Song of Swords: Strategy and tactics

Did someone actually find an English translation, or are you that one Polish guy who is eternally assfractured whenever anyone mentions SoS?

The Humble Jobber (Mook)
Power Level: Mid
CP: 12

Attributes:
STR 4 AGI 4 END 4 HLT 4
WIL 4 WIT 4 INT 4 PER 4
ADR 4 TOU 4 CHA 6 MOB 6 CAR 8 Grit 4
Profs:
Level 8 Soldier School (Level 6 for a thuggish jobber, Level 10 for a stronger jobber)
Primary Weapon Prof (2H sword recommended)
Grappling
Secondary Weapon or Missile Prof

Talents:
None

Skills:
Observation 4
Riding 4
Athletics 4
One Encounter Relevant Skill 4

Boons and Banes:
None

Equipment:
1x Primary Weapon (Longsword or Arming Spear reccommended)
1x Secondary Weapon or Dagger
Period Appropriate light armor (Half-Plate Set with Kettle Helm or No Helmet reccomended)
2d10 cp

GM Usage:
The Humble Jobber is the old standby for when you can't be bothered to stat an enemy. He is average in all aspects, mediocrity being his specialty. Good filler mook, or throwaway friendly NPC. Note though, this is Song of Swords, and can still kill an unprepared PC.

If it is English, share the goods. I can't find any.

What would you consider to be the range of a wheel-lock musket, rifle-musket (using ball, not a minie ball), and pistol?

What about the Lanzalamas?

Is "Range" just an abstract concept in SoS or can it be converted into yards/meters to figure out the effective range (max range it's expected to be accurate) when fired from an average trained soldier?

Do we know when the next version of SoS aproximately gets done?
I'm thinking about printing 1.9.9 but if the update comes soon(tm), I'd rather wait until that

We're pretty close to a formatted release, but I plan on releasing a minor update before then, hopefully with updated combat rules.

Song of Swords 1.9.9.9 is a myth perpetuated by a dark cabal. Jimmy acquires eternal life from the anticipation of the next release

>half-plate
>light armor
That's easily medium armor. Light armor is gambeson with jack chains and a kettle or sallet.

This is literally in the book, you dingus.
"Range is the distance in yards [...] each multiple [past which] decreases Missile Pool [by 1]" -- Chapter 9.2: Missile Weapons
Every projectile weapon has a range listed in its statblock.

I know the book is a mess right now, but Ctrl+F works as well as it always has.

RED KALS

RED KALS OVER PARADISE

Why don't they all wear zettai ryouiki armor and white hotpants?

Hey Jimmy, you got a business e-mail? I have some ideas I want to bounce off you.

Levy guy again.

One thing that I didn't really cover was the practice of several landowners clubbing together to split the cost of Fyrd-duty.

As I said, 5 hides is a lot of land and there are many freeholders who can't individually meet the obligation. This obivously includes most Ceorl freeholders but it also happened where a Thegn's estate were split between multiple heirs.

So to tidy up all those fractions, a bunch of landowners pooled their resources. One might volunteer for duty and the others pay for his equipment and upkeep. Alternatively they might all fork out cash to hire a mercenary to represent all of them.

Slightly related is what the Church was doing. It's worth pointing out that the Church was not one big bloc (in terms of property ownership). Individual Dioceses and Abbeys had their own holdings and the most important Bishops and Abbotts were essentially the same as Earls and Barons.

And as powerful landowners they had the inclination and at times obligation to fork out for troops. A common practice in A/S England was for Church bodies to let out land to Thegns without an inheritance rent-free but with the promise of military service when needed. When the Bishop rides up in maille and leading an army without a banner to help identify them you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart from the warband of an Earl.

So you've got another way for Ceorls to fight. Though as always it's the freeholders with property who club together and the man they field has the same expensive kit as the rest of the Fyrd. I'd actually argue that pooling resources is the most likely way for Ceorls to fight, but threw in the towel last time before I got that far.

