Review: Black Sword Hack Slays! (Ep. 329)

[@thomasparker6124]

"Everytime you complete an adventure you gain a story. Write the title of the story on your character sheet. You need as many stories as your current level to go up a level." That is a fantastically simple and thematic milestone levelling system.

[@MemphiStig]

It's the kind of thing that's so brilliant you wonder why we haven't been doing it that way all along. It just seems so obvious now.

[@tabletopbro]

That "gain a story after every adventure, you level up when your stories equal your current level" system is REALLY cool! I also like the random city generator and how it doesn't just force you into its own first party setting, as well as the guide on how to steal from your favorite stuff. Looks like I know what game I'm picking up next!

[@CarlosRodriguez-dd4sb]

OSR is a funner 'germs are good for your immune system' version of DnD vs the boring sanitized version like 5th. I love the creativity

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

YES! Exactly.

[@betaraybrad91]

But, seriously...wash your hands.

[@arcticcirclepit2008]

What a timely review: I'm running this TODAY for the first time. I manage a dual-diagnosis mental health facility and we use gaming as a therapeutic took, so my bosses asked me to run a TTRPG group on Saturdays. Normally we have been playing CY_BORG, but today and next Saturday we're taking a break and heading into the Black Sword Hack. Now that characters are made, I have to say, I really, really love character generation. I do hope we eventually get a supplement with new Backgrounds (even 4-6 for each Origin), some more Demons, Spells, Spirits, etc., but thus far character generation has been a lot of fun. Cannot wait to play in, like, 3 hours.

[@johnstuartkeller5244]

First thing the title said to me was "Blackrazor!", of course a descendant of "Stormbringer!" I once had a Thief who was consumed by Blackrazor while weilding it; he was sure that he was in complete control. It was gut-wrenchingly glorious.

[@scottius238]

I kickstarted Black Sword Hack and fell in love with it when the book arrived recently. As soon as my current DCC campaign reaches a point where I want to take a break I am thinking it will be time to introduce BSH to my group.

[@ChadHensley]

I was a backer of this campaign and so glad to be part of it. Not sure how soon I can convince a group to play it though. I mention that the game is player facing and they roll to attack and defend and most of my friends look at me like I'm crazy. May start trying to get some of my more open players to try some other systems like Mausritter first and see how that goes. I try to watch all your videos, even ones like this one that just reiterate what I already knew so that you can keep your numbers up. Appreciate all you do!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You can always ditch that one rule. My players never took to it.

[@RobertWF42]

Context important when you say "I love Moorcock!" 😅

[@Goshin65]

BWHAHA... you jerk, I spat out my coffee when I sounded it out...

[@mingbritson]

Thank you for covering all these awesome alternative systems. LOVE my Deathbringer shirts and am looking FW to trying the game.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for buying one!

[@yeraycatalangaspar195]

The art is great. Also you can really see the inspiration in Elric and other fantasy like that.

[@Komradd]

I appreciate this thorough review and the honest opinions you share, both about things you like and things you don’t. This review intrigued me an enough to purchase a copy and I look forward to getting entrenched in it.

[@FlameQwert]

just finished a 5 month black sword hack campaign yesterday- highly recommend!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

GREAT game. Superbly written.

[@normanlennox4949]

The expansion of this channel into other systems is awesome, but doesn't really change the channel in any way, especially all the great advice and tips.

[@johnedgar7956]

Nice! I like the smaller journal-sized format we're seeing in some of these new games, by the way. And wow, did Bill King ever hit the nail on the head regarding current-era D&D: "pasteurized, homogenized, coffee table books" is a SPOT-ON description of 5e if I ever heard one!

[@dantherpghero2885]

I prefer the negative 10 rule (2nd edition) for character death. If you go down your fellow players need to stabilize you and keep you safe until you can be healed back up.

[@Karlmakesstuff]

This looks like it's right up my alley, love me some good old school fantasy pulp fiction.

[@DuelingDragonAdventures]

Great artwork by my buddy Goran Gligovic

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

BRILLIANT. Tell hi I said so.

