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Honor + Intrigue

Revised Edition
Swashbuckling adventure in the 17th century that never was: musketeers, pirates, and courtly intrigue
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Best For

Groups who want cinematic swashbuckling in the style of The Three Musketeers and Captain Blood: dashing swordplay, court intrigue, and sea battles with a fast, career-based system.

Core Mechanic

Roll 2d6 + Quality (Might, Daring, Savvy, or Flair) + Career rank vs. 9 to succeed. In combat, Combat Abilities (Brawl, Melee, Ranged, Defense) replace Careers. Bonus Dice roll 3d6 and keep the best two; Penalty Dice keep the worst two. Fortune Points let heroes escape death, add bonus dice, invoke dramatic license, or press the Advantage in duels. Advantage tracks momentum in melee: characters start at 3 and lose Advantage when hit, becoming Defeated at 0. Nine Dueling Styles (Spanish, Italian, French, and more) each grant unique maneuvers and a Final Secret at mastery. Social Combat uses the same framework, targeting Composure instead of Lifeblood.

Dice2d6
System FamilyBoL
PublisherBasic Action Games
Year2012
ComplexityHow much there is to learn
Medium

The core is 2d6 plus a Quality and career rank against a 9. The depth is swashbuckling combat, with dueling styles, social repartee, and a Fortune economy for cinematic stunts. Optional magic and alchemy round it out.

AvailabilityHow you get the rules
  • Free to tryNothing freeNo free rules or starter
  • Get it nowSold newIn print or as a legal PDF
RunnabilityWhat the book gives you to run it
  • ✓IndexFind any rule by page number
  • ✓GM guidanceA chapter on how to run the game
  • ✓Examples of playRules shown in action at the table
  • ✓Quick referenceCheat sheet or summary tables
  • ✓Cross-referencesRules point to each other by page

5 of 5 book tools found in the core book

Highlights

Nine Dueling Styles with distinct maneuvers and masterable Final Secrets provide deep fencing differentiation. Social Combat and Repartee use the same mechanical framework as physical combat, targeting Composure. Over 30 period-specific Careers from Musketeer to Temptress replace skill lists. Includes ship-to-ship combat, battlefield rules, and a 17th-century gazetteer covering Europe, the Americas, and beyond.

Considerations

No free quickstart or SRD available. Advantage tracking adds a subsystem on top of basic BoL resolution. The gazetteer and setting material assume 17th-century Europe as the default, limiting out-of-the-box use for other periods.

Rules license Proprietary

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