Sword & Sorcery Worldbuilding for Novels & Tabletop RPGs

[@WorldAnvil]

What's your favourite example of Sword and Sorcery? I think for me, it's the Witcher 3 game :D

[@Tiller-Z]

Conan.

[@b_g_c3281]

_'Beastmaster'_ Also: _'Circle Of Iron' (( aka The Silent Flute ))_ ...even though it can (( ?should? )) also be regarded as a Western (( specifically American )) foray into _Wuxia_

[@Eluarelon]

I think my favorite will always be C.L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry. You talked about how the tales of that time are very much tales of their time. Now here's a female sword & sorcery hero from back in the day, perhaps one of the earliest examples of feminist Fantasy, and totally kicking ass.

[@Eluarelon]

And I totally forgot: I always loved Jennifer Roberson's Sword-Dancer Saga. The relationship between Tiger and Del is one of the best in all of fantasy and again, I'm amused by how much feminist stuff I read in my youth at a time where today most people argue women writers were nearly non-existent.

[@b_g_c3281]

@Eluarelon Thank you!! You have brought into my (( thoroughly, shamefully )) narrow awareness, not one, but two authors whose work _I MUST READ ASAP!! ...Truly: Thank you!_

[@ryadinstormblessed8308]

At one point during this I realized how interesting the parallel is between this genre and books like the Jack Reacher series. Lone Wolf, reluctant to team up. Where villains in Sword & Sorcery have sorcery, Reacher's villains wield political power, influence, and vast fortunes, while just like his Barbarian counterparts, Reacher faces these insurmountable forces with vicious and unrelenting violence.

[@WorldAnvil]

We absolutely buy Reacher as a contemporary Conan.

[@gothicwriter9897]

Lee Child (in his excellent BBC Maestro writing course) says he based Reacher on the classic western stories where an unknown guy drifts into town finds problems, mainly with those running the town, sorts them out then drifts out again onto the next town, having left no roots. Similar to the classic western 'Shane' and some old Clint Eastwood westerns.

[@ChrisLontok]

Here is my comment as tribute to the algorithm gods. This is a great video!

[@WorldAnvil]

We gladly accept your tribute!

[@matthewjohnson320]

@@WorldAnvilI agree with the original post 😊

[@freethebluejay]

Great video! I’m actually a DCC fan and Judge myself, and the system actually emphasizes “rulings before rules,” giving a lot of Judge fiat and letting rules take a backseat. There’s also only one rulebook, pointedly never requiring splatbooks or expansions, no 2nd edition. The closest they’ve come is the single “DCC Annual” that expands the chapters from the initial rulebook without changing them. Basically, very purposefully not “crunchy”

[@WorldAnvil]

Thanks for sharing!

[@K_E_Robin]

I really dig the thought of S&S as "Swashbuckling Adventures meets Cosmic Horror".

[@howardnenno1806]

Brancalonia is a good example of a Sword and Sorcery style TTRPG using D&D 5th. It's low power, low magic, players are a bunch of ruffians trying to get by. Set in mythic Italy.

[@WorldAnvil]

Sounds intriguing

[@villekauppila9807]

Great video! As Savage Worlds aficionado, small correction to the description. It uses full range of dice, not just d6's. But it's fast-paced, has pulp style in its bones and fits S&S very well!

[@WorldAnvil]

Thanks for the clarification!

[@KyleMaxwell]

Old-school D&D retroclones often lean hard into this - "Swords & Wizardry" is a sort of obvious example that can be played in this mode.

[@WorldAnvil]

Yup! We're also working on a video on OSR games specifically. :)

[@CoffeeCupKat]

Supposedly, there's a Highlander project in the works, so Henry Cavill isn't done providing us with Sword & Sorcery goodness...

[@trollsmyth]

Excellent overview. I'd also recommend Brust's Vlad Taltos stories.

[@WorldAnvil]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@Edward0TheGreat]

Super excited about this!

[@WorldAnvil]

We're hyped!

[@jazearbrooks7424]

you are so good at this

[@WorldAnvil]

Thanks!

[@joerama]

The fight against evil never tasted so good!

[@WorldAnvil]

MMMMmmmm delicious justice. 😆

[@johronok4067]

Thanks for sharing

[@billharm6006]

Great background. Great advice. Great enthusiasm.

[@WorldAnvil]

Glad it was helpful!

[@WordiGirl-LexiCon]

interesting insights, as always. I adore WorldAnvil! God bless and much love 💖

[@dane3038]

GURPS definitely shines brightest when used for S&S.

