Beyond Basic Adventures
Sometimes your story needs more than combat and skill rolls. When heroes chase villains through crowded streets, lead armies into battle, or race against time to save the world, these specialized rules turn those epic moments into unforgettable gameplay!
The Cinematic Toolkit
Think of these as the special effects budget for your game. Car chases like in Fast & Furious, massive battles like in Lord of the Rings, or tense bomb defusal scenes like in action movies - these tools make them playable and exciting!
Chase Rules
High-Speed Pursuits
Chases use action cards to create dynamic, cinematic pursuits! The track above is a simplified picture of a pursuit, not the exact SWADE layout; the core rules have the full procedure.
1. Setup
- Decide who's chasing whom
- Pick each side's maneuvering skill
- Note the starting distance
- Decide what ends the chase
2. Each Round
- Everyone makes a maneuvering roll
- Success earns an action card
- Raises earn better options
- Failure = a weaker position
3. Complications
- Clubs = a complication
- Higher cards = better position
- Joker = a lucky break
- Others = Clear sailing
Chase Types
🚗 Vehicle Chase
Use Driving/Piloting/Boating
Mad Max fury road, Fast & Furious, speeder bikes
🏃 Foot Chase
Use Athletics for running
Parkour through city, jungle pursuit, rooftop chase
🐎 Mounted Chase
Use Riding skill
Western pursuit, dragon riders, cavalry charge
Dramatic Tasks
Complex Actions Under Pressure
When heroes need to accomplish something difficult with time running out!
The Basics
- Collect a set number of successes and raises (task tokens)
- Do it within a limited number of rounds
- Heroes can pitch in with different skills
- Drawing a Club for your action card brings a complication
- Failure has consequences!
Classic Dramatic Tasks
💣 Bomb Defusal
Electronics, Notice, Repair, Thievery
Failure = BOOM!
🔐 Complex Heist
Thievery, Stealth, Electronics, Athletics
Failure = Alarms!
🏛️ Court Trial
Persuasion, Research, Performance, Notice
Failure = Guilty!
🌋 Escape Collapsing Temple
Athletics, Notice, Agility and Strength rolls
Failure = Buried!
Mass Battles
When Armies Clash
Heroes can turn the tide of massive conflicts!
Setup
- Each side gets Battle Tokens (up to 10) based on its relative strength
- Assign Force Commanders
- Determine battle modifiers
Each Round
- Heroes describe their actions
- Roll appropriate skills
- Their successes add bonuses to their commander's roll (and heroes risk getting hurt)
- Commanders make opposed Battle rolls
- Loser loses tokens; a beaten side may have to check morale
Hero Actions
- Fighting: Lead from the front
- Shooting: Ranged support
- Persuasion: Rally troops
- Battle: Tactical genius
Epic Battle Examples
- 🏰 Helm's Deep (Lord of the Rings)
- ⚔️ Battle of the Bastards (Game of Thrones)
- 🌟 Endgame Final Battle (Avengers)
- 🚀 Space Fleet Engagement (Star Wars)
Social Conflicts
Quick Encounters
Fast Resolution System
When you need to resolve something quickly without full combat!
How It Works
- Each hero makes one roll with a relevant skill
- The GM applies a modifier for how tough the opposition is
- Each hero's result sets their fate: failures can cost Wounds or Fatigue, raises earn extra rewards
- Narrate the outcome together
Perfect For:
- Bar fights that aren't important
- Sneaking past guards
- Quick skirmishes
- Racing through obstacles
Allies
Heroes rarely work alone. Hirelings, soldiers, sidekicks and loyal companions are usually Extras: no Wild Die, and one Wound takes them out of the fight. To keep the GM's workload down, hand allies to the players to run in combat (one or two each works well), while the GM still decides how loyal and brave they are when things go wrong.
- Allies who survive adventures can grow more capable over time
- Treat them well and they stay loyal; abuse them and they may flee or turn
- A named sidekick can be promoted to a Wild Card when the story calls for it
Interludes
Downtime and Character Development
Between action scenes, let characters breathe and develop! A player draws a card, and its suit sets the theme of a short story about their hero. Telling one earns a Benny (or another reward of the GM's choosing).
♠ Victory
A triumph from the hero's past
- A battle won
- A rival bested
- A proud moment
♥ Love
Friendship and romance
- A loyal friend
- A lost love
- Family ties
♦ Desire
What the hero wants
- Wealth or treasure
- Ambition
- A long-held dream
♣ Adversity
Tragedy and hardship
- A painful loss
- A failure that still haunts them
- An old enemy's scars
Travel Montages
Epic Journeys Made Simple
A Simple Journey Approach (house method)
- Set total travel time/distance
- Each player describes one leg
- Roll Survival for encounters
- Clubs = complications
Journey Types
- 🏔️ Mountain crossing (avalanches, thin air)
- 🏜️ Desert trek (heat, water shortage)
- 🌊 Sea voyage (storms, pirates)
- 🚀 Space travel (asteroids, systems failure)
Hazards
Environmental Dangers
🔥 Fire
Damage depends on the blaze
Flammable targets may catch fire
Takes an action to put out
❄️ Cold
Vigor roll every 4 hours
Failure = Fatigue
Proper gear helps
💨 Falling
Damage grows with height
Capped at a maximum
Snow/water reduces
☠️ Poison
Vigor roll, harder for potent poisons
Effects vary widely
Antidotes negate
😱 Fear
Spirit roll when facing horrors
Terrifying monsters impose a penalty
Bad failures roll on the Fear Table
Toolkit Quick Reference
Chases
- Maneuvering rolls
- Action cards set position
- Better rolls, better cards
- Clubs = trouble
Dramatic Tasks
- Collect task tokens
- Limited rounds
- Clubs = complication
- High stakes
Mass Battles
- Up to 10 tokens per side
- Heroes add bonus
- Battle skill rolls
- 0 tokens = defeat