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The styles were changed because a lot of people requested a game that could more easily support a dungeon crawl. In the first version, combat was (intentionally) severe, and it pushed play strongly toward the other types of scenes and conflicts (social, chase, mass combat, shadow war, organization, etc.). But a lot of people wanted a bit more ability to go through a traditional "dungeon" with more than one combat. So I revised the styles and the way that damage was applied to accommodate that while still keeping it fast and tactical.

Court Sword's feint is weaker than, for example, Free Sword's feint, Twin Weapon's feint, either of the black powder styles' feints (though none but Free Sword's are balancing maneuvers). One interpretation is that the style just doesn't have a very good feint. It's there because the Court Sword stylists realize they need a way to catch their balance and maintain some sense of defense (in other words, it has a better defense die than any other balancing maneuver in the style, though still not great). On the other hand, let's face it, nobles want to Pose. That's pretty much all that a lot of them want to do! I wanted to push the style in that direction, so that everyone knew it was a poncey, dandy style.

It does have a non-defensive use with Demeaning Swat. Demeaning Swat allows you to guarantee that you lower your opponent's Mood on a hit (he can't soak it with armor, body, etc.). This in turn leads to exposed Inspirations, which are something that a noble, with his charisma and social attacks, is probably good at destroying. So Feint + Demeaning Swat + Beat or more Swats can lower a Mood fast, and then you can attack the guy's Inspirations.

Thanks. I see that there are many differences across all styles as shown in the primer. I guess that there is no harm in using them all; is more choice better or simply overwhelming? I'm not sure......

Now I have a few more questions that came up in my first play test.

A question about Court Sword - I assume that I can use the +1 attack die from Feint to help my Disarm? That's what I did in a quick play test. It was Freesword vs Courtsword.
1. Lunge vs Feint (hit and wound)
2. Dodge and Feint vs Disarm (hit and disarmed)
Quick question here, and I haven't read the rules fully yet, but since the Freesworder no longer has a weapon and has to break style does this count as a rebalance (and therefore looses the +1 die just obtained from Dodge and Feint?). I'm thinking no, it just means that his options now suck a bit.

Another question - can someone disarm without disarm in the style. e.g. could a Guardsman disarm someone (or indeed the disarmed freesworder above). I was thinking that you could do it with Grab. Roll for Grab and then next turn use Str for the disarm (maybe as a trick), after which the Grab is broken because it was not maintained with a Grab for the turn.
so to continue:
3. Grab (using +1 defense die from Dodge and Feint for a more respectable d4) vs Lunge
Lunge (d4 = 4 + explode d6 =3, a 4,3 vs d8 = 4), d8 wins because higher dice.
Grab d6 = 3 vs d2 = 2, 2 explodes d4 = 1, target is grabbed.

Now this is the big question. When grabbed, you can’t move, and you can only execute re-balancing maneuvers or grab maneuvers (such as Bear Hug or Throw). What is stopping the courtsworder from lunging while grabbed since it's a rebalance move?


I haven't had a good chance to read through much of the full rules yet but I think this looks like a very interesting game. I originally got it to try and include the combat styles into another step-die system that I like but I might find myself simply using this - time will tell.

Looking through this I'm starting to love all of the styles. Take Slasher, for example, I see no reason that I couldn't take this as some kind of generic fencing style for a ruffian or even a PC if they don't meet the requirement for a more impressive style.

Some other quick things I caught in the updated version, which may already be in the process of being changed.

- Slasher combat style doesn't have an effect for Feint. What do you think it should be +1 die next round, for next attack, or until rebalance?
- Freesword has "+2 damage next round" instead of "next"

It's totally your choice about including the original combat styles. Most regular styles won't do enough damage for my preferred pace (really, really fast :) ), but tastes vary. The grand styles should be getting close.

I can check my notes, but I'm 90% sure that Feint in Slasher style is not supposed to have an effect. It's a defensive rebalancing move, granting you a d6 for defense, but it's not really good enough as a feint to unbalance your opponent or give you an advantage next round. It's only advantage is that fakes your opponent out enough that it gives you a decent defense die this round. Metagame-wise, there are two points here. One is that this is a monster humanoid style, so it's meant to be a touch weaker than most PC styles. Second is that I don't want combat to be a pain in the GM's butt! So, without sacrificing pace or balance or tactics, I tried to keep the GM/NPC styles as labor-light as possible. That means fewer maneuvers that have effects requiring record-keeping until next round.