>You got a business Email
What, like a peasant?

To avoid spam and other tomfoolery, we have a sort of human capcha in the Roll20 room. Find anyone there--Yo Haki, Rhade, Dion, Gary, Vis Ignea if it seems cold enough for hell to have frozen over that day. Tell them that you wish to speak with me, and they will make it so. Last time I posted an Email on Veeky Forums someone sent me ten pizzas with no sauce, cheese or toppings.

I don't know how. But it was just bread. Just bread with garlic around the edges. I actually work for the guys who made those pizzas now, and they still remember that order..

Did it have left meat?

How did they send you those pizzas due to posting an email address? You wouldn't download a pizza.

If you've ever wondered why some pizza tastes like cardboard, now you know why.

Is this some sort of gatekeeper cult? Do you have to defeat everyone in a boss fight in order to make contact?

Can't very well let someone in who hasn't been through the Rite of the Perforated Scrotum now can they.

No, I'm Russian. Unfortunately, I don't have English translation.

The game is very different from TRoS and its family. Dzikie Pola uses hit points and a number of different dice (1d3, 1d6, 1d10, 1d50, 1d100). Each roll usually made with a single die. Regular person has about 50 HP, human maximum is 100 for hp and all attributes. Attributes are Hit points, Strength, Agility, Courage, Wisdom, Perception, Imagination (which works like Charisma), Willpower and Magical Aptitude.

Damage is based on damage die of the weapon. Most weapons use 1d50, lance and bardiche use 1d100. Attacker rolls damage die and adds damage bonus of the weapon, damage bonus of his offensive maneuver which is static number, Strength bonus and Proficiency bonus. Strength isn't translated into damage directly, instead it's converted based on this table. Say, person with 65 STR gets +10 damage. Skill at arms grants bonus shown at Bieglosc table. There are no Bonus Successes in Dzikie Pola. You can find other modifiers like +20 damage to damage with sabers on horseback.

Powerful strikes can cause critical hits. When a character gets hit for more than 80% of his total health, he gets penalties specific to the damaged area. When hit points reach zero, character dies.

Characters have pool of Combat Points equal to their Proficiency with a weapon. Rounds are 10 seconds long and consist of multiple exchanges, as many as fighters want. CP are refreshed each round. Unused CP are lost.

Opponents roll 1d10 and add their Proficiency, then compare their rolls. The winner has the initiative and can attack. He declares his maneuver first, then defender declares response. Some maneuvers have minimal number of dice that should be invested. Many maneuvers have activation cost depending on weapon in use. Powerful attacks convert dice of activation cost into additional damage bonus, successful Parry reduces CP of opponent, etc.

After maneuvers were declared, players compare CP they invested (without activation cost). If defender invested more than attacker, attack failed but attacker has slim chance to reroll 1d10 and accidentally hit. If attacker invested more CP than defender, calculate the margin and attacker has to roll under it on 1d10 to hit. Say attacker used 6 CP and defender used 3, margin is 3. Attacker has to roll 1, 2 or 3 on 1d10 to strike his opponent. Rolls of 0 are always botches, attacker rolls another 1d10 to see how badly he screwed up.

Another thing is initial attacker retains the initiative, it doesn't switch on successful parries. To steal initiative you have to inflict more damage than opponent inflicted on you and it can go back and forth as fight goes on. On this pic, guy on the left performs preemptive attack to try and steal the initiative on successful hit.

Some examples of maneuvers: Dodge requires Agility test of defender. He has to roll under his Agility stat on 1d100 but every 2 CP attacker invested in his maneuver will lower AGI stat by 5 points.

Ask your questions, if you have any.

...

Here is mediafire link if you want to read it

mediafire.com/download/b23cc4v280at408/Dzikie Pola ed. 1 - Podręcznik Podstawowy.pdf

mediafire.com/download/nyf7juzdgnkrc0a/Dzikie Pola ed. 2 - Podręcznik podstawowy.pdf

whats up with that haircut
ive seen it around

We should ask our angry Polish poster next time. It seems to be very fancy in Poland and western Ukraine.

