BlackSwordHack

BLACK SWORD HACK Ultimate Chaos Edition A game by Kobayashi THE MERRY MUSHMEN Old School Dark Fantasy

“There is no Truth but that of Eternal struggle.” Michael Moorcock, The Weird of the White Wolf

Thanks to Olivier and Eric for helping me turn this game into a better one. Thanks to William King for his books and his foreword. Many thanks to David Black for creating and sharing THE BLACK HACK, there would be no Black Sword Hack without him.

BLACK SWORD HACK THE MERRY MUSHMEN U l t i m a t e C h a o s Edition Published by The Merry Mushmen & Kamchatka Publishing 103 Chemin de Nin, 64240 Urt - FRANCE www.themerrymushmen.com Printed in Euskadi - February 2023 BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB Most of the text of this game is under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-4.0). The System Reference Document at www.themerrymushmen.com/ressources-tmm contains the material you can reuse freely. Please check it out before copying text from this book! The art is © Goran Gligović and the maps are © Rob Matthews (p. 62-69) and © Evlyn Moreau (p. 101). Written by Alexandre ‘Kobayashi’ Jeannette Art Goran Gligović Editor Éric Nieudan Layout Olivier Revenu Proofreading Sarah Grove Special Guests Evlyn Moreau, Rob Matthews Old School Dark Fantasy MADE BY HUMANS

Along time ago, in a game club far away –OK, 1977– Edinburgh, Scotland, as a newly enrolled university student, I first encountered Dungeons and Dragons. These days we think of those three brown booklets in a white box as the very quintessence of Old School but back then they were something astonishingly new, a concept so radical that it changed the gaming world, and eventually infiltrated the far corners of popular culture, from fiction to computer games to movies and TV. Gaming is so omnipresent now, it’s hard to imagine a time when it was not. But that time existed. I lived through it. The world was different back then. Star Wars was released in 1977 but did not reach Scotland until 1978. The World Wide Web was the stuff of science fiction, or it would have been had not hard SF been more concerned with space travel than computer tech. You picked stuff up through word of mouth, in the wargame and RPG clubs and little fanzines sold over the counter in the Science Fiction Bookshop. All of those things we think of as signifiers of early D&D were still in the future. There were no modules. There was no B/X. The rules were not terribly clear and had been published piecemeal in a patchwork of supplements such as Greyhawk and Eldritch Wizardry. Every single campaign I played in was different, as GMs tinkered with the rules to reflect their visions or just to plug the many, many gaps and inconsistencies. In Scotland, and probably throughout the world, gaming culture varied from city to city, under the influence of different groups and their interpretations of the rules. You could see this in the APAs like Alarums and Excursions which I picked up a few copies of at Dragonmeet in London and read and reread. In that pre-Internet age, these collected minizines felt like transmissions from another star, the thoughts of gamers in the faraway lands of California and Boston and Washington DC. You could see the novelty of it all in Dave Hargrave’s Arduin and the sheer weirdness of the D&D competitors that had started to emerge such as first edition Runequest. All of this was the product of hundreds of creative people encountering what was then a totally new outlet for their creativity. Was it a game? A storytelling system? An exercise in world building? It was a combination of all of these and more. I can remember being mind-blown in the parlance of the times. Here was a chance to live inside a fantasy world, many different ones in fact. And this was a very big thing in the days before MMOs and games consoles with near realistic levels of graphics. This was the door to Narnia I had been looking for all my life. Foreword 06 – Black Sword Hack –

These days in Old School Renaissance circles there is a tendency to identify OSR play with certain tropes. XP for gold, high lethality, emergent storytelling. And those things were certainly there, but the thing that remains with me to this day is that feeling of being able to visit other worlds. To live an alternate life in the sort of places I had been reading about back then and could take part in only as a passenger inside a work of fiction. That was an enormous innovation. Fantasy as a genre was much smaller. It had not ossified into a huge industry with numerous sub-genres, many of which reflect the influence of gaming and gamers. It was pulpier and far more individualistic. Every book felt different and this was in a time when it was still possible to keep up with most of what was released in the genre. I was a kid from a small town in Scotland and I had read pretty much everything in Appendix N by the time that came out. Looking back at that '70s RPG explosion, I think of its almost contemporary phenomenon, Punk, and its street level creativity. All of the zines were distributed by friends in clubs and the bands starting up in bedsits, a democratising reaction to the megabands and stadium rock that had emerged in the same epoch. The OSR is something similar but more recent. The thing I liked most about it was the creativity, the weirdness, the sense of thousands of individuals expressing their own vision. For me, it was never about retroclones, or megadungeons or sticking it to the storygamers. It was about all of the strange and wonderful new stuff I could suddenly get my hands on which bore no resemblance to the pasteurised, homogenised coffee table books that the modern fantasy gaming industry produces. Which brings me to the book you hold in your hands. It is a great example of what I am talking about. I am a huge fan of The Black Hack and Kobayashi has produced some superb variants on it. The first edition was one of the best I have read. It claimed to be sword and sorcery of the Moorcock/ Leiber/Karl Edward Wagner sort, and it was, but not by slavish imitation of the worlds and style of those writers. Instead, it provided you with a toolkit to build worlds of your own in that genre. I loved it, and I was impressed by the game design chops of its creator. The first edition was one of my favourite works of modern game design, and I am excited to see what can be done with this new version. Bill King, Prague, 2022. – Black Sword Hack – 07

Doomed princes, cunning vagabonds and greedy mercenaries try to prevail in a world torn apart by Law and Chaos. Those who survive the trials of their humble beginnings may soon find themselves at the centre of this struggle. Will they usher the dawn of a new age? Give the last push to a world on the brink of oblivion? Or simply make the best of a dying world as long as they can? Black Sword Hack is a dark fantasy roleplaying game; inspired by (but not limited to) the works of R.E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series, Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar and Jack Vance's Dying Earth books. These inspirations are merely a starting point for the gamemaster. The game gives them the tools to build their own cosmic battlefield, drawing from every source they deem appropriate. Players should have free rein to explore that world in any way they want: there is no campaign arc here, each session should be built on the ruins of the last, letting the characters carve their own fate in the conflict between Law and Chaos. From a system standpoint it is a stand-alone game that uses The Black Hack 2nd Edition rules as a foundation. This means swift action resolution, fast and deadly combat, and a system where players roll the dice 99% of the time, letting the GM focus on the consequences of the characters' actions. Black Sword Hack adds the following: characters defined by their origins and not constrained by a class, free to grow in any way they want. You'll also find a sorcery system that will corrupt even the best intentioned players who think they can use sorcery for "good". 08 – Black Sword Hack –

Table of Contents 10 – Black Sword Hack – Rules 12 Combat 16 Character Creation 20 Equipment 26 Experience 30 Dark Pacts 32 Demonic Pacts (34), Spirit Alliances (36), Sorcery (38), Faerie Ties (42), Twisted Science (44), Rune Weapons (46) Bestiary 48 Create Your World 58 Create Your City 72 Travellers' Tales 76 Adventure: Dark Seeds 78 Adventure: Slayers of the Blood God 81 Heimdallir, Port of the North 86 Appendices 89 Running the Game (90), Advice from the Great Old Ones (92), Black Sword for the Lone Adventurer (94), Bibliography & Plot Generator (96), The Dark Gods' Oracle (98), Cosmic Usage Dice (99), Friendly NPCs (99), Evlyn's World (100), Impossible Creatures (102), Strange Planes (103), Names by Origin (104) Character Sheets 106 Glossary 108

Turns To make sure everyone at the table has a chance to speak, the game uses Turns. At the table, a Turn is the time needed for a character to move and act, it simply refers to that moment you say to a player: "it's your turn, what do you do?". In game time, a Turn may represent a few moments (during combat), a few minutes (while exploring a house), a few hours (exploring a city) or even a few days (travelling to another city). Regardless, the game is always played in Turns. What does that mean? Suppose the action takes place in a bustling city, as a GM you simply ask each player, one after another, what they wish to do during their turn. As a group, you decide that in this situation, a Turn is half a day. ONE TURN, TWO ACTIONS To make sure no player hogs the spotlight, a character can move and take one action during their turn. The action's complexity (and the distance covered with a move) depends on the length of the Turn as established by the GM (moments, minutes, hours; etc.). Here are a few examples: • “I want to do some shopping.” Here they have their move (going to the shops) and their action (shopping). If the character just wants to resupply, they can go to several shops, if it's more involved (looking for specific and rare items or having something custom made) they can only do one shop. Then go to the next player! • “I’d like to do some research.” Here you'll have to ask the player to be a bit more specific: what kind of information do they seek and where? If they answer "I want to learn about the nearby ruins, and so I'll ask around in taverns and make a trip to the local library", you'll have to say "Well, spending times with drunks or studying books requires some time, that would be two actions, and you can only have one: taverns or library, what will it be?". This helps players prioritise what their character wants or needs to do. If you're playing online, this is a life-saver as it avoids players cutting each other off. As any rule in this game, see it as a guideline: players should still talk between themselves to come up with crazy plans. Think of Turns as a metronome that only the GM can hear and helps pace the session. Rules 12 – Black Sword Hack –

