Curt Meyer had an interesting comment about Sword Noir that I wanted to answer here.
Curt said: “My only complaint is no bestiary. Conan and the Grey Mouser both battle weird creatures from beyond, etc.”
Curt agreed to me answering this in public, but the crux of it was in my email reply to him: “Short answer for no bestiary: I was leaning to the Noir over the Sword, and I feel that if one wants to do straight up S&S, that Jaws of the Six Serpents has already done it right.”
Sword Noir is part S&S and part hardboiled crime/detective fiction. Part of its appeal is in its removal from the standard fantasy RPG. It is different, it is somewhat unique—in its own little totally carbon copied way. Adding monsters and beasts to fight turns the dial back toward standard fantasy, removing some of its unique character.
My Sword Noir stories, however, are not devoid of monsters. “Flotsam Jewel,” which can be found in the Sword Noir fiction collection For Simple Coin, has a demon that is rather central to the story, being a primary obstacle for the main character to overcome. Saying that, writing Sword Noir—to me—is far different from playing Sword Noir, just as my fantasy writing is pretty far removed from my fantasy gaming.
So sorry to Curt and any others who wanted to fight the beasties. You can find those in the upcoming Kiss My Axe as well as the soon to be released print on demand version of the Sword’s Edge System.