[@WorldAnvil]

Fully here for an old school GURPs campaign ⚔️

[@josephyoung2593]

OS RPGs are a good fit for sword & sorcery play because they actually evolved out of the subgenre. D&D began as essentially a Fritz Leiber simulator; the idea of dungeon-crawling, the rogue/thief class and the big unsavoury fantasy city are all lifted directly from his work. In fact it was D&D which kept the sword & sorcery ethos alive as pulp fantasy shifted to pseudo-Tolkienian epics in the post-Silmarillion (ie post-1977) era. Apart from outliers like Call of Cthulhu, the games kept a discernible sword & sorcery focus until the late '80s. One point this video might have included is some discussion about the precise world-building techniques used by sword & sorcery authors, which differ fundamentally from those of epic fantasists and contribute directly to the flavour Ms Forbes describes here. The reiteration of those techniques on a grand scale is precisely what makes A Song of Ice and Fire feel so discordant, particularly to casual readers of the genre. World Anvil, by accident or design, is set up to foster those techniques and some thoughts on how to make use of that convergent evolution might be very useful.

[@WorldAnvil]

That could be a very interesting follow-up video👀

[@setelliott9683]

WA isn't showing up in my subs banner, but I'm subscribed. Gonna have to look into this.

[@WorldAnvil]

Let us know if you need assistance!

[@joerama]

How about some “Swords of the Serpentine” for S&S TTRPG (gumshoe system)? Add some investigative substance and challenges beyond the sword to your S&S adventures.

[@WorldAnvil]

Ooh, nice! We'll have to check that out. Always down for "a fantasy city rife with skullduggery." 😁

[@joerama]

@@WorldAnvil Don’t forget the death!-) You are in for a treat. Dark worlds and dark deeds always deserve detective duty. Enjoy!

[@brangochmawr]

Dave Sym's Cerebus the Aardvark parodied sword and sorcery before Sym went off the rails.

[@WorldAnvil]

We love a good parody.

[@robertmcdaris7591]

I grew up with Robert E. Howard's Conan, Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga, and Tanith Lee's Flat-Earth series. As far as Sword & Sorcery, I started off with TSR's AD&D but fell in love Harn published by Columbia Games.

[@WorldAnvil]

Tanith Lee is a great addition to the list!

[@Tiller-Z]

Awesome! :)

[@WorldAnvil]

Glad you like it!

[@BrianPivik]

Love it!

[@WorldAnvil]

So glad!

[@MorgDragon]

nice take on the genre and well presented. i would disagree on Rune Quest being in this genre though. i think it is better in high fantasy. the elements that you use are just not present in RQ. everyone can learn magic and it is not corrupting. the only corrupting magic which forms the basis for the main villains, is Chaos magic. yes, sorcery (different from spirit of divine magic) can be used for evil - see the Kingdom of War's sorcerers Tapping (named after the spell Tap) peasants INT, EGO, CHR, for their magic leaving stupid, easily controlled masses is bad, the magic is not corrupting. I spent years from college and after playing in that world. ;) A better example is Black Company. that definitely fits the Sword and Sorc genre better. :) oh and yes, there are problematic themes in the genre/comics, but as i have argued with my gaming friends, villains are gunna villain, which means they can be racist, masogenistic, bigots who keep slaves and do other immoral things. you don't like that? fix it, fight/kill it, stope them. BE the change! glad i stumbled upon this channel.

[@WorldAnvil]

thanks for the contributions!

[@crazyscotsman9327]

Thank you! It is hard writing Sword and Sorcery here is a comment and a like for the dark gods of math.

[@WorldAnvil]

We humbly accept your tribute. 👐

[@vidgrip8622]

The S&S moniker is heavily abused in tabletop RPG's. Tolkien races (elves, dwarves, etc) and good clerics with divine magic are not features of the genre. Games that are true to the genre include: Black Sword Hack, Crypts & Things, Hyperborea, and any of the Conan games. Savage Worlds with the Lankhmar setting book is probably good, too, although I've never played it.

[@WorldAnvil]

We'll have to check those out!

[@SecondhandWorldAnvil]

SO who WINS... Swords or Sorcery :)

[@Tiller-Z]

It's always the ducks.

[@terrycassis1864]

Sorcery obviously 😂

[@danielrood264]

The Black Company is a much better example of Sword & Sorcery than Abercrombie's First Law. That's more grimdark.

[@WorldAnvil]

Will have to check it out.

[@docstockandbarrel]

👍🏻

[@jn3Storyteller]

You might want to rethink your Savage Worlds description. The system uses the same dice as D&D, it just uses them differently. It is definitely NOT a d6 system.

[@WorldAnvil]

Thanks for the catch