[@hunterkn4690]

Ordered my copy! Looks like it has alot of the stuff youve been telling us for years honestly so its cool to see it packaged in one book. Id like to see a story scenario (or alternative 3 chapter scenario so levels 1-2) that youd come up with!

[@artistpoet5253]

Barbaric, Civilized and Decadent are also the settings for the survival game Coman: Exiles. I've used its' character stats as inspiration for my own game. They spell out SAVAGE. While our characters do respawn after death, death comes at zero HP and it comes frequently. You also loose all your loot depending on the server type too. I'd like to take The Black Sword Hack and run a Hyborian survival campaign.

[@leonardorossi998]

One thing though: I played Black Sword Hack, and I must say that I felt much more overpowered than I ever felt in 5th edition. I rolled stats, and ended up with 8-10s in everywhere except intelligence, where I got a 13. So I decided my character would have been more of an intellectual and picked up Bookworm (once per long rest, a roll can be replaced by an Int roll), Surgeon (helps keep people alive), and Ancient Secrets (the spells were Thief's Hand, Paralyzing Howl, Phantom Pains, and Murmurs), for a final intelligence score of 16. Maybe I was lucky, or maybe the GM was going easy on us, but the character felt really strong: sure, he was terrible with a sword, but with paralyzing howl (and wax earplugs for his teammates) fights were over quickly, he could play as a face in critical situations thanks to bookworm, the other spells were extremely versatile, and surgeon is good to get people to like you. I think that the book undersells how powerful characters can be out of chargen, some traits are very powerful even without getting into "broken" combinations. In addition, the manual suggests player characters should have a profound effect in the world around them. If I may, I suggest considering adding a bit more substance to the character background than what the manual suggests: you are more of a badass than you think in this game, and you might be called to make important decisions about the world sooner than you think. So I think it's important to think about the character's life before the game begins. They don't have to be great deeds, just circumstances and events that could have informed the character's values... or lack thereof.

[@neokobepizza8611]

As someone who likes the law-chaos dynamics of Elric's Multiverse in my games, this is definitely worth a look.

[@gstaff1234]

Appreciate your new opening lines about Indy & homebrew

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

And they will keep coming.

[@tabletop.will.phillips]

Stories as experience? My goodness, I love that and have to find a way to incorporate that into my games. Super thematic!

[@TheArcturusProject]

More people are using black hack, roll under system. I like it. I’m slowly working on a little system of my own (aren’t we all?) and wish I was faster to get mine out cuz it does this too. On the other hand, it may be more normal. Side note, I think my uniqueness comes in class and armor/weapons.

[@logangant7732]

My dad turned me to elric and that changed everything i wanted from a ttrpg i think this will do nicely with the type of games i want to run and play!!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Cool dad!

[@mykediemart]

I backed this and love it. Read it straight through the day it arrived. I thought it would be a fun read and I might use it for other games, now I want to run it. Let the Chaos reign

[@dm4life579]

Best intro yet. Keep it up prof! Let's see those indie RPGs! As for the game itself, I am a huge fan of partial success. This is a solid game.

[@74gould]

Daaaaanng, that book looks fantastic. Really awesome. The design & artwork alone are enough to make me buy it. 🤓🖤🤘🏻⚔️

[@phaedruslive]

Backed it, love the book. It's definitely got that early prog-y heavy metal vibe. Like Sad Wings of Destiny, or more recently pretty much every album from the The Sword.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Yes!

[@EmeraldVideosNL]

I'm not all that into the artwork, but as I wish to try solo play and preferably not WotC, I'm certainly putting this on my birthday wishlist. Thank you for the comprehensive review, professor.

[@Aragura]

Very cool, I wish I was not suffering from third party burn out already. The Folklore bestiary was very cool and compatible with OSE, that might be worth picking up. Thank you for the review.

[@ricraciti443]

This feels like what I've been looking for in an independent RPG. Thanks for the review. The leveling up mechanic with "stories" sound simple and brilliant... and solo game play is great to try out before unleashing on players

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

It IS brilliant. What a simple but innovative feature..

