song of swords

beta
Update 1

Song of Swords opaque industries

 Song of Swords

Beta Rules for “Song of Swords”

Roleplaying Game

Song of Swords is a fantasy tabletop roleplaying game that emphasizes the harsh reality of battle, the human motivations
that drive heroes to adventure and danger, and the gripping narratives that arise from conflict and struggle, to provide great
roleplaying campaigns.
The focus of the game is on enjoyable realism. We have drawn from historical sources and research to create a game with
gritty, in-depth combat, and arms and armors taken straight from the annals of history. You’ll find no madcap fantasy
weapons here, just the goods. Cold steel, the way it was really wielded and worn. Sometimes, though, you may find that
truth is stranger than fiction.
Whether you play campaigns set in our own history, or in the far-flung realms of fantasy, the grounded realism of Song of
Swords will bring you straight into the game, and make you feel each tooth-jarring blow and battle-cry in your bones.
The system is D10 based, and highly modular, facilitating campaigns from historical fiction to low-magic realism to ro-
bust fantasy. A core fantasy setting our own creation, called Tattered Realms, will be included in the core book alongside
a guide to playing in 15th century Europe, and many expansions and supplements are to follow, detailing new venues for
your games and providing resources for your own creations.
The first production of Opaque Industries, Song of Swords is to be our flagship product, the foundation upon which our
company is built, and the core of our productive enterprise. We have put our souls into this game, and we hope you enjoy
playing it as much as we enjoyed making it.

Lead Designer: James T. ”Rome” Lacombe

Producer, Designer, Layout: Zachary T. Irwin
Supplementary Design Team: Daniel Leiendecker, Forrest Phanton, Taylor Davis
Cover Art: Kenneth Solis
Book Art: Frankie Perez, Taylor Davis, Kassandra Swager
Additional Development: Justin Hazen, Kevin Weech
CEO: Zachary T. Irwin

All contents copyright © 2013 by Zachary T. Irwin, James T. Lacombe. All rights reserved.

