As a reader I have long been a fan of 鈥榩ulp noir鈥�.
The world of role play gaming has long been something I enjoy since 小蓝视频 introduced to Dungeons and Dragons about a quarter of a century ago.
So when I read an intro to Sword Noir on Kickstarter recently I was intrigued.
鈥淚magine a barbarian prince embroiled in the criminal underworld of a cosmopolitan city as they seek for an artifact in the shape of a falcon statue. Consider two accomplished thieves鈥攐ne an urbane duelist and the other a brawny skald鈥攈ired by a wealthy retired general to deal with a blackmailer, only uncover multiple murders tied to the general鈥檚 children. Envision hardboiled crime fiction in the worlds of sword & sorcery,鈥� details the intro, adding that鈥檚 Sword Noir.
鈥淚n the world of Sword Noir, the characters鈥� morals are shifting at best and absent at worst. The atmosphere is dark and hope is frail or completely absent. Violence is deadly and fast. Trust is the most valued of commodities-life is the cheapest. Grim leaders weave labyrinthine plots which entangle innocents. Magic exists and can be powerful, but it takes extreme dedication to learn, extorts a horrible price, and is slow to conjure.鈥�
It sounds like a great place to explore as a player character, and it gets better.
Inspired by mashing up the novels and stories of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Robert E Howard, and Fritz Leiber, Sword Noir: A Role-Playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery was first released in 2011 and became the basis for the Sword鈥檚 Edge RPG
鈥淣ow is the time for your characters to walk down mean streets, drenched in rain, hidden in fog, and unravel mysteries, murders, and villainy.鈥�
It was the mileau that had me seek out Canadian game creator Fraser Ronald of Sword鈥檚 Edge Publishing to learn more about Sword Noir and its creation, starting with what led to writing the RPG?
鈥淚 am a fan of both swords & sorcery and hardboiled detective fiction, and I realized there were a lot of similarities in tone, tropes, and characters between the two,鈥� he said via email. 鈥淚n my own sword and sorcery fiction, I recognized I was often using plots that wouldn鈥檛 be out of place in film noir鈥攆or example 鈥淔lotsam Jewel鈥� in Forgotten Worlds (issue 9), 鈥淔or Simple Coin鈥� in On Spec (issue 79), and 鈥淎 Dead Pound of Flesh鈥� in Black Gate (issue 15).
鈥淭he plot motivators are generally magical in nature, but otherwise the stories were similar. Calum鈥檚 search for a jewel in Flotsam isn鈥檛 unlike Sam Spade鈥檚 search for a black figure of a bird in San Francisco. I decided I wanted to bring the same noir atmosphere from my fiction into my gaming space, and so the kernel of the idea that led to Sword Noir was born.鈥�
But, the world of RPGs is a crowded one these days, why another one into such a market?
鈥淲hen I was working on Sword Noir, I developed a design goal that helped direct me. So for Sword Noir, the characters鈥� morals are shifting at best and absent at worst,鈥� reiterated Ronald. 鈥淭he atmosphere is dark and hope is frail or completely absent. Violence is deadly and fast. Trust is the most valued of commodities-life is the cheapest. Grim leaders weave labyrinthine plots which entangle innocents. Magic exists and can be powerful, but it takes extreme dedication to learn, extorts a horrible price, and is slow to conjure.鈥�
They are themes Ronald said he felt could offer an interesting gaming experience.
The game took a couple of years of design and playtesting before the release of the first edition in 2011.
鈥淭his second edition has been in the works since 2017,鈥� said Ronald. 鈥淚t certainly hasn鈥檛 been my only project in that time frame, but that was actually good. A lot of the lessons I was learning in other designs helped me as I was updating Sword Noir.鈥�
Interestingly the most difficult part of the process was not writing the rules, but having the rules thoroughly explored after creation. 聽
鈥淧laytesting, for me, is always the most difficult,鈥� said Ronald.
鈥淔irst, it is always difficult to find groups鈥攐utside of one鈥檚 own social circle鈥攚illing to undertake a playtest.
鈥淪econd, during a playtest, the designer is trying to fix issues that arise, but constantly changing the rules with each session creates difficulties for the players, and one may be unaware of a compensating factor if one is too quick to fix what is initially identified as a problem.鈥�
As for the strength of the game, it comes down to the characters Sword Noir will allow participants to fashion.
鈥淲hat I have tried to do鈥攁nd based on feedback have succeeded鈥攊s to have a system that allows a player to create an interesting character,鈥� said Ronald. 鈥淏ecause characters are designed using description, by describing the kind of character you want to play, you are pretty much building your character. The system is also built to reward characters acting in their niche鈥攚hich means that it feels satisfying for players because their characters feel like heroes.鈥�
Ronald said he thinks his game is interesting but not necessarily better than others. It is however an interesting gaming option.
鈥淚t almost feels like disparaging other games if I say Sword Noir does this and no one else does,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 will say that it seems like Sword Noir fills a very specific niche, one that I don鈥檛 think is generally serviced by other games. If having Conan tracking down red-haired Velma in Shadizar sounds exciting, Sword Noir is built for exactly that.鈥�
Of course as an RPG, Sword Noir is open to expand upon.
鈥淭here are a few possibilities,鈥� said Ronald. 鈥淭he canonic setting for Sword Noir is Everthorn鈥攁 former imperial capital fallen on hard times that remains a commercial power at the centre of the world.
鈥淚f there is interest, I could pursue a setting expansion for Everthorn.
鈥淭here are also three adventures that were released for the original game that could be updated.
鈥淗owever, I leave the decision to what project I will pursue next to the kind people who back me on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/FraserRonald), so any further expansions are left to their discretion.鈥�
