The Sword Noir one-shot for Gen Con 2011 is tentatively called “Crossing the Millers.” In this adventure, the player characters work for Finney, a crime boss in Everthorn’s East Corners neighbourhood. Finney’s citadel is in a converted waterwheel mill that still runs, and Finney’s gang is sometimes called the Millers.
The PCs are called on by Finney to do him a personal favour. What Finney doesn’t know is that he’s asking the crew to do something that might lead the crew into direct conflict with the boss himself.
For those of you who might still not have purchased Sword Noir: a Role-Playing Game of Hardboiled Sword & Sorcery, it can be found here.
And these are the pre-generated characters that the one-shot will use.
Concept: Fixer, Good
Background: Merchant of Lies, Good
Faculty: You Can Trust Me!, Good (Cha)
Flaw: My Fatal Love, Basic
Phy Av; Agl Av; Wit Gd; Cha Gd; Wil Av
Where it Hurts (Wit, Gt); Connected (Cha, Gd); Charming (Cha, Gd)
Pivot: The Mouth is Mightier. An Advance when the character avoids a physical confrontation that s/he likely could have won and makes an ally—or at least puts another character in her/his debt—by doing so.
Concept: The Muscle, Good
Background: Underworld Bodyguard, Good
Faculty: Bringing the Pain, Great (Phy)
Flaw: Blind Loyalty, Basic
Phy Gt; Agl Av; Wit Av; Cha Av; Wil Gd
Brute Force (Phy, Gd); Taste Steel (Phy, Gt)
Pivot: Only if You Get Through Me. An Advance when the character places her/himself in real peril in order to protect a friend or ally.
Concept: The Witch, Good
Background: Seeker of Mysteries, Good
Faculty: Arcana, Good (Wit)
Flaw: I’m So Much Smarter Than You, Basic
Phy Av; Agl Gd; Wit Av; Cha Av; Wil Gt
Steady Hands (Agl, Gt); Mistress of the Tree, Charm of Seeing (Wil, Gd), Fist of Thunder (Wil, Gd), Voice of the Green (Wil, Gd)
Pivot: Finder of Secrets. An Advance when the character accesses secret knowledge and uses it in such a way as to defeat a superior opponent, not necessarily in battle.
Concept: Sicarius, Great
Background: Bloodsports of the World, Good
Faculty: Fast, Good (Agl)
Flaw: The Direct Approach, Basic
Phy Av; Agl Gt; Wit Gd; Cha Av; Wil Av
Strike Like A Snake (Agl, Gt)
Pivot: There Are Rules. An Advance when the character passes up an advantage over a superior opponent because it would be “unfair” or might not “look good.”
Note: Sicarius was the name given by the Romans to a group of assassins during the first Jewish Revolt in the time of Nero. In this game, it denotes a type of gladiator who uses two knives.
Concept: Burglar, Good
Background: Street Urchin, Good
Faculty: Light Fingers, Good (Agl)
Flaw: Bright shiny objects, Basic
Phy Av; Agl Gt; Wit Av; Cha Av; Wil Av
Like a Spider (Agl, Gt); Perfect Balance (Agl, Gd); Reflexes! (Agl, Gd); Flashing Blade (Agl, Gd)
Pivot: This is Why I Can’t Have Nice Things. An Advance when the character passes up an opportunity to profit or “acquire” a desirable object in order to protect or aid a friend or ally.
Concept: Sword For Hire, Good
Background: Shed Blood In Many Lands, Good
Faculty: Three feet of Steel, Great (Agl)
Flaw: Word of Honour, Basic
Phy Av; Agl Gt; Wit Av; Cha Gd; Wil Av
Infantry (Agl, Gd); Wolf in the Fold (Agl, Gd)
Pivot: I Got This. An Advance when the character enters into dangers combat against superior opponents without assistance when that assistance is available.
Concept: Ghost, Good
Background: Night Artist, Good
Faculty: I Can See It In Your Eyes, Great (Wit)
Flaw: Hunted Man, Basic
Phy Av; Agl Gd; Wit Gd; Cha Av; Wil Av
In The Shadows (Agl, Gt); Up My Sleeve (Agl, Gd); Deadly Strike (Agl, Gd)
Pivot: Did You Expect Me To Fall For That. An Advance when the character avoids serious peril due to the character’s insight into another or others actions, plans or motives.
I will, however, be carrying with me physical copies of Sword Noir and the very first ever copies of Kiss My Axe: Thirteen Warriors and an Angel of Death. This will be the “Quick and Dirty Gen Con edition,” lacking professional layout, but mechanically the same as that which will come later.
SEP just released its first adventure for