http://opaquegames.com

https://www.facebook.com/OpaqueIndustries
https://twitter.com/OpaqueGames

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 Song of Swords
Errata: Song of Swords
V1.0
General Amendments
All Pages: Vines
If the vines at the bottom left and right right appear solid
instead of mostly translucent, try downloading the .PDF and
opening it with a normal reader instead of reading it in your
browser.
Most Pages: Creation Points
Any abbreviation for Creation points written as (CP) should
be (CrP).
Pg. 04: Rounding Down
The next update will contain this entry in Chapter 0.
“In Song of Swords, in any game-mechanics situation in which
rounding is required, always round down.”
Pg. 04: Bonus Successes
The next update will include these rules in Chapter 0
“Bonus Successes are defined as any successes in excess of
what is required to succeed at base (the Difficulty, or in the
case of contested rolls, Enemy Successes,) and provide bo-
nuses to the action being attempted.
In the case of Attacks that inflict damage, including Missile
and Melee attacks, Bonus Successes always add to the Dam-
age inflicted unless specifically noted otherwise.
Pg. 04 Encumbrance
Until the next update, where Encumbrance will be imple-
mented entirely, use this quick fix.
“Each time a character’s accumulated Weight surpasses his
Endurance score, the character’s Encumbrance increases by 1.
Each point of Encumbrance decreases CP and MOB by 1, and
increases the activation costs of Void and Evade maneuvers by
1.”
Pg. 7: Creation Points and Proficiencies
Until the next update fixes the system more completely, use
this quick fix to simplify things:
“Creation Points (henceforth to be abbreviated CrP) when
devoted into the Proficiency section, award the player tem-
porary Arc points based on how many are allocated into the
category as determined by the table on Pg.7, which can be
used to then purchase Proficiencies and Points in the same
way as detailed in the Character Advancement section. Any of
these temporary Arc Points which are left over afterwards are
lost, so use them all.”
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Pg. 10: Dwarves Selective Eyesight
Within the Dwarf section, for the “Selective Eyelight” ability,
change the last sentence to the following:
“As a result, Dwarves are extremely poor at reading facial
expressions, and suffer +1 TN to the Awareness and Analyze
skills.“
Pg. 11: Iron Ibers and Natural Philosophy
The Natural Philosophy ability of the Iron Ibera on should
read as follows:
“A Burdinadin can, with 15 minutes of study, make an Educa-
tion check to understand the function and workings of almost
any device, object or technology. Being allowed to dismantle,
disassemble, or dissect the subject reduces the successes
required by 2. The object being Magical in nature, or involving
phenomenally advanced mechanics or processes can, at the
GM’s discretion, increase the successes required by between
1 and 6. The Bonus Successes over Difficulty determine how
much the Burdinadin learns about the subject.
1 Bonus Successes: The Burdinadin determines the general
function and workings of the subject, though perhaps not
its intended application. (I.E., discovering that a toaster is
intended to fry something, but not specifically knowing that it
was designed to toast bread.)
3 Bonus Successes: The Burdinadin knows not only what
the device’s general function of, but also what it is made of,
how it was made, and how to theoretically reproduce it. (The
practicality of this given available tools may still make such a
thing unfeasible.)
5 Degrees of Success: The Burdinadin knows what the device
does, what it was designed to do, and, in addition to how to
reproduce it, how long it would take, working from scratch,
any flaws intrinsic to the design that could be exploited, and
how to theoretically repair them.
Pg. 12: Unwholesome Impulses
The Wood Iber racial ability Unwholesome Impulses is not
complete, and requires that certain systems be complete
before it can be written. The proper ability will be added in
future updates.
Pg. 54: Missile Weapon Dodging/Blocking
The next update will include these rules in the Using Missile
Weapons in Melee. Consider these added to the given page.
When shooting at an enemy already in an Engagement during
the Bystander Phase, the target may elect to Block or Void the
attack with up to the amount of CP they possessed at the end
of their last Action. If this is the First Turn and the character
has not yet gained a Combat Pool, he may take the aforemen-
tioned defensive actions with a number of dice up to his PER
score (but not exceeding his total Combat Pool,) and then
subtract these from his CP gained during the Refresh, along
with any Shock or Pain inflicted by missile injuries or from
other sources.
A character can take defense against multiple missile weap-
ons in the same Phase, but cannot use more than the total
amount of his currently available CP, or in the case of First
Turn shooting, his current Maximum CP.
 Song of Swords
Horses’ Proficiency details, and lack kicking maneuvers Pg. 44: Great Axes
The Warhorse on Pg.74’s Proficiency value should be “Nibble Great Axes should have a Thrust at TN 8(-1p), and the Staff
4,” making its total CP 10 (assuming the horse is unarmored, quality. This represents thrusting with the horn of the
which is likely as horse armor has not yet been implemented.) weapon. If the Great Axe is equipped with an Arming Spike, it
The Warhorse’s attacks should also read as follows: can instead use that value (Thrust 7(+0p)).
Bite Attack: H Range, Thrust TN 6 (Str-2c)
Kick Attack: M Range, Strike TN 7, (Str+0b) Pg. 44-45: Bludgeoning Weapons without a Thrust
Double Kick: L Range, Strike TN 8, (Str+1b)
TN
In the Weapons section on Pages 44-45, there are a great
Weapon Adjustments & Clarifications number of weapons which lack a Thrust TN, when other blud-
geoning weapons without tips have one. At the bottom of the
Weapon Additions 1H Blunt list, there is an entry titled Arming Spike. This entry
Despite being slightly out of period with the rest of the represents the small thrusting spike atop many axes, maces,
weapon selection, the following weapons will be included in and warhammers, and inflicts 7(+0p) damage at whatever the
the next update. range is of the weapon they are attached to. Weapons which
[There will also be an addition of ~40 additional weapons of do not have an arming spike for whatever reason, thrust as a
other varieties, which are not listed here. Truncheon, at 6(-1b).
2H Blunt weapons without a Thrusting value can also make
Rapier 1 Handed. Long reach. Sword type. Strike 7(-1c), use of the Arming Spike entry or the Truncheon entry.
Thrust 6(+1p), Guard 3, Defense 6. Cost 3 Specials: Civilian This will be clarified in future updates.
Blade (-1 vs Plate armor) Shank Tip(Does NOT count as a
Blade-Thrust) Pg. 47: Ranged Weapon Costs
“In the next Update, ranged weapons will be given costs. For
Main Gauche 1 handed. Short reach. Knife type. Strike 6(-1) now, use the following guide:
c. Thrust 6(-1)p. Guard 2. Defense 6. Cost 3. Specials: Civilian Self Bows
Blade (See Rapier), Companion Weapon (Gains +1 die when Longbow: 2
used in a Simultaneous Parry/Attack to Parry) Warbow: 3
(Thanks Anonymous suggestor) Composite Horse-Bow: 3
Composite Footbow: 4
Pg. 43 Misericorde without Strike TN Crossbows
The Misericorde should have a Strike 8(-4c) Hand Crossbow: 3
This will be added in future updates. Hunting Crossbow: 2
Light Military Crossbow: 3
Pg. 43: Cinquedas & other Weapons without dam- Heavy Military Crossbow: 3
Heavy Arbalest: 4
age-type listings
Hook: +0
Cinquedas, depicted on Pg.43 should have Cut and Piercing
Lever: +0
notifications in their Strike and Thrust damage categories.
Windlass: +0
This is also the case with several other weapons, and will be
Crannequin: +1
fixed in the next update.
Slings:
All: 0
Pg. 43: Curved Dagger without Defense TN Firearms
The Curved Dagger on Pg.43 should have Defense 10. Hand-Bombard: 2
This will be added in future updates. Firelock Handgonne: 3
Matchlock Arquebus: 4
Pg. 45: Swordstaff Defense Bolt Action Rifle: lol
The Swordstaff now has DTN 8. This change will be imple- Javelins
mented in the next Beta update. Darts/Javelins: 1
Soliferrum, Pilum: 2
Pg. 44: The Montante (Design Explanation)
The Montante’s profile is not incidental. It inflicts less thrust- Pg. 47: Draw STR
ing and cutting damage than the Zweihänder, but its Strike The Draw Strength entry for bows should read as follows:
value is superior, making it more wieldy on the cut, and giving “In order to use a bow, a character must have Strength equal
it an advantage on actually hitting the enemy, while being less to or higher than the Draw STR of the weapon. In order to
useful for cracking through heavy armor and otherwise kill- use the Power Draw maneuver with a bow, a character must
ing a foe with a small number of Bonus Successes. It could be have Strength at least 1 point higher than the Draw STR of the
considered a midway point between the Zweihänder and the weapon. Characters with lower Strength than the Draw STR of
Longsword, mechanically. a bow may still attempt to use it, but suffer a +1 TN, -1 Dam-
age, and halved range, and cannot perform any Maneuvers

