Saturday, December 29, 2018

Totally Stereotypical Bard Instruments for D&D Races

At the last gathering of our merry band of gamers there were some jocular comments about various instruments likely to be used by bards of particular races.  I dredged those ideas back up just recently and decided to do a quick posting on what instruments seem to me to fit with some of the main D&D races. There are three instruments for each so you can roll 1d6 if you need a random result, plus combine that with a 1d6 roll for race if you need a really randomized bard.


  1. Human           1-2/guitar; 3-4/lute; 5-6/fiddle
  2. Dwarf             1-2/bagpipe; 3-4/tuba; 5-6/trombone
  3. Elf                   1-2/harp; 3-4/flute; 5-6/recorder
  4. Halfling          1-2/accordion; 3-4/tambourine; 5-6/hurdy-gurdy
  5. Gnome            1-2/handbells; 3-4/xylophone; 5-6/hammered dulcimer
  6. Half-orc          1-2/bass drum; 3-4/digeridoo; 5-6/bongos


Monday, December 24, 2018

Sword World JRPG

Okay, so I've always been interested in RPGs produced outside the English-speaking world.  But unless you know a particular language well enough to do internet searches in it, you have to hope someone somewhere has posted in a language which you do know that well.  My starting assumption has always been that the most likely non-European culture to produce a tabletop RPG would be Japan. Japan has a rich gaming heritage with lots of fans.  And anime. And manga. And of course pocky.

Eventually I came across the Sword World RPG.  There was very little information on it and (AFAIK) no official English translation. That felt like exactly the sort of authentic thing I was looking for.  So I poked around on Amazon and ordered a copy straight from Japan.


No I don't know Japanese (my bad), except for the kanji.  So, yes, I bought it as a neato-torpedo collectors item to put on my gaming shelf.

Later I came across a fan translation wiki.  Thanks for everyone who pitched in on that!  However some parts didn't quite make sense, particularly in the character creation section.

Anyway, judging by the character classes and races in the game (you can check out the wiki for details) it looks and feels very "Final Fantasy" looking, which is cool.