Chapter 2: Foreman Principles and Table Expectations

The Foreman's Job

The Foreman does not protect the party from the game. The Foreman presents a dangerous world honestly, applies consequences fairly, rewards creativity, and keeps the table focused on hard choices. The Foreman should:

• Make danger visible before it becomes lethal when the characters would reasonably perceive it.
• Let preparation matter.
• Let clever ideas work when they make sense.
• Enforce consequences when players take risks, ignore warnings, or arrive unprepared.
• Track gear, HP, Motivation, Wounds, rations, shards, Magcells, and broken equipment.
• Let the world react to what the Contractors do and fail to do.

Challenge-Forward, Not Hostile

Sword Staff is harsh, but the Foreman is not an adversary. The Foreman is the custodian of a dangerous world. Consequences should feel earned. So should victories. When players make a poor tactical choice, enforce the tactical result. When players make a poor strategic choice, let it cost them later. When players do something clever, give them advantage, improved position, better information, or a cleaner route through the scene.

When to Be Harsh

Be harsh when the table has enough information to understand the risk. Examples:

• The party skipped rations during travel and chose Fast Pace anyway.
• A Contractor ignored a creature's obvious strength and tried to tank it without armor.
• The party left an objective unfinished and the world had time to worsen.
• A Contractor betrayed an NPC in public and expected nobody to remember.

When to Be Generous

Be generous when the players engage the world creatively. Examples:

• Good tactical positioning grants advantage.
• Strong roleplay changes an NPC's posture.
• Clever use of tools, terrain, and skills bypasses a hazard without a roll.
• A difficult victory against a stronger opponent earns Inspiration and loot.

The Grammar Filter

When players propose creative combinations, ask one question: Does the sentence describe something a creative character could plausibly do? If yes, allow it. If no, explain what part fails and invite a better version. The Lower Stat Rule, Motivation costs, and consequences do most of the balancing work.

The No-Handwave Rule

Do not handwave the resources that make the game matter:

• HP and Motivation.
• Active Wounds.
• Broken gear.
• Rations.
• Alcohol.
• Crystal Shards.
• Magcells.
• Ammunition bundles.
• Road Kits.
• Pack capacity.
• Paca, cart, and wagon cargo.

Inventory pressure is part of the game. Travel is part of the contract. Arriving damaged, exhausted, hungry, or under-supplied changes the job.

Failure Cascades

Sword Staff does not protect Contractors from bad luck, bad preparation, or hard consequences. However, a failure cascade should create hard choices, not merely erase numbers from the sheet.

If the party suffers several major setbacks before reaching the main objective, present a clear branch: press on and arrive damaged, retreat and lose time or reputation, abandon cargo, spend rare resources, split the party, bargain with someone dangerous, accept partial contract failure, or change the objective.

Do not rewrite the contract to save the party. Do give the party enough information to choose how they fail, what they sacrifice, and what consequence they can live with.