The Attribute Tests When a character wants to do something that has a chance of failure, the player makes an attribute test by rolling a d20. The attributes description on p. 20 will tell you which one to use depending on the situation. • The roll is under the attribute: the character succeeds. • The roll is on or over the attribute: the character fails or succeeds at a cost. What is succeeding at a cost? This is meant as a way to avoid a game stalling simply because of a failed roll. Here are a few examples tied to specific situations: - Stealth: “You manage to stay hidden but leave traces of your passage behind you...” - Study: “You find the information you seek but attract unwanted attention” or “The information is incomplete and points to an unexpected direction...” - Climbing: “You don't fall off the cliff, but you lose your sword...” (or another important item). - Survival: “You find water and food but the quality is so bad you don't get the benefits of a long or short rest. You're not starving though...” - Influence: “Your target interlocutor agrees with you but asks for more...” (more money, more information, more time, whatever fits the situation). CRITICAL SUCCESS AND FAILURE No matter what the circumstances are: • A roll of 1 is always a critical success. • A roll of 20 is always a critical failure. For attack rolls, a critical success means the character does maximum damage and adds another damage die on top. Whatever the roll, a critical failure means you have to roll your Doom die immediately. THREAT LEVEL When a roll affects an NPC or creature (intimidation, influence, combat, etc.), and their level is higher than the character's, the player must add the level difference to the roll. GROUP TESTS In a group effort, if half the characters succeed at their attribute test, the whole group does. This is useful when all characters try to be stealthy (Dexterity test) or need to push forward while crossing a mountain pass (Constitution test). In short, use this rule whenever the characters are doing the same thing and are able to help each other. Advantage and disadvantage Having Advantage or Disadvantage on a roll means that you roll two dice: • Advantage allows the Player to choose which result to use. • Disadvantage means the GM chooses the result to use. - For the GM: use this rule to reflect bad or good conditions that can influence an attribute test or a roll, this might be a strained relationship (they try to bribe a guard that dislikes them for example) or having the right tools for the job. - For the player: try to create situations where your character can get Advantage: find a better position, help another character, offer a bribe, etc. Advantage and Disadvantage can apply to all die rolls: attribute tests, damage rolls, and any Usage die (see below). If a roll happens to have both Advantage and Disadvantage, they cancel each other (no matter how many Advantages and Disadvantages you have). – Black Sword Hack – 13

Usage Die (Ud) Some things in the game are represented by a Usage die (Ud) to model the fact that they are available in limited quantities. In Black Sword Hack we like to use this mechanic to represent mostly abstract resources: such as influence, debts, etc. The Usage die should be seen as a "push your luck" mechanic. It can grant you some advantages, but it can also blow up in your face at the worst possible moment. Some games use this mechanic to manage concrete resources like rations, or arrows. Not so in Black Sword Hack. Counting 20 arrows is not rocket science nor is recording the use of a week's worth of rations. A Usage die should represent something important, not the content of one's backpack. When a resource is used, you roll its Usage die; a result of 1 or 2 means the Usage die is downgraded to the next smallest die: Ud20>Ud12>Ud10>Ud8>Ud6>Ud4 When you roll a 1 or 2 on a Ud4, the resource is depleted. As a guide, the average number of uses until the die is depleted for each Ud is as follows: Ud20: 30 - Ud12: 20 - Ud10: 14 - Ud8: 9 Ud6: 5 - Ud4: 2. An Example: During the campaign, the GM thinks that an NPC, a mercenary, owes a debt to one of the player characters who saved their life. The GM decides to represent this debt as a d6 Usage die. What does this mean? Each time the PC asks the mercenary for help, they roll the debt Ud. Once the die is depleted, the mercenary will consider their debt paid and will no longer help the character for free. Distances Black Sword Hack uses four ranges: Close, Nearby, Far away, and Distant. Moving one range requires one move. Depending on the length of a Turn, the actual distance covered by the character will vary. For example in combat: For example in combat: Close • 1,50 m • 1 square Nearby • 10 m • 6 squares Far away • 20 m • 12 squares Distant • Beyond 20 m Outside of combat, measuring distances can be important in situations like chases. For example: - Hadidja the Swift pursues her target on the rooftops of the Jade City. The target is Far away, meaning Hadidja has to cover two range bands to get close to her target (from Far away to Nearby, and then from Nearby to Close). The GM simply asks Hadidja's player to make Dexterity tests. Once they get two successes, Hadidja catches up with her target but if they get two failures first, the target runs away. - Our band of heroes has entered an underground necropolis. The GM decides that the tomb the characters are looking for is Distant, so it takes three moves to reach it (from Distant to Far away, from Far away to Nearby, and then from Nearby to Close). How long should each Turn last? The GM wants the necropolis to be pretty big, so they go for a half-hour Turn length. Their choice is based on the average speed of a walking human (5 km/3 mi per hour). TURNS AND DISTANCES Using Turns with distances will help you keep track of the passage of time. Even using an overland map, always make sure the players know how long a journey can 14 – Black Sword Hack –

take. As a rule of thumb, characters travel at 5 km (3 miles) per hour when walking, 55 km (35 miles) per day on horseback, 200 km (120 miles) per day on a sailing ship. These numbers assume good travel conditions (roads or trails, wind, etc.). Divide them by two otherwise (off-road travel, rain, rough sea...). Perception When characters are actively looking for something, they find it. If the time taken to find it is a factor, ask for an INT test. Doom Once they decide to go adventuring, the characters bring the attention of Law and Chaos on themselves. This is represented by the Doom die. Each time a character goes beyond their limits and tempts fate, they must roll their Doom die: the forces of Law and Chaos can, and will, turn the tide one way or another. The Doom die is a Usage die; when it is depleted, the character has brought doom upon themselves. In game terms the Doom die is usually rolled when a character: • Takes the same action twice during a combat Turn (roll before making the test)*. • Uses a Gift that requires it. • Gets a critical failure on an attribute test. The Doom die returns to its maximum after the character has taken a long rest. Players can choose to "call on Doom": roll Doom and subtract the result from an attribute test. The Doom die is automatically downgraded without rolling. No Doom die anymore? You can't use actions requiring you roll it. Once the Doom die is depleted, the character is considered Doomed. All their attribute tests and damage rolls are made with Disadvantage until the character can take a long rest. – Black Sword Hack – 15 *If the action already requires a Doom roll, this one is made with Disadvantage.

Blood and Souls! First and foremost, the players roll all the dice in combat: when monsters attack, the players simply roll to defend. INITIATIVE At the beginning of a combat, every player makes a WIS test. Those who succeed act before the opposition (monsters and enemy NPCs), starting with the player seated at the left of the GM. The rest act after the opposition, once again, in a clockwise fashion. • A critical success on the initiative roll means you get three actions instead of two on your first turn. • A critical failure on the initiative roll means you only get one action instead of two on your first turn. WHAT CAN YOU DO? During their turn, your character can take two actions (move, attack, use something, cast a spell, etc.). Don't forget you must roll your Doom die if you take the same action twice. ATTACKING • Using a melee weapon: make a STR test. • Using a ranged weapon: make a DEX test. A successful attack deals damage (you roll your damage die). A critical success deals maximum damage, and you add another damage die on top of that. DEFENDING Defending is done during the enemy's turn; it doesn't count against the two action limit you get during your own turn. You can defend as many times as you need during your turn. • Parrying: make a STR test • Dodging: make a DEX test Note: The character must be holding something to be able to parry. Ranged attacks can only be dodged. A failed defence roll means you take damage. A critical failure means your armour is ignored (see below). THREAT LEVEL If an opponent’s level is higher than the character’s level, the player adds the difference between the two levels to the d20 when making any attribute tests to attack (if the character's level is higher, no modifier is applied). WEAPONS AND DAMAGE Characters are trained fighters: the damage they cause with any weapon is the same (normally 1d6). Their unarmed damage is 1d4. These may change with Backgrounds (p. 24) and Gifts (p. 31). ARMOUR The armour's protection rating is subtracted from the incoming damage (which can be reduced to zero). Combat 16 – Black Sword Hack –

