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“And on this throne of black iron, there shall be seated the great king of bloodshed and murder, and he shall be as a god unto slayers of men. And all who do his work in the lands shall be called his blades, and they shall strive to become alike him, and be feared and revered amongst their lesser brethren...” The Forlorn Tome of Du’Karrn BLADE OF THE IRON THRONE and all associated names, characters, logos, marks, and illus- trations are © and TM 2011 and 2012 Iron Throne Publishing, Phillip Jones and Michael Heider. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. I Iron Throne Publishing BLADE OF THE IRON THRONE and all associated names, characters, logos, marks, and illustrations are © and TM 2011 and 2012 Iron Throne Publishing, Phillip Jones and Michael Heider. All rights reserved. All artwork © and TM 2011 and 2012 Iron Throne Publishing or the respective artist of each piece thereof. All rights reserved. The World of Xoth, and all related characters, names, places, items, plots, settings, descriptive text and concepts are copyright (C) 2008-2012, Morten Braten and Xoth.Net Publishing, and appears in this work with permission. Permission granted to copy the character sheets and other tables from the Appendices. II CREDITS Written by Phillip Jones and Michael Heider Art Layout, logo, and Graphic Design: Tommaso Galmacci Additional Black & White Artwork by Adam Schmidt Passion Attribute description: Matthew Terry Editing and Layout: Michele Toscan and Ryan Maguire Title/Chapter Introduction quotes and Glossary/Index: Alegz Obernigg Cover Art: Courtesy of Robin Olausson The World of Xoth is featured courtesy of Morten Braten and Xoth.Net Publishing Special thanks to Paul Sharratt for providing the model for the BLADE Sorcery mechanics. The artwork that appears in this not-for-profit work of fanon has been used without permis- sion. The copyright on each individual piece lies with the individual artists. Special Thanks To Jake Norwood, creator of The Riddle of Steel, the game that inspired this work, Mary my wife, and to Gordon Lepp, a great gamer and my best friend, I will always miss you. Playtesters Jon Hyams, Ian Plumb, Lucas Gonasalves, Antti Piipponen, Alegz Obernigg, Robert Davis, Paul Reinwald, Mattia Corsini III Introduction Eleven years ago today Jake Norwood and team were wrapping up devel- opment of their revolutionary RPG, The Riddle of Steel. The following March the game was released at GAMA -- and the first print run sold out. A second printing soon followed and it is this version of the game that most players remember so fondly. The fact that we’re still talking about a game that was released nearly eleven years ago, a game that hasn’t had any official material published for it in the last five years, a game that still has an active community behind it, is tes- tament to the originality of Jake’s game. What attracted gamers to it all those years ago still holds true today -- player-driven story and detailed, realistic com- bat mechanics producing a true Narrativist-Simulationist hybrid that appeals to players and referees alike. About two and a half years ago the trosfans community broached the sub- ject of a successor game in earnest. Over the years many had asked whether a new version of TRoS could be produced, one that addressed the inconsistencies prevalent in the first edition. Issues over ownership and copyright ruled out that option and so the idea of a successor game was introduced. Ninety threads and nearly two thousand posts later every aspect of TRoS has been picked apart and alternatives suggested. Upon this maelstrom of ideas order needed to be imposed. The greater pool of concepts needed to be gleaned, the numbers winnowed, until a coherent whole was formed. Who better to do this than two of the communities’ most active con- tributors? Phil and Michael had a clear vision for an RPG that worked seam- lessly within the classic genre of Sword and Sorcery fiction. Today, with BLADE OF THE IRON THRONE they have produced a succes- sor to TRoS that has none of the anomalies, none of the inconsistencies, none of the gaps -- yet retains a clear link to TRoS through player-driven story and demanding, realistic combat scenes. If Conan were to pick up a role-playing game, he’d choose this one. Ian Plumb – December 2012 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One Mechanics 1 What is a Roleplaying Game? 1 What kind of RPG is BLADE OF THE IRON THRONE? 