Wandering Blades Thoughts: Blade Binds (Patreon)

Sword of the Stranger is of my favourite animated movies. The story is interesting and the fight scenes are beautifully choreographed and animated. While not a wuxia movie, the way the action flows has very much been an influence on how I want Wandering Blades to play. 

In the final fight of the movie, two characters find themselves in a tense duel. Momentum shifts back and forth as they exchange blows, and the tension peaks as they find their swords lock together dramatically. While over exaggerated, this is called a sword bind - any blade-on-blade contact that is more than fleeting. 

I want to introduce a rules light mechanic in Wandering Blades that allows characters to create a narrative "pause" in the action, but also create dramatic moments where the momentum of the fight can change. 

At the moment, I'm thinking that this will be a qi ability (the primary universal action currency for characters) that can be used in response to being hit by a melee attack. Rather than a parry, this could either be as a "last ditch effort" to avoid taking a lethal blow or a way for a character to impart a status (blade bound) onto another. This could render them unable to attack and even amplify incoming attacks against anyone in this state! In order to escape or disengage, I want to make it as narratively flexible as possible: determine risk (with the GM) > declare actions (is it an opposed check?) > resolve consequences (will you drop your weapon to create distance and escape?).

My goal with this is to provide an optional procedure or rule for blade binds that players can introduce into their games if they want to add more complexity to their fights!