SHIELDS Shields give you Advantage to your defence tests when parrying. At the GM's discretion, they may let you use your STR to defend against arrows. A critical failure means the shield is broken. TWO-HANDED WEAPONS These weapons give you Advantage to their damage rolls. ATTACK EFFECT If you want to add an effect to your attack, say so before you make your attribute test and then make a Doom roll. NPCs don't have access to weapon effects. • Break: you break your opponent's weapon (or a piece of equipment). • Brutal: add the Doom die's result to the damage you inflict. • Disarm: you do no damage, but your target is disarmed. • Entangle: you do no damage, all further attacks against the target during this Turn are done with Advantage. • Flurry: inflict regular damage and immediately get an additional attack. • Pin down: inflict regular damage and your target cannot move this Turn. • Sacrifice: inflict double damage (triple if your attack is a critical hit) but your weapon breaks. • Shove: you do no damage but push your opponent (to the ground, overboard, etc.). • Sweep: damage everyone Close to you (friend and foe). • Vicious: inflict regular and ongoing damage (Ud4). ONGOING DAMAGE Things like acid, poison, or fire deal ongoing damage. Roll for damage using a Usage die (generally Ud4 or Ud6) each Turn until the die is depleted. There should always be ways to stop the damage, like jump in water to douse the flames or apply anti-venom unguent. HIT POINTS When a monster's or NPC's hit points reach 0, they are dead. At 0 hit points a character is Helpless, unable to do anything except talk feebly. Once the fight is over (or the character is dragged to a safe place), the player rolls a d6: Helpless (d6) 1. Scratched: the character is good to go except for a new scar. 2. Missed: one random piece of equipment is destroyed. 3. Impaired: Disadvantage on DEX tests for the rest of the session. 4. Injured: Disadvantage on all attribute tests for the rest of the session. 5. Butchered: lose 1 point of (roll a d6): 1-3: STR, 4-6: DEX permanently. 6. Killed: create a new character (of the same level). A surviving character (results 1 to 5) immediately gets d4 HP back. Recovery As soon as they opted for a life of violence, characters have shown an unnatural capacity to heal. It is said that the powers of Law and Chaos tend to favour those who fit into their plans. Anyone witnessing the PCs' unnatural healing grows suspicious of them. People associated with the powers that be usually bring bad luck and death with them... In game terms, it simply means player characters recover HP by taking a short rest or a long rest. Everyone else needs medical attention and several weeks of bed rest. • Short rests can be taken anywhere: they last 1 hour, characters recover a number of hit points equal to half their CON score (rounded down). A character can take one short rest per day. • Long rests can only be taken in safe environments: they last 6 hours, and characters recover all their hit points. Their 18 – Black Sword Hack –

Doom dice are fully restored as well. Some backgrounds and gifts may require a long rest to refresh. This is mentioned in their description (see p. 24 and p. 31). What counts as a safe environment is up to the GM. It is usually a settlement of some kind with some degree of provided comfort. A campsite in the wilderness, where night attacks or interruptions are a possibility, is never a safe environment. You shouldn't expect to have long rests while in the wild. Combat Example Let us join two level 1 heroes, Morgelt and Akem as they face four cultists who don’t seem to be open to negotiation. GM: Make your wisdom rolls! Morgelt: Success! Akem: I must be doomed: 19! GM: Ok you’ll only get one action on this first round. Morgelt you go first what do you do? Morgelt: I charge them! Do I get a bonus? GM: You’re too close, roll your attack. They're level 2, so you add 1 to your attack roll. Morgelt: Success! I roll for damage...6! GM: This cultist bites the dust, how did you do it? Morgelt: Uh, I guess I just crushed his head with my mace. GM: Now it’s my turn, one of the cultists tries to stab you, how do you defend: parry or dodge? Morgelt: Parry and it’s a success! GM: Akem, two cultists go for you, how do you defend? Akem: I dodge, my Strength score is crap. GM: Ok, roll twice [one against each cultists] Once again, you get +1 to the roll [as the cultists are level 2]. Akem: One success and one failure... GM: One of the cultists successfully stabs you, you lose 3 HP. Akem it’s your turn, you only get one action this time because of your crappy initiative roll. Akem: Yeah I rolled a 1! That’s called karma, I stab this guy in the face! GM: Your damage die is a d6 so you do 6, plus another d6... You got a 5? That's 11 total, more than enough to kill this guy. New round of combat, Morgelt, you’re up! Morgelt: I attack twice, so I have to roll my Doom die first yes? GM: Exactly. You attack the same cultist twice? Morgelt: No, one attack is against the cultist attacking me the other one is against the one that is still attacking Akem if he’s close enough. GM: Yeah I guess you can [the GM thinks it’s not unreasonable, and it makes the fight more dynamic]. Morgelt:First my Doom die: I rolled a 4, I’m fine, I roll my two attacks: two successes, I roll damage I get a 1 and a 5. GM: You only scratched the one facing you but killed the other one. It’s his turn, he’s attacking you. Morgelt: I roll a parry and, fail, crap. GM: You take 3 points of damage. Akem it’s your turn. Akem: Hey! We’re both attacking this guy, don’t I get an advantage? GM: Well, no, you didn’t get a disadvantage when they were both attacking you? Akem_Fair enough. I roll to attack and it’s a success! I roll damage: 4! GM: They were already 1 HP, now they're seriously wounded. They drop their weapon and beg for mercy. What do you do? Morgelt: Let's take them prisoner. Maybe they'll give us some information about what's beyond this room in exchange for their life. Akem: Alright. But this was our first fight and I already lost 30% of my HP... Are you sure we should go on? Morgelt: Next time there will be more of them, and they’ll be waiting for us, we push forward. I have some healing balms in my rucksack. Akem_*Sigh* – Black Sword Hack – 19

Character Creation Creating a character is a three-step process: the player rolls their character's attributes, picks an origin and finally chooses backgrounds. • Strength (STR) Raw physical power. Use STR to... Bash skulls, parry, perform feats of brawn. • Dexterity (DEX) Deftness and agility. Use DEX to... Shoot people in the face, dodge, ride, pick locks. • Constitution (CON) The body's capacity to resist physical stress. Use CON when... Resisting fatigue, poison, or diseases, etc. • Intelligence (INT) The ability to apply one's knowledge to the situation at hand. Use INT when... Deciphering a dusty tome, looking for an enemy's weakness or the exit to a maze. • Wisdom (WIS) Steadiness in a stressful situation. Use WIS for... Initiative, overcoming fear, and resisting mental stress. • Charisma (CHA) A measure of a character's ability to influence others. Use CHA to... Persuade or intimidate NPCs. Attributes A character is made of six attributes. ROLLING ATTRIBUTES Roll 2d6 for each attribute in order and note its score using the table below: 2-3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10-11 12 8 9 10 11 12 13 20 – Black Sword Hack –

Origin Pick one of the following origins for your character: Barbarian, Civilised, or Decadent. We use these words loosely, the way they were in pulp novels: a barbarian hero may value honour and courage but might easily succumb to violence and superstition. A character coming from a civilised culture can cherish knowledge and progress but also be quick to deem others inferior or primitive. Decadent adventurers come from a doomed society, which could make them gloomy and miserable or carefree, just happy to survive another day. A character's origin is meant to springboard your imagination, not to turn your character into a cliché. BARBARIAN ORIGIN Your character was born (roll a d20)... 1 ...in a slave camp. 2 ...on an island just before the invaders came. 3 ...during your clan's last raid. 4 ...in an invading army's camp before you were kidnapped. 5 ...under the harsh sun, in the territory of a desert tribe. 6 ...in the hut of a banished druid. 7 ...in a stone circle shunned by your people. 8 ...among your Pict brothers and sisters after a bloody battle. 9 ...aboard a longship filled with Northern raiders. 10 ...nine months after a foreign mercenary married your mother. 11 ...while the rest of the Iron Horde was attacking a caravan. 12 ...in a civilized kingdom, but you were traded as a hostage. 13 ...in a cave network ruled by strange insectoid creatures. 14 ...in a palace, soon after raided by your adoptive tribe. 15 ...on the night your clan burned the Empire's capital. 16 ...in a forest clearing, denounced by the druids as a dark omen. 17 ...on the last ship of a seafaring clan. 18 ...inside a wicker statue about to be burned. 19 ...on the foreign ship bringing your family back home. 20 ...in the middle of a battle against your conquerors. Character Creation 22 – Black Sword Hack –

