Category Archives: Swords of the Serpentine

Playtesting: Intelligent Animals (Non-Human Heroes) in Swords of the Serpentine

by Kevin Kulp Now that we’ve explained the rules for non-human Heroes in Swords of the Serpentine, let’s start with the first Ancestry: Intelligent Animals. Please go read those base rules if you haven’t yet, as it will make this article make much more sense. Each month’s Ancestry will follow the same format, as shown […]

Playtesting Rules: Non-Human Heroes in Swords of the Serpentine

by Kevin Kulp Classic sword and sorcery stories feature human heroes almost exclusively, but that doesn’t mean your game needs to look like this. If you want to use the GUMSHOE Swords of the Serpentine rules for high- or epic fantasy, you’ll want access to non-human heroes. This monthly series will feature Ancestries for non-human […]

Brought to Light

From the rotting rooftops of Sag Harbor to the glittering ballrooms of Alderhall, the city of Eversink welcomes you – assuming you can survive it! This collection features four one-shot adventures for Swords of the Serpentine, each designed to be played in four hours with pre-generated Heroes. Featured by Pelgrane Press at Gen Con and […]

Words of the Serpentine: Finishing the Book

By Kevin Kulp My dining room table is covered by the Swords of the Serpentine printer’s proof, finished. Well, almost finished: we’re flagging a cropping issue on the non-color proof, there’s a handful of “we’re worried the ink won’t dry!” image saturation issues that inimitable publisher Cat Tobin will hammer out with the printer’s customer […]

How to Read the Rules: a quick-start guide for Swords of the Serpentine

By Kevin Kulp Swords of the Serpentine (abbreviated SotS, or #SerpentineRPG) is Pelgrane Press’s new GUMSHOE sword & sorcery game by Emily Dresner and Kevin Kulp. It features morale-based social combat, a freeform sorcery system, cinematic combat, a canal-strewn setting that echoes classic fantasy cities like Lankhmar and Ankh-Morpork, and an Allegiance system that let […]

Exploring Bookhounds of Eversink

By Kevin Kulp “Bookhounds of Eversink” (p. 28 of the Adventurer’s Edition) is a quick-start campaign setup for your Swords of the Serpentine game. The premise, which will be familiar to folks who have read or played in Pelgrane’s other Bookhound game Bookhounds of London, is that adventures focus on the acquisition or sale of […]

Serpentine Plot Hooks: Rebellious Factions Part 2

By Kevin Kulp Combining focused ambition with poor judgment is a great basis for an adventure. When you want to run a last-minute Swords of the Serpentine game and aren’t sure where to begin, start with one or more of the factions. You’ll see an example of this in the two free adventures here at […]

Serpentine Plot Hooks: Rebellious Factions Part 1

By Kevin Kulp Combining focused ambition with poor judgment is a great basis for an adventure. When you want to run a last-minute Swords of the Serpentine game and aren’t sure where to begin, start with one or more of the factions. You’ll see an example of this in the two free adventures here at […]

A Small-Town Setting for Swords of the Serpentine

by Kevin Kulp Want to set a Swords of the Serpentine game outside of Eversink? See Page XX will periodically give you starting ideas for alternate game settings, including Allegiance information. This month we’ll look at Joining, the small town I’m using to test future rules for non-human heroes. I wanted a setting that starts […]

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