2 Basic Rules - Checks 2 I Dice Types Used 2 II The Major Checks 2 III Attribute Descriptions 6 Chapter Two Characters 13 I - Talents 13 1 Sorcery 14 2 Culture 15 3 Attributes 17 4 Skills 18 5. Proficiencies 18 6 Assets 18 II Other Details 19 III Character Creation Example 19 The 4 Shoulds 22 IV Creating your own Talent Table 23 Chapter Three Training 27 I Skills Overview 27 II Skill Descriptions 27 III Assets Overview 41 1 Assets Described 41 IV. Proficiencies Overview 58 1. Proficiencies Described 58 V Maneuvers 63 1 Offensive Maneuvers Described 63 2 Defensive Maneuvers Described 71 V VI Character Progression 75 1 Passion Attributes 75 Lucky Break . 76 Scene Request . 77 Have a Success. 77 Stealing the Limelight . 77 Optional Drama Use: Melee Survival. 77 Drama Use by NPCs. 78 2 Spending Passion Points 78 3 Karma 78 4 Basic Attributes 79 5. Proficiencies 79 6 Assets 80 7 Skills 80 8 Loot 80 Chapter Four Melee 85 I Melee Combat Overview 85 1 Limelight and the Combat Round 85 2 The Order of a Combat Round 88 3 Steps 1 & 2: Stances, Initiative, and Surprise 88 4 Steps 3 & 5: The Exchange 90 5 Steps 4 & 6: Damage 93 6 Terrain Checks 97 7 Fatigue in the Combat Scene 100 II Defense 101 1 Evasion 101 2 Defensive Actions 102 3 Armor Overview 103 4 Armor Types 103 III Ranged Combat 105 IV Mounted Combat 108 1 Rideby Melee Attacks 108 2 Jousting 109 VI 3 Mounted Archery 110 4 Barding 110 V Animals in Combat 111 Large Animals and Wounds. 112 Huge Animals . 112 Fighting Animals . .113 Animal Maneuvers . 114 Pack Tactics . .117 VI An Example of Melee Combat 118 Chapter Five Travel and Health 123 I Travel, Scene Framing, and Scene Requests 123 II Encumbrance (Optional) . 124 III Health 125 1 Healing and Wounds 125 2 Falling Damage 126 3 Generic Damage 126 4 Poison 126 5 Pain - It’s just a scratch! (Optional) 127 Chapter Six Sorcery 131 I Sorcery Overview 131 1 The Sorcery Pool 133 2 Taint 133 3 The Lesser Mysteries 135 4 Greater Mysteries 142 5 Arcane Secrets 147 6 Combining Sorcerous Efforts 153 7 Duel of Wills 154 Sorcerous Maneuvers: . 155 Offensive Maneuvers: . 155 Defensive Maneuvers: . 156 8 Effecting Multiple Targets 157 VII Chapter Seven S&S Gaming 161 I A Sword & Sorcery Overview 161 1 The World of Sword & Sorcery 161 2 Faith and the Divine 163 3 Magic and the Supernatural in Sword & Sorcery 163 4 The Racial Makeup of Sword & Sorcery 164 5 Heroes and Villains in Sword & Sorcery 166 6 The Sword & Sorcery Tale 168 II 20 Tips for running your BLADE game! 171 Final Word: The Iron Rule 175 Chapter Eight Xoth 179 I Xoth Overview 179 1 The People 179 II The Gods 188 III The World 191 Susrah: Land of Warring City-States 194 The Cult of the Keepers: . 195 Zorab Mountains 195 The al-Khazi Desert 195 Khazraj, the Wolves of the Desert 196 Khazistan 196 Hills of the Dead 199 Isles of the Sea Reavers 200 Cannibal Coast 200 Silver Lotus Isles. 200 The Sunken Isles of Ptahanna . 201 Yar-Ammon and the City of Khadis . .201 IV Drugs of Xoth 202 Appendices Wound Tables 205 CLEAVING DAMAGE TABLES 205 VIII PIERCING DAMAGE TABLES 212 BLUNT DAMAGE TABLES 217 SWUNG PIERCING DAMAGE TABLES 229 MELEE WEAPON TABLES 236 PUNCHES AND KICKS 245 ANIMAL WEAPONS 246 MISSILE WEAPONS 248 WEAPON QUALITY . 249 ENCHANTED WEAPONS . 249 NPCs 250 Beasts 255 Supernatural Menaces 258 Bibliography 260 1 The Precursors 260 2 The Pioneers 260 3 The Founding Fathers 261 4 The Emulators 262 5 The Defenders 264 Glossary 267 Index 271 IX “There were five thousand of us, from a score of races and tribes. We had been serving as mercenaries for a rebel prince in eastern Korb, most of us, and when he made peace with his cursed sovereign, we were out of employment; so we took to plundering the outlying dominions of Koth, Zamora and Turan impartially. A week ago Shah Amurath trapped us near the banks of Ilbars with fifteen thousand men. Mitra! The skies were black with vultures. When the lines broke, after a whole day of fighting, some tried to break through to the north, some to the west. I doubt if any escaped. The steppes were covered with horsemen riding down the fugitives. I broke for the east, and finally reached the edge of the marshes that border this part of Vilayet. “I’ve been hiding in the morasses ever since. Only the day before yesterday the riders ceased beating up the reed-brakes, searching for just such fugitives as I. I’ve squirmed and burrowed and hidden like a snake, feasting on muskrats I caught and ate raw, for lack of fire to cook them. This dawn I found this boat hidden among the reeds. I hadn’t intended going out on the sea until night, but after I killed Shah Amurath, I knew his mailed dogs would be close at hand.” “And what now?” “We shall doubtless be pursued.