CIVILISED ORIGIN Your character was born (roll a d20)... 1 ...in the city's worst slums. 2 ...in the shadows of a theocracy. 3 ...aboard a plague ship, somehow the only survivor. 4 ...in a bustling mining town. 5 ...during an expedition searching for a mythical city. 6 ...on the street, as your family was fleeing revolutionary forces. 7 ...in a foreign land after your parents' ship got wrecked. 8 ...inside an invocation pentacle, near the sorcerer's body. 9 ...on the prison island where the monarch's political opponents are sent. 10 ...on the day the king was beheaded by your father. 11 ...aboard a ship sent to find a new maritime route. 12 ...in a military academy where your parents were teaching. 13 ...in a fortress later burned by your family's enemies. 14 ...in the biggest mansion of the city's merchant quarter. 15 ...in the middle of a mercenary camp. 16 ...in a secluded religious community. 17 ...in the dilapidated manor of your ruined family. 18 ...in an isolated farm on the frontier. 19 ...in the richest palace of the Caliphate. 20 ...in a hideout for the assassin's guild. DECADENT ORIGIN Your character was born (roll a d20)... 1 ...in a jewelled tower, symbol of a corrupt empire. 2 ...in the barracks of the slave soldiers. 3 ...in a disreputable brothel of the City of Thieves. 4 ...in the poppy fields owned by the Court's greatest sorcerer. 5 ...in the necropolis where you were raised by ghosts. 6 ...in a museum, as part of the permanent exhibition. 7 ...in the ruins of a crystal palace. 8 ...inside a monstrous creature killed by your adoptive parents. 9 ...as a vessel for the soul of a dying noble. The ritual failed. 10 ...in the last city of a dying species. 11 ...covered with the blood of your own people after a failed invocation. 12 ...in the arena's champion quarters. 13 ...in the servants quarters of a vampire's tower. 14 ...below the Empress's palace, among her slaves. 15 ...in the desiccated gardens of a dying desert city. 16 ...on a tropical island, just as it was beginning to sink. 17 ...in an asylum deep within the Forbidden City. 18 ...in the laboratory of the alchemist you called Father. 19 ...at the top of a pyramid of red obsidian. 20 ...in a hurricane summoned by your mother. – Black Sword Hack – 23

Pick three backgrounds: two tied to your origin and another one from any list. You cannot take two backgrounds described as unique. Backgrounds raise one of your attributes and have mechanical effects; they can also help define your character's motivations, potential allies and enemies, etc. BARBARIAN • Berserker (unique): When you go berserk, add a d6 to the damage you deal. The damage you receive is divided by 2. Your rage stops when you roll a 1 on the d6. You need a long rest to be able to go berserk again. +1 STR. • Chieftain: You can use Strength instead of Charisma when trying to intimidate someone. + 1 STR. • Herbalist: You can create d6 doses of healing balm (each one restores d6 + Level HP), hallucinogenic drugs, or poison (d6 damage per dose). You need a long rest close to nature to replenish your stock. +1 INT. • Hunter: In combat your first arrow always hits, and you add your level to its damage. +1 DEX. • Raider: When you get a critical success on an attack roll, you inflict damage equal to your Strength score (no need to roll the damage). +1 STR. • Scout: You get Advantage on your Initiative rolls. +1 WIS. • Shaman: You have made a pact with two spirits (see p. 29). +1 WIS. • Storyteller: You always know d4 interesting things about objects, places, or people (one roll per session). While you tell a story, your audience doesn't notice what happens Nearby. +1 CHA. • Survivor: It takes you d6 minutes to find something that can be used as a knife or club. +1 CON. • Wildling: You can take a long rest anywhere, regardless of the situation. +1 CON. CIVILIZED • Bodyguard: If you use an action to protect a Close character during your turn, you absorb any damage from attacks against them, but you divide it by two (rounded up). +1 CON. • Bookworm: You can substitute any attribute test with an INT test (explain how and why your knowledge helps you). Replenishes after a long rest. +1 INT. • Diplomat: You know two additional languages (see p. 25) and can make yourself understood by anyone willing to do so. If all you do is talk you can act first at the beginning of any combat Turn. +1 CHA. • Inventor (unique): You know how to build two scientific marvels (see p. 44). +1 INT. • Legionnaire: You are used to fighting in groups. Three times per session, a Nearby ally can re-roll a failed dodge, parry, or attack roll. +1 STR. • Sophist: You can make someone believe a blatant lie if you succeed at a CHA test. The "effect" lasts one hour. Works once per session. +1 CHA. • Street urchin: Get Advantage on actions involving stealth, pick-pocketing, eavesdropping, and streetwise. +1 DEX. • Surgeon: Make an INT test when attending someone with 0 HP. They roll a d4 on the Helpless table instead of a d6 if you succeed. +1 INT. • Sword master: You can use DEX instead of STR when making a melee attacks with one-handed bladed weapons. +1 DEX. DECADENT • Assassin (unique): Your first attack against an unaware target is an automatic hit that deals damage equal to your Dexterity score. +1 DEX. • Changeling: You were abducted as a baby and raised by very different folk. Choose two faerie ties (see p. 42). +1 CHA. • Forbidden knowledge: You start the game with 4 randomly selected spells (see p. 38). +1 INT. • Pit-fighter: Your unarmed damage is equal to your weapon damage. +1 STR. • Snake blood: You're immune to poisons and venoms. +1 CON. • Vicious: Your weapon damage die is now d8 (d6 unarmed). +1 STR. • Warlock: You have a pact with two demons (see p. 34). +1 CHA. Backgrounds 24 – Black Sword Hack –

Don’t leave without... HIT POINTS Your hit points (HP) total is equal to your CON score. DOOM All characters start with Ud6 as their Doom die. WEAPON AND UNARMED DAMAGE Characters start with d6 weapon damage and d4 unarmed damage. STARTING EQUIPMENT Characters usually begin their adventures with a set of clothes, a few coins depending on their origin, and two weapons. • Barbarian origin: 25 coins • Civilised origin: 50 coins • Decadent: 100 coins For your two weapons roll two d10s on the tables on page 29. Roll once on the table tied to your origin and once on the table of your choice. A result of 0 (or 10) means no weapon with that roll. – Black Sword Hack – 25 LANGUAGES All characters probably speak Thyrenian and another language tied to their origin. Discuss this with the GM. • Alashan... a corrupt empire mired in corruption • Amaric... the Caliphate • Askavian.... a dusty, crumbling empire • Chalidim.... the desert tribes • Duhuang... the Forbidden City and the Eastern Principalities • Jurka... the Iron Horde • Naruan... the Golden Archipelago • Pictish.... Picts from the highlands • Thyrenian... the Merchant league • Urgic... Northern raiders

Who lent you the money? 1. a noble 2. a painter 3. a mercenary 4. a merchant 5. a scientist 6. an assassin 7. a foreign spy 8. a smuggler 9. the local hermit 10. a religious figure 11. the thieves’ guild 12. you found the money on a corpse you chanced upon 13. a sorcerer 14. a circus owner 15. an ambassador 16. an innkeeper 17. an errant knight 18. the local arena’s owner 19. a bounty hunter 20. a demon in disguise Which job did you accept? Roll on each table. 1. find 2. follow 3. steal 4. scare 5. hurt 6. guard 1. a corrupt 2. a wanted 3. a rebel 4. a famous 5. an unfaithful 6. an ambitious 1. noble 2. merchant 3. thief 4. mercenary 5. poet 6. inquisitor Equipment Cost of living At the beginning of each adventure, characters lose a number of coins equal to their CON. This represents their daily expenses between two adventures. If your character couldn't or wouldn't pay, they can either have taken a job or loan (roll on one of the tables below): . 26 – Black Sword Hack –

Price List WHY VARIABLE PRICE? Some items may be rare or plentiful according to the place you find yourself in or the state of the economy. Instead of modelling all these variables with numerous game mechanics we opted for a simpler rule: want to buy something? Roll to know how much it's going to cost you. As always the GM is encouraged to make a ruling if a price doesn't make sense (or even better, come up with an interesting explanation!). Poisons & Drugs Here is a bunch of poisons, herbs and drugs listed according to their effects. Prices should vary between d6x10 and d6x100 depending on context. • Anaesthetics (Succeed at a CON test or fall asleep), Witchdrop, Snowseed • Death (Succeed at a CON test or die) Blackseal, Nooseberries • Hallucinations (Succeed at a CON test or lose touch) Prophet's thistle, Dragonweed • Healing (heal d6 HP) King's laurel, Angel tail • Pain (Succeed at a CON test or have Disadvantage on all rolls) Trollbark, Blood ash • Stimulant (get the benefits of a short rest) Hawkleaf, Steel seeds • Spider cress, Plague root * The main difference between peasant and noble clothes are the colours. Nobles and rich merchants can afford all sorts of cloth while peasants are usually dressed in white, grey, or brown clothes. Wearing raven black or bright colours means you have money. Beware! At the GM's discretion, high or low quality drugs can affect the CON test (Disadvantage for high quality drugs, Advantage for cheap ones). Low quality costs d6x10 coins, high quality costs d6x100 coins. D6 COINS A night at the tavern A hearty meal Backpack Clothes (peasant)* Grappling hook Mirror Oil flask Parchment, ink and quill Rations (per day) Rope Scrolls Waterskin Whistle Wooden stakes D6 x 10 COINS Boots Caltrops Clothes (noble)* Crowbar Drugs and poisons Holy water Lantern Light armour Musical instrument Saddle bags Shovel, pick, etc. Simple weapons Spyglass Tent Waterproof case D6 x 100 COINS Cart or wagon Gem Horse Medium armour Metal weapons (sword, battle axe...) 28 – Black Sword Hack – Weakness (Disadvantage on all physical rolls)