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 Song of Swords
using it except Shoot.

Pg. 50: Leather Armor New Prototype

Leather Armor will be receiving a buff-coat entry in the next
update, as well as additional armoring options for limbs, torso
and head.
Leather Armor should have the Blade Thrust weakness qual-
ity, identical to Padded Armor.
Pg. 50: Non-Plate Gauntlets
A wide array of hand protecting armors will be added in the
next update, of all, including mixed, materials.
Proficiency System
Herein is contained a simplified version of the Proficiency
system that will be featured in the next update of SoS. This
can be considered to completely replace the old Proficiency
system, as can the Maneuvers detailed further in the section
be considered replacements for the old Maneuver system.

Pg. 52: Shield Breaking bonus with Great-Axe Proficiency Level Schematic
The Great Axe will receive a bonus to Hew maneuvers in the Level Pool Unlock Cost
next Update, and the Hew maneuver will be made more easily
available in the 2H Great Axe proficiency. In the mean time, 1 1 Core 3
treat the Great Axe as though it has Specialization: Hew 5. 2 2 Novice Talent 1
3 3 - 1

Injury & Healing 4 4 Novice Talent 1

5 5 Tier 1 Maneuvers 5
Pg. 59: Infection
The Injury & Healing sub-entry of Infection should have the 6 6 Journeyman Talent 1
following addendum at its end: 7 7 - 1
“A character who does not contract Irreversible Sepsis, or
have the infected limb amputated, will recover from the Infec- 8 8 Journeyman Talent 1
tion when ½ of the Healing Time for the Wound has passed,
or after passing a cumulative 10 daily Infection checks against 9 9 - 1
Health Loss.” 10 10 Tier 2 Maneuvers 8

Pg. 59: Infection & Surgery 11 11 - 1

A Surgery Roll applied before or during the treatment of an 12 12 Master Talent 1
Injury can add its Bonus Successes to the character’s Health
Roll against Infection, though not to subsequent Health rolls 13 13 - 1
against Sepsis if the initial roll fails. 14 14 Master Talent 1

Pg. 62+: Bleed/Bloodloss

All instances of “Bleed” in the Damage Tables, and on the 15 15 Mastery Maneuvers 15
character sheet, should be changed to “Bloodloss.”
Maneuver Tiers When a character unlocks a Tier of Maneu-
vers, he gains all of those maneuvers immediately, and can
use them with any weapons compatible with the proficiency.
The Core is a tier containing basic maneuvers. More advanced
Maneuvers of the same type (ex. Hilt Push 2 (Wind and Bind))
are upgrades for existing maneuvers which add additional
functionality to them, as described in their description in the
maneuver section.

Pool: The Pool value for each level is the total amount of Pool
gained so far for the proficiency, and is the number combined
with ADR when forming a character’s Combat Pool.

