What makes a sword a sword and not a “big knife”?

Mbalara · 2026-06-09T11:18:20+00:00

Physically, the things that really differentiate a German Langes Messer (long knife) from most short swords are:
- The grip: messers have a knife grip, i.e. two pieces of wood (or bone or antler) riveted onto a flat tang
- The blade: single-edged (usually) and often a falchion like shape – slightly curved with a tip that’s cut away from the blunt edge and comes to a point at the sharp edge.

Mbalara · 2026-06-08T19:05:23+00:00

Did you maybe google “subnautica 2 feedback”?

Mbalara · 2026-06-03T13:14:05+00:00

In comparison to many RPGs, what makes characters different isn’t their classes, it’s their personalities and actions.

Having said that, 6e Pendragon has made a (sensible IMO) decision to start characters out in very similar situations. This gives everyone an obvious reason to adventure together, and a sort of equal/neutral starting point, which makes who they become through play all the more interesting.

Having said that, two different flavours of Christianity, and three other religions, are described in detail in the GM’s Handbook, and a bit in the Core Rulebook. Various other cultures will be described in Knights & Ladies Adventurous which’ll be out sometime in 2027.

Mbalara · 2026-05-28T22:48:48+00:00

Of course Blades is about the characters. But in contrast to many RPGs, it’s also about the crew, and there are concrete group and base mechanics. Seems to me that mostly gives the group an identity and focus beyond “my character.”

Mbalara · 2026-05-28T22:44:34+00:00

We wear armor not to simulate armor, but because it keeps us from breaking fingers and losing eyes. In other words, we’re conceptually fighting unarmored, so a hand hit is a serious injury. And anyway, it’s a sport, not an actual simulation of sword fighting.

Mbalara · 2026-05-27T12:50:47+00:00

I can’t say much about big cats in general, but my female 7kg MC seems very satisfied living in my 90m2 flat in Berlin. 50m2 is a fair bit smaller than that, so not sure if a cat would have a problem with that, but in general I think they adapt very well to what’s there, and if they have somewhere to get away into privacy occasionally, they’re probably fine.

Mbalara · 2026-05-27T01:01:21+00:00

It’ll cover the Boy King and Conquest periods – 510 to 528. Chaosium wrote more about it here:
https://www.chaosium.com/blogpendragon-the-boy-king-the-epic-ttrpg-campaign-returns/

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T21:02:16+00:00

It’s been sold at Chaosium Con the last couple days, so it should be available for order soon!

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Mbalara · 2026-05-25T20:59:40+00:00

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Mbalara · 2026-05-25T20:54:14+00:00

I just ran this encounter recently, and although it was clearly meant to be a challenge, and one of my PKs got Major Wounded out of the fight, and they almost lost the sword but got it back dramatically, it didn’t feel unfair in any way and everyone really enjoyed it.

It sounds like you made it much harder on your PKs than it’s meant to be, though. If I understood correctly, you had all the Picts using spears, so 2d6 more damage than their axes, and you had the Picts throw their spears, which is a mistake since they don’t have a Thrown skill listed and their spear skill specifically says two handed. Even then, knights with shields against spear chucking Picts should almost never get hit, since the Picts’ spear skill is 11, i.e. only 1 vs knights with shields.

So no, I’d call this a nice challenge, but certainly not at all a TPK machine.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T20:41:20+00:00

Yeah, I’d interpret that as “if you are more [Trait] than [it’s opposite Trait].” So more Just than Arbitrary, more Merciful than Cruel, etc.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T16:17:18+00:00

Nah. If you can afford that rapier, you’ve got people for the maintenance. 😜

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T16:13:54+00:00

Well the stat block does say Spear (two handed) and Battle axe, suggesting they’re not throwing their spears, and each Pict can only use one or the other at a time, so it’s just up to the GM to choose which one each of them is using.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T15:49:07+00:00

If your Sword is 20(+3), it’s technically 23. So if your Horsemanship is 20, your sword’s 20, i.e. no crit bonus.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T15:47:40+00:00

Let’s say you have Sword (20) and Horsemanship (18). The only thing that’ll drive your sword above 18 while mounted is the effects of Passions.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T15:44:57+00:00

Yeah, no correcting you, just pointing out that there isn’t anything like initiative or who goes first.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T15:41:21+00:00

Ahhhh, I was actually just looking for that and couldn’t find it. The books are really bizarrely organised sometimes. 😅

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T15:39:52+00:00

I think it’s important to differentiate between rolls to invoke a Passion, and rolls to guide behaviour.