Weapons Armour & Shields Suits of armour come with a protection rating: this number is subtracted from most damage the character receives in combat. Light Protection 1 Hide, leather, gambeson... This kind of protection can be found everywhere for cheap. Medium Protection 2 Breastplate, lorica, studded leather, ring armour, brigandine, chain mail... These are usually issued to soldiers and warriors, you won't find them on a market stall. You're free to take them from dead enemies though. Heavy Protection 3 Full plate armour Usually tailored to a specific individual. It is very unlikely the characters will ever acquire this type of armour unless they find themselves on a battlefield. Shields You get Advantage when rolling to Parry. On a critical failure your shield is broken. *Two-handed weapons give Advantage on damage rolls. BARBARIAN WEAPONS 1. Bone bow* 2. Chakram 3. Claymore* 4. Hunting knife 5. Iwisa 6. Spear* 7. Nomad scimitar 8. Raider’s great axe* 9. Warhammer CIVILIZED WEAPONS 1. Cestus 2. Dagger 3. Engraved longbow* 4. Executioner's cleaver* 5. Flail 6. Katana 7. Legion gladius 8. Rapier 9. Pilgrim’s staff* DECADENT WEAPONS 1. Blood metal sickle 2. Crossbow* 3. Inquisitor's long sword* 4. Maul 5. Razor whip 6. Rusted harpoon 7. Scythe* 8. Shiv 9. Serrated sword – Black Sword Hack – 29

Experience Each time a character survives an adventure, they gain a story: write down the title of the adventure on your character sheet (or make one up). Characters gain a level once they have a number of stories equal to their current level. The maximum level a character can reach is 10. 2. +1 to an attribute (maximum score is 18), +1 HP 3. Gain a gift, +1 HP 4. +1 to two attributes (maximum score is 18), +1 HP 5. Gain a gift, +1 HP 6. +1 to an attribute (maximum score is 18), +1 HP 7. Gain a gift, +1 HP 8. +1 to two attributes (maximum score is 18), +1 HP 9. Gain a gift, +1 HP 10. Your Doom die is now a Ud8 LEVEL & ASSOCIATED BENEFITS TOO SLOW? You can certainly run a faster paced campaign. Consider each session as a chapter from a character's story. Give each chapter a title and proceed as above. 30 – Black Sword Hack –

GIFTS OF BALANCE Fortress of the mind get Advantage on your attribute tests when resisting spells. Meditation Your Doom die replenishes after a short rest. Second wind Regain a number of HP equal to your level once per day, even in combat. Spirit alliance Get Advantage when summoning a specific spirit (see p. 36). Survivor’s luck Once per game session, ignore all damage done by an attack but lose a weapon in the process. GIFTS OF CHAOS Armour of scars You reduce the damage you receive by 1 when you're not wearing any armour. Bloodlust Upgrade your damage die by one size. Dark revelation Make your Torn Veil rolls with Advantage (see p. 38). Dubious friendships Make your Demon's revenge rolls with Advantage (see p.34). Paranoid You have Advantage on your initiative tests. GIFTS OF LAW Battle hardened In combat, you get a critical success on an unmodified roll of 1 to 3. Resourceful Replenish a Usage die (except Doom) once per session without needing a rest. Riddle of steel One of your weapons now inflicts d12 damage but if you get a 1 on its damage roll, it breaks. Tough as nails If you survived after rolling on the Helpless table, add your level to the HP you get back. Will to live You get Advantage when you roll on the Helpless table. Each Gift can only be taken once. Gifts can come from the powers of Balance, Chaos, or Law. A time may come when these choices affect your character... The GM will find more information about this in the Endgame section (p. 70). Gifts – Black Sword Hack – 31

32 – Black Sword Hack –

& OTHER VILENESS Signing a pact with immortal creatures made of deviousness, rage and hatred? You're welcome to try. Such bargains tend to blur the line between master and servant. Whatever your original intentions, working with demons and practising magic means you'll be serving Chaos in the end. – Black Sword Hack – 33 Use Responsibly The game gives you rules for sorcery, demon pacts, spirit alliances, faerie ties, and twisted science. This doesn't mean you have to include them all! Choosing only a couple will make your campaign more strongly themed. Some powers may also be mastered by NPCs only (sorcery jumps to mind here). And of course, ask your players if they have preferences!

INVOKING A DEMON POWER Roll your Doom die, with Disadvantage if it isn't the first time you summon a demon today (this resets after a long rest). If the Doom Usage die is depleted while invoking a demon, roll on the Demon's revenge table below. Additionally, if the Doom die rolls a 1, there is a side effect (detailed in the demon's description). Demon’s revenge (d6) 1. You cannot invoke this demon until the next sunrise 2. The demon steals one of your possessions 3. The demon destroys a weapon belonging to one of your allies 4. The demon pays itself in blood: lose d6 HP 5. Broken pact: you cannot invoke this particular demon ever again 6. The demon appears and inflicts you 3d6 damage before wandering off. The pact is broken (as above) DEMON MANIFESTATION As a rule, demons are never seen, as they don't need to appear physically to influence their targets. Demonic magic is insidious, drawing its strength from the weaknesses of its victims. The name of the summoned demon must be clearly spoken by the warlock. CREATING A NEW PACT It is of course possible for a character to form a pact with a demon during play. It always should be arduous and the result of a dangerous adventure or quest. How to find the demon you seek 1. By killing its master, a prominent figure in this town 2. In a well, posing as a divining spirit, spreading awful rumours 3. In the queen's secret jewel cabinet 4. Hidden inside a map, on the shelves of a forgotten library 5. Inside a small gem owned by a clueless noble 6. In a cup used by a cult to drug their acolytes 7. In the memories of an amnesiac Chaos priest 8. In the broken sword of a banished Templar 9. Trapped in the wedding ring of an undying king 10. In a cryptic tome, sealed by another demon 11. In the breastplate of a dead knight left on a battlefield 12. Inside a stone circle, ready to serve whoever can best it in a duel. 13. Haunting the castle where its last master was murdered 14. Enslaved by a powerful oracle Characters with the Warlock background have two demons at their service (choose their types opposite). Demons are associated with Chaos but have no trouble serving someone aligned with Law or Balance. 34 – Black Sword Hack – Demonic Pacts

15. Inside the heathen reliquary that releases it once per month 16. Carved on the gravestone of an emperor 17. Inside the only toy owned by an orphan 18. In the liver of the Inquisitor it is possessing 19. Hidden in its castle, on a nightmarish demonic plane 20. In the mouth of a dead dragon, guarded by superstitious locals DEMON TYPES Abyss - The target becomes monstrous, misshapen, or disfigured; an object of fear and disgust for the next d6 hours. On a roll of 1 the effect is permanent. Envy - The target tries to take a specific object of your choosing that is in its sight, by force if necessary. On a roll of 1, the object is a piece of your equipment. Fear - You learn your target's deepest fear. On a roll of 1, they learn your deepest fear as well. Greed - Creates 4d6 fake coins that will revert to their natural state (beans, rocks, whatever you had on hand) within one hour. On a roll of 1, the demon steals 4d6 coins from you (or your allies) as well. Hate - Your target verbally abuses someone of your choosing for d6 minutes. On a roll of 1, you shout insults at your target as well. Isolation - No one seems to care about the target: it can't be heard or seen for d6 hours. On a roll of 1, you cannot see them either. Gluttony - Your target attacks (randomly selected) people and tries to eat them. It stops when they have eaten 2d6 HP worth of people. On a roll of 1, the target wants to eat you. Nightmare - The target loses sleep for the night: all attribute tests made against them have Advantage on the following day. On a roll of 1, anger takes over and tests against the target are made with Disadvantage instead. Oblivion - The target disappears from everyone's memories for the next d6 hours. On a roll of 1, the demon steals one Background from you as well. You will recover it after a long rest. Ruin - Breaks a piece of equipment which can be up to the size of a cart. On a roll of 1, a piece of your own gear breaks as well. Sloth - The target falls asleep. On a roll of 1, they never wake up. Suspicion - Choose someone in sight as the object of your target's suspicions. On a roll of 1 you become the centre of the target's attention. Wrath - The target becomes berserk and attacks everyone in sight, seeking to inflict pain rather than kill. On a roll of 1, you are affected as well. Demon names (d20) 1. Beleth - 2. Abaddon - 3. Ulshedra - 4. Marduk - 5. Raum - 6. Halphas - 7. Ashurban 8. Ordog - 9. Charun - 10. Surgat - 11. Ahriman - 12. Wissigo - 13. Furcas - 14. Keldim 15. Gorgo - 16. Rahab - 17. Gaki - 18. Samnu - 19. Namtar - 20. Baalberith – Black Sword Hack – 35 FREE-FORM DEMONISM GMs should be open to players using demon invocation in a more open-ended way, using the above effects as mere guidelines. They should just keep the following principles in mind: demons reinforce or exacerbate the worst traits of their targets. The tricky part is coming up with a backlash when the player gets 1 on the Doom roll. As a baseline, the effects of the demon's influence become permanent (especially for innocuous powers) or they affect the warlock as well (well suited for offensive powers).