Talents: When a character unlocks a Talent, he may select a

Talent of the level listed (Novice, Journeyman, Master,) and
add it to his character sheet. It is possible to use a higher level
talent slot to purchase a lower level talent.
[Talent List Forthcoming in Separate Release]

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 Song of Swords
NEW MODEL PROFICIENCIES Feint (V)
Hew (0)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack (2)
Activation Costs: Parry-Off (2)
The number in (Bold Parenthesis) next to a maneuver in the Grapple (1)
Proficiency Maneuver List section is the activation cost of the Trip 2 (Throw) (0)
maneuver for this Proficiency. If, in a later tier, a character
unlocks a maneuver that is an advanced version of an older
Tier 2: (Level 10)
one (denoted by the number next to it), Hilt Push 2 etc,) with
Disarm (2)
a different activation cost listed, use the cost for the more
Hilt Push 2 (Wind and Bind) (1)
advanced maneuver. If the parenthesis instead contain a V,
Riposte 2 (Counter) (1)
this signifies that the cost is variable, and that the maneuver
Simultaneous Parry/Attack 2 (Masterstrike) (1)
itself dictates how many dice are used. Check the maneuver
Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (1)
rules for details.
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword) (1)

Dagger Maneuver List

1H Sword Maneuver List
Core: (Level 1)
Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Core: (Level 1)
Thrust (0)
Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Strike (0)
Thrust (0)
Parry (0)
Strike (0)
Trip (0)
Parry (0)
Beat (0)
Tier 1: (Level 5) Block (0)
Riposte (2) Trip (0)
Feint (V)
Hew (0)
Tier 1: (Level 5)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack (2)
Block-Off (1)
Side Attack (0)
Hilt-Push (1)
Side Parry/Attack (0)
Riposte (1)
Parry-Off (2)
Feint (V)
Grapple (1)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack (3)
Trip 2 (Throw) (0)
Simultaneous Block/Attack (1)
Side Attack (0)
Tier 2: (Level 10) Side Parry/Attack (1)
Disarm (2) Parry-Off (1)
Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (1) Grapple (0)
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword) (1) Trip 2 (Throw) (0)
Tier 2: (Level 10)
Disarm (2)
Block Off 2 (Obviate) (1)
2H Sword Maneuver List Hilt Push 2 (Wind and Bind) (1)
Riposte 2 (Counter) (1)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack 2 (Masterstrike) (2)
Core: (Level 1) Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (1)
Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword (0)
Thrust (0)
Strike (0)
Parry (0)
Beat (0)
Trip (0) 1H Axe Maneuver List
Tier 1: (Level 5) Core: (Level 1)
Half-Sword (2) Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Murderstrike (2) Thrust (0)
Hilt-Push (1) Strike (0)
Riposte (2)

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 Song of Swords
Parry (0) 1H Flail Maneuver List
Block (0)
Beat (0)
Core: (Level 1)
Hook (1)
Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Trip (0)
Strike (0)
Parry (2)
Tier 1: (Level 5) Beat (0)
Block-Off (1) Block (0)
Hew (1) Hook (0)
Riposte (2) Trip (0)
Feint (V+1)
Parry-Off (2)
Tier 1: (Level 5)
Side Attack (0)
Break (0)
Side Parry/Attack (1)
Block Off (1)
Grapple (0)
Simultaneous Block/Attack (1)
Trip 2 (Throw) (0)
Feint (V+2)
Grapple (0)
Tier 2: (Level 10) Trip 2 (Throw) (0)
Disarm (1)
Block Off 2 (Obviate) (1)
Tier 2: (Level 10)
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword (0)
Disarm (1)
Block Off 2 (Obviate) (1)
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword) (0)

1H Mace Maneuver List

Core: (Level 1) 2H Axe Maneuver List

Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Thrust (0)
Core: (Level 1)
Strike (0)
Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Parry (0)
Thrust (0)
Beat (0)
Strike (0)
Block (0)
Parry (0)
Trip (0)
Beat (0)
Hook (0)
Tier 1: (Level 5) Trip (0)
Block-Off (1)
Break (1)
Tier 1: (Level 5)
Riposte (1)
Hew (0)
Feint (V)
Feint (V+2)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack (4)
Parry-Off (2)
Simultaneous Block/Attack (1)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack (4)
Side Attack (0)
Grapple (0)
Side Parry/Attack (1)
Trip 2 (Throw) (0)
Parry-Off (1)
Grapple (0)
Trip 2 (Throw) (0) Tier 2: (Level 10)
Disarm (1)
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword) (0)
Tier 2: (Level 10)
Disarm (1)
Block Off 2 (Obviate) (1)
Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (1)
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword) (0) 2H Cudgel List

Core: (Level 1)
Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Thrust (0)
Strike (0)

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 Song of Swords
Parry (0) Tier 1: (Level 5)
Beat (0) Feint (V+1)
Trip (0) Parry-Off (1)
Grapple (2)
Tier 1: (Level 5)
Break (0) Tier 2: (Level 10)
Feint (V+2) Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (1)
Parry-Off (2)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack (3)
Grapple (0)
Trip 2 (Throw) (0) Polearm (Halberd)
Tier 2: (Level 10)
Disarm (1) Core: (Level 1)
Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (1) Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Grapple 2 (Grapple at the Sword) (0) Thrust (0)
Strike (0)
Beat (0)
Parry (0)
Staff-Parry (1)
Polearm (Spear)
Tier 1: (Level 5)
Core: (Level 1) Feint (V)
Unlocked when proficiency is bought) Hew (0)
Thrust (0) Break (0)
Strike (0) Simultaneous Parry/Attack (4)
Block (0) Hook (1)
Beat (0) Riposte (2)
Parry (0) Parry-Off (2)
Staff-Parry (1) Grapple (2)