Reposting the latest version of the beta, for anyone who missed it.

What do you think of the system?

I like it like TRoS twin brother. It has some weird additional rules I didn't list, Dodge can be used only 3 times in one fight because it's too exhausting and game doesn't support fatigue rules. Some areas need clarification. Overall it has unique approach to game mechanics. Fluctuating MoS TN looks fun. Armor doesn't protect wearer too well, warhammer or even good saber fencer can pierce it effortlessly. Peasants or bydlo are subhumans, winged hussars are smart and strong space marines, Polish strike is very efficient and powerful maneuver (I think it was in Potop). The game is fun.

Sounds fun, and extremely Polish in every way. I hope an English translation shows up somewhere.

>Polish strike
Is that the move Wolodyjowski rekt Kmicic with in their duel?

The very same

Polish fa/tg/uys better get their shit together and start working. System would need a lot of work after translation.

>Slavic game
>bardiche is powerful
Not really surprised.

Ever been hit in the face with one of those before?
Not very erotic.

Bardiche has poor tns right now and isnt very good defensively. That being said, when it hits, it hits. Besides, Jonny said he was doing stat changes to many of the pole arms for the next microupdate.

I think it was a TN shift.

I wasn't saying it was bad, it's just a very stereotypically Slavic weapon.

Guys, guys! Best new sword design EVER!!

Says you.

>putting the center of balance in the blade
Just use an axe with an arming spike, at that point. I'd also be worried about the shear force at the guard with any kind of long blade.

Also, implying that all "European" swords are straight blades is hilarious.

>Just use an axe with an arming spike, at that point.
Correcting myself here. Hilt centered balance is best for thrusting, but some swords did move the center of gravity forward some to add some more oomph to strikes without giving up too much control.
Still, I don't you would want the balance halfway up the blade. That seems like it'd be awkward.

I want Easton-senpai to show us the balance point in that bloody great chopper he has.

Interesting. So you don't roll CP against each other directly, as in TROS, but there is still a to-hit depending on how many CP were put into the attack and defense.

The dodge option sounds very powerful also, so if you have a very high Agility you can basically automatically dodge an attack, but you can only do it a few times?

>there is still a to-hit depending on how many CP were put into the attack and defense
It's a single 1d10 roll below TN. TN = Attack CP - Defense CP. Attacker always botches on 0.
>so if you have a very high Agility you can basically automatically dodge an attack, but you can only do it a few times
If you are extremely fast and agile, it has about 50-60% chance to work and maneuver is free. I believe defender can raise AGI for CP at lower rate than attack reduces it. 3 CP per 5% of AGI, can't find that rule right now. It fits right in the Witcher game.

Killer. The poles make interesting stuff.

There's apparently a great WFRP book that combines all the stuff of 1e and 2e and a bunch of great homebrew stuff into a single legendary tome.

Of course, it's only in Polish and will never, ever be translated.

We'll call the company and ask for the rights to republish it in the USA. That'd piss that one guy off enough to make it worth it.

Jimmu, tell us about food in tattered reals, I want more nummies!

>muffled Kuuuurrwa! in the distance

>Jimmy Rome is such a bastard that he can literally insult people by complimenting their culture

Hey, Wargame guy, are you still alive? Did you ever contact Jimmy?

He was probably slain by Rhade in the Rolld20 room

That filename kek

If you post a link I might have a crack at it.

What work do you mean?

He is truly gifted.

I'm having trouble finding a live link, since it involves poking around on a bunch of Polish forums. It's called Theater of Tragedy, if that helps.

It's like a thousand pages long. It's far beyond what I expect some guy on an imageboard to do for free.

Probably just making it understandable in English. If SoS has an issue with confusing terminology, I can't imagine a game that's been translated into another language that's like it.

You know, I thought about translating some other Polish RPG, the post-apocalyptic Neuroshima, but it's just too much work for me at the moment.

