Swordbearer is a fantasyrole-playing game. It was originally published by Heritage Games in 1982, and then republished by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1985. The game was written by B. Dennis Sustare with contributions from Arnold Hendrick. Illustrations are by Denis Loubet and David Helber. The Heritage edition cover art was by Helber; the FGU edition's cover art was by Bill Willingham.
Swordbearer was designed by B. Dennis Sustare with Arnold Hendrick, featuring art by Denis Loubet. It was first published in 1982 by Heritage USA as a digest-sized box with three digest-sized books (two 48 pages, one 32 pages), a character sheet, and dice.[1]
Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) purchased the rights to Swordbearer, and also picked up the old stock of the game from Heritage, which FGU's Scott Bizar felt should be a necessary part of the deal.[2] In 1985 FGU republished the game in the same format with new cover art by Bill Willingham; later that year, FGU published a second edition as a boxed set containing two books (one 60 pages and one 32 pages).[1]
Contentsedit
Swordbearer is a fantasy system with some innovative ideas. Characters have no classes or professions, instead learning whatever skills are appropriate from six different "spheres" of skills. In this moneyless system, successful characters increase in social status, automatically gaining whatever material benefits their status confers. Playing out of character can result in loss of social status. Magic is based on elemental summoning and spirit control.[1] The "Characters" and "Fighting" book (48 pages) included character creation, skills, equipment, and combat. The "Elemental Magic" and "Spirit Magic" book (32 pages) describes the magic system in detail. The "Racial Index" and "Gamemaster's Guide" book (48 pages) covers intelligent races, monsters, and how to run the game.[1]
Innovationsedit
The game broke a lot of ground. Among its innovations were:
Instead of classes, every character has skill specializations (normally two) such as Fighting, Magic, Stealth, Town, Country, Arts & Crafts, etc. Within those specializations, they learn skill more efficiently, but everyone can learn every skill.
Wealth is measured not by money but by Social Status.
Encumbrance is drastically simplified. Every character can have 10 "items", no more or less, although the definition of an "item" is loose: an "item" could be a retainer, a castle plus all its attendants, etc.
There are a very large number of playable character races: the usual elves, dwarves, humans, etc., plus unusual races such as dragons, centaurs, gargoyles, etc. and original races like bunrabs (humanoid rabbits) and moonspiders (intelligent arachnids).
Magic is done with "nodes", aligned to various elemental or spiritual forces. Each node's power can be linked to a specific spell. The elemental forces are somewhat similar to the Chinese Five Elements theory, with Crystal, Light/Dark, Wood, Metal, Fire, Water and Wind. Spiritual types are Vitriolic, Phlegmatic, Choleric and Melancholic. This serves to give the magic system a lot of "flavor". Additionally the node system was innovative in that a given spell would require a certain size node, and substituting several smaller nodes would not suffice (so if a fireball needed a 3-node of fire, you needed a 3-node or larger, not three 1-nodes). The nodes could be temporarily or permanently exhausted randomly upon being used in a spell rather than expended allowing the magic using character to recover the node after a short period. This changed the magic point system from a strict exchange method to a variable resource for the spell caster. The game master could also adjust game balance somewhat by increasing or decreasing the availability of specific size and types of nodes.
There is no additional system for religious magic. Priests are assumed to either use the spiritual or elemental systems, or to be wise but not actually capable of magic.
Combat initiative is determined by skill. Every weapon has both an Accuracy and Speed skill; attacks are carried out in descending order by Speed skill.
Differences between the Heritage and FGU editionsedit
The Heritage and FGU games are almost exactly alike in terms of content. Game art, text, etc. are the same save for a larger number of typos in the FGU edition.
The physical form of the two editions is the largest difference. The Heritage edition comes in a 7x8" box, containing three rule volumes plus a character sheet. Each volume contains two books:
Characters
Fighting
Elemental Magic
Spirit Magic
Racial Index
Gamemasters Guide
In the FGU edition, the rules are presented in two books, with smaller sections (Introduction; Creating a Character; Skills, Experience and Activity Spheres; etc.). Books I-IV of the Heritage edition are contained in Book One of the FGU version; books V-VI of the Heritage edition make up Book Two of the FGU edition.
Market appealedit
In its Heritage edition, the game did not sell well, perhaps because of its unusual packaging: a 7x8" box in landscape orientation, it looked more like a set of miniatures rules than an RPG. When republished by FGU, the game came in a more traditional letter-size form. Its lack of success under Heritage may also have been due to its innovations, or to Heritage's lack of renown as an RPG company.
Even so, under FGU the game languished. One supplement was published, but nothing further was done with the game. This may have been because of FGU's focus on Chivalry & Sorcery, its primary fantasy RPG, or because of the unusual nature of Swordbearer's rules.
