History Literature / BloodSword

* GratuitousNinja: The assassins from Book 1 are all black body suits, throwing stars and, according to a victorious barbarian, jump kicks. Of interest is that they are likely NOT from Yamato. In the Dragon Warriors RPGg (which ''Bloodsword'' evolved out of), yes Yamoto has the assassin class, but they stay in Yamato. Assassins encountered are either locals or from the world's expy of India or Arabia.

* HopeIsScary: In book 4, your guide describes hope as the cruelest of the evils to escape PandorasBox since it only makes the others more painful.

* SoLastSeason: Your enemies will really scale up each book -- this means someone like Skyrmir, the legendary chief of the frost giants and deadliest opponent in the 1st book (to the point where you get bonus experience if you kill him), is about equal to a Selentine Knight, a respectable but not especially dangerous potential foe in the 3rd book.RPG books, with a few changes and more fleshing out.

* ThanatosGambit: One of the possible endings of the series. Remember, the final judgement is minutes away so [[spoiler:if the last of the True Magi currently exists only as an illusion in your mind, dying before he can become physical can win you the game]].

* WeaponOfXSlaying: The Blood Sword and Demon's Claw can both destroy an undead with a single blow if you're lucky. Is the only way to put down the continuously-regenerating True Magi in the final battle.

* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Because the combat rules have your characters roll against their skill in attacking (a roll of equal or lower than your skill means a success), your characters (except the Sorcerer) can reach a high enough experience level that they will NEVER miss their attacks even without a magic weapon. Unfortunately there are quite a few enemies who are equally skilled and your character will be taking damage each round, unless you elect to dodge that turn.

* GrimUpNorth: The entire second book sets up a journey across the desolate frozen lands to the kingdom of Wyrde. Lacking equipment such as fur clothing, brazier and provisons can cost you a lot of health.

The series has been reprinted by Fabled Lands publishing, with the first 4 having been done so far. The 5th is in DevelopmentHell; WordOfGod giving permission to read pirated versions; not a good sign.

UPDATE: There is currently a Kickstarter for the reprinting and remaking of the 5th book as of mid-February 2019. As of March 16th, 2019; it met its goal. Estimated printing will be roughly October 2019.

* AnAxeToGrind: In the 2nd book, if your party goes through the gate of carnage and has a Sage and a Warrior, they can find and make the most use of the legendary Axe of Heraklos. This is a magical golden axe that gives a bonus to aim in most character's hands. However if the Sage is present, he realizes that it's no standard magic axe and in the hands of a Warrior, the axe can be thrown up to 2 squares away and return to his hand.

* GuileHero: The Trickster is proud of beguiling enemies, trick old foes and use smart thinking to overcome obstacles. He can even veer on TokenEvilPartyMember.

* BalefulPolymorph: Most notably Circe, especially if you challenge her to a magic duel: since she gave her word to not cast lethal spells she'll just turn your sorcerer into a cockroach and step on him.

* SimpleStaff: The Sage has a staff as his weapon of choice. Apparently you can use it to paralyze your opponent for a turn. All the other characters are armed with swords instead.

* CombatMedic: The Sage.

%%* GuileHero: The Trickster.

* SinisterScimitar: Averted, the Death's Claw is described and illustrated as a scimitar but is one of the weapons capable of saving the world. According to the mention that it's the twin of the Blood Sword, that'll mean that the Blood Sword as well is a scimitar.

%%* SquishyWizard: The Enchanter.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The True Magi; the "real" wizards who practiced a form of magic [[LostTechnology lost]] to the present; escaped from a botched SummoningRitual to become [[CelestialBody Celestial Bodies]], stars/comets in the sky that affect the world. [[spoiler:They actually did it on purpose to learn [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow The Music of the Spheres]]]]

* DeadlyGame: Much of the campaign of Book 1 is this. The Magi send in various teams to the pits, but only the team holding the Emblem of Victory comes out alive.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The end of the Millennium is coming. Somewhat played with in that [[spoiler:you are not out to prevent it, but rather to make sure the True Magi cannot infest the world with their evil, so that when God comes to judge humanity, He will find it worthy of Heaven.]]

* AFateWorseThanDeath: In Sheol, you can encounter a village of souls who are pestered by undead called "Dead Eaters" that come each day to drag them away, presumably to such a destiny.

* IgnoredEnemy. Sadly enough, it is possible to give the cold shoulder to both Skymir (by neglecting to pick up his body parts, though they can make the endgame safer) and even the True Magi themselves (by defending from their cultists until the time runs out and thus leaving them without the necessary mana), which sadly turns both of them into AntiClimaxBoss enemies. (Though in the latter case, Blue Moon will still try something.)

* OrpheanRescue: In the 4th book; you have to go to Sheol to [[spoiler:get the Blood Sword back]]. The only person who can send you there in a way that allows you to return wants you to bring back a loved one of his.

* ThanatosGambit: One of the possible endings of the series. Remember, the final judgement is minutes away so [[spoiler:if the last of the True Magi currently exists only as an illusion in your mind, dying before he can become physical can win you the game.]]

