Editing Sword World RPG (section)

== The System ==

=== Sword World RPG ===
Sword World runs on the so-called ''2d6 System''. It shares a lot of DNA with Basic D&D for obvious reasons, but also a lot of AD&D (since that was the Group SNE guys were ''actually'' using at their tables, they were just forced to use Basic for Lodoss because that's what the publisher had in stock). Weapon attacks are all opposed rolls, and damage rolls direct you to a fuckhuge "rating table" to determine how much hurt you actually caused and how much was stopped by the enemy's armor. This was a compromise to squeeze a bigger range of results out of two [[d6]] but that doesn't change the fact that it's kind of clunky. Still not as bad as [[Rolemaster|Rollmaster]] though. Notably [[Hit point|"life force"]] and [[Mana|"mental power"]] are stats generated in the same way as your other ability scores, so the huge ablative pools of hit points you see in later editions of D&D doesn't exist; instead you get damage reduction based on your character level and equipped armor.

Outside of combat Sword World was ahead of its time, with a single unified roll mechanic for skill checks. It's just [[stat]] bonus + [[Skills|skill]] + 2d6 vs. a target score; 12 is automatic success and 2 is an automatic failure, but the rulebook goes out of its way to say that this doesn't automatically mean [[You rolled a 1|epic success or failure]] and warns the GM to refrain from being a dick just because the PC failed a roll. Another ahead-of-its-time (or possibly retro, since OD&D started out with generic fighting men and grew the other classes during playtesting) feature is the complete absence of restrictions on [[multiclassing]]. Your standard [[fighter]], [[Rogue|thief]], [[priest]] and so forth are just "adventurer skills" that you can buy with XP and each cover their own separate chunks of a unnervingly [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3.x-like]] ability list, as well as abilities representing the expected D&D style class abilities. Buying ranks in a skill gives you a rank in all the abilities under that skill, a bit like [[Shadowrun]].

This one little twist on the standard class system means you can make the [[gish]] characters Japanese fantasy loves so much effortlessly, and the ability to take a level or two in anything with no penalty beyond the XP cost and a lot of fringe benefits means there's no need for a dedicated [[skill monkey]] role. So-called "common adventurer abilities" use your best adventurer skill rating, avoiding the common [[3e]] absurdity of needing to sink points into basic life skills like Climb and Jump.

==== Adventurer skills ====

* '''Fighter:''' You fight. Duh. Buffs all your attack and defense rolls but doesn't do anything else. Of note is the example in the rulebook: ''[[Conan the Barbarian|"A wandering swordsman who makes a name for himself solely on the strength of his sword, and eventually establishes a kingdom."]]'' This is what [[Old School Roleplaying]] looks like, folks.
* '''Thief:''' Like the D&D thief but without the crippling fear of effectiveness. Also buffs combat rolls like the fighter and can crit on 9s unlike any other class, but only if your weapon/armor weight is half the maximum you can equip. If you have levels in both fighter and thief, they don't stack and you have to choose which one to use at the start of each round.
* '''Ranger:''' Still the same vaguely schizophrenic Legolas knockoff, but before they gave him his animal buddy. Buffs ranged combat rolls but mostly used for stealth and survival in the wilderness, plus some oddball things like stabilize checks, predicting the weather and map-making. You also get a bonus to SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER people if you have a chance to get the drop on them.
* '''Sage:''' [[Bear Lore]] experts. You can take this with the sorcerer skill and get an XP discount for it. Also if you fail a knowledge or appraise check you have to go to your local library and take a look (it's in a book) for a week before making ''another'' skill check to see if your character did, in fact, learn something.
* '''Bard:''' It's a bard. You know what a bard does. Since multiclassing is free, the bard skill doesn't cover fighting and ''just'' gives you Play Instrument, "spellsongs" and bardic knowledge.
* '''Rune Master''': The caster skill. Comes in sorcerer ([[Wizard]] using ancient magic, spell list is like a greatest-hits version of the [[AD&D]] list without campaign-enders like Wish), shaman ([[Elementalist]] type, mostly a buffmancer with spells that only work when the elemental spirits are around; note that "mind" and "life" are elements) and priest ([[Cleric]], does cleric things) flavors. The GM also gets the snowflake NPC-only dark priest (does what it says on the tin) and dragon priest (draconic [[sorcerer]] types who LARP as dragons and get spells to help with that) skills.