Supplementsedit
Under FGU, Swordbearer got its first supplement: Dwarven Halls, which details the dwarves and other inhabitants of a long valley. The valley is designed to be transplanted into any campaign setting—almost no mention is made of the world outside the valley—so the supplement is in some ways universal.
swordbearer, role, playing, game, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, swordbearer, role, playing, game, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Swordbearer role playing game news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Swordbearer is a fantasy role playing game It was originally published by Heritage Games in 1982 and then republished by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1985 The game was written by B Dennis Sustare with contributions from Arnold Hendrick Illustrations are by Denis Loubet and David Helber The Heritage edition cover art was by Helber the FGU edition s cover art was by Bill Willingham Contents 1 Publication history 2 Contents 3 Innovations 4 Differences between the Heritage and FGU editions 5 Market appeal 6 Supplements 7 Reviews 8 References 9 External linksPublication history editSwordbearer was designed by B Dennis Sustare with Arnold Hendrick featuring art by Denis Loubet It was first published in 1982 by Heritage USA as a digest sized box with three digest sized books two 48 pages one 32 pages a character sheet and dice 1 Fantasy Games Unlimited FGU purchased the rights to Swordbearer and also picked up the old stock of the game from Heritage which FGU s Scott Bizar felt should be a necessary part of the deal 2 In 1985 FGU republished the game in the same format with new cover art by Bill Willingham later that year FGU published a second edition as a boxed set containing two books one 60 pages and one 32 pages 1 Contents editSwordbearer is a fantasy system with some innovative ideas Characters have no classes or professions instead learning whatever skills are appropriate from six different spheres of skills In this moneyless system successful characters increase in social status automatically gaining whatever material benefits their status confers Playing out of character can result in loss of social status Magic is based on elemental summoning and spirit control 1 The Characters and Fighting book 48 pages included character creation skills equipment and combat The Elemental Magic and Spirit Magic book 32 pages describes the magic system in detail The Racial Index and Gamemaster s Guide book 48 pages covers intelligent races monsters and how to run the game 1 Innovations editThe game broke a lot of ground Among its innovations were Instead of classes every character has skill specializations normally two such as Fighting Magic Stealth Town Country Arts amp Crafts etc Within those specializations they learn skill more efficiently but everyone can learn every skill Wealth is measured not by money but by Social Status Encumbrance is drastically simplified Every character can have 10 items no more or less although the definition of an item is loose an item could be a retainer a castle plus all its attendants etc There are a very large number of playable character races the usual elves dwarves humans etc plus unusual races such as dragons centaurs gargoyles etc and original races like bunrabs humanoid rabbits and moonspiders intelligent arachnids Magic is done with nodes aligned to various elemental or spiritual forces Each node s power can be linked to a specific spell The elemental forces are somewhat similar to the Chinese Five Elements theory with Crystal Light Dark Wood Metal Fire Water and Wind Spiritual types are Vitriolic Phlegmatic Choleric and Melancholic This serves to give the magic system a lot of flavor Additionally the node system was innovative in that a given spell would require a certain size node and substituting several smaller nodes would not suffice so if a fireball needed a 3 node of fire you needed a 3 node or larger not three 1 nodes The nodes could be temporarily or permanently exhausted randomly upon being used in a spell rather than expended allowing the magic using character to recover the node after a short period This changed the magic point system from a strict exchange method to a variable resource for the spell caster The game master could also adjust game balance somewhat by increasing or decreasing the availability of specific size and types of nodes There is no additional system for religious magic Priests are assumed to either use the spiritual or elemental systems or to be wise but not actually capable of magic Combat initiative is determined by skill Every weapon has both an Accuracy and Speed skill attacks are carried out in descending order by Speed skill Differences between the Heritage and FGU editions editThe Heritage and FGU games are almost exactly alike in terms of content Game art text etc are the same save for a larger number of typos in the FGU edition The physical form of the two editions is the largest difference The Heritage edition comes in a 7x8 box containing three rule volumes plus a character sheet Each volume contains two books Characters Fighting Elemental Magic Spirit Magic Racial Index Gamemasters GuideIn the FGU edition the rules are presented in two books with smaller sections Introduction Creating a Character Skills Experience and Activity Spheres etc Books I IV of the Heritage edition are contained in Book One of the FGU version books V VI of the Heritage edition make up Book Two of the FGU edition Market appeal editIn its Heritage edition the game did not sell well perhaps because of its unusual packaging a 7x8 box in landscape orientation it looked more like a set of miniatures rules than an RPG When republished by FGU the game came in a more traditional letter size form Its lack of success under Heritage may also have been due to its innovations or to Heritage s lack of renown as an RPG company Even so under FGU the game languished One supplement was published but nothing further was done with the game This may have been because of FGU s focus on Chivalry amp Sorcery its primary fantasy RPG or because of the unusual nature of Swordbearer s rules Supplements editUnder FGU Swordbearer got its first supplement Dwarven Halls which details the dwarves and other inhabitants of a long valley The valley is designed to be transplanted into any campaign setting almost no mention is made of the world outside the valley so the supplement is in some ways universal Reviews editDragon 71 Different Worlds 27 3 The Complete Guide to Role Playing Games 4 References edit a b c d Schick Lawrence 1991 Heroic Worlds A History and Guide to Role Playing Games Prometheus Books pp 215 217 ISBN 0 87975 653 5 Shannon Appelcline 2011 Designers amp Dragons Mongoose Publishing p 75 ISBN 978 1 907702 58 7 Different Worlds Magazine https archive org details completeguidetor0000swan page 200 mode 2upExternal links edit nbsp Companies portalFantasy Games Unlimited official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Swordbearer role playing game amp oldid 1179342879, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