Tier 1: (Level 5) Tier 2: (Level 10)

Feint (V) Disarm (2)
Riposte (1) Riposte 2 (Counter) (1)
Simultaneous Block/Attack (1) Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (2)
Simultaneous Parry/Attack (4)
Parry-Off (1)
Block Off (1)
Grapple (2)

Tier 2: (Level 10)

Disarm (2)
Riposte 2 (Counter) (1)
Parry-Off 2 (Expulsion) (1)
Block Off 2 (Obviate) (1)
Schools
[Humans only]
The School system allows characters to develop combat skills
with multiple weapons simultaneously, giving them more
options in combat both in the weapons they use, and in the
abilities they have with each.

Forming a School requires that a character have at least three

Proficiencies already bought, within 3 levels of each other. It
also requires that the character be of a Race capable of utiliz-
Polearm (Pike) ing the School system. Any number of Proficiencies meeting
the requirements can be formed into a School.
Establishing a School costs 2 Arc, regardless of how many
Core: (Level 1) Proficiencies are contained within it.
Unlocked when proficiency is bought
Thrust (0) The newly formed School is treated as being the level of the
Strike (1) highest-leveled Proficiency it contains. A School is leveled up
Beat (1) like a normal, single Proficiency with an additional cost of +1
Parry (1) Arc per even-numbered level (starting at lvl 2, then 4, then 6,