Plus, as in all translations, many jokes and other things would be lost in translation. And the "Dzikie Pola" would be extra hard, because they use old words and speech patterns, which creates extra theme. Guess one would have to read a bit of "Ogniem i Mieczem" in English, to get the hang of it.

Are you Polish? We can edit your translation, just do it. Combat section is about 40 pages long with all mechanics, examples and equipment.

40 pages is still plenty, but I might take a look. Though I can't find that Theater of Tragedy thingie that somebody mentioned, mostly 2ed rulebooks.

...

No pressure, but you'd be a pretty cool dude if you managed to do it.

But you're also a pretty cool dude even if you don't, user.

LAST TIME, ON "DEATH OF A SALESMAN"
>Whiskey!
>Violence!
>Ninja demon assassins!

Our two heroes, the merchant Toshiki and the once-noble ronin Hideki, have just survived an assassination attempt only lightly scathed. If the dagger left behind is honest in its warning, it was agents of the Koka clan who assailed them. Spending the night in a stable in this remote mountain town, both men have to wonder just what situation they've found themselves in.

Now, to understand some of the further events, I feel it's important I elaborate on some history. Again, this is as the GM tells it.

There are two historical "ninja" clans in Japan, the Iga and Koka/Koga. Both had their start as essentially little republic city-states, with little noble presence and a very loose relationship with the shogun. Lacking full complements of samurai and the materials for conventional warfare, they instead took the normal stealth and night-fighting training and elaborated upon it, at first becoming adept guerrilla fighters. After proving their worth in conflicts both as mercenaries and as main combatants, they earned a degree of fame, and members of the clans began to be hired for more, shall we say, specific purposes.
Over the course of centuries, the idea of the ninja took root, as well as the practices of these clans. Many ninja were simply ronin and the like hired to do sneaky shit, but the more specialized skills and expertise of these two clans set them apart. As the GM tells it, the Iga fucking loved gunpowder, while the Koka leaned on more subtle methods.
Of course, there was always a mixed relationship between these clans and the shogun and daimyo. They were as much a threat to feudal rule as an asset to its rulers. While the Koka managed to last into the Edo as official agents of the Tokugawa shgunate, the Iga clan was almost completely destroyed during the Sengoku Jidai when Oda Nobunaga invaded their realm and put it to the torch. Some escaped, of course, but Iga itself was gone.

What happened with the kickstarter? Years since it was declared.

So, the two men kept to themselves. Toshiki, having failed his Grit check to sleep well, busied himself with sewing up his clothing.

Why would the Koka be after them? This was the question on their minds- or at least, Toshiki's. Hideki felt he had the answer in his own history.
His virtue compelling him, the ronin told his story to the merchant, producing his papers and even the insignia on his katana's tang to support it. It felt good to confess, truly. If it was his fault that the attack happened, then he was at fault again for bringing someone else it into it, even accidentally. Honesty was a comfortable garment for Hideki, if no armor.
Toshiki, for his part, remained quiet, only thanking his companion for confessing. While he was still shaken, he was a practiced bastard, and gears began to turn. While most of his ideas revolved around methods of escape, a plan began to form on how he might just take advantage of this new and dangerous situation.

Come the morning, it was found that the assassins hadn't lied about one thing: there really was a festival being held. As the two men ventured back out into the town, the preparations for that evening's festivities were as plain to see as the sun. With the town bustling, and Toshiki eager both for a return to normalcy and some profit, it was decided that this was the perfect opportunity to sell spice.
But first, they made the obligatory stop at the town's constable.

Australia stole it.

In this case, "constable" refers to a specific official whose job it was to be on-hand to provide information and direction to those who might need it. By law, they essentially had to be the most knowledgeable person in a town, being aware of all of its relevant laws.

This one reported that the town had a spice tax of 2 silver pieces per pound of goods. For those who don't know, that tax rate is god damn punitive. Noticing my distress, the constable inquired what exactly I was selling.
Apparently, the man liked black pepper. For half a pound (no small amount either), he wrote off that all our taxes were paid, and gave is a ticket indicating such.

