Hey all! Attached here is the new Swords Against Heaven iteration. I’m really excited to share it with everyone.
First caveat is to please look at this as a Playtest. I’m still handling how to finesse and fix all the balancing for now. But I like what I’ve done so far and feels like an evolution of my design.
Go check it out here: https://remarkable-grass-3e9.notion.site/Swords-Against-Heaven-Laws-Manual-2573d5d4937280059324c44f8303a1af?source=copy_link
Attached as well is the Character Sheet, make a copy!: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13Rf4rrAki7_U0y-79BntMolkKcNN2wgVoRSp8zJjv9M/edit?usp=sharing
Finally, I’ve updated the Temple of Peregrination to include the new conversion: https://www.patreon.com/posts/temple-of-module-139781999
Swords Against Heaven did not initially start out as a D&D 4e-like. At least, not completely. It started out as an attempt to do gritty heroic mortals from Exalted but in NSR, and with a somewhat tactical combat system inspired by FFT, and a Skill System inspired by Disco Elysium.
I think I strayed considerably from that due to my bias for 4e. After running the game through multiple playtests, I’ve realigned what I’ve wanted to do with SAH, I believe. While still a game with considerable amounts of 4e DNA, I’ve mostly grown to accept that the 4e crowd will not look on this game favorably. It is more Exalted than it is Dungeons and Dragons.
So I go with that.
I think now the major inspirations for the game is Exalted 1e + Disco Elysium + Final Fantasy Tactics + Gamma World 7e. It’s gritty and dangerous and lethal but you can eventually gain magicks, technicks, and connections that will let you survive. More importantly, you will need your Party.
I’m eschewing “Fourthlike” for now from this game. Someone over on Bluesky once wrote this game as “Maoist Wuxia”, which I do love (as someone organized into a Maoist Organization in the Philippines). I don’t know if I’d call this an Exalted-like, as this is too low powered (at least, in the beginning) for something as high-flying as Exalted (2e? 1e can get a bit gritty at times at least).
Every new thing derives from this change. The main thing I’m keeping from D&D 4e is the, honestly very grounding and very dangerous concept of Healing Surges, which stay as Spirit.
There’s been a few major changes that I’d love to talk about. I won’t go over them in detail: you should be able to see it immediately. For example, the Statistics work differently. Morale is gone (and slightly subsumed by Spirit). Guard and Ward are gone now as well.
Each Skill is now no longer unattached from their Attribute. Similar to Disco Elysium, your Root determines the Base Rating of your Skill. A STR 3 means your Physique starts at 3. This means when you roll a Physique Check, you know exactly what numbers you’re looking for.
Dev Note—As much as I love the Attribute + Ability paradigm of White Wolf Games, I found it ugly to write in modules and mechanics. It felt unnatural to me, and was my only gripe. “Roll Labor” for me feels better than “Roll Strength + Labors” and it’ll be good for layouts in the future! Additionally, I didn’t want players to be going around trying to look for 2 different things on their Character Sheet.