Sword and Backpack

Sword and Backpack is a fantasy game designed by Rothbard and Gazpus that is 100% focused on story and the characters. The only mechanic that exists is rolled a d20 and adding a +5 (if the action falls within your job/class) vs. A target number. The original game can be found here and it is four pages long. What is more is that the pages are formatted to be cut out and taped/glued into a small moleskin notebook. This transforms the notebook into your character sheet and the Chronicle of your adventures. It does not take much effort to assemble it either:

Just reading through the game and the supplemental material was immediately inspiring to me and really changed the way I viewed gaming. It also led to some great adventures and role play moments. 

I finally hit some difficulty with when introducing it to new players or players who have only played crunch heavy games as Sword and Backpack is extremely freeform. So, I went to tinkering with it and all of my early attempts over complicated it which made it lose its soul. I eventually gave up the tinkering until I came across Cecil Howe's Hack and things just clicked (he cracked the code to tinker with it) and I went to work tweaking it after getting some experience playing Cecil's hack. Cecil Howe was kind enough to let me use his work and art on my version as long as I gave him credit. 

You can find my "Breakfast Club" Edition (Hack) here and the cover here. It is already formatted in booklet form and yes, the red cover is inspired by Kung Fu Hustle.

Here is also a four panel character sheet that was put together by Mr. Gone.

The core differences in my "Breakfast Club" Edition are:

• Changed how class bonuses interact with difficulty ratings
• Structured combat
• Added a wound/effort system
• Added a set of optional "Advanced" Sword and Backpack rules that are focused for campaign play

 I would also highly recommend reading the Sword and Backpack Broadsheet Collection. They are a best of GM and Player advice for this game but can honestly be used across the board.

The most powerful thing about Sword and Backack is that it is more then a game, it is a philosophy and that philosophy can be summed up with the Dungeon Punk Manifesto:

1. BETTER LIVING THROUGH ADVENTURE

2. BE AN INTREPID ADVENTURER AND EXPLORER FIRST, A HACK AND SLASH TOURIST SECOND.

3. EXPERIENCE > EXPERIENCE POINTS

4. WARRIOR = DRUMMER, SORCERER = GUITAR PLAYER, ROGUE = BASS PLAYER. EVERYONE SINGS.

5. A GOOD ENCOUNTER SHOULD BE LIKE AN AWESOME 7" SINGLE; A GREAT ADVENTURE SHOULD BE LIKE A SECRET $5 WAREHOUSE SHOW; THE BEST CAMPAIGNS SHOULD BE LIKE AN EPIC TOUR.

6. YOU ARE YOUR CLASS, BUT YOUR CLASS IS NOT YOU.

7. THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS AN INHERENTLY EVIL ORC.

8. A SWORD AND BACKPACK ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS.

9. D.I.Y.: DUNGEONCRAWL IT YOURSELF.

10. YOUR CHARACTER SHEET AND YOUR DICE ARE YOUR PERSONAL TOTEMS. TREAT THEM AS SUCH.

11. ADVENTURE AND STORY TRUMP THE RULES.

12. IN FACT, WHEN IN DOUBT, SCREW THE RULES!