder of Esle's youth.

Naime - an crystal mage-prison, pushed slightly out of flux and existing many places at once.

Death's finger - a crooked, bone white staff, lithe and long, that the invoker may conduct the energies. at the end, multiple pearlescent tassels hang.


FEATS HEROIC
Jovial - as the invoker twirls around, blazing ritual signs merge with the already existing as his blood is spilled in a obliterating cadenza of magical reverie and passion.

Glum - the invoker plays a haunting tune as he holds about his waist with one hand and the tune is answered in crystal clear notes in the far distance.

TRICK
Adroit prowess - jovial.
Esle invokes "the heavenly dance of the dimensional clock" as he spreads his arms in dance, the dimensional veil is lifted, and the strange tides shift the landscape. Everything aligns according to the whims of the invoker, at an object of the sky is beckoned to earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaJHFxCYUjI

I gave Starward a go recently.

I gave Starward a go recently. Initially I forgot about the wandering tone but towards the end of the game the tones both informed and guided the game, bringing us to a convenient Fateful conclusion. So that felt like it worked.

The creation rules worked, as they obviously do in Vast and Starlit.

One thing that struck me was that unlike regular Swords without Master, these rogues actually work better with some Masters. The Fantasy Flight Star Wars RPG introduces the idea of Obligation to reflect things like Jabba's bounty on Han and Chewbacca's life debt. Given the lack of a strong kicker I thought I might give it a go if I play it again.

Sunday Morning Swords: 28 February 2016

Sunday Morning Swords: 28 February 2016

Here's our organizational thread - it may be just a tad late, but let's see if we can get something up and running!

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 9:30 EST to start the last group. If you can't make that, check back in a few hours. Another one will fire up at 9 AM PST for those who wake at a more civilized time.

If you prefer evening gaming, check out today's #SundayPMSwords by Jon Cole.

Feel free to use the hashtag #SundayAMSwords should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias. And feel free to bring your breakfast or brunch. Adventurers need their sustenance! And coffee.

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

Sunday Evening Swords: 28 February 2016

Sunday Evening Swords: 28 February 2016

I'm ahead of where I need to be in packing for my trip, so I can create time for #SundayPMSwords this week.

Here's our organizational thread. Comment below if you're interested in playing Sunday evening and mention if you're comfortable being an Overplayer and whether or not you have 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.

Calling Derek A. Kamal and George Pletz! It would be awesome if we could nab that 7-9pm Eastern slot again.

If you prefer morning gaming, check out #SundayAMSwords , I'm sure someone will start an organizing thread soon.

P.S. There are some tips 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

The natural world provides some of my favorite eidolons.

The natural world provides some of my favorite eidolons.

Originally shared by Photographs Of Nature

Amazing Things You Won't Believe Exist in Nature...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOEieru0sIM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOEieru0sIM

I just finished one exam and I'm about to take another, which has me fantasizing about being suckered it off this...

I just finished one exam and I'm about to take another, which has me fantasizing about being suckered it off this world and dropped into another, more sorcerous world. It is a grand tradition in fantasy to feature folks from our works transported to the other. Give me some rogues with 2 eidolons:

1 eidolon is the moment the rogue left behind in our mundane world. And 1 eidolon is about what they have become in the other world.

I'm the type of person that likes to create new rogues for every session of SWM that I play.

I'm the type of person that likes to create new rogues for every session of SWM that I play. I guess I always felt a disconnection from my rogue in between sessions. I always felt that if rogues could grow over time, this would make people like me more apt to play the same rogue in multiple sessions.

At first I thought it would be cool to allow rogues to each bring an element (thread, mystery, moral) from a previous game into the new session. That way, rogues might encounter recurring themes or situations throughout their travels. (Like Echoes of the Past but players choose instead of Overplayer)

Another thought I had was to learn more about the rogue's backstory through play. Each fresh rogue would be created as usual but the players would also create a question pertaining to their rogue's past? These questions would be added to the Threads and Motifs prior to play and could be reincorporated in the endgame. The one stipulation is a player can't reincorporate their own question. Granted, a rogue's backstory question wouldn't have to be answered in any given session, but I think it could be a neat way to weave a characters past into the current narrative.

Thoughts?

Sunday Morning Swords: 21 February 2016

Sunday Morning Swords: 21 February 2016

#DoubleCoffeeEdition

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 9:30 EST to start the last group. If you can't make that, check back in a few hours. Another one will fire up at 9 AM PST for those who wake at a more civilized time.