Local laws in-hand, bribes paid, and cart still laden with goods, that feeling of normalcy was coming back already. After some shopping around, wherein Hideki had his outfit roughly repaired (intentionally so, as he wants to cultivate that "ronin look") and his heartplate replaced, the cart was set-up and converted to a stall in a middle-class looking area of the markets.
Lighting a small pipe of his own, Toshiki took a seat, and started hawking his fine wares. Hideki played bodyguard, with their two horses tied up behind.

I'm excited.

This is where the cosmic dice come into play, for indeed who happens through the market this day is up to the whims of fate and chance.

For some hours, no one pays more than a browsing interest.
A few more involved window shoppers come by, but while they are "interested," they never return.
Then a local patrol man comes around to ask if the taxes on these spices have been paid. The paperwork checks out, and Toshiki goes unmolested.

Then suddenly, fate acts. The GM has been rolling 5d10 and checking a rough table. He just rolled straight 10's.

The crows parts, and a man dressed in elaborate silks emerges into view, hints of tattoos showing at his neck and wrists. Forty men, all dressed in matching black silk uniforms, form his entourage. The boss starts to walk past the stall, stops, turns, takes a moment to admire the horses, then focuses his attention on Toshiki.
Suddenly, he's curious as to what we are selling.
Toshiki takes a breathe, forces a smile onto his face, and makes his pitch. He talks up and down on the value and the exotic nature of his wares. Foreign spices from across all the seas! What better to buy for a festival feast?

The boss decides to purchase a full pound of every spice in the cart, including tobacco and all the saffron Toshiki has on hand.

After a significant exchange of gold - the boss even throws in a fucking tip - Toshiki's smile is earnest. If this man enjoys such finery, surely he would be interested in fine Chinese silks?
Half of the party's stock of silk and another large sum of gold ryou later, the boss had a contemplative look on his face.
Would we like to enjoy the festival with him at his manor? It's not often men of taste come to this isolated town (and with the condition of the roads and the rampant banditry, no wonder).

There's a few moments of hesitation on the party's end. We realize shortly enough, though, that if he wanted us dead, we probably already would be. We can only accept.

I can dig it. It's better be some huge demonic manor.

The entourage departs, and we're left sitting there, somewhat baffled, cautious, and excited in equal measure.
The next course of action is obvious.

We must buy this man a gift.

Another hour, two gold coins, and a quick deal later, and we have an extremely fancy tanto to present the boss with. While the idea of gifting him the koka tanto occurred, it was almost immediately dismissed, because really, that's a death threat.

As twilight begins to threaten, we approach the manor where we were directed. Along the way, we pass the other manor where our assassins had been leading us; on the gate is a funeral plaque, signalling the death of its owner: the actual old man. A shudder passes through the two men.

Now, the boss' manor is a japanese castle, straight up. The actual feudal lord's castle stood looming over the town, but because of shogun bullshit, was now a dilapidated ruin. In all ways but the strictest legal sense, the man who was to play our host tonight surely ruled this town.
We were allowed through the gate, led across a grassy courtyard, up a stone ramp, told to leave the horses and cart in the stable, brought through another gate, and guided into the actual manor house. The walls were made of solid blocks of stone, and the entire exterior of the manor was likewise- a stark rarity, in Japan. The outside of the house was coated in paint of silver, and the interior in paint of gold. Ebony hardwood made up the interior flooring, and red oak the furniture. Tapestries, statues, and other signs of wealth flaunted the sheer opulence of this home. Toshiki was jealous.

Eventually, we were brought to a dining room, with one of those almost comically long tables at the center. This one must have been at least 20 feet long. We were seated at one end, while the boss was already waiting at the other.
Our gift was ferried over, accepted with a gracious nod, food and drink were produced, then the servants all disappeared off to- somewhere.
We talked.

Dinner time. The abridged conversation and its consequences to follow.