* DiscOneNuke: Multiple Adjust scrolls (found early in the first dungeon) can make the Enchanter able to keep in mind and cast the best spell in the game in both the first 2 rounds of a combat with negligible chance of failure. One shot will kill almost anything, 2 will kill everything except Angvar.

* ArrogantKungFuGuy: In this case, it's an arrogant samurai-wizard. Icon the Ungodly is from Yamoto, the expy Japan and he's about as arrogant as he is vengeful - which is really saying something. Your characters are astonished at the heights of his arrogance, when he pronounces that for your last duel it is appropriate that someone with the pedigree of the Angel of Death bears witness.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The True Magi; the "real" wizards who practiced a form of magic [[LostTechnology lost]] to the present; escaped from a botched SummoningRitual to become [[CelestialBody Celestial Bodies]], stars/comets in the sky that affect the world. [[spoiler: They actually did it on purpose to learn [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow The Music Of The Spheres]]]]
* AttackBackfire: In one of the gamebooks you can try dealing with a huge Djinni by blasting it with the Orb of Fire. He finds it refreshing and it doesn't end well for the character attempting it...
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: The cover for each book features one or more heroes faced by huge, towering monsters. Some of them do actually appear in game. The cake goes to Snorrid from Book 5, a giant the size of a valley.
* CoolSword: Most of the magic weapons you can find are a CoolSword of some kind with a legendary background. There's an invisible, crystal sword used by Loge Skyrunner (Loki), Blutgetranker - a sword made from a sliver of the divine sword of the god Frey, a non-magical sword with a specially forged blade that's so flexible it can be worn as a belt, some generic magic swords that give decent damage bonuses and of course the Blood Sword and its twin, the Death's Claw.

* CrossoverCosmology: Greek mythology; Norse mythology; Babylonian, Christianity and more. They'll have FantasyCounterpartCulture names though.
** Often brought up in ContemplateOurNavels fashion. Good characters will discuss how Truth can have many forms. Evil characters will state men shape myth into what they want.

** Fighting Angvar in book four - though you get to stop before you die
** Fighting the hill-sized Snorrid (after he wakes up and insta-kills one of your party)
** If you attract the attention of the prime followers of the true magi, before they start the summoning ritual that keeps them busy - they'll burn you to cinders easily

* DarkIsNotEvil: The leader of the Crusader Principalities' Assassin sect (based quite blatantly on its real-life historical counterpart) is actually one of your main allies. [[spoiler: He is a a follower of God's will, after all.]]

* EvilPrince: Susurrien, a deposed prince and evil sorcerer who summons avatars of 3 evil gods on you after betraying you for the Sword of Death.

* FailedASpotCheck: Despite having such cunning and intelligent people in your party like the Trickster and Sage, it takes the summoning of the Faltyn to find out that the sorceress Psyche is not that world's equivalent of a Greek. If you summon the Faltyn you find out that her name had been mispronounced and is actually Saiki, she's racially Yamato and she's the sister of your arch-enemy Aiken (aka Icon the Ungodly). Otherwise you never find out this information, despite her not disguising herself.

* FantasticCatholicism: Unlike the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' series, this setting shows heavy traces of this at work. For example, in book 2 you can repeal some [[TheFairFolk Elves]] with a silver crucifix, as they are soulless, while a later book allows you to dissolve some ogres with holy water, and you're frequently pitted against entities that could be described as heathen deities and win.
** The fact that some of your greatest allies are followers of the setting's Fantasy Islam and are clearly portrayed as equally in the right would push this more towards Fantastic Abrahamic Monotheism, though.
* FantasyMetals: In Book 5, your party can find mithril armour. This gives the best armour rating in the game. For the Enchanter, they can get a suit of electrum alloy which has an enchantment to recover some hit point after each battle.

* GottaCatchThemAll: Of the "collect the parts" style; starting in the second book you are collecting the scabbard, hilt, and blade of the Blood Sword; aka the Sword of Life.
* GuileHero: The Trickster.
* HighlyVisibleNinja: The assassins from Book 1 are all black body suits, throwing stars and, according to a victorious barbarian, jump kicks. Of interest is that they are likely NOT from Yamato. In the Dragon Warriors rpg (which Bloodsword evolved out of), yes Yamoto has the assassin class, but they stay in Yamato. Assassins encountered are either locals or from the world's expy of India or Arabia.
* HopelessBossFight: You ''cannot'' beat Angvar, aka [[spoiler: Tor; aka Thor.]] But he will respect you if you ''survive'' his beating down on you. (and even more so if you surrender only after you fought your fullest, ie, more than half of your HP is gone.)
** It SAYS you can turn to the "beat him" page; but the Demon-Lord Tirikelu in Book 5 is stronger than the Avatars in book 3, immune to magic, you can only fight him one-on-one, he's immune to magic, and he hits you 5 times per round. Number-wise, that's not happening.
* HopeIsScary: In book 4, your guide describes hope as the cruellest of the evils to escape PandorasBox since it only makes the others more painful.