[@JakubWojtowitz]

Solo rules are also useable in normal play, they make improvisation way easier.

[@davewire87]

I didn’t go in on Black Sword Hack for various reasons but I’ve gotten other products from the Merry Mushmen before such as the Folklore Bestiary and their Knock! compilations and I gotta applaud them for their unique, stylish design layouts, artwork, and the incredible quality and speed of delivery for each of the Kickstarters I’ve been a part of. I was genuinely amazed to see how in mere months of the Kickstarter ending, I had the Folklore Bestiary in hand from France! Also, having watched this, I kind of regret not joining the Kickstarter, but I had a wedding to work towards and I have been trying to cut down on the number of games I buy, especially if I think I have very little of ever running them.

[@Jibcutter]

Merrymushmen do amazing work. Not sure if PDM has looked at them but the KNOCK! #1-3 are amazing amazing books that simply make you either want to play or DM a game after putting them down.

[@anathamon]

I bought this book awhile ago, there’s alot of stuff i love in this book. I will use it to inspire my own games, albiet i don’t think i will play it exactly as is.

[@JRDATX]

Professor, thank you very much for this review. I would not have encountered this RPG if not for you. I purchased its PDF, and it’s about as close to my ideal version of “D&D” as one could make it. I look forward to using this system for games with friends for years to come.

[@BodyByBenSLC]

I've been doing dark fantasy basic. It's a stripped down D&D, lots of random tables for backgrounds and world building. It's character supplement has a great table for rolling stats hopeless to epic its like when you start a video game and you choose difficulty. I'll try black sword hack now too.

[@jakynth]

Backed the Kickstarter for this and love the book. I am 2 sessions into what looks to be a very promising campaign.

[@benhillman8384]

Holy fudge what a stunning book - the art is just pitch perfect. 😍

[@j.s.matthews2216]

Great video! These videos of you reviewing games are really helping me with building my own TTRPG! Lots a great ideas and things to think about! Keep up the great work!

[@BodyByBenSLC]

4:05 I've been doing something similar for a few years. I just go by game sessions, so level 1 character you play one game session on Sunday you become level 2, 2 sessions level 3, 3 session level 4 etc etc. You play every weekend in a year character is level 10. I've done also up 5 sessions gain a level. I also let players pick 1 stat to try and up every level, roll 3d6 if the number is higher than the stat it's go's up 1 point. Example int =7 roll 3d6 for 11 int go's to 8. So the higher the stat the less likely it is to go up. Because I figure like strength for example if you are not very strong it dosent take much to increase strength, but if your say a powerlifter it takes months or years to add just a few ouches on to max lift.

[@daddyrolleda1]

Great review! Thanks, Professor! Coincidentally I also reviewed "A Folklore Bestiary" this week! I love the stuff coming out from Merry Mushmen. It all finds use in the game I run for my daughter and her friends.

[@paulcrosslin]

Success at a cost is done best in the Blades in the Dark ruleset, but I totally dig that an Elric type adventure leans into this mechanic. Especially for those characters with one low score. Do your patrons make up for your Lack of Constitution? Does your Pact include making up for your Lack of Will? And at what cost does this balance of abilities suffer you? I dig It. What is it? I dig it. What is it? I DIG IT. WHAT IS IT?

[@AndrewGarofalo]

Great review. I bought BSH AND Deathbringer. Great stuff! I'm going to run BSH with my OSE group - taking a break from that for now. Keep up the excellent work.

[@Acmegamer]

Backed the Kickstarter, no regrets at all. It's a really well done system over all.

[@mrgunn2726]

Thanks for turning me on to this great system, I got my hard copy just the other day from La Belle France! Keep up the great work.

[@michaelcremin6496]

I like that 'story for level' mechanic very much. I'm going to try it in my DCC game.