Eat faster, storyteller-sempai.

The stage is set for Gizka and her company of rogues and ne'er do wells to storm a cardinal's palace and face off with a troll.

I'll probably run the game tomorrow afternoon.

Hype.

The dinner talk was, for a time, pleasant enough. By which I mean, mostly pleasantries. Things turned more to business as they do (what brings you to town?), until finally the bossman takes a drink, carefully sets down his cup, and asks
>So why are the Koka trying to kill you?

To say that was a hiccup in the flow of conversation would be an understatement.

Hideki had been, and now continues to, playing at the dumb bodyguard act, so Toshiki steps up his game even harder. After it is acknowledged that it is bossman's job to know what goes on in his town, the merchant starts by explaining that he doesn't think there's any reason why the Koka should be after him. He then starts to lean on the power of blather, listing off in full detail the many other merchants, guilds, and various individuals of minor note he may have upset over the years during the course of his business.
Bossman cuts him off, repeating that yes, there is little reason why the Koka would be after him.

There's a moment of hesitation.
Toshiki rolls a Subterfuge check. Six motherfucking successes.
Bossman gets seven on his Observe.
The merchant's good eye flickers almost imperceptibly towards Hideki (who is currently pretending to be engrossed by a serving of gyoza), and our host notices.

>So what's his story?
The bossman asks.
>I think he tells it better.
Toshiki responds.

And so the whole spiel from the night before in the stable is repeated, papers and all.
The boss' first response to seeing the lineage scroll is "you should burn this."

Sweet

Bossman then proceeds to explain some things. For starters, the shogunate has reported that all of Hideki's clan is dead, but people have noticed that of all the heads staked outside the ruins of their ancestral castle, only Hideki's is merely a skull. He elaborates that the Shogunate has, in secret, posted a 700 gold bounty for the real head. A bounty that has now likely increased by 300 gold -
In this instant, a hilariously diverse span of emotion comes across Toshiki, as he realizes his companion is worth 1000 gold ryou
- on both of us.
And it's gone.

We tense up, awaiting some kind of ambush to coincide that reveal, but bossman brushes it off. "A drop in the bucket" to his fortune, apparently. Even more terrifying.

Now, he says, that he needs to think on what he's learned today. We're dismissed to watch the festival's fireworks from the manor's porch(es), and then guided by those omnipresent servants to a pair of bedrooms in the manor.

Hideki sleeps as well as he always does. Toshiki manages to sleep well enough. Until, sometime in those null hours after midnight, servants stepping lightly awaken us, fingers to their lips, and lead us down into the sublevels without any explanation other than that we were wanted.

WEw

You wew.
I ended up taking a nap.
Sue me, but I'm doing better than Jimbo.

This is pretty much how I picture ships in Ballad.

for kh-wat purpose

That's like a blind, deaf man saying "At least I'm doing better than the literally brain dead guy.".

>Dedicated Carrer
>Runway barely long enough to launch a single plane
>Doesn't seem to be long enough to allow landings
>No apparent storage space for additional planes

I'll have to agree with

>You wouldn't download a pizza.

Screw you, anti-piracy advert! If I want to download a pizza or a handbag or a car, I will!

Meh, you're too sea based - hang them underneath, like bats. Launch them ? Pah ! drop them !

only need a deck for recovery then - of course the skillful pilots just do a creeping prop hang back into their chosen slot......

>needing a deck for landing
Ever played Crimson Skies? All you need is a hook

In preparation for our playtest later, I've knocked up a roster for both participating forces.

Generally speaking, the Gizka company has an advantage in one-on-one combat. Gizka's entourage has a lot of skills and powerful weapons, plus a good number of short-ranged missile weapons. Gizka herself is a force to be reckoned with, armed with her small sword and parrying truncheon.

The Cardinal's men have a numerical advantage, with the added bonus of being able to fight in formation, which may negate their lack of skill and equipment. The troll, and the Cardinal's magical abilities are a potent ace in the hole.