Sorcerer and Sword

Sorcerer and Sword

Conan! Elric! Kane! You!

Do you remember when morally ambiguous heroes cut bloody swathes through their worlds to reach terrible or glorious destinies? Do you remember when magic was a dark force to be feared and wielded only by the brave, at great cost to them and those they loved? Do you remember when a powerful story could be conveyed in fifty pages of speed-fueled mayhem instead of three bloated eight hundred page lumps of tedium? If this sounds like your idea of fantasy then let's build a world together!

Sorcerer and Sword is the pulp fantasy expansion for Ron Edwards's Sorcerer, providing the foundation for a game rich in foul back sorcery and necromancy. The mechanics are simple and elegant, the concepts strong, the gameplay very player-driven, but the background... Well, there isn't really one. That's where you come in.

My goal is for the entire group to create the game world, both through the character backgrounds and player input throughout the campaign. The first session will be given over to creating characters as a group, pooling ideas for a world and discussing what kind of game people want to play. This also includes deciding what kinds of stories and conflicts the players want, what demons actually represent in the world, and, for those familiar with Sorcerer, what is meant by Humanity.

Ideally the group will be no more than four players, all with a love and knowledge of pulp fantasy. My personal influences on these lines are Michael Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, Karl Edward Wagner and Clark Ashton Smith. You may have other sources you want to bring to the table, and I really hope you do. Creativity will be essential to the success of this game, so please don't expect to sit back and let the GM do all the work; this will be your story, not mine!