In May 2001, James V. West published The Pool—a radical document. The RPG landscape was divided:
On one side: traditional industry. Dungeons & Dragons dominated the market with massive rulebooks. On the other side: whispers of a movement being born.
Ron Edwards, creator of Sorcerer, described The Pool as "the most powerful affirmation of the potential for underground and grassroots innovation in role-playing games." With a handful of pages, West had done something radical: he said that narrative control could belong to players. That dice could be a tactical resource. That the GM didn't hold all the power.
The Pool suggested that games like Dust Devils, Trollbabe, Other Kind, Universalis were all "children" of The Pool—offspring of that movement searching for narrative innovation.
By 2003, Savage Worlds had emerged (thank you, SW, for also birthing On Mighty Thews). By 2005-2006, Burning Wheel was gaining traction among players (many of my old games echo BW, though I didn't know it at the time), with its narrative control. Dogs in the Vineyard (2004) had demonstrated how to build an entire game around moral choice and narrative conflict.
It was a moment of transition. Games were becoming more aware of what it meant to put narrative power in players' hands. More intelligent about structuring conflict.
The Pool in 2001 was a provocation: "What if players truly controlled the narrative?"
By 2005, that question had generated a community of answers.
The Sword in the Pool is one of those answers—born from those years. It takes the brilliant kernel of The Pool and carries it forward. But I didn't have the strength and competence to carry it as far as I should have.
The Two Brilliant Ideas in The Pool
James V. West's The Pool introduced two core concepts that rewired how I thought about games:
First: The Absence of Hit Points. Characters don't have a health bar. You survive, or you die. It's narrative. It's true. You feel death as consequence, not as a number clicking down.
Second: Victory Narration. When you win, the player controls the scene. Not the GM. You. This single mechanic shifted authority. It said: "Your victory is yours to describe."
It also carried other concepts I cherished: betting to win (echoes of Songami...). I took these ideas and developed them in a personal direction. Here's what I did:
Seven Innovations in The Sword in the Pool
First: The Bard's Difficulty Map
In my system, the Bard doesn't add dice arbitrarily—a problem that derailed balance in the original. Instead, there's a map:
- Early: 3 dice
- Middle: 2 dice
- Toward the climax: 1 die
Players feel the dice count descending. They understand when things become serious—not because you tell them. Because they feel it in the system.
This creates rhythm. Players live the resource drain in the mechanics themselves. It's visible, not abstract.
Second: One Central Pool
Everyone draws from the same pool. When one player fails and loses dice, the pool shrinks for everyone. When the Bard adds dice, they come from that same resource.
Players understand their choices affect their companions. If I bet 9 dice and lose, the pool drops by 9. It directly limits what the next player can do.
You're not an island. Your failures become the table's constraint. Your choices have collective weight.
Third: The Finale Has a Mechanical Signal
When the Central Pool reaches 0, the finale arrives. The game doesn't break—it reveals its drama.
Pool empty = Bard stops adding dice = players have only their Traits.
No margin. No safety. This is the moment.
Players can attempt a Desperate Recovery Scene first. If they win, 4 dice return. If they lose, the finale arrives anyway.
The system itself communicates when you're in danger.
Fourth: Victory Narration Has Tactical Choices
When you win, you choose:
"Take the Dice": The Bard narrates as you wanted, but adds a complication. You recover dice, but accept a consequence.
"Victory Narration": Complete narrative control. You describe everything. No surprises. Only your dice return.
It's tactical. If the pool is full, maybe you accept a complication and recover dice. If it's almost empty, maybe you choose total control and preserve resources.
Most importantly: you have moments where everything is exactly as you want it. Those moments are yours.
Fifth: Space to Breathe
Recovery Scenes. Moments where the character stops in a safe place.
Roll for the group. Win: 3 or 4 dice return to the pool (the pool never exceeds its starting value: 15 for 4 players, 18 for 5, etc.). Lose: tension continues.
The game breathes. The character evolves: if a Trait is no longer true for who you've become, you change it. Same bonus, different meaning. It's profound, strong—and my signature innovation, because I formalized downtime mechanics long before they became industry standard.
Sixth: Traits Are Anything
Not just skills. Bonds. Virtues. Objectives. Scars. Anything that defines the knight.
A Trait can be: "Friend of the Cardinal." Or: "I saw horror at the borders and cannot forget it." Or: "I want to discover what betrayed the Kingdom."
Everything that matters to the character matters in the game.
Seventh: The Bard Listens
From Oscura Minaccia's philosophy: The Bard doesn't describe everything. Introduces incomplete elements and asks players to complete them.
Bad: "The Cardinal enters wearing red vestments. He has three guards with him. They all look angry. Behind them, two servants with documents."
Good: "Someone important enters. Who are they? Why are they here? What's different about them?"
Then you listen. The world's elements come from players. They become co-creators, not spectators.
When the Bard says "Yes, and what do you see?" they make space. Space is where collaboration lives.
Why It Works
The Sword in the Pool keeps what was good about The Pool: Victory Narration, absence of hit points, the dice system, tactical resources. Then it adds structure that speaks to 2006. A difficulty map for the Bard. A central pool. A mechanical signal. Options within success. Breathing space from my titles.
Most importantly, it adds the Bard's listening: ask "What do you do?" and mean it. Invite players to build the story alongside you. This comes from Oscura Minaccia—the discovery that the best of RPGs happens when the GM listens more than narrates.
It's a system that works today. It's The Pool carried forward, in a simple and direct way.
Two Mechanical Adjustments
Today I've made two modifications to streamline the system:
First: In character creation, I recognize that many love the dice mechanism, but it's also always been a problem. The game runs well when the central pool is tight and when you have appropriate traits.
Solution: Start the Central Pool directly at 15 dice. No spending during creation. Characters begin with 2 Traits at +2 and 2 Traits at +1—granted, not purchased. This removes unnecessary bookkeeping while keeping pool tightness.
Second: I've added the Recovery Scene between sessions. This allows not just pool recovery, but also adding new Traits or upgrading existing ones, and modifying them based on what's happened.
The Legacy
This project remains as it is. But if you're interested, I could also publish it properly—it's solid work, and as a design study, many will appreciate it. Because we all hold The Pool dear, and over time we've all tried to make it our own.
Let me know what you think! I initially wanted to publish this only in English, because soon we'll be discussing another Arthurian RPG based on the modern Freak Engine—the system behind Prison Freaks and Bloodshred.
If you like what I do, know that times are dark. Leave a heart, comment, or write a review to help me keep going.
Giovanni Micolucci Designer, Vas Quas Editrice November 2025