Wandering Blades by Daniel Kwan coming to Kickstarter in May

A new RPG by Daniel Kwan and Plus One Exp named Wandering Blades is arriving on Kickstarter in May:

Wandering Blades is a roleplaying game of violent, martial arts melodrama for 2-5 players. In this game, players take on the roles of highly skilled martial artists who wander the lands seeking to redress wrongs, help the downtrodden, and free the innocent from oppressive forces. Using a streamlined system inspired by old-school renaissance products, Wandering Blades enables dynamic and lethal combat while empowering players to tell heroic and melodramatic stories inspired by Chinese wuxia media, Hong Kong action cinema, Japanese animation, and action video games.

Gorgeous Tabletop Violence

Daniel Kwan designed Wandering Blades gameplay to emulate the cinematic language and tempo of wuxia action cinema and contemporary action video games, using these guiding principles:

• Danger is Everywhere — The world of Wandering Blades is full of danger, and the smallest mistake can be deadly. The weapons and martial arts techniques wielded by player characters are instruments of death, but so are those of their adversaries.
• Old-School Principles — The system of Wandering Blades is designed to create a gameplay experience that is open-ended, challenging, and supportive of emergent narratives. Players are encouraged to discover solutions within the game world, not on their character sheet.
• Skillful and Dynamic Combat — Fights in Wandering Blades are designed to feel stylish, fast, and compelling. Success in combat relies heavily on skill instead of luck. The martial arts skills of each class are not only narratively unique but are expressed as such through their game mechanics.
• Toolbox Experience — The rules in Wandering Blades are written as guidelines for GMs (game masters). They are open to player interpretation, ingenuity, and expansion.

Wandering Blades Features

• No skills — characters rely on their attributes to solve problems
• 3 unique character classes inspired by wuxia character archetypes - youxia (knight errant), outlaw, and scholar
• Easy to learn, yet tactical rules for dynamic and lethal martial arts combat
• Comprehensive procedures streamlined for ease of use to help emulate the narrative elements of heroic martial arts fiction
• Superhuman martial arts strengthened by inner qi
• Guidelines to help craft wuxia stories
• Sandbox adventures inspired by classic martial arts media

Check Out the Playtest Material & Rules Beta on Itch