This Modern Death

By William Patrick

You are in a dark cavern and a monster rises up ahead of you, looming over your petty stature. You reach for your sword and draw it from your sheath. This is the threshold between combat and everything else. Once you draw your sword, there will be blood, and it may be yours.

For new gamers who haven’t found their role-playing groove yet, even experienced gamers who want to add some more flare to their role-playing, you can always learn how to better your role-playing skills. Maybe you don’t want to use a funny accent, play your character in first person, or dress up as your character, but you could always add a bit more description to your actions. What better action is there than drawing your sword? It doesn’t have to be your sword; it could be your rifle, bow, bolas, or your extendable claws. For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to be writing about weapons with a hilt and a blade.

Let’s consider your weapon. What type of sword are you using? Knights wield broadswords, soldiers in the far-flung future carry laser swords, zombie slayers always have a katana, and street thugs probably have a knife somewhere. Choosing your weapon reflects a lot about your character. Claymores are vicious and imposing, rapiers are quick and cunning, and wakizashis are exotic and mysterious. If you are a Victorian musketeer and you wield a bastard sword, which explains that in addition to your swashbuckling swagger and wit you are both heavy-handed and adaptable. The musketeer might draw his sword with gusto and a flourish of his cape, before leveling it and gripping it with both hands.

Now that you have picked a sword for your character, create the description of your weapon. Decide what your blade is made of, and where it is made. Has the sword been used for years or was it forged and polished yesterday? Determine the little details of the hilt, including the cross-guard, grip, and pommel. There may be something distinguishing about your blade, such as the poison glistening on the point or the fire which clothes the blade when it is drawn from its sheath. Is the scabbard made of wood, leather, bronze, or steel? Does the sword scrape harshly against the scabbard or slide out with no more noise than a whisper? There are many questions that you can ask yourself to make your sword unique to you.

The next time your GM starts a combat and demands that initiative should be rolled, your first action will be drawing your sword. Begin your turn with your character wrapping his nimble fingers around the worn leather grip and wrenching his broadsword free from the scabbard. The iron blade chimes when it is drawn from the bronze sheath and he raises it above his head and brings it bear in front of him, point leveled at his foe.