Great book! Amazing rules & lots of nice tables. If your thing is OSR, just get it!

From my blog: https://sisypheantales.wordpress.com/2021/02/04/sharp-swords-sinister-spells/

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells, by Diogo Nogueira, is an OSR style, swords and sorcery game all about minimalist rules, quick play, and giving Referees and Game Masters the tools to craft adventures, locations and items on the fly with plenty of tables and idea generators.

It is 46 pages of easy to learn, quick to practice medieval fantasy roleplaying goodness. The layout is digestible. Paragraphs are not cluttered together, each topic and section is given space for the reader to take in the information without distraction from art or a blurring of tightly bound paragraphs. Keywords in the rules are put in bold print to make them easier to reference. In three pages, an aspiring Game Master or player can become familiarized with the basic rules of the game and be ready to play.

In this game, character creation is broken down to 3 Archetypes ( Warrior, Specialist, Magic User) using 4 Attributes (Physique, Agility, Intellect, Willpower). Sharp Swords uses a roll under d20 system with some additional bells and whistles like luck and usage die for adding an additional layer of chance and simplifying inventory respectively.

While the base game is simple and easy to pick up, what makes Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells great is the GM tools in the back. The first 24 pages of the book get players and the GM ready to start play and the last 13 give the GM the tools to keep the good times coming. It has what you’d expect any good Game Master section to have, a bestiary, reaction table, morale rules, and how to reward players with XP and treasure. One of my favorite things to see are the tables and kit designed to give GMs longevity. There are tables for goals, locations, NPCs, adversaries, complications and rewards. All of which are system agnostic and can be used in any other game, as a result is a simple 2d6 roll away.

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is an ideal addition to any Game Master, Referee, DM, etc. that enjoys light, hackable, sword & sorcery roleplaying games that not only aim to provide a solid rule set for play but a competent tool kit as well.

Post Script

There is also an Addendum to Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells that offers an expanded tool kit with optional rules for expanded vocations, handling zero level characters, sanity and madness rules, monster generators, forgotten artifacts and random life events. It, like the GM section in the core book, is just as valuable to anyone looking to run Sharp Swords or any other sword and sorcery RPG.

This horror themed space game only has 3 stats for your character but its enough to get them into action and use their gear and good sense to keep out of trouble, or else they'll have to make a d20 save vs. the ability score in use. Best to just try and avoid a risky situation, make the odds in your favor and don't hesitate to cheat. Rules for space travel/exploration, Elder races and rumors and jobs related to them, really a lot of gaming goodness in this 64 page game. The one page rules summary at the end of the book is a nice touch!

With so many other great's in this genre (such as White Star, Stars Without Number, and Traveller) I was reticient to purchase SB&CS... BUT i must say it was money well spent! This one possibly stands on top of the heap for those seeking SPACE OPERA action. It has a very detailed, well written, and exciting setting which (to me) sets it apart from more 'generic' space opera titles. And the mechanics do not dissappoint either. I'd highly recommend SB&CS to anyone seeking a good ol' space opera experience, bonus points if they like OSR an rules-light systems. Top notch black and white art throughout as well.

My kids adore this, and I adore playing it with them. The fact that it is modelled on the original D&D cartoon gives me the nostalgia vibe. It's so simple my children can easily access. Have the full hardback ordered ready to use with students when I go back to teach in September. Brilliant stuff.

Buy this! The simplicity and versatality is awesome! Have enjoyed many sessions of thisgame and their other titles as well. SOLAR BLADES & COSMIC SPELLS or DARK STREETS & DARKER SECRETS. I recommend them all. Two thumbs up!

I ran my first session of DS&DS last WE, and it was a huge success. Rules are easy and non contraignant. It's a brilliant game. I've already started working on my next scenario.

This piece of work is INSANELY good. As for Dark Streets and Darker Secrets, this is a must have for many "not only" reasons.