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 Song of Swords
etc) Each time the School is leveled, every Proficiency in the
School is leveled by the same amount.
A new Proficiency can be added to a pre-existing School if it is
leveled to within 3 points of the lowest Proficiency currently
in the School, and then “bought in” with an expenditure of 2
Arc. From that point on, it levels up with the rest of the School
as normal.
There is no limit to the Cross-Training Talents that can be ap-
plied between Proficiencies in the same School.
Redefinition of
Combat Terms
Basic Attack
Basic Attacks are declared as Attack Actions.
Basic Defense
Basic Defenses are declared as Defense Actions.
Advanced Attack
Advanced Attacks are declared as a part of other Attack Ac-
tions, often after both Actions have been declared.
Advanced Defense
Advanced Defenses are declared as part of other Defense Ac-
tions, often after both Actions have been declared.
Universal Maneuvers
Universal Maneuvers are known regardless of Proficiency or
Proficiency-Level, and can be used with any Proficiency at its
full CP.
Universal Offenses
Steal Initiative
Requirements: You have just declared an Attack Action with-
out Initiative, or your opponent has just successfully used the
Steal Initiative Action against you.
Activation Cost: Special [Equal to target enemy’s Perception
score, adjusted for armor.]
Advanced Attack. Contested roll between you and target. Roll
ADR at TN 5, with a +1 bonus for each stage of Reach Advan-
tage your weapon has over opponent’s.
Success: You gain Initiative over opponent. Resolve actions in
new order of Initiative.
Universal Defenses
Hand Parry
Requirements: Have a free, usable arm.
Activation Cost: 0
Basic Defense at TN 8 against strikes, and TN 7 against
Thrusts.
Success: Enemy attack Negated.
9
Failure: Enemy attack Successful. In addition, Enemy attack
also hits parrying arm with Bonus Successes equal to half of
those scored by the primary attack.
Void
Requirements: Being attacked by a Strike or Thrust to the
Arms, Legs, or Head.
Activation Cost: 0+Encumbrance Modifier
Basic Defense at TN 6.
Success: Enemy attack negated. You may spend 2 CP to gain
Initiative, otherwise enemy retains Initiative.
Dodge
Requirements: Being attacked by a Strike or Thrust to the
Body (Neck, Chest, Belly, Side, etc)
Activation Cost: 0+Encumbrance Modifier
Basic Defense at TN 7.
Successi: Enemy attack negated. You may spend 2 CP to gain
Initiative, otherwise enemy retains Initiative.
Duck & Weave
Requirements: Being attacked by a Strike or Thrust to the Up-
per Body (Above Side/Belly) Head or Arms.
Activation Cost: 0+Encumbrance Modifier
Basic Defense at TN 7
Success: Enemy attack negated. Enemy suffers Shock equal to
half the CP of negated attack.
Evade
Requirements: Did not perform an Attack action in the previ-
ous round.
Activation Cost: 0+Encumbrance Modifier
Basic Defense at TN 5.
Success: Enemy attack negated. You leave the Bout, and be-
come a Bystander in the Combat Order.
Proficiency Maneuvers
Offensive Maneuvers
Thrust
Requirements: Weapon has a Thrust TN
Basic Attack at Thrust TN, aimed on Thrusting Table.
Success: Inflict [Str+Weapon Thrust Damage+Bonus Success-
es] of the damage type indicated by your weapon.
If Steal Initiative is used in conjunction with a Thrust, you
gain +1 to the Initiative Roll.
Strike
Requirements: Weapon has a Strike TN
Basic Attack at Strike TN, aimed on Strike Table.
Success: You inflict [Str+Weapon Strike Damage+Bonus Suc-
cesses] of the damage type indicated by your weapon.
After hitting with a Strike, you may spend up to 2 CP to in-
 Song of Swords
crease damage inflicted by 1 per CP spent.
Side Attack
Requirements: Have a second weapon
Advanced Attack.
You may declare an attack with your second weapon as well
as with your primary weapon, dividing CP between the two
attacks, which resolve simultaneously.
Beat
Requirements: Weapon has a Strike TN
Basic Attack at Strike TN, aimed at Target Opponent’s Weap-
on. This attack ignores Range Costs that would be inflicted by
Target Weapon.
Success: Opponent cannot perform any Maneuver involving
Target Weapon in the next Action. Opponent suffers Shock
equal to Bonus Successes x2. Shock is front-ended from en-
emy Maneuvers declared for this Action.
Disarm
Requirements: None
Basic Attack at Strike TN, aimed at Target Opponent’s Weap-
on.
Success: Opponent must make an ADR check equal to half
of Bonus Successes. Failure causes him to drop his weapon.
Enemy gains +2 dice to this check if he is holding his weapon
with two hands.
Feint
Requirements: Making a Strike (or situationally a Thrust)
attack.
Advanced Offense. When making a basic Strike attack, declare
a Feint to change the target of the attack, and to add 1 CP per
2 CP spent on this maneuver to the attack pool. The second
target of the attack may either be a Strike or a Thrust.
If the weapon being used to attack has the Fluid Thrusts spe-
cial quality, the weapon may be used to feint from a Thrust to
another Thrust.
Grapple
Requirements: None
Basic Attack at Hand Range at TN 6.
Success: the Grappler enters a Grapple with the opponent.
Bonus Successes are returned to your Grapple Pool for next
Action. [See Grappling]
Failure: In the case of a successful parry, the enemy may elect
to use half of his Bonus Succesess in a Strike to the Grappler’s
arm or torso. In the case of a successful Block, the enemy may
elect to use half of his Bonus Successes in a Shield Bash to the
Grappler’s chest, head, or arm.
[LEVEL 2 “Grapple at the Sword”: Grapple TN reduced to 5.
You may continue using your weapon in the Grapple as de-
tailed in that section.]
Hook
Requirements: You have a weapon with the Hook quality.