If you prefer evening gaming, check out today's #SundayPMSwords : https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DerekAK/posts/EJFsHpnLKn4 

Feel free to use the hashtag #SundayAMSwords should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias. And feel free to bring your breakfast or brunch. Adventurers need their sustenance! And coffee.

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

Anyone for #SundayPMSwords tomorrow? Say, 7 east?

The Shared Realms

The Shared Realms

I was looking at the Conan RPG Quickstart PDF that's currently making the rounds, and was particularly intrigued by the pairing they make between the different realms of the Hyborian Age and their real-life historical/cultural equivalents (Aquilonia= Medieval France, Khitai= Feudal-era China, Stygia= Ancient Egypt, etc)… I'm thinking this is quite powerful and could be adapted to SwM, to later be leveraged by the Overlord/Players in one way or another. If anything else, it could be a useful shorthand to better categorize eidolons and simulacra, or miscellanies by genre. Which leads me to a bunch of questions: Is that something you would think is useful?Is there something I missed in the rules, or is it something SwM leaves open to interpretation by design? Is there interest to create some sort of community-sourced realms?

Inherently good my butt. I've seen folks do some serious evil with a Jovial result.

Inherently good my butt. I've seen folks do some serious evil with a Jovial result.

Has there been any breakthrough in how best to show who has the dice and how you pass them around in Hangout play?

Has there been any breakthrough in how best to show who has the dice and how you pass them around in Hangout play? 

I never seem to make it to Sunday AM Swords so please share your secret tech with me.

Trumfoogle

Trumfoogle

All that deserves a name
Drums of Doom: Magical instrument played by the bard that provokes uneasiness in the target, amplifying over time.
Movvox: Gnome village  and homeland of Trumfoogle.
Bleeding Hand: His left hand has been rendered numb of sensations by the saliva of a mutated creature. Sometimes, blood oozes from under his fingernails.

Heroic Feats
Jovial: With each beat of the drum, a powerful sonic blast is created and violently shove the target away.
Glum: A haunting melody slows down the heart of an enemy to a stop.

Trick
Omen: A portal appears that seem to lead to another dimension.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQL5iPvvds3jsAjnsOa7SvFAZE86l4tE-Y3FrVSEacOIGJSftNDEJP5hjbVkFgAXoiTgne7YTEatKt3BM-cZlKL5QqF5Enu_zR6eUVdLKLAkVRsFmEXOKPfoKkJWf4tmAoa9PVBv2LZA/s1600/Trumfoogle.jpg

Severo Dabi

Severo Dabi

All that deserves a name
The Five Kings: The ancient rulers of Perlin, still pulling the strings
Perlin: My home of war, politics, intrigue and suffering
Binding of Thorns: Ancient ritual that binds us to the Five Kings

Feats heroic
Jovial: A whirlwind of kicks and spiked knuckles, bringing havoc and brutality to my foes
Glum: The thorns constrict, squeezing the breath out of my lungs as the Five Kings intervene
Glum: The Five Kings cloud the atmosphere, turning light to dark

Trick
Canny Cognition: The Five Kings bestow their knowledge upon me.

http://pre12.deviantart.net/6268/th/pre/f/2013/012/e/1/chi_hoo_shrine_by_seansoong-d5r97v4.jpg

Sunday Morning Swords: 14 February 2016

Sunday Morning Swords: 14 February 2016

#ElderGodsOfLoveEdition

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 9:30 EST to start the last group. If you can't make that, check back in a few hours. Another one will fire up at 9 AM PST for those who wake at a more civilized time.

Feel free to use the hashtag #SundayAMSwords should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias. And feel free to bring your breakfast or brunch. Adventurers need their sustenance! And coffee.

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

Ever it was that the descendants of mighty families would hold up in their stone halls, weaving their intrigues and...

Ever it was that the descendants of mighty families would hold up in their stone halls, weaving their intrigues and sowing the battlefields with our bones. Such was the nature of order, the world carved into fiefdoms by the swords of knights, watered by the blood of the conscripted and the sweat of toiling serfs. And such it would remain until the night of the new gods and their glittering starwind. Its shimmering warmth passing through wall and flesh, kissing the blessed among us regardless of heritage, awaking strange sorceries in our blood.

And now all has changed. What does a woman made of rock have to fear from a sword? What lord can make a knight who summons storms kneel before him? What binds a peasant who can fly to their field? A new day has come and with it a new war for the #GammaThrones.

Gamma Thrones is an endless fantasy saga hack of Swords Without Master (www.SwordsWithoutMaster.com) set in a pseudo-and-absolutely-not-rigorously-medieval world where upon one fateful night a burst of comic-book-style gamma radiation rained down on the many kingdoms granting random denizen wondrous powers and awakening ancient artifacts of super-science.

