Sword Noir
   
From Sword's Edge Publishing

Description
Hardboiled sword & sorcery-it's Conan seeking for the Maltese Falcon, it's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in the Big Sleep, set in Lankhmar, it's hardboiled crime fiction in the worlds of sword & sorcery.

It's Sword Noir.

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 is a new RPG from Sword's Edge Publishing. In it, characters' 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.

Now is the time for your characters to walk down mean streets, drenched in rain, hidden in fog, and unravel mysteries, murders, and villainy.

Available through RPGNow and DriveThruRPG.  Currently $4.99 for the PDF with the Print on Demand to follow.

Head on over to //www.swordsedgepublishing.ca for some sneak peeks:
- of the art;
- multiple opponent rules;
- Qualities;
- some characters and early artwork;
- the Appendices which include the character tracker, pre-made characters, the character sheet, and a map of the city of Everthorn;
- and an example of combat in Sword Noir.

Sword Noir: A Role-Playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery is now available as a 104 page softcover 6" x 9" book with black & white interiors. Print + PDF from RPG Now is priced at $10.73. If you've been waiting for the print book, wait no longer. If you have purchased the PDF and have not received a discount code for the print version, contact me and give me your customer number and I'll see that you get one.

Anyone play this game yet? It sounds interesting, but I'd like to read a review first...

Quote from: finarvyn;456493Anyone play this game yet? It sounds interesting, but I'd like to read a review first...

Hi finarvyn

There are three reviews right now up at the Sword Noir page at RPG Now. Berin Kinsman also wrote a pseudo-review (I don't think he's actually played it). I've put a few articles up with sneak peeks at the game, answers to some questions, and discussions of how combat runs. Finally, the basic engine that runs Sword Noir is free as the Sword's Edge System. The two are not identical, but SES gives you an idea of how the game runs.

Let me know if you have any questions.

I'm hoping to tackle this next week (or this weekend), myself...I recently reviewed Arcane Kingdoms by Mr. Ronald and was really pleased...and the *idea*, at least, behind Sword Noir sounds great.

Quote from: Tommy Brownell;459958I'm hoping to tackle this next week (or this weekend), myself...I recently reviewed Arcane Kingdoms by Mr. Ronald and was really pleased...and the *idea*, at least, behind Sword Noir sounds great.

That's excellent. I look forward to reading your review, positive or negative.

By the way, if you still have access to a review copy of Arcane Kingdoms from RPG Now, I think you may find it is slightly different than the advance copy you received. I wasn't about to complain, given the great review, but since I have your ear, though I'd mention it. Also, thanks for such a positive review. That's always nice to read!

Quote from: FraserRonald;459965That's excellent. I look forward to reading your review, positive or negative.

By the way, if you still have access to a review copy of Arcane Kingdoms from RPG Now, I think you may find it is slightly different than the advance copy you received. I wasn't about to complain, given the great review, but since I have your ear, though I'd mention it. Also, thanks for such a positive review. That's always nice to read!

Ah, nice! I do think the added art was fitting, but definitely not overwhelming (as I noted in my review, I clearly thought the product worked fine art-free).

I'll drop you a line when the review is done...(I have a long weekend that I'm trying to get extended even further before I start a new job...which hopefully means tons of writing!)

Quote from: Tommy Brownell;459985Ah, nice! I do think the added art was fitting, but definitely not overwhelming (as I noted in my review, I clearly thought the product worked fine art-free).

Another reason I didn't want to quibble. And on the kind of budget that produced Arcane Kingdoms, I can't really expect much more than "nice."

Quote from: Tommy Brownell;459985I'll drop you a line when the review is done...(I have a long weekend that I'm trying to get extended even further before I start a new job...which hopefully means tons of writing!)

Sweet. I look forward to it.