The first update to Wandering Swords is here!

I've been compiling changes over the past couple of weeks and I'm delighted to release 0.1e, which brings a host of adjustments to the ruleset for the purposes of clarity and balance, some expanded mechanics, and new content in the form of additional material for foes. The rulebook is now 44 instead of 40 pages.

The full list of changes for 0.1e are as follows.

• Variant rules for standard array abilities and more control over starting gear.
• Deftness is now called Dexterity for the sake of simplicity and clarity when speaking aloud.
• The physical and mental resilience mechanic has been changed to a general 'resist effects' system.
• The level at which characters become winded and bloodied has been adjusted slightly to be more forgiving.
• More guidance on effects, and suggested types of effect, have been added.
• Gear Dice is now called Context Dice, the guidelines for rolling this second dice when you don't have gear is now clearer.
• Heroic Attempt is now called Critical Success for the sake of simplicity.
• Advancing wanderer stats beyond threshold 7 now requires defeating greater foes.
• Further clarity on context dice for disengaging, dodging and blocking has been given.
• The swapping action has been clarified.
• Blocking requires choosing a particular enemy to block against.
• Guidance on number of positions on the battlefield.
• The torch item has some guidance on how to manage illumination in the game.
• Foes have been overhauled, including adding loot tables for each enemy, adding a new enemy (the spear frog), adjusting hit tolerances, and providing guidance on geater foes.

One of the changes I'm most excited about are the variant rules for standard array abilities and more control over starting gear. Now you can choose to assign scores to your abilities rather than rolling randomly for each, but this greater control comes with a downside. You must assign 7, 6, 5 and 4 to the abilities of your choice, while if you roll you can't get below 4 on any ability. Similarly if you choose a specific item of gear for your character, you must roll on each of the other two lists, but cannot have that fourth roll for an additional item. This all makes the randomised option more enticing, and means a low-roll random character can still stand alongside a standard array character without the group being too unbalanced.

All of these changes should really help with the quality of the play experience, but as always please do give me your thoughts and feedback. Next up, I'm hoping to put together some new gear lists for you all!

- Nathaniel