Violetta, a promising young sorceress (only about 60 years of age) who was cursed by her over-protective mother to...

Violetta, a promising young sorceress (only about 60 years of age) who was cursed by her over-protective mother to stay a child forever.

All That Deserves A Name

Hannibal, her loyal familiar. An animal created by Violetta, sort of a cross between a monkey, a cat, and a flying squirrel. Oh, and he can talk, when he deigns to (rarely to anyone but Violetta). And Violetta doesn't know it, but he's also the accidental prison of a demon who is seeking to fully possess him. 

Zephyrus, the demon. He was trying to break out from a hellish prison dimension to this world via the reality shaping/shifting magic that Violetta was using to create Hannibal, but ended up trapped inside Hannibal, seeing the world through his eyes but unable to control the creature's body. Until, a few times now, he's managed to work a little of his magic to protect Hannibal. And he's started appearing in Hannibal's dreams, even whispering to him in times of stress or need.

Zamre, the Sorcerer-Queen of Ruvi. Violetta's doting mother, and a monstrous dictator. Ever since Violetta ran away with Hannibal, she's been expending massive resources to hunt for her, sometimes creating tensions as her soldiers and mercenaries tromp through neighboring kingdoms and principalities.

Feats Heroic

Jovial: Laughing, she darts and dashes through spaces too small for her enemies to follow, only to reappear behind, above or underneath them to deliver a stunning blow with a hand magically transformed to stone, fire, or ice.

Glum: Trapped and exhausted, she cries for help from Hannibal, who gives a little more of himself to Zephyrus in exchange for the power to save her.

Trick

Inevitable Foe- The Men in the Tall Hats. An elite group of Zamre's soldiers, tasked to capture and return Violetta to Ruvi or die trying. They carry magical spears and wear tall yellow hats, and are forbidden from speaking directly to Violetta.

I recently ran Swords Without Master for my home group (first time running; I'd played once before at a con).

I recently ran Swords Without Master for my home group (first time running; I'd played once before at a con). It went pretty well overall, though I had a few too many players (which is a pretty good problem to have) and allowed the game to get a little too bogged down in building the mythology of the world. But mostly it was incredibly fun.

I let the players choose their eidolons from the art cards from Everway, which seemed to suitably inspire the players. It may have worked too well, in my case, as I kept looking through the cards and imagining new rogues I wanted to play. Now it's unlikely that any of my players will want to GM (OP?) Swords any time soon. Not until I run it a few more times, at least. And I don't currently have the technical capability to get in on some of those exciting Hangouts games. Which brings me to my question: Has anyone ever tried running Swords without an Overplayer?

It seems like it wouldn't require too much hacking to work. Slightly tweak how to end the phases when passing dice, require the player it is passed to at the end of a phase bring the Thunder and choose the next phase. In the perilous phase, rogues without the dice show their rogue slipping and struggling but also have the responsibility to increase pressure on the rogue with the dice in some way. Maybe some rules about how other players have to describe your named foes or the dangers to your other named stuff. A little tweaking of the Discovery Phase (whoever you ask your loaded question of gets to describe something they know or discover and ask a loaded question of someone else next?). And so on, like that.

So my questions: has anyone tried this? If so, how did it go? Whether you have or not, do you see any potential pitfalls or problems? Any other ways you would tweak the rules, subtly or broadly?