User summary:
Swords Without Master is a heavily narrative system that uses dice primarily to determine the mood of scenes. Two 6-sided dice are rolled and compared to find which of two tones (called 'Glum' and 'Jovial' in the original game) will be represented.
The motion of dice themselves is also codified: actions like passing, taking, or placing the dice upon the table are symbolic calls to engage resolution mechanics.
Subsequent games make minor changes to terminology and add or subtract rules, but the core mechanics - roll 2d6 to determine the mood, write down and re-incorporate ideas, transfer the dice to push for a resolution in the scene - are preserved.
these have been written by Epidiah Ravachol