* IgnoredEnemy. Sadly enough, it is possible to give the cold shoulder to both Skymir (by neglecting to pick up his body parts, though they can make the endgame safer)and even the True Magi themselves (by defending from their cultists until the time runs out and thus leaving them without the necessary mana), which sadly turns both of them into AntiClimaxBoss enemies. (Though in the latter case, Blue Moon will still try something).

* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Blood Sword, the sword created by the Archangels to destroy the living dead. It starts off as the SwordOfPlotAdvancement; (and just losing the pieces gives a NonStandardGameOver) but once you complete it, the game admits you are now strong enough to challenge the True Magi without it. Indeed, it is possible to beat the final book without ever using it; but only if you do everything perfectly. That said, you want to have the Blood Sword. It has the greatest bonuses out of any weapon you can find and better yet, if you are a Warrior you can have it [[DualWielding and its twin]] for double the effects.

* MatryoshkaObject: The final boss of the 3rd book, is a semi-divine statue called the Seven-in-One. It lives up to its name as each time you kill it, it breaks apart to reveal a smaller but much quicker statue inside. [[spoiler: If you still have the fire-throwing item though you can kill it before it can split apart]].

* ObviousRulePatch: In the remake of the first book, Sages can now Levitate away if they Exorcise the spirit of TheManBehindTheMan instead of being trapped forever. But ''only'' the Sage, Immediate Deliverance, aka Teleport, can't go far enough.
* OneHitKill: If you can get the CharmPerson spell, Servile Enthrallment, to work; unless you command that character to attack its friends (which requires another roll), it will not attack you anymore and you can kill it at your leisure. Latter book "boss" enemies are explicitly immune.

* OrpheanRescue: In the 4th book; you have to go to Sheol to [[spoiler: get the Blood Sword back]]. The only person who can send you there in a way that allows you to return wants you to bring back a loved one of his.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: The first fight of the final book is with a small patrol of classic, ordinary Tolkienian orcs... But with the amusing twist that, although they're meant to be {{mooks}}, since they've been scaled to still be a bit of a challenge at this point, they would wipe the floor with any character or group from the beginning of the series.

* ShoutOut: In the first book; you encounter a group of Barbarians who comment that the Battlepits aren't as hard as Deathtr..., he doesn't finish; but it's likely ''[[Literature/FightingFantasy Deathtrap Dungeon]]''.

* SoLastSeason: Your enemies will really scale up each book - this means someone like Skyrmir, the legendary chief of the frost giants and deadliest opponent in the 1st book (to the point where you get bonus experience if you kill him), is about equal to a Selentine Knight, a respectable but not especially dangerous potential foe in the 3rd book.
* SpinOff: The Bloodsword series is a spinoff of Morris and Johnson's Dragon Warriors rpg books, with a few changes and more fleshing out.
* SquishyWizard: The Enchanter.
* StayingAlive: Icon just won't die. He'll animate his body/turn to mist if you "kill" him; then regenerate. Not even [[spoiler: directly getting thrown into the Gate Of Death killed him. It's implied that his final defeat he lets you kill him permanently since he thought it was poetic.]]
* TakeAThirdOption: Every book has a final boss (1 - Skyrmir (though he's an optional opponent), 2 - Witch King, 3 - Seven-in-One, 4 - Icon the Ungodly, and 5 - The True Magi). With the exception of Icon the Ungodly, every final boss can be instantly defeated without swinging a sword at them. The True Magi and Skyrmir can even defeated without entering combat at all.

* TookALevelInBadass: At the end of Book 4, your characters have been changed by their return from the Land of the Dead. Each one of them gets a new ability. The Sage has improved skill in healing, the Trickster gets a greatly improved dodge, the Enchanter has an easier chance of casting a spell, and the Warrior gets a major upgrade. He no longer gets a skill penalty when unarmed and can use a weapon in each hand for dual attacks (including having 2 of the InfinityPlusOneSword).

* TheUnderworld: Sheol, the setting of half of the fourth book. It is surprisingly safe if you know what to do, featuring at most a couple of battles (one of which against the FinalBoss) if you know what to do.

* EvilPrince: Susurrien

* NighInvulnerability: In Book 4, your characters can imitate Achilles and take a dip in the river Styx. This has a chance of killing you instantly, but if you are lucky (roll a 5 or a 6 on one die, otherwise you're dead.) then you have a 1 in 6 chance of taking no damage from an attack when you are hit in battle. You then have the option of bathing in the Styx again. Your chance of dying goes up (you must roll a 6 on one die), but if you succeed then you get a 2 in 6 chance of being immune to a strike. If you are still greedy for more invulnerability, well 3rd time in the Styx is automatic death.

UPDATE: There is currently a Kickstarter for the reprinting of the 5th book as of mid-February 2019. As of March 16th, 2019; it met its goal. Estimated printing will be roughly October 2019.

* UpdatedRerelease: The Fabled Lands Publishing reprint has a few corrections made. One of the reasons the 5th book is taking longer is that it will have the most updates, according to WordOfGod; but that was in 2014...