Tropes
Among the oldest of our stories are those of brave culture heroes and anti-heroes facing gods, demons, monsters, and villains in the course of their great deeds. Hercules. Gilgamesh. Sigurd. Fionn mac Cumhaill. Great adventurers taking on great tasks for fame, glory, profit, and vigorous aliveness.
Throughout literary history, tales of adventurers from Arthur and Lancelot through Ivanhoe continued the myth-inspired narratives of the questing hero. In the 1960s, a group of fantastic fiction writers including Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, and Michael Moorcock began to explore and codify the genre Moorcock christened “Sword and Sorcery”.
A group that wants to play a Sword & Sorcery campaign needs to understand the following tropes common to all subgenres.
A Wizard Did It
Magic and the supernatural comprise half the title of the genre. Stories can star magic-wielding protagonists such as Rhialto the Marvellous, mystical tricksters ala The Grey Mouser, or powerful items like The Golden Fleece. Wizards can be mysterious allies such as Merlin or Gandalf, or deadly opponents and obstacles like Mogan Le Fey and Sauruman.
Uses:
As the Yin of the dual core of the genre, a little bit of magic shows up in almost every tale. From the enemy wizard to the mysterious powers of the patron to the magic metal owl, down to the impossible, ecologically insane monsters of myth and fiction, Magic permeates the setting and and assists the plot.
Pitfalls:
Magic does not drive the plot. The story should always be about the heroes and their conflicts. Be careful not to make magic the focus of the campaign. Even a sorcerer is a person with loves, desires, hatreds, and personality flaws. Additionally, it is important to allow magic to remain semi-mysterious and unpredictable. When it becomes reliable infrastructure, Arthur C. Clarke would like to have a word with you about your setting being indistinguishable from how you currently go about your day with street lamps and cell phones.
By This Axe I Rule
The other half of the title. Heroes in Sword and Sorcery tales are often physically powerful and skilled combatants. For every Rhialto there is a Conan, for every Grey Mouser a Fafhrd, and the Golden Fleece is no match for a battleaxe that can cleave a man in twain. Merlin had his Mordred, and Gandalf dealt with Denethor.
Uses:
The Yang to magic's Yin are armed conflicts between individuals. Steel on steel, deft and powerful blows parried by stout, expertly maneuvered shields, until the final, fatal strike ends the melee.
Pitfalls:
As with magic, if your campaign becomes a series of endless swordfights with magic weapons, you may as well be playing a miniatures wargame. Remember the excitement is about why the heroes fight, and what they fight for (or against), not the actual battles. Additionally, it is important to avoid the kind of arms race that occurs in the real world. By the time you're carrying a golf bag full of magic spears and someone is working on a deployable tactical elemental city-leveling smart spell, it is too late.
Tricksy Hobbitses
Sadly unmentioned in the name of the genre but equally core to it are the clever heroes and wiley villains who have neither martial nor mystical might, but stand alongside the mighty warriors and mystical powerhouses on equal footing. Using nothing but guile, wit and agility, these rakish rogues provide the sneakier side of the winning equation.
Uses:
There are always traps, always small spaces, always precarious ledges and secret passages for the sneakier characters to exercise their expertise. Scouting is the natural talent of the stealthy, and quickly gathering information in badly lit dens frequented by lowlife is the purview of this kind of character.
Pitfalls:
If the Rogue can end the adventure without a sword swung or a spell cast, you've departed the genre entirely. At the very least, the violent art of the warriors and the flashing spells of the mystics should serve as a distraction... or to keep the hordes of menacing opponents at bay while the Rogue works on the lock that holds the Treasure!
Down The Rabbit Hole
Feats of daring-do, social justice, and personal redemption do not pay for sword oil and sandal repair. A hero's gotta eat. Monsters gotta eat to, and they prefer heroes. Fortunately, these problems solve each other in the Dungeon, where hungry monsters make their lairs near valuables. At the end of the day, someone is getting dinner.
Uses:
Very few major villains accommodatingly stand in an open field or town square waiting for the heroes to come challenge them. Those who do likely require ancient protected lore or specialized weaponry. These should be in a monster-infested dungeon as well, or at least a well stocked garrison fortress.
Pitfalls:
Again, many adventures and scenes should occur in non-dungeon settings, otherwise, we're back to miniatures wargaming. Additionally, remember that a “dungeon” is a limited choice flowchart of sorts. A boggy swamp at night is every bit as dungeony as an underground labyrinth.