INFLUENCES

Endless Fantasy Sagas
For the ceaseless stream of fiction. For the soap opera style of editing that shifts our focus just as things are heating up. For the Gordian knots of intrigues and relationships.

MedievalPOC 
http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com
For the tireless defense against whitewashing history. For eidolons and simulacra.

Golden & Silver Age Comics
For fantastic powers. For gonzo disregard of sensibility. For eidolons and simulacra. 

THE UNKNOWN TRUTHES

Before the starwind, magic was not but chicanery and superstition. The noble families of the world plotted to advance their position acquire more lands. They held the power, some better than others, some more kindly than others, some more wisely than others. There was war, assassination, famine, and disease; but what stability there was, was held by the thrones of the world. 

On the night of the starwind, an interstellar ark shattered in orbit around the known world. The ship’s cracked engine core, suddenly unshielded and exposed, showered the planet with gamma radiation, awakening wondrous and monstrous powers in a small percentage of its inhabitants.

But that is not all that awoke. Buried deep within the planet are the ruins of lost civilizations where once mighty creations of super-science slumbered for eons until bathed in the starwind. Now they crawl towards the surface, many driven senseless by the corrosive effects of time. 

The remains of the ark still orbit the planet, appearing as new gods wandering the night sky and occasionally obscuring the sun during the day. It is a new dawn for those who inhabit the surface of the known world as the balance of power has been upturned by the strange new powers and abilities visited by the starwind’s blessing on a seemingly random selection of people. 

THE WORLD PHASE

Before play begins in earnest, gather your fellow players, lots of paper and materials to write and draw with. You will be mapping the known world.

In this phase there is no Overplayer or thunder. You will pass the dice and make demands of your fellow players as you would in a Rogues' Phase, but instead of demanding to see what Rogues are up to, you should demand:

• a border, town, or natural feature be drawn on the map.
• a place of historical significance be noted on the map.
• to hear of traditions or customs the originate from a specific spot on the map.
• to hear of a ruler, their family or the people they rule over.
• to hear of recent intrigue, old grudges, or important battles.
• to hear rumors of strange sorceries or awoken super-sciences.
• to have anything else of interest related to the land or its people spoke of or drawn upon the map.

You simply make a demand of someone and pass them the dice. They roll for their tone and answer the demand in that tone. Continue until someone request the end to the phase.

Stymies and threads still apply. If you roll a stymie when you have to drawn something on the map, you may, for instance, draw where it once was before it vanished or indicate that none such thing has ever existed.

Map Threads
Mysteries, Morals and any completed Motifs created in this phase are Map threads. They, along with anything written or drawn on the map itself (which is also considered a Map Thread), are available throughout the game and can serve any purpose threads normally serve.

As you play, when you have a Moral or a Mystery that directly relates to something on the Map, add that thread to the collection of Map threads as well.

MASTERS, ROGUES & ALL OTHERS

Instead of making a single rogue for this game, players should make a stable of at least three characters. You may have rogues among them, but you are now free to create masters and the mastered along with the masterless.

As your saga unfolds, the game will jump around from one storyline to another, changing scenes, characters, and Overplayer as it does so. The characters you personally make will not normally come in contact with one another, but will certainly come in contact with other players’ characters along the way.

The Homeland & the Price of Wandering
As a group at the start of the game, choose the three or four areas on your map you wish to play in first. Each player should make a character that starts the game in each of these areas. Each player may pick one of these areas to exclusively overplay. You need not make a character for an area you exclusively overplay. No two players should exclusively overplay the same area.

Masters and mastered characters must name their homeland among that which deserves a name. The masterless may name their homeland, but should draw a line through it. Though the masters and mastered are bound to their homelands in ways that the masterless are not, they may wander the world for a price.

Each time you play a master or mastered character and a motif thread is completed before you return to your homeland, place a tally mark next to the name of their homeland. Once you gain a third tally mark, draw a line through your homeland.

When a homeland has a line drawn through it is no longer considered deserving of a name for that character. It is no longer granted the affordances and constraints that come along with that.

After you initially make a character, you can only restore a homeland to a named list in play during a Discovery or Rogues’ Phase (see “That Which is Named” on pages 26 & 29).

Eidolons & Simulacra
If a character has been blessed by the Starwind, they must have at least one eidolon or simulacrum that is a character from the golden or silver age of comic books whose powers they possess. Not all characters need to be blessed by the Starwind. And indeed, not even all the characters with golden and silver eidolons need to possess powers, just as not all characters from those ages did.