(This includes Half-Swording and Murdestrike-activated
swords.)
10
Basic Attack at Thrust or Strike TN, targeting enemy Shield or
enemy himself.
Success:
If targeting Shield: Enemy must make a KD roll equal to Bonus
successes or be unable to use his shield in the following Ex-
change.
If targeting Enemy: Enemy must make a KD roll equal to Bo-
nus Successes or be rendered Prone, and suffer Shock equal
to Bonus Successes.
Half-Sword
Requirements: You are using a sword
Advanced Attack/Defense: Activate this Maneuver before
declaring an Attack or Defense. Converts weapon temporarily
into a 2H weapon, with -1 Reach, a -1 Thrust TN, a +1 Strike
TN, and a -1 Parry TN. This weapon inflicts an additional +2
Thrusting damage, but suffers a -1 to Strike damage. Convert-
ing the weapon back to its normal self costs 1 CP, and can be
done immediately after any successful Thrust. If done so, the
enemy is moved to the new range of the restored weapon.
Staff Parry
Requirements: Weapon with the Staff Special Attribute. Abil-
ity to apply 2 hands to the weapon.
Advanced Attack/Defense: Activate this Maneuver before
declaring an Attack or Defense. Converts weapon temporarily
into a 2H weapon with -1 Reach, a Defense TN of 6, a Thrust
TN of 6, a Strike TN of 6, and the ability to either use normal
Strike damage, or inflict Str+0b. Converting the weapon back
to its normal self costs 1 CP, and can be done immediately
after any successful Thrust. If done so, the enemy is moved to
the new range of the restored weapon.
Hew
Requirements: Weapon capable of Strike, target has a shield
Basic Attack at Strike TN, aimed at an enemy’s Shield. This
attack cannot be Blocked, but can be parried or Voided. If
successful, the defender first takes Shock equal to Bonus Suc-
cesses. Defender’s Shield then sustains an attack as-per the
Attacker’s Strength, Weapon Damage, and Bonus Successes.
If this breaks the shield, any excess damage is then applied to
the defender’s Shield-Arm.
Break
Requirements: Weapon capable of Strike, target has a weap-
on.
Basic Attack at Strike TN, aimed at enemy’s Weapon. This at-
tack cannot be Parried, and ignores Range modifiers.
Success: Enemy weapon sustains Damage equal to
[Str+Weapon Strike Damage+Bonus Successes] to their
weapon. If the amount of damage dealt exceeds the Damage
Threshold for the targeted weapon, it suffers Breakage.
Wooden Hafted Polearms: 12
Reinforced Polearms: 15
Wood-Handled Mass Weapon: 12
Metal-Handled Mass Weapon: 20
Light Sword: 14
 Song of Swords
Sturdy Sword: 18
[The effect of Breakage should vary from weapon to weapon.
If usable at all afterwards, polearms should be reduced to
quarterstaves, truncheons or clubs, and swords should be
reduced to something similar to a broken dagger. More rules
for this later.]
Hilt Push
Requirements: Weapon has a Parry TN, you have either just
Parried an enemy attack, or the enemy has just Parried your
attack. This must be a use of the Parry maneuver, not any
parry-similar maneuvers like Riposte or Parry-Off.
[The Defender of the Parried attack has the first opportunity
to initiate the Push. If he elects not to, the Attacker may then
initiate the Push.]
Advanced Attack/Defense. When you have met the require-
ments for Hilt Push, you may activate it by spending 2 CP.
When activated, Hilt Push causes the two engaging fighters to
enter a contest of winding and binding, with their weapons in
contact, sliding along each other in a battle to exploit weak-
nesses and capitalize on leverage to gain an advantage, and
strike a foe decisively where he cannot defend. This state is
called a “Push,” and is a sort of sub-combat that occurs within
the regular combat, following similar rules and using the
same Action/Action refresh structure within the larger Bout.
While in the Push, no maneuvers may be performed with the
weapons being engaged except those included in the Hilt Push
section. A second weapon can either be used to make attacks
or parries on its own (though it cannot parry any Hilt Push
maneuvers) or can be added to the Push immediately, provid-
ing an additional +1 CP to any Actions taken. Blocking against
Push maneuvers is impossible, though such a maneuver could
still result in a hit to the shield, in which case shield AV is ap-
plied as normal.
When the Hilt Push is activated, in the next Action each char-
acter must perform one of two Hilt Push maneuvers: Wind, or
Evade. Wind will determine who has Advantage in the Push,
whereas Evade is simply an attempt to escape from it. The
character who declares the Push gains -1 to the TN of his first
Wind action.
[LEVEL 2 “Binding and Winding”: When you initiate the Push,
you gain -2 to the TN of your Wind action instead of -1.]
Defensive Hilt Push Maneuvers
Wind
Standard Defense at Weapon Parry
Success: Enemy attack negated, Advantage is seized.
Bind
Basic Defense at Weapon Parry.
Success: Enemy attack is negated, and Advantage is seized.
11
Enemy suffers Shock equal to Bonus Successes.
Failure: Enemy attack carries through, but is not reduced by
Bind successes, inflicting full damage with all of its Bonus
Successes to damage.
Evade
Activation Cost: 4+Encumbrance
Basic Defense at TN 8.
Success: Enemy attack is Negated, Push ends.
Offensive Hilt Push Maneuvers
Lever-Down
Activation: 2
Advanced Attack at Weapon Parry TN, this maneuver gains +1
CP if your weapon is 2H and enemy weapon is 1H.
Success: Enemy loses ability to Wind or Bind in following Ac-
tion, and can only Evade.
Slide-Cut
Activation: 1
Requirements: Can only be performed if enemy’s weapon is
Levered Down.
Basic Push Attack at Weapon Strike TN.
Success: Enemy successes are not subtracted from dam-
age. Inflicts damage as a normal Strike. [Str+Weapon Strike