Grail-Shaped Beacon
The prize is in sight, the island visible and in reach. The Princess is out of the dungeon, and it is just a matter of getting her home. Oh look, an army of Orcs suddenly wants to have words with your entrails. If it were easy, every farmhand and his prize heifer would be doing it.
Uses:
Never allow a straight progression from Problem to solution. Setbacks, false leads, and sudden changes of fortune keep the hero on their toes, build drama and suspense, and provide natural transition points in the narrative. In the end, the heroes will feel they have truly earned their victory.
Pitfalls:
If the hero never gets where they are going, and never manages to succeed, you may instead be playing Paranoia, Amber, or Erik the Viking. Every setback needs to have a way through, around, or an alternative route.
Sources:
That wraps up this installment of Tropes. Next time, we'll head back to the future as we examine Post-Apocalyptic gaming. Meanwhile, as a full accounting would fill an entire column, here's a very incomplete list of some past and present published games that deal with Sword & Sorcery gaming. Look them up in RPGNet's Game Index.
54 Fantasy (Worlds Of Adventure), A+ Fantasy (Jeff Moore), A Game Of Thrones (Guardians Of Order), A Song Of Ice And Fire (Green Ronin), Advanced Fighting Fantasy (Puffin Games, Arion & Cubicle 7 (Coming May 2011) ), Agon (one.seven design), Arrowflight (Deep7), Ars Magica (Lion Rampant, White Wolf, Wizards of the Coast, Atlas Games), Artesia (Archaia Studios Press), Atlantis: The Second Age (Morrigan Press), Barbarians of Lemuria,(Beyond Belief Games), Basic Fantasy (Chaosium), BASH! Fantasy Edition (Basic Action Games), Battleaxe (Sixteen Coal Black Horses), Broadsword (Deep7), Burning Wheel (Luke Crane), Cadwallon (Rackham), Castles & Crusades (Troll Lord Games), Chivalry & Sorcery (Fantasy Games Unlimited, Highlander Games, Britannia Game Designs, Gamestuff Inc), Chronica Feudalis (Cellar Games), Conan (TSR), D6 Fantasy (West End Games), Dangerous Journeys (GDW), Dragon Age (Green Ronin), Dragonlance (SAGA), DragonQuest (Simulations Publications, TSR), Dragon Warriors (Mongoose), Donjon (CRN Games), Dungeon Squad (Jason Morningstar), Dungeonslayers (Michael Hammes & Philip Reed), Dungeons & Dragons (TSR and Wizards of the Coast), Earthdawn (FASA, Living Room Games, RedBrick LLC), Eldritch (Goodman Games), Epic Roleplaying (Dark Matter Studios), Fantasy Craft (Mongoose, Crafty Games), Fantasy Hero (Hero Games), Fantasy Imperium (Shadowstar), GURPS Fantasy (Steve Jackson Games), Hackmaster (Kenzer & Co), HârnMaster (Columbia Games, Kelestia Productions), High Adventure Role Playing (Iron Crown Enterprises), Hero Quest (Games Workshop), Iron Gauntlets (Precis Intermedia), Labyrinth Lords (Goblinoid Games), Legend Of The Five Rings (AEG), Legendary Tales (PMZG), Lejendary Adventure (Hekaforge Productions, Troll Lord Games), Maelstrom (Puffin Games), Middle Earth Role Playing (Iron Crown Enterprises), OpenQuest (D101), OSRIC (Knights & Knaves), Pathfinder (Paizo), Pendragon (Chaosium, Green Knight Publishing, White Wolf, Nocturnal Media), Questers of the Middle Realms (Silver Branch Games), RoleMaster (Iron Crown Enterprises), RuneQuest (Chaosium), Runeslayers (Three Fates Gaming), Rune Stryders (Politically Incorrect Games), Sagas (Ironwood Omnimedia), Savage Worlds (Pinnacle Entertainment), Swordbearer (Heritage Games, FGU), Sword, & Spell (Rogue Games), Swords & Wizardry (Mythmere Games), Talislanta (Bard Games, Wizards of the Coast, Shooting Iron, Morrigan Press), Tékumel (TSR), The Fantasy Trip (Metagaming), The Riddle Of Steel (Driftwood Publishing), Tunnels & Trolls (Flying Buffalo), Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying (Fantasy Flight Games), Warrior, Rogue, & Mage (Stargazer Games), Wayfarers (Ye Olde Gaming Companye), zeFRS (The ZeFRS Collective)