The spirit world is one parallel to our own: demons don't exist there. Spirits represent the raw power of nature: animals, storms, savagery... They're not aligned with any specific power. You can find Law, Balance, and Chaos in nature. Characters who have the Shaman background have two spirits at their service. Choose them from the list below. 36 – Black Sword Hack – Spirit Alliances CALLING A SPIRIT Roll your Doom die, with Disadvantage if it isn't the first time you have summoned a spirit today (this resets after a long rest). Spirit use is more open-ended than any other type of power. Each spirit has its own guidelines; the goal is to help players make good use of their powers without going overboard. SPIRIT TYPES Ancestor spirit The wise counsel of an ancestor gives you Advantage to one attribute test. You must possess an object that belonged to the ancestor to be able to summon them. On a roll of 1 the ancestor disapproves of your action and gives you Disadvantage instead. Animal lord spirit All animal species have an animal lord: a being representing all the qualities that animal possesses See them as the "ultimate" version of an animal. The animal lord's subjects come to your help (but do not risk their lives doing so) or stop attacking you. On a roll of 1 the animals flee (or attack you if they are predators). Disease spirit The target is plagued with a non-lethal but debilitating disease, forcing them to be bedridden until a proper cure is found. On a roll of 1 the disease is contagious. Fire spirit An existing fire can be manipulated: doubled in size, given any shape or form, moved around, etc. It can inflict d6 damage (and then Ud6 ongoing damage). A roll of 1 makes the target fire die. Forest spirit This spirit can help you find your way, food, water, or shelter when you're in a forest (or jungle or whatever wild environment you have in your campaign). It can also summon plants that will hinder

your enemies (Advantage on attribute tests against them for one turn). A roll of 1 means the spirit makes sure you have a miserable time: no short or long rest for the next two days. Hunger spirit The target immediately searches for food and water and will not stop until it has eaten a full meal. A roll of 1 means the shaman is affected as well. Pain spirit Causing pain that prevents the target from acting for one Turn is a common use of this spirit. A roll of 1 means the shaman is afflicted at the same time. River spirit Water must be present and, as with a fire spirit, it can be manipulated in many ways: doubled in size, shaped, moved around, etc. On a roll of 1, the target body of water disappears. Wind spirit This spirit can be invoked to extinguish flames, dissipate toxic fumes, or even force humanoids to the ground. A result of 1 has the opposite effect: flames are fanned, toxic fumes move towards the shaman, etc. SACRIFICING A SPIRIT ALLIANCE A shaman can choose to sacrifice its relationship with a spirit to be granted a huge effect: create a firestorm, create a hurricane, summon a beast lord in the flesh. As a consequence, the shaman will be shunned by spirits of this type and denied any further alliances. CREATING A NEW PACT If you encounter or summon a spirit, you can attempt to bind it. There will always be a price. What price does the spirit ask for? 1. Destroy another spirit 2. Bind the spirit to your main weapon 3. Destroy a specific building (windmill, dam, sawmill...) 4. Make a pilgrimage in the spirit world 5. Bring the corpse of a shaman to hallowed grounds 6. Free it from another alliance 7. Permanently lose 1 hit point to seal the alliance 8. Renounce an alliance with another spirit 9. Imprison another spirit 10. Use it to kill a cult leader 11. Stop a creature that feeds on spirits 12. Let it feed on the enemies you kill 13. Close a gate to the spirit world 14. Follow a specific rule (don't eat meat, wear red, no alcohol, etc.) 15. Stop a disease spreading through the spirit world 16. Free an animal used as a pet by the local ruler 17. Let it possess your body for one day 18. Sacrifice your best weapon to seal the alliance 19. Give away d6x100 coins to seal the alliance 20. Find and kill a corrupted shaman – Black Sword Hack – 37

Sorcery Casting a Spell Make an INT test. If the spell was already cast on the same day, roll with Disadvantage. A failure means the spell cannot be cast before the character has taken a long rest. On a critical failure, roll on the Torn Veil table: Torn Veil (d6) 1. You cannot cast spells until the next sunrise 2. The spell's energy ravages your body: lose d6 HP 3. You provoke an explosion of arcane energy, causing d6 damage to anyone Nearby 4. Your body pays the price of your hubris: permanently lose 1 HP 5. Your mind is shattered by the magical energies: permanently lose 1 point of INT 6. A tentacled monstrosity appears and takes you to another plane RANGE AND DURATION Unless otherwise stated in its description, you must be able to see the spell's target. Spells that don't have a duration stated in their description end at the next dawn. HOW MANY SPELLS CAN I LEARN? You can learn a number of spells equal to your INT score. Spell List 1-2. Acid blood: You can turn 3 HP worth of your blood into acid. Does d6 damage or dissolves an item the size of a small book. 3-5. Animate mirror: You animate your own reflection in a mirror. It will attack anyone that passes near it (d6 damage). Lasts until dispelled or the mirror is destroyed. 6-7. Blood mark: You mark one of your possessions with your blood, permanently losing 1 hit point. You always know where the item is. If it is destroyed, or the mark is erased, your HP comes back. 8-10. Call the Id: You summon an invisible creature made of anger. It can remove a physical obstacle or inflict 2d6 damage before disappearing. 11-12. Curse of the mute: The target cannot speak. On a spellcasting roll of 1, the affliction is permanent. 13-14. Darkness: d6 targets are blinded for d6 minutes. 15-17. Dead man's map: The blood of a dead creature draws a map that indicates the rough location of the murderer. 18-20. Deafening scream: A horrendous scream paralyses everyone hearing it for a few seconds. Children and animals die. 21-22. Demon's breath: All light sources in the same room as you are extinguished. 38 – Black Sword Hack – Sorcery is Chaos using humans as conduits and letting them think they're in control. Of course, bending reality to your will has a price, but you are ready to let others pay it for you. Characters with the Forbidden knowledge background start with 4 randomly selected spells. Roll d100 on the list below.

A fire axlso starts in another room of the building. 23-24. Dream guardian: Animates a doll, puppet, or stuffed animal that stands guard while you sleep. It screams if it sees someone you haven't designated as friendly. The spell does not work during the day. 25-27. Dream message: Send a message to someone you know through a dream. The target has to be asleep, but no line of sight is required. 28-29. Fading memories: The target forgets all interactions with you in the last d6 hours (or years on a roll of 1). 30-31. Feather crash: The target survives an otherwise deadly fall. All their equipment is destroyed. 32-34. Feeding the fire: Make an existing flame burst by feeding it with your anger. Inflicts d6 damage to all Nearby targets. 35-36. Fireflies: You call forth a swarm of fireflies that give as much light as a torch. They disappear at the slightest sign of violence. 37-38. Fleabag: Assume the form of a dog until sunset or sunrise (whichever comes first). You cannot end the spell early. Your abilities and HP are the same and you can bite for unarmed damage. You can't talk but you can bark. 39-41. Ghost pains: The victim feels like they have lost something very important and believes the caster can give it back. 42-43. Gloomy Lullaby: Your target loses consciousness. A result of 1 on the spellcasting roll means the target will not wake up. 44-46. Greedy hand: One item the target holds in its hand flies to yours. On a casting roll of 1, the object is destroyed. 47-48. Guiding rat: When underground, summon a rat that guides you to the nearest exit. It must be fed d4 hit points worth of of blood to do so. 49-51. Hellhound: Turns a regular dog into a raging killing machine (Attack 11, Dodge 11, d6 damage, 10 HP). It dies at the end of the fight whatever happens. 52-53. Impotent arrows: All projectiles hitting the target of the spell during the next turn do no damage. On a spellcasting result of 1, your allies' projectiles are also harmless. 54-56. Inquisition: the target must be tied up. It is submitted to intense pain. It will answer d4 questions. The GM rolls the dice. If the caster asks more questions than the number rolled, the victim dies. 57-58. Iron ghost: Makes a weapon no larger than a sword invisible. The spell ends when the weapon is used. If the weapon does not injure anyone on the turn it is drawn, the sorcerer loses d6 HP. 59-61. Murmurs: The target hears strange voices whispering in their ears, revealing their darkest secrets. 62-63. Never-ending music: The target hears a repetitive tune in their head. All rolls against them are made with Advantage. 64-66. Poisonous projectile: You make a projectile or thrown weapon even deadlier. The victim dies in d6 minutes. 67-68. Portal: You create a portal to a place you already know. You end up totally naked on the other side. Other people must roll a d6 if they follow you: on a 6, they disappear… 69-70. Red trap: Make a small pool of your own blood (losing 2 HP until the spell is cancelled). Anyone stepping in the pool cannot move further. 71-72. Rotten fumes: Get Advantage on all tests made against those Nearby the target (human or object). The target is unaffected. Lasts d6 minutes. 73-75. Serpent bones: The target's body becomes boneless, allowing them to escape any bonds or to squeeze into tight passages. Lasts d6 minutes. 76-77. Sharing the pain: You transfer a loss of HP caused by a wound to a companion. 40 – Black Sword Hack –

