The Rules
Song of Swords can be summed up by one design philosophy: meaningful player choice. Whether in combat or through roleplay, we want your decisions to impact the game in a real way.
The game uses an elegant dice pool system that only needs d10s. In combat, this is referred to as your Combat Pool. Each time you take an action, you will decide how many of those dice will be used for an attack, and how much for defense.
Say goodbye to farming goblins for XP! In Song of Swords, characters advance as they pursue their goals and make decisions that align with their nature. We call this the Arc system.
Read more details about these systems below.
The Basics
Character Creation
Characters can be made to fit both historical, and low and high fantasy campaigns. Song of Swords aims to provide a wide depth of character options, which allow you to specialize in your chosen fighting style. There is a wide roster of races, and countries with deep lore that will help bring your adventure to life.
Character Advancement
During character creation, players work with the GM to create short-, mid- and long-term goals and/or personality traits for their characters. As characters progress towards these goals and roleplay their traits, they are rewarded through the Arc advancement system.
Combat
Let’s face it. The game’s called Song of Swords; you’re going to end up in combat sooner or later.
Our combat system is detailed, but straight-forward, using a dice pool system that only needs d10s.
You won’t be racing to deplete an enemy’s hit points until they reach zero and die—you’re inflicting wounds. Injuries and sheer exhaustion seriously deteriorate a character’s ability to fight. A single good blow from a weapon can put anyone down, even the mightiest hero.
Magic
Magic is still being worked on, and is not playable in the beta. If you back our Kickstarter, you’ll be kept in the loop on updates!
Pyromancy: The manipulation of the flame of life. Pyromancers sacrifice parts of their identity, and memories, in order to harness arcane power.
Thaumaturgy: Channeling otherworldly magic to bend and twist reality, thaumaturges get their powers from other worlds, but not without risk to their own body.
Sorcery: Practitioners harness the innate magical energy around us to fuel breathtaking creations. Sorcerers can accomplish much will the right planning.