Introduction

From Swords of Infinity
Jump to navigation Jump to search

What is a Role-playing Game?

A role-playing game is a shared storytelling experience. Players take turns narrating the actions of their characters and the Storyteller, the special player facilitating the story and game, narrates the outcomes of the other player's actions. Stories in role-playing games can take place in bizarre fantasy worlds, in familiar present times, or far out into space and the future, and the rules of the game simply act as the improvisational framework that keeps the story coherent, believable, and fun.

Why Swords of Infinity?

Many role-playing games exist, with their progenitor Dungeons & Dragons being the most well known, so it is necessary to answer the question of why another role-playing game, Swords of Infinity, is even required. Swords of Infinity is designed to fit in seamlessly with a Swords and Sorcery, dark fantasy style of story, and was inspired by the stories told by authors such as Fritz Lieber, Robert E. Howard, and Michael Moorcock. For many Swords and Sorcery fans this will be justification enough to give Swords of Infinity a try, but others might need to hear more. Swords of Infinity is for telling stories about heroes that succeed no matter the odds, if Die Hard had an RPG, Swords of Infinity would be it, and John McClane would be its quintessential hero. Swords of Infinity is built on one unifying rule, centered on the d% (more on that later), and minimizes the need to reference the rules and lets players use their imaginations to do more. And finally, the author if this game really wants people to try it out.

What You'll Need to Play

To play Swords of Infinity you will need the following things:

  1. Players
  2. A Storyteller (the player responsible for controlling the non-player characters and determining results)
  3. Percentile dice (two ten-sided dice, one acting as the ten's place and one acting as the one's place)
  4. An idea for a story
  5. Imagination

The Storyteller

The Storyteller is the most important role in Swords of Infinity. Sometimes the player that gets the role drew the shortest straw, or maybe they chose it for themselves

Determining Outcomes

The glue that holds Swords of Infinity together is the cycle of determining outcomes for the actions narrated by players. Some actions will require using dice rolls to determine outcomes, while others can be decided by the Storyteller personally. There is no rule deciding which outcomes need to be determined by dice or by the storyteller's whim, use what fits best into the story at the time. Rolling for outcomes can be exciting, and should be used whenever a random result would benefit the story, while having the Storyteller decide can guarantee the result that tells the best story. When in doubt, choose the option that results in everyone having the most fun.

Rolling a d%

Success

Critical Success

Critical Failure

Power

d100 roll up to a max of the limiting ability score plus any applicable specialization (i.e. Strength or Intelligence)

If the character has power potential above 100, roll an additional d100 for each 100 place

Using Swords of Infinity with Existing Campaign Settings