Tricks & Feats Heroic
You have one trick and two feats heroic to divide among all your characters as you see fit. You may give them all to one, as you would a rogue in Swords, or you may spread them among all your characters. You may even give your glum feat heroic to one character and jovial feat heroic to another. Between sessions, should you desire, you can reassign your trick and feats heroic among your surviving characters however you wish.

THE RITUAL OF THE GRUDGE

If two or more players have characters that wish to do battle with each other, it must be done in a Rogues’ Phase. If you end a phase, you may declare a grudge and demand the next phase be a Rogues’ Phase in which your characters can have it out. The offer of death is always on the table during such Rogues’ Phases.

When you play out the Ritual of the Grudge, make demands that cede glory to your foe. “Show me how you repel my raging assault.” “Show me how you drive me to the brink of the cliff.” “Show me how you make me work for your blood.” Let the dice, the tones, and the threads determine the victor.

THE RITUALS OF THE ENDLESS SAGA

The Ritual of the Shifting Overplayer
Whenever you fill a Motif thread, it is the responsibility of whoever can end the current phase to do so, no matter how much you desire to see the current phase through.

The Mantle of the Overplayer is now passed to a new player who starts the next phase as a new scene at a new setting with different characters involved. This is done as you would start any phase in Swords by rolling for Overtone, choosing the phase, setting the scene, and letting peal the Thunder. The new Overplayer tells us who is there and why, but each player should make sure they have an appropriate character present.

The Ritual of Necessity
If you do not have a character who would be present in the current scene, take a moment to create one. This character will have no tricks or feats heroic to begin with, though you may grant them some between sessions if you desire. They start only with their own name on the list of that which deserves a name, but may add to that list in play (see “That Which is Named” on pages 26 & 29) or between sessions.

The Ritual of the Ceaseless Tale
Unlike Swords, there are no end game rules for #GammaThrones. At any point in which you should pass the Mantle of the Overplayer to a new player, as a group you may decide you are done for the current session. Next time you play, you will pick the game up where you left off, with a new Overplayer starting a new phase.

There are new rules for the Motifs in ceaseless tales:
• All threads, including Mysteries, Morals and Map threads, may be echoed in a Motif, not just elements from the previous Motif threads.
• Even the first Motif thread of a session must have one element that echoes a previous thread.
• The last Motif of a session and any threads that were echoed in the Motifs of that session are carried over into the next session along with the Map threads and any threads players preserve with their tricks.

Beyond Starward, what hacks exist, and where might I find them?

Beyond Starward, what hacks exist, and where might I find them?  I have an idea, and I want to A: make sure I don't duplicate something that's already been done, and B: sharpen it up a little bit by seeing how else the base game has been adjusted.

Rolled a Stymie when creating some epic imagery for your Tale?

Rolled a Stymie when creating some epic imagery for your Tale? FEAR NOT! The Dread Wizard Epidiah has helpfully created random tables of miscellanies and sundries of all sort: 36 Wondrous Sights, 36 Ill Omens, 36 Treasures to be Sought, and many more!

Heretofore, these miscellanies have appeared at the back of each issue of Worlds Without Master (which you're reading, right?), and thus been a bit tricky to flip to in the heat of the moment, while players demand action and adventure. But now, with the Dread Wizard's blessing, I have compiled them into a single spreadsheet which produces, upon rolling, three miscellanies of each sort! At present, with 10 tables published, this is 30 inspirations in a single keystroke!

Happy adventuring!

YES!!!

YES!!!

Originally shared by Nathan Paoletta

It's on! Yesterday I launched the Kickstarter for International Incident, the first full supplement for the World Wide Wrestling RPG.

Lucha Libre! Strong Style! World of Sport! Wrestling in VFW Halls! Promotion growth (and death)! Mythic Moments in and out of the ring! And more, of course!

It is a supplement, but there's reward levels that include the core game as a package deal, for folks new to the game!

There's an all-star cast of contributors on board, and I'm hyped for what we're going to make together!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ndpaoletta/world-wide-wrestling-rpg-international-incident

Sunday Morning Swords: 7 February 2016

Sunday Morning Swords: 7 February 2016

#TheWizardAwakesEdition

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 9:30 EST to start the last group. If you can't make that, check back in a few hours. Another one will fire up at 9 AM PST for those who wake at a more civilized time.

Feel free to use the hashtag #SundayAMSwords should you desire to chat about your game on the social medias. And feel free to bring your breakfast. We all need sustenance!

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

Lore Phase

Lore Phase
I'm thinking primarily of the Sunday Morning Swords setting of Thundarr-inspired far future swords and sorcery, but all hints are, of course, welcome.

• What force that contributed to the collapse of the old world begins to stir once more?