[@DiomedesRangue]

I've read this book a few times now, and i think it's my favorite version of DND. It cleans up the black hack in the best way possible. The art and layout are amazing, the monsters have all their abilities in their statblock, there is a bit of character customization, it's the right amount of deadly for me, the hitpoint bloat is non existant, the player facing rules are amazing, the doom die adds the right amount of gameyness, and im a big fan of usage dice. There are only two real complaints I have about this book. Fighting higher hit dice monsters is a bit strange, i dont love the idea of adding to your roll. Im not sure how you do it in a cleaner way, but in theory, it's a little strange, we'll see when i try it out. Secondly, I think the character progression is a little weak, I dont think there are enough gifts for multiple campaigns using this game. I do wish there were more monsters. Hopefully, they release the folklore bestiary using the black sword hack rules. By far the strongest showing ive seen come out of the OSR.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for sharing.

[@tednovy7762]

Like others in the comments I backed this too and found it compelling--you can see the DNA of a number of different systems, but also some unique features as well. Love me some classless system play.

[@mjolasgard2533]

Hey Prof - Just finished my own Dungeon Pizza (UDT sounds like a trademark lol). Thanks for the cool videos. Can't wait for the next campaign video...

[@claude-alexandretrudeau1830]

Succeeding at a cost upon failure is a mechanic I will shamelessly steal.

[@aaronsomerville2124]

100% agree on both counts! Excellent products chock full of imagination fuel.

[@danmorgan3685]

The book looks really nice and I like how XP is handled. Much better than the 5e milestone system. In our current game we are trying to guess which adventure is a milestone vs a side adventure and not really doing well at it.

[@OnslaughtSix]

Then that's a bad DM. The DM should always make clear what behaviour is going to be rewarded with advancement. Obscuring it makes no sense. The players shouldn't have to guess what is going to let them level up.

[@danmorgan3685]

@@OnslaughtSix She's a first time GM and chose Curse of Strahd which is notorious for being a difficult module.

[@Imhal13]

This looks great. Thanks for getting it on my radar!

[@gailevans2574]

WOW WOW WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE download it 5 min after you posted it !!!!! MY 10 girls loved the story we played !!!!!!!!

[@timothyyoung2962]

I have to say, of all the content creators I watch, I always find a good majority of the RPGs you review really catch my eye, and this is no exception. Definitely going to pick this one up. I love the artwork, really reminiscent of old sword & sorcery books from the 60s and 70s (I have quit a few that were gifted to me by my stepfather, he always said they were his way of making it through Vietnam). Side note... wondering if you've happened to catch CR's new RPG Candela Obscura and your first impressions?

[@lazerbeams2536]

I feel like if I had this I'd feel obligated to convert Son of the Black Sword into a campaign

[@andrewlustfield6079]

This looks like it could be pretty fun. And at the very least, this is great for inspiration!

[@user-we5kg6ng4c]

You can pronounce it as beastiary if you want -- it's considered one of the few correct ways to pronounce the word.

[@ChuckThorin]

Already grabbed a copy. Wish I would have had it sooner Would have used these spells for my Deathbringer campaign

[@gatb4387]

These themes are right up my alley!

[@geoffreynelson6413]

The company has an SRD for the game if you want a preview. They’ve also got a lot of cool freebies for OSE.

[@doublestarships646]

I feel like this game has more flavor in just the experience section than most of 5th edition lol.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Very true. It is textbook example of how less is more. Such a beautiful book.

[@MsGorteck]

At the beginning the sound and your mouth are out of sink. Thank you for this.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

It was dubbed from my native Italian.

[@liberalhyena9760]

Perché?

[@Rasputinttrpg]

Nice to watch a video not based on 5e.

[@JakubWojtowitz]

Player Characters are entangled in war between Chaos and Order, they are not mere mortals - that is why they regenerate HP quicker and are difficult to kill. I've GMed first edition over 30 sessions and now I'm after 2 - system is way better and clearer than previous edition. Despite light ruleset they perfectly reflect theme of Sword & Sorcery, like Doom die mechanic and many wierd supernatural powers. This RPG is pure fun - must have for S&S fans. For me it is the best OSR I've ever played/DMed. I recommend some LotFP adventures in more S&S vibe like Death Frost Doom or Frostbitten & Mutilated - converting them to BSH is easy.