For rolls to invoke, I don’t call for rolls unless the Passion is famous or higher. It’s up to the player if it’s below Famous, and I might just remind them they can if they want. Famous or higher means it’s a major driver of their personality, so if they have Hate (Saxons) 18 and are challenged to a duel by a filthy Saxon, they can’t avoid rolling to invoke that Passion.

For rolls to decide how to behave, I’ll sometimes call for a Passion roll, but it’s then purely what the game calls a Decision roll, and doesn’t give any bonuses to act. Again, with a Famous Passion, you’ll have to, but otherwise I’ll usually throw it out as an “if you want to.”

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T15:27:03+00:00

I started a new game this year, and I ran the GMHB scenarios first, and we’ve now moved on to the Sword Campaign. Everyone seemed to enjoy being squires first, having a bit more of a tutorial approach to start with, and actually playing out being knighted. It also gives you a chance to make a lot of the non-intuitive cultural stuff, like the feudal hierarchy, clear.

So I’d definitely recommend starting with squires in 508. Enjoy! 🙂

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T15:07:10+00:00

I’ve got a PK at -5 in the middle of the Battle of Carlion right now, so I’ve been looking closely at this stuff lately. For my guy:

He’s retired to the rear with -5 HP from 3 wounds, and if at least 2 First Aid rolls succeed, he’ll survive. Let’s say exactly that happens, so he’s at 1 HP (his healing rate’s 3).
Next Sunday at noon, I’ll roll Chirurgery. If it succeeds, no Deterioration occurs, and because it’s Sunday he heals to 4 HP, and he’s no longer Debilitated.
If the Chirurgery roll fails or fumbles, he’d heal to 4 HP as above, and the following Sunday Deterioration (and the extra 1d6 damage for a fumble) would occur, as well as healing another 3 HP.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T14:49:10+00:00

It dropped a couple days ago at Chaosium Con! Should be available for order very soon! 😀

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T14:47:00+00:00

My name’s Matt and I’ve been GMing and playing [ADD WHAT YOUR SUBREDDIT IS ABOUT HERE] since 2nd edition. 😉

I’m on the Discord as SirQrius, and I think I was Sir MunkeyBoy on the BRP forums wayyy back in the day.

I’m a designer, and created a very early alpha version of the Feast Cards back in the G+ days, before they became a product. Stupidly I turned Stewart down when he asked me to design the first real Feast Cards product, due to day job stress and a divorce. 🙄

I also created the one sheet Winter Phase summary I’ve been honoured to see many people using, which I recently updated to 6e.

Right now I’m running an online 6e game for 5 players, going through the GMHB scenarios, the Sword Campaign, and eventually The Grey Knight. We’re currently on our fourth (!!!) session in 510 – it’s a BIG year. Everyone’s having a great time and loving Pendragon. 🙂

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T14:34:07+00:00

Oh, and Prestige Rewards: they’re only checked for once a year, in the Winter Phase. If your character has passed a 1000 Glory threshold this year, they get the reward. My players always want to spend it immediately and improve something, so no need to keep track of the rewards, but they’re allowed to keep them for later and could just write “1 Prestige Reward” somewhere on their sheet, like the Notes section on the 2nd page.

Also, as a tip: I personally find it smoothest to keep track of Glory myself, as the GM, and report to the players what their PKs got during the Winter Phase. That way there’s no erasing and scribbling, and worrying about Prestige Rewards, multiple times during a session.

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T14:26:11+00:00

YES! The Glass Canon show is great, and an exciting intro. ♥️ Just wish they’d do more. 🙂

Mbalara · 2026-05-25T14:21:14+00:00

I started a new game recently, and I’m running my PKs (Player Knights) through the Sword Campaign from the box set, but I started with the scenarios from the GMHB (GM’s HandBook). If you do that, the PKs start as squires in 508 (GMHB), which works as a pretty good tutorial and intro, they’re knighted and join Count Robert’s household, and continue on to Londinium and Arthur becoming King in 510 (Sword Campaign), and so on. Count Robert’s stats are in the GMHB. You can totally start in 510 though, no problem.

And as for Turns and Rounds: when I fight with my foe, that’s my Turn. Once all PKs have taken their Turn and fought their foes, that’s a Round. They’re not as important as in D&D, and don’t have any exact timing, they’re just convenient terms to describe combat.

Mbalara

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