Black Sword Hack
Black Sword Hack _ UE _ 1.0.2
English version
- French version
1. Rules
1.1. 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.
1.1.1. 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.
1.1.2. 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.
1.2. 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.
1.2.1. 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).
1.2.2. 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.
1.2.3. 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.
1.2.4. 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.
1.3. 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).
1.4. 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.
1.5. 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).
1.5.1. 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).
1.5.2. 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 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...).
1.6. 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.
1.7. 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.