78-79. Soundkiller: All sounds Nearby are muffled. The spell lasts 2d6 minutes and follows you around. 80-82. Soul-eater: You literally chomp on your target’s soul. They lose consciousness, or die if you get a 1 on your spellcasting roll. 83-85. Spontaneous combustion: Your target bursts into flames and suffers continuous damage (d4). If you roll a 1 on the spellcasting roll, everyone present bursts into flames. 86-87. Steal life: You steal d6 HP from a target you can touch. Your own HP cannot go beyond their maximum. 88-90. Tongue thief: You can speak up to six words through the mouth of your target. 91-92. Unnatural speed: The target can move to a Far distance on their Turn. On a 1, a randomly selected piece of the target's equipment is destroyed. 93-95. War drums: The target is experiencing all the horrors of war. Roll a d6: on 1-4 the target panics, on a 5-6 they go berserk. 96-97. Wine of death: The spell affects a jug or cup of wine you touch. Those who drink this wine quickly start looking for a fight. A result of 1 on the casting roll means the drinkers try to kill each other. 98-100. Withering: Your target has the strength and vitality of a 90-year-old for the next d6 hours. Finding and Learning New Spells Spells are tools of power, sorcerers don't leave them lying around. Finding a new spell is an adventure in and of itself. Once you have the spell's formula, the item it is mystically bonded to, or a mentor to teach it to you, make an INT roll. A failure means you have to find another version of the spell and a critical failure means you can never learn this specific spell. – Black Sword Hack – 41 Where is that spell? 1. In the hands of an entombed queen waiting to be awoken. 2. Hidden in a treasure map that leads to a trap. 3. Engraved on the bones of an ever living mummy. 4. In a block of ice, inside a long forgotten city waiting to rise again. 5. In the hideout of a bloodthirsty gang. 6. In an underwater temple guarded by ghost sharks. 7. In the bag of a sorcerer's apprentice who murdered their master. 8. Half of the spell was sent to you with an invitation to a distant castle. 9. In a bookshop located in a besieged city. 10. On a sacrificial blade owned by a remorseful priest. 11. In the hold of a pirate ship with the rest of the loot. 12. In the hands of a skeleton, the latest victim of the Fanged Forest. 13. A voice in your head says "Spill the blood of a friend on a black stone slab". 14. Engraved on top of a pillar said to reach to the heavens. 15. Encoded in the text of a lost play that turns its audience into monsters. 16. Tattooed on the backs of its conceptor's three children. 17. In the cellar of a retired inquisitor. 18. Hidden inside your mind, revealed when you're down to 0 HP. 19. Hidden in a painting that gives nightmares to most people. 20. On a moon, near the wreck of a strange ship.

42 – Black Sword Hack – Faerie Ties The Changeling background lets players choose two ties with the realms of Faerie. New ties can be made during play at the GM's discretion. Barrow wisdom You learned some rudimentary necromancy. You can speak with the dead, provided either their body or soul is nearby. The dead are rarely cooperative. They may demand a price, but you can also attempt to force them to do something or answer a question (WIS test required, decrease your Doom die). Cauldron of gold You own a magical gold bezant (worth 100 coins) that always finds its way back to your purse after 1d8 dawns. It is part of a treasure of immense value towards which it could lead you, if only you knew the right charm...

Changeling knowledge As a human adopted by the fey, you learned all about (choose two): hunting and tracking, history and myth, courtly manners and intrigue, philosophy and metaphysics, strategy and tactics, metallurgy and mining, or some other subject (with the GM’s approval). Roll with Advantage when making a test relevant to your area of expertise. Cold iron weapon You inherited, stole, or otherwise came into the possession of a legendary blade. It has a name and a legend, perhaps also a dark prophecy. It deals an extra d6 damage to all denizens of faerie. Doomed to greatness Once per day, you can roll your Doom die with Advantage. After you do so, it takes 1d3 long rests to go back to its maximum. Dwarf deceit You get Advantage when lying or sneaking with the intention to do harm. Elfin secret You learned how to (choose): speak to birds, make plants obey a one-word command, become invisible to mortals, enthral a lover, divine one’s most secret desire, make (nonaggressive) mortals tremble with fear. If you use this secret more than once per day, roll your Doom. Silversmith sorcerer Your master taught you how to weave spells into your jewellery. Roll for two spells from page 40. You know how to bind them to one of your creations at the cost of 1d6 x 100 coins and 3d6 days of work. The bearer of one of your items can cast the spell as if they were a sorcerer. Skinwalker You know the spells needed to turn into an animal while wearing a specially prepared pelt. You can own two of these pelts at any time. Trollish ruggedness Add +1 to the protection of any type of armour you wear. True faith You know how to fight the fey with fire, faith, and iron. Roll your Doom die to dispel one magical effect of fey origin. Witchsight You can see through the veil that hides the realms of faerie. Elves, trolls, and other magical beings are always visible to you. You may be able to see magical auras and detect illusions with a successful WIS roll. – Black Sword Hack – 43

Twisted Science Building a Marvel Your character makes gadgets and other devices using invention points. You get as many invention points as your INT score at the beginning of the week. The cost of each marvel is indicated in brackets after its name. You must have access to a well equipped workshop to build a marvel. Your invention points reset at the beginning of each week. MAINTENANCE Subtract half the cost of your gadgets that are still active from the invention points you get each week. The good news is you don't need a workshop to do maintenance work. GADGET COST You also need some materials to build your gadgets. As a rule of thumb, each marvel requires 20 coins worth of materials per invention point required. Same goes for the maintenance... USAGE DIE Unless they are single use items, your creations come with a Ud6. Roll it after each use (or after a fight for weapons). Twisted Science Marvels - Acid spray [2]: An enemy's weapon damage die is automatically downgraded by one step. - Blood-tinted spyglass [4]: The user can see any living being (with blood in their veins), even those hiding behind cover or in darkness. - Bomb [4] [Single-use]: D8 damage to anyone Nearby. A critical failure means the bomb explodes near you. - Firelance [6]: As the name implies, a ranged weapon that spits fire at your enemies. Add Ud4 ongoing damage to a successful attack. - Freezing warhammer [6]: Freezes any non-living matter it hits. Frozen objects are easy to shatter. On a roll of 20, when using the warhammer, the wielder suffers d6 frost damage and the hammer is destroyed. - Gas mask [2]: You'll excuse us if we don't follow the traditions of RPG writing and don't feel the need to always state the obvious: you know what a gas mask does. - Hallucinogenic gas [4] [Single-use]: Indoors only. Roll a d6 for every person in the room, 1-2: relaxed state making the Human ingenuity can produce wonderful gadgets and terrifying weapons. A character with the Inventor background can make the world a better place or burn it to the ground. 44 – Black Sword Hack –

target easy to influence, 3-5: vivid dreams, making users oblivious to anything happening around them, 6: nightmarish visions, lots of panicking and screaming. - Image crystal [4]: A small crystal that projects a human-sized (or smaller) image of your choosing. The image must be decided when you build the crystal. - Metal Owl [4]: An owl automaton that can follow simple orders (up to six words). It has 4 HP and can distract a foe but cannot attack. - Prosthetic limb [10]: No Usage die needed. Works as the original. Can be sacrificed to negate the damage from one attack. - Resurrection shot [4] [Single-use]: The target doesn't have to roll on the Helpless table (page 18) but needs to roll a d20. On a result of 20, they die (probably in a gruesome way). - Sleep box [4]: A music box that plunges every living creature hearing its melody into a trance. The Usage die roll tells you how long the effect lasts (in minutes). - Targeting monocle [4]: Lets you ignore any penalties on your ranged attack rolls (including those related to your target's level). - Terror gas grenade [2] [Single-use]: Roll a d6 for anyone breathing it. 1-4: they flee in terror, 5-6: they go berserk and add d4 to their damage. - Truth serum [4] [Single-use]: Once injected with the serum, they tell everything they know. Roll a d20. On a result of 15-20, the target dies before they can speak. Creating New Objects Steampunk novels, movies and animes are a great source of twisted science gadgets. Take 19th century and early 20th century items then add a dash of madness: X-ray goggles, two-way radios communicating with the dead, trench lightning gun, flashbang marbles, etc. – Black Sword Hack – 45