1. Not only it is insanely well laid out, but every single paragraph is a potential source of inspiration.
2. Not only you can find whatever you need with almost no effort, but you can easily discover a new perspective just by "listening" to Nogueira's voice. And this leads to...
3. Not only this is well written with insane accuracy, but it is both open ended and personal. You feel like he's just talking and telling his dreams and days spent at the table to his sons. No kidding. I feel the passion I feel when I read Gygax work or the fluidity of B/X d&d.
4. No only you have an insane number of USEFUL table (caps intended, since while it's easy to fill a book with tables, it is not easy to write a book using tables as an actual part of the writing), but each table contains from ten to thousands campaign ideas. I read the book three times in a row and cannot stop creating, rolling, thinkin. Thank God.
5. Not only you don't feel the "weight" of a 400+ pages book, but you get the benefit of a full game system + setting + options + variants + equipments + adventure + USEFUL tables in a fluent language without a single hole (if you don't count the black holes you might dive in if you don't pay attention to the addictive nature of Nogueira's writing).
6. Not only you can manage fantasy/sci fi/space opera in a single tome, but you never feel it's too much. The way the iconic concept of Galactic Overlords is put, or the way factions and places are treated, teleports you into this giant universe where your diezel punk attitude can easily co-exist with an "horror in space" series, since "sorcery" is nefarious and adversaries are lethal, even the ones you never meet.

Not only mr. Noguieira pays a passionate and intimate homage to the old school feel, but he managed to do it putting on your table a modern intensity and an easy engine with infinite depth. Get a couple of d20s and a bunch of d6s, start experimenting together with the ultra funny mix and match of "liberal" character creation or just stick to an archetype and embark whatever adventure you wish.

Noguieira manages to re write the old school spirit and concept, learning from the past without being a heartless grognard. He is a smart guy who started with a whisper and now's screaming into the RPG ocean raising another giant wave that, I hope and feel, will get a proper rendition.

This game, along with the line of the other OS games, enter hands down the top 5 of modern systems.

Amazing work. Clear, concise and not a word wasted. I liked SS&SS but SB&CS is a step further towards awesome. Especially the luck/durability mechanics. It feels like how OD&D would be if it were written now but in space! Can't wait for the Addendum :)

I have been following this game since its inception and have come to love it. The parts of the game that I enjoy most are these simple mechanics thallow for a pulp style of action player creativity and GM creation on the flyIf you were stuck in a rut or just want to create a game at that very moment. The book comes with amazing tables they can be used as a tool kit for game development not only in a si fi setting but you can apply the principles to any game that you want to run

Great little game with a nifty system! I can play it with my daughters and my grown-up friends alike! Hope to see an adventure out soon.

Ok, done. I love your style. I didn't have many chances to play your games, but now it's time to go past the reading and just sit down in darkness! Waiting for my physical copy!
I love EVERYTHING about this book.

• the layout is gorgeous: easy to read on my Fire 7 tablet and incredibly dark and haunting.

• love the art. It is inspiring, sometimes funny, sometimes horrific.

• love the way you TALK to the reader. It's like listening to someone sharing his greatest passion. I support tons of "non mainstream" projects (Tiny d6, LFG, Unity, Spahn) and play tons of historical games (Fate, MYZ, Shadowrun), but finding a book which is both USEFUL and ALIVE is damn hard. You hit the soft spot of both the storyteller and the gamer that's hidden in me. XD

What most people should get about your work (similarly to what Spahn and Bahr do), is that there is much more love, difficulty and passion in a game where every table or single line is actually telling a story.

I will get Solar Blades too as soon as I can and I'm very happy of your OS/GKG cooperation, since both of you are within my favourite designers of all times.

Kudos everywhere. Marco

SHARP SWORDS & SINISTER SPELLS (This comment is for this gameline, and I suggest buying both the Core Book and the Addendum)

This is the best little game I've played for a while. It's got that OSR flavour to the mechanics, yet it's more streamlined and logical than most OSR games. Very much influenced by more recent games, I would sum it up by saying OD&D + D&D 5E +FATE, then trim it all down to bare basics. It's not D&D, yet it sure feels like how we wanted OD&D to run.