Freesword typo: GAH! Unbelievable. Thank you for pointing that out. You have no idea how many times I have looked at that and never, ever seen that typo. It's one of the most common styles in my game... wow. Thanks!

Slasher: Yep, I use it as an NPC style all the time for bandits, pirates, zeppelin crews, and the like. Styles like Brute and Skulker, too. And good point about PCs who don't meet the requirements for other styles - sure, they could pick up one of these.

Yes, a court sworder could lunge while grabbed. It's a high-offense, low-defense maneuver. Seems quite appropriate for a thrust to the gut while someone's holding you. Maybe you don't lunge over a distance, but you just lean into your blow and shove as hard as you can, not caring about your own balance or defense. On a slightly different note, grabbed doesn't always mean locked up. It could be a bear hug, yes, but it could also just mean a fistful of cloak.

As IC said, you can disarm without disarm in the style. Use a trick rather than a grab (both maneuvers are in the lower right hand part of the sheet). Make the trick hard, probably Str vs. Doom + 3 or something. Then, if successful, allow a Str attack against the target's Str or Qck (target's choice). That's what I'd do, anyway. And I'd make sure the player had a good description of how the disarm was happening!

Court Sword - yes, you could use the +1 attack die size on Disarm, if Disarm was accessible from Feint. Unfortunately, you can't go from Feint to Disarm in Court Sword. The style doesn't teach that transition; it's too focused on being fancy and ostentatious to stoop to such utilitarian matters. Metagame: Yeah, I should have totally made more clear in the book that you can't slide horizontally or vertically across gaps. You can only slide horizontally or vertically as long as there are maneuvers continuously present. For example, in Court Sword, you could transition from Spin to Demeaning Swat. But you can't go from Beat to Riposte, because there is a gap in between.

Once you've looked through all the combat styles, check out the variations listed in the glosses too. They throw some really interesting twists into the mix.

Yep, they have to be connected. It doesn't have to go step-by-step, that is, you can go from one side of the row all the way across to the other side of the row from one round to the next. But you can' t do it if there's a gap in the row. Same for columns.

Feel free to ask if you can't tell if something is a gap or not. One rule of thumb is that there's an imaginary 5 by 5 grid, and if a spot is missing, there's a gap there. Usually it's pretty clear, but sometimes it's not, so ask. Inner Life Flashback, for example, in Five Seasons, is totally isolated by gaps. You can't get to it except by rebalancing, and you can't get to any other maneuver from it except rebalancing maneuvers.

Another good question. Yes, you can move through the maneuver. So, in your example, in Dagger-and-Wine, you can transition from Stunning Secret to Low Blow (quite a combo!) even if you are not a Master.

One caveat: you can't occupy a Mastery maneuver's stance or position on the style sheet without executing it. Probably you would never think that you could, so probably this caveat is unnecessary. But I happen to have a player (we were dueling for fun, actually) who thought that meant she could use Mighty Rage's spot in Savage style in order to have the advantage of selecting between Fury Strike, Rampage, and Grab next round (even though she was not a Master of Savage style).

Not answering any of your other questions, but regarding re-purposing older styles. I have been working through the styles that got chopped, especially the grand styles, as well as those that got altered, and have been working them back into my game with some heavy editing.

the former Grand Styles are still punchy, but are not over powered in terms of attack dice (d10s, d12, and d20), but i have up the damage while dropping the attack dice.

Likewise, I am all for allowing my players to learn alternative combat sheets for fighting and spell. styles. When player's change level and have a good reason for having played out the style or learned stuff in the story about magic, fighting, etc.. we represent that as allowing them to change their style sheets a little. an altered maneuver, switched places of two maneuvers, and for magic, some different effects, replacing other ones.

We are not trying to create more powerful styles, but show how they change. likewise, every now and then, I change up some of the NPC's style sheets te represent their different training and experience. sometimes they may come across a mage who has a particularly weak attack, or a particularly strong one (with trade offs).

Keeps them on their toes.

The Waylorn Shaman Spell Style is the largest and most recent rewrite. I will post the others to the forum when I have a chance. if nothing else, it makes me relearn the rules from time to time, keeping me sharp.