Chapter 1: What Is Sword Staff
What Sword Staff is, who it's for, what you need to play, and the core terms that define the game.
Sword Staff is a challenge-forward tabletop RPG for one or more players and one Foreman. It uses a d100 roll-under system where every encounter carries real risk, creativity is rewarded through a modular grammar of action, and characters called Contractors claw their way up from nothing or get ground down trying.
The game is difficult and unforgiving. Mistakes cost something real. Contractors lose limbs, gear, reputations, and sometimes their lives. Rolls fail. Plans collapse. Monsters hit harder than expected. This is intentional. The satisfaction of Sword Staff comes from surviving things that should have killed you, and the stories come from the scars.
Tone: Mature by Default
Sword Staff is thematically mature and intended for adults. Violence is gruesome. Severed limbs, crushed bones, brutal deaths, drugs, alcohol, addiction, trauma, guilt, and moral collapse are part of the default tone.
The Foreman and players should have a table conversation before the first session about individual comfort lines. The default tone leans dark and serious, but each group can dial it warmer, colder, softer, or harsher.
What You Need to Play
- Two or more people: one Foreman and one or more players.
- Percentile dice for d100 rolls.
- One d4, one d5 or one d10 (read as 1-5 twice), one d10, and one d20 per player.
- Character sheets.
- This manual.
The Core Experience
Contractors start with almost nothing. No weapon. No armor. No money. They do not even know how to attack. Strike must be learned through play. The first session is a desperate scramble with scavenged tools against threats that could realistically kill them.
Every piece of gear has a story. Every skill learned was earned through danger. Over time, Contractors become capable. Then dangerous. Then feared. But the world stays hard, and one bad decision can end a career.
Key Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Foreman | The person running the game. Describes the world, plays creatures and NPCs, adjudicates rules, and judges creative actions. |
| Contractor | A player character. Someone who takes dangerous work through the Contractors Guild. |
| Contractors Guild | The organization that issues contracts and pays Contractors. |
| Contract | A mission taken from a guild hall. The basic adventure unit. |
| Skill Check | Any d100 roll to determine success or failure. |
| Target | The number a player must roll at or under to succeed. Target = Stat + Motivation, capped at 99. |
| Stat | One of four attributes: Constitution, Dexterity, Intent, Spirit. |
| Motivation | Spendable grit and willpower. Added to every Target and spent to Push failed rolls. |
| Push | Spend Motivation after a failed learned Skill Check to convert failure into success. |
| Inspiration | Long-term resource used to permanently learn skills. |
| Scrip | Guild-issued stamped metal currency. |
| Camp | Overnight rest at a campsite, roadside inn, or caravan stop. |
| Breather | A 10-minute pause to catch your breath. |
| Town Leave | Extended time in a settlement for recovery, repairs, shopping, and story. |
| Magik | The raw spiritual and energetic substrate of the world. |
| Slag | Durable industrial material used for armor, reactor housings, and heavy construction. |
| Crystal Shard | Magik-saturated crystal fragment used for emergency HP/Motivation recovery and some wound treatment. |
| Magcell | Fuel cell used to power Coiltech effects. Called a charge in casual speech. |
| Majicoil Cell | Formal corporate or military term for a Magcell. |
| Paca | Common mount and cargo animal, llama-like with moth antennae. |
| Majicoil | Corporate-military entity that controls the world's energy supply. |
| Coiltech | Magik-infused equipment manufactured or controlled by Majicoil. A property that can appear on weapons, armor, shields, accessories, and prosthetics. |
| Coiler | Magik-enhanced soldier in Majicoil's private army. |
| Caldera | Majicoil's capital city and headquarters, built around a natural swell of magik. |