I'm a rpg GM who often runs more serious systems, but in recent years have had a bit of fun with D&D 5E and OSR games due to the simplicity of them. In many ways this little unassuming game stands heads and shoulders above all of those.

The whole vibe is very old school pulpy Sword & Sorcery, very much early OD&D before the High Fantasy sanitisation that came after the God Mod hysteria of the mid 1980s. Closer to Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG than anything else, although not quite a much as meatgrinder, and the rules just play very smoothly, none of that DCC intentional clunkiness. This game is perfect for a classic fantasy old school dungeon crawl, very simple, feels like D&D 5E went back to the late 70s & early 80s and said 'Let's do it this way!"

Love the great black and white artwork, really evocative of games like OD&D, Tunnels & Trolls, Fighting Fantasy, Dragon Warriors, etc with a touch of Vance, Moorcock, Howard, and Carter thrown in. The whole vibe is great.

So much info has been thrown into these two books, it's amazingly good value. My only gripe is that I would love to see both books complied (the Core rulebook and the Addendum) in one little digest size hardcover volume. These rules are slim and I recommend buying both the core book (approx 50pages) and the Addendum (approx 100 pages). If this was one hardcover volume, then the product would get 5+ stars from me (if such a thing existed). Really, this is that good.

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is favourite new game, and out of a huge collection I would go so far to say that this is probably one of my best purchases so far. I paid only a few dollars for the pdfs, and went back and book the books. Highly recommended!

SHARP SWORDS & SINISTER SPELLS (This comment is for this gameline, and I suggest buying both the Core Book and the Addendum)

This is the best little game I've played for a while. It's got that OSR flavour to the mechanics, yet it's more streamlined and logical than most OSR games. Very much influenced by more recent games, I would sum it up by saying OD&D + D&D 5E +FATE, then trim it all down to bare basics. It's not D&D, yet it sure feels like how we wanted OD&D to run.

I'm a rpg GM who often runs more serious systems, but in recent years have had a bit of fun with D&D 5E and OSR games due to the simplicity of them. In many ways this little unassuming game stands heads and shoulders above all of those.

The whole vibe is very old school pulpy Sword & Sorcery, very much early OD&D before the High Fantasy sanitisation that came after the God Mod hysteria of the mid 1980s. Closer to Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG than anything else, although not quite a much as meatgrinder, and the rules just play very smoothly, none of that DCC intentional clunkiness. This game is perfect for a classic fantasy old school dungeon crawl, very simple, feels like D&D 5E went back to the late 70s & early 80s and said 'Let's do it this way!"

Love the great black and white artwork, really evocative of games like OD&D, Tunnels & Trolls, Fighting Fantasy, Dragon Warriors, etc with a touch of Vance, Moorcock, Howard, and Carter thrown in. The whole vibe is great.

So much info has been thrown into these two books, it's amazingly good value. My only gripe is that I would love to see both books complied (the Core rulebook and the Addendum) in one little digest size hardcover volume. These rules are slim and I recommend buying both the core book (approx 50pages) and the Addendum (approx 100 pages). If this was one hardcover volume, then the product would get 5+ stars from me (if such a thing existed). Really, this is that good.

Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is favourite new game, and out of a huge collection I would go so far to say that this is probably one of my best purchases so far. I paid only a few dollars for the pdfs, and went back and book the books. Highly recommended!

This is like a dream system for me! Simple, brutal, elegant.

I just finished reading this book through, constantly flipping backwards and forwards to make sure what I was reading was real. Magic-users can cast their spells multiple times a day (if their dice are nice), warriors generally beat the stuffing out of opponents, specialists are lucky and skillful, monsters aren't stat blocks, spells are variable in power and only a line or two of text. Love it all!

SS&SS distills and synthesizes some of the best parts of my favorite old school games, and it is glorious to behold!

And the tables at the end to create adventure ideas is really great. Extremely inspirational.

Also, just for fun, the art in the book is incredible. It really puts the reader in the right headspace for the awesome and simple rules they are reading.

Get this book and pay for it! You'll be happy you did.