Runic Weapons Runic weapons are very powerful and extremely dangerous. They should be extremely rare, probably no more than two in your whole campaign world. These sentient weapons relish the pain they inflict to others but enjoy the suffering of their wielder even more. From the above, it should be obvious that runic weapons are usually associated with Chaos, though exceptions may exist in your world. Legends say that runic weapons are the result of the fusion of a blade and its wielder, often a champion of Chaos, Law, or Balance. Followers of Law and Balance usually dislike the idea of becoming immortal, even in such a way. A runic weapon has an Intelligence score (rolled the same way it is for characters, see p. 20). The GM makes an INT test for the weapon at the beginning of each session. If successful, the weapon will kill the character if they ever become helpless during that session. At the GM's discretion, the weapon can take the life of an important NPC instead. The... of... (roll on each column) Example: I roll 3, 8 and 10. Behold the Bastard Sword of Withering Light! (Or Witherlight, or the Witherer of Light...) 1. Warhammer 2. Rapier 3. Bastard sword 4. Cleaver 5. Lance 6. Scimitar 7. Dagger 8. Long sword 9. Axe 10.Naginata 11. Flail 12 Scythe 1. Eternal 2. Devouring 3. Bringer 4. Decaying 5. Silent 6. Flaying 7. Hunter 8. Withering 9. Past 10. Splitting 11. Everlasting 12. Last 1. Soul 2. Oblivion 3. Skull 4. Winter 5. Crow 6. Shadow 7. Death 8. Storm 9. Horde 10. Light 11. Dust 12. Curse 46 – Black Sword Hack –

A runic weapon can talk to its wielder through telepathy. The GM can do it but if the table agrees, a player can play the role of another's weapon. Players cannot "act" with the weapon in any way, but they can speak to the wielder now and then. The goal is to make sure the weapon has a personality that contributes to the story, not to make your friends' lives miserable. The weapon inflicts damage equal to one of the wielder's attributes, which gives a hint about the weapon's personality. The weapon seems to be made of.... (d12) 1. Bone 2. Obsidian 3. Quicksilver 4. Rusted metal 5. Engraved steel 6. Cold iron 7. Glass 8. Shell 9. Bronze 10. Stone 11. Coral 12. Mix two results 1. in the dead hand of a king 2 in the ashes of a funeral pyre 3. hidden in a monastery 4. in the hands of a young thief 5. inside a shipwreck 6. in the dreams of a poet 7. in the tomb of a priest 8. on a plague ship 9. in a forgotten asylum 10. on a floating island 11. in a monster’s belly 12. on the moon 13. inside a maelstrom 14. in a buried necropolis When an enemy is killed the weapon... (roll or pick according to the weapon’s name) 1. Devours their soul 2. Absorb their memories 3. Grants d6 HP back to the wielder 4. Turns their body to ashes 5. Their face appears as a tattoo on the wielder's body 6. Makes their body explode messily Runic Weapons Properties 1. STR (brutal, always calling for action) 2. DEX (vicious, often mocking the wielder) 3. CON (patient, treating the wielder as a child) 4. INT (cunning and distrustful, encouraging suspicion) 5. WIS (judgemental, always second guessing the wielder’s decisions) 6. CHA (prideful, pushing the wielder to be more ambitious) The weapon can be found... 15. in a secret library 16. in one’s own nightmares 17. at the emperor’s side 18. on a haunted battlefield 19. in the forge of dead gods 20. in a forbidden museum – Black Sword Hack – 47

Bestiary The following table tells the GM how much damage an average NPC of a specific level should be able to take (HP column) and dish out (damage column). Level HP Damage 1 5 4 2 10 5 3 15 6 4 20 7 5 25 8 6 30 9 7 35 10 8 40 11 9 45 12 10 50 13 ARMOURED OPPONENTS To avoid unnecessary arithmetics, simply add a few HP: 2 (light armour), 3 (medium armour) or 4 (Full plate or equivalent). VULNERABILITY & RESISTANCE A vulnerability means attackers get Advantage on their damage roll while resistance means they get Disadvantage on damage. Popular choices include fire, frost, lightning, Chaotic or Lawful attackers, etc. ENEMY MORALE Aside from the most die-hard fanatics, human antagonists will surrender or flee if they have less than 3 HP left or if they lose half of their forces. Same goes if the characters use runic weapons, magic, demons, or spirits against unsuspecting foes (and this may affect the characters' reputation as well). Antagonists are presented as follows: their name and level, a short description, traits or technical peculiarities, and actions (marked with ) they can take on their Turn. If an action can be avoided or stopped with an attribute test, the attribute is written in brackets next to the action's name. The number listed after is the damage if the test is failed. The GM is free to improvise actions as needed. A disarmed peasant can punch (if angry enough), a first born soldier can attempt to trip or shove a character when fighting on a narrow bridge, a giant boar can gore if it doesn't have enough room to charge, etc. The damage should fit with the other actions presented. Enemies get one action and one move each turn. They can't use the same action twice. NPC Stats On The Fly 48 – Black Sword Hack – See also Appendix X

ABERRATION [LVL 8] These horrors were created by the scientists and sorcerers of ancient civilisations. Designed for wars lost long ago, they still roam the world in search of prey – or maybe it is peace? - Terrifying: Characters seeing the aberration for the first time must roll Doom Acid spit (DEX): Destroys a point of armour or inflicts 10 damage to an unarmoured opponent Grab and squeeze (DEX): Suffer 5 damage each Turn until free (STR test) ANGRY PEASANT [LVL 1] You don't know when you're going to end up on the wrong end of a pitchfork held by a fearful farmer. Once at 0 HP, assume the mob flees. Pitchfork (DEX or STR): 3 Torch (DEX): Ud4 ongoing damage BLIND HUNTERS Children are taken (or bought) by vicious cult members who remove their eyes and pump them full of drugs for years, training them to become the ultimate hunters. Blind hunters will always find you. Vulnerability: sound-based attacks • SNIFFER [LVL 3] The sniffer's role is to distract you while the killer does the dirty work. Distract (WIS): target suffers Disadvantage during its next Turn Two short-swords (DEX or STR): 6 Flee: Moves twice this turn • KILLER [LVL 4] As the name implies, this individual has one very specific goal in mind that doesn't leave much space for negotiations. True arrow (DEX): 8, ignores armour Poisoned blades (DEX or STR): 6 + Ud4 ongoing damage Flee: Moves twice this turn DEMONS Demons range from minor servants tempting mortals to the dukes and queens of Hellworlds. They all have unique abilities linked to their types (see p. 34), inclinations, and demesnes. • INCORPOREAL DEMONS [LVL 3 to 6] When a demon escapes its summoner's control, it wanders the world looking for victims until recalled by its masters or summoned again. Temptation (WIS): use an ability from p. 35 Possess (WIS): take control of a human body until a WIS test is successful (causes 5 damage when leaving) Corrupt flesh (CON): 6 to 9 • INCARNATED DEMONS [LVL 7 to 10] Very rarely, a demon can possess the body of a powerful creature or particularly suitable person, making it a formidable killing machine and potent user of magic. Soon though, the body will break under the stress. A demon can also be encountered in its physical form when one visits a plane of Chaos. Talons, teeth, etc (DEX or STR): 10 to 15 Infernal weapon (DEX or STR): 5 to 10. If hit, INT test needed or become enslaved to the demon's will until the roll is successful At least one magical attack (DEX): affects all non-demons Nearby for damage according to level. Think firestorm, rain of rusty nails, swarm of flying worms, etc. EATERS OF THE DEAD Some remote tribes think they gain power by eating people's flesh. Their shamans tend to prove this is true, which is a bit disturbing. • VULTURE [LVL 2] For this warrior you're not a person, you're a meal. Crude weapon (DEX or STR): 6 Just a scratch: once per fight the Vulture halves the damage (round down) taken this Turn 50 – Black Sword Hack –