[@samchafin4623]

Great looking little tome! Need to make some space on my shelf and in my brain, tho.

[@TheADHDNerd]

Great review, looks like a good book, fun rules... But...... Am I the only person who saw your audio was out of sync with your lips during the intro...? Please tell me I'm not the only one who saw that....... Lol

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Could be.

[@blinddog4288]

Always have to leave a comment to help the channel. May Death Bringer spare me!!!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

He appreciated the support.

[@Toddalotapodamus]

I've got a question for you! I'm writing a campaign module for Shadowdark RPG and I'm struggling with monster stat block placement. Should I include the stat block with every occurrence of the same creature to reduce the need to flip pages or reference one page to cut word count? I had thought to include stat blocks on the front and back covers only, but it was recommended to me to include them with the encounter descriptions, so I went that rout. I'm looking for more opinions and yours is one I respect. Thanks in advance.

[@Jay-ql4gp]

That was cool, thank you!

[@jmwytube]

Good review as always. Sound and video weren't in sync when I just watched though!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for letting me know. I'll take a look.

[@solomani5959]

Love the levelling mechanic.

[@mtmroc]

Any suggestions for a longer (than the included) module to run that would fit with the sword and sorcery theme?

[@markgnepper5636]

Great stuff friend 👏 👍

[@tomdulski3729]

interesting artwork

[@josephbradshaw6985]

I love the roll under idea as a basic mechanic, but I think my players would revolt if rolling high on a d20 wasn't the core mechanic. Still, I can hack it pretty easily. Either flip the ability scores so lower is better, making it a roll over game, or do the bonuses thing.

[@sirguy6678]

Great video! Each game systems or hack is just a different favor of ice cream - some is more complicated, other EZ 😂- enjoy the flavor!

[@shaunhall960]

So many good games out there!

[@googleuser9009]

Great video, as always!

[@plissken2245]

Just ordered this. I was never happy with Chaosium's Stormbringer as a game system.

[@SERGIOBOUBA]

thanks Professor ! great team of geeks from France made this game , you might be interested by those guys ! Cheers

[@David-su4is]

Cool stuff thanks.

[@MrRourk]

It even comes with solo rules

[@PeculiarNotions]

Looks pretty good. Thank you for the review.

[@Meeeeeeeestery]

Yes, it definitely slays!

[@matthewmcguigan4293]

Just watched Kelsey's ama with Lawyer Greg, who was repping Deathbringer with a cool sweatshirt!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

awesome!

[@underfire987]

Wow love it, buying

[@jackleg2007]

A very informative review!

[@thanossakogiannis9123]

Love Elric, need this ASAP!

[@MogofWar]

"May all your rolls be 20's..." Not a very nice outcome if you're playing the Black Sword Hack.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Lol. True. I should have joked about THAT!

[@DerekStone]

Love your reviews

[@pez5767]

Both books are excellent! Highly recommended

[@kyleharder3654]

The merry mushmen are top notch!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

yup.

[@liberalhyena9760]

But you apparently haven’t cared for their previous offerings as you haven’t reviewed them. That at least is the implication of saying “I only review what I like”.

[@Bryon1187]

I’m sold!

[@spacerx]

I like to be a bit pedantic: Moorcock isn't sword & sorcery. It's anti-S&S. Just like revisionist westerns, or anti-westerns kept the setting but turned the tropes and conventions of the genre on its head to deconstruct it, guys like Moorcock and de Camp did the same thing, for the same reasons, and with the same effect. John Wayne angrily rejected a collaboration with Clint Eastwood because Eastwood ruined the western in his eyes. I suspect Howard, had he lived long enough, would have felt the same about Moorcock.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You might be right.

[@coldstream11]

I love all of these videos

[@scoticvsgossage9378]

How does it compare to the first edition? What are the major differences?

[@HowtoRPG]

Thanks 😊

[@koticneutralftw7016]

I would be very interested to see what you think of this compared to Dragonbane from Free League. I don't really think they're marketed for the same crow, but they both use the same engine (d20 roll under), and I can't help but want to hear your thoughts on it.