Damage+Bonus Successes]. Push ends.
Failure: Push ends.
Slide-Thrust
Activation: 0
Standard attack at Weapon Thrust TN aimed at chest, head, or
belly.
Success: Inflicts damage as a normal Thrust. [Str+Weapon
Thrust Damage+Bonus Successes].
Hilt Push: Half-Sword
Activation: 2
Requirements: Have either a Staff Weapon or a Sword, just
succeeded a Bind or Lever Down maneuver.
Advanced Push Attack, Make an ADR Test.
Success: Push ends, your weapon is effected identically to
either the Staff Parry, Murderstrike or Half-Sword maneuver,
you are placed at your new Reach. Lever Down effect remains
in play (enemy can only Void) if it preceded this maneuver.
Hilt Push: Grapple
Activation: 0
Requirements: None
Basic Push Attack at TN 5. Enemy can only Evade.
Success: You enter Grappling with the opponent [See Grapple
Section] with Bonus Successes added to your CP in the first
Action.
Failure: You suffer the effect of a Lever Down maneuver, and
are unable to Wind or Bind in the next Action. In addition,
your opponent may attempt maneuvers as though you have
just been subject to a Lever Down.
 Song of Swords
Murderstrike
Requirements: You are using a sword with an MS value.
Advanced Attack, use before declaration of attack action.
Converts weapon temporarily into a 2H bludgeoning weapon,
with +1 Strike TN, +1 Thrust TN, +2 Parry TN, that has both
a Strike and Thrust bludgeoning value equal to its MS value.
Converting the weapon back to normal costs 1 CP. You can
change to Half-Sword from Murderstrike, and from Murder-
strike to Half-Sword as normal.
Simultaneous Parry/Attack
Advanced Attack, declare a Parry and an attack with the same
weapon simultaneously, dividing CP between the two. This
may be used with Initiative, in which case the Parry CP are
‘pre-emptive,’ or as response to an enemy attack, in which
case the Attack CP are ‘pre-emptive.’
With Initiative: After Action declaration, you may apply pre-
emptive Parry CP to enemy attacks. If no attacks are incoming,
return all pre-emptive Attack CP to the your pool.
Without Initiative: After Action Declaration, resolve maneu-
vers, first Parry, then Attack
[Level 2 “Masterstrike”: You gain the following:
With Initiative: You may move up to half of pre-emptive Parry
CP to your Attack, if no enemy attacks are incoming.
Without Initiative: After your Parry resolves, you may move
any Bonus Successes from your Parry to your Strike maneu-
ver, which then resolves.]
Simultaneous Block/Attack
Requirements: Have both a Shield and a Weapon.
Advanced Attack, declare a Block with your shield, and an
Attack Maneuver with your weapon, simultaneously. Divide
CP between the two maneuvers, and resolve them at regular
initiative.
Side Parry/Attack
Requirements: Have two weapons.
Advanced Attack, declare a Defensive Maneuver with one
of your weapons, and an Attack Maneuver with your other
weapon, simultaneously. Divide CP between the two maneu-
vers, and resolve them at regular initiative.
Trip
Requirements: None
Advanced Attack at Hand Range at TN 7. This Maneuver can-
not be parried, but can be Voided or Blocked.
Success: enemy must make Knockdown check with Difficulty
equal to Bonus Successes, or be rendered Prone.
[Level 2 “Throw”: You may, when successfully Tripping an op-
ponent, spend 2 CP to inflict Falling damage onto the enemy if
he fails his KD test, with falling damage being equivalent to 2
feet per Bonus Success of the responsible Trip maneuver.]
Defensive Maneuvers
12
Parry
Requirements: Have a weapon or device with a Parry TN.
Basic Defense at Parry TN.
Success: Negates enemy attack. Only gains Initiative if any
Bonus Successes are gained.
Block
Requirements: Have a shield or device with a Block TN.
Success: Negates enemy attack, gains Initiative.
Counter 1: Riposte
Requirement: Have a weapon with a Parry TN and a Strike or
Cut TN.
Advanced Defense at Parry TN
Success: Negates enemy attack and gains initiative. You may
follow through Counter next Action by declaring a Strike or
Thrust to enemy whose attack was negated by this maneuver.
If you do so, your attack gains bonus equal to enemy success-
es on Countered attack.
[LEVEL 2 “Counter”: You may, in addition to a Strike or a
Thrust, follow through Counter with a Grapple, Half-Sword,
or Trip, gaining bonus dice equal to enemy successes on the
Countered attack as normal.]
Parry-Off 1: Parry Off
Requirement: Have a weapon with Parry TN.
Basic Defense at Parry TN, targeting enemy attacking weapon.
Success: Negates enemy attack and gains initiative. If you
make an attack next Action, enemy Parry with targeted weap-
on has an activation cost of +1 per Bonus Success of Parry-Off.
[LEVEL 2 “Fling”: Instead of effecting the enemy’s Parry at-
tempts on the following Action, you may choose to inflict 1
Shock per 2 Bonus Successes.]
Block Off
Requirement: Have a shield.
Advanced Defense at Block TN, targeting enemy attacking
weapon. Success negates attack and gains initiative. Enemy
suffers Shock equal to 1 per bonus success.
[Level 2 “Obviate”: Upon a successful Block Off, you may
spend 2 CP to also prevent the enemy from parrying or attack-
ing with the Blocked weapon in the next Action, identical to the
effect of Beat.]
 Song of Swords

Thank you
Good job on making it through our little update (yes this is
mostly copied and pasted), I truly hope that you enjoyed it,
and will continue to play our game for years to come. as said
before, this is a rough beta, a demo, of the true game that is
to come, and if you’d like to help us succeed, look out for our
kickstarter in the very near future.

Thanks again for the battles,

- Zachary T. Irwin, designer, producer, ceo

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