Around the middle of December last year, Mark had the opportunity to discuss the fix-up and Kickstarter for Swords Without Master with the TTRPG’s creator, Epidiah Ravachol.
Swords Without Master was originally published in Worlds Without Master Issue #3, and since that release it has found an audience, leading Epidiah to work on a stand-alone, “fix-up” release that ended up being a Kickstarter, which was soon to release after his appearance on our stream. Over the course of the conversation, which lasted a bit over an hour, they talked about how the mechanics of the game worked, how to encourage players to help tell the story, and what all went into the Kickstarter “fix-up.” Mark showed great interest in the game, stating that Swords Without Master was “… a unique TTRPG that really encourages everyone at the table to take an active role in building an epic Swords and Sorcery story.” I personally found Epidiah’s history of making games interesting, including the time Epidiah put one together in a week for JiffyCon.
After the stream, I reached out to see if Epidiah had any thoughts about the stream, which he happily provided.
First, when asked if the team made him feel comfortable, he replied, “Absolutely! The team was wonderful. Even though I’ve been podcasting regularly for over a decade, I still get fairly nervous on other folks’ shows. But those nerves swiftly faded once we started and all I remember now is having a pleasant and engaging conversation.” While he didn’t think he forgot to mention anything, when asked if he thought he showed off Swords Without Master as well as he could, he told me “I’m always looking for better ways to show off my games. Every experience like this is an opportunity to improve that. Mark was an engaged and well-informed listener who asked pointed questions when I needed them. And that goes a long way. So yeah, I’m quite satisfied, despite, you know, never being satisfied with how I show off the game.”
The big thing I was wondering about was what the plans were after the Kickstarter wasn’t only fully funded, but exceeded the funding goal by four times the original amount. I could feel the excitement through my screen when I read what his response was.
“Right this minute, we’re putting the game together. The success of the Kickstarter has enabled us to buy more art than we dared to hope for. So those eidolon folios—the decks of tarot-sized art cards folks can use to build their rogues and their worlds—I’m swimming in those illustrations like Scrooge McDuck! At last count, I believe we have 18 artists contributing to them. There are over 50 cards. Every morning I wake up to some new wonder or magnificent horror in my inbox. And that’s not even counting the cover and interior art for the game book itself. We’re looking at releasing this before the end of the year. Beyond that, we’ve been talking about putting together more eidolon folios in the future and bundling them together with some setting and scenario materials, perhaps dipping our toes into genres adjacent to, but not strictly sword and sorcery.”
The team here at Lore Link would like to thank Epidiah for not only being our guest on Twitch, but also letting us know his thoughts about being a guest! You can find the stream replay on YouTube (or, you know, embedded in this post), and you can find Epidiah on Bluesky and Mastodon, and you can find the original version of Swords Without Master on itch.io. Finally, while the Kickstarter is over, you can put in a late pledge to get in on the fix-up with a ton of new art!