History Literature / SpellsSwordsAndStealth

* ShownTheirWork: In [=NPCs=], when Glenn tries to attack [[spoiler:Thistle's party]], with a magic spell, he initially seems to roll a 19, but [[spoiler:thanks to The Bridge]] it ends up rolling just a bit more, to stop on a 1. Folks with a d20 can easily see that the 19 and the 1 are reasonably close close to each other, even sharing an edge with some (see a d20 that, when looking at the 20, looks like a 20/8, 20/14, or 20/2), or a corner (see a d20 that looks like a 20/17), meaning that this seemingly successful roll turning into a failure is actually possible.

* ShownTheirWork: In [=NPCs=], when Glenn tries to attack [[spoiler:Thistle's party]], with a magic spell, he initially seems to roll a 19, but [[spoiler:thanks to The Bridge]] it ends up rolling just a bit more, to stop on a 1. Folks with a d20 can easily see that the 19 and the 1 are reasonably close close to each other, meaning that this seemingly successful roll turning into a failure is actually possible.

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: Thistle and his friends were little more than background NPCs. Now they are Adventurers in their own right, and have done a lot of things thought to be imposible, from hiding an important item from a king, upsetting an evil god, stealing an elder dragon's hoard, [[spoiler:to finding out that they are just characters in some game world]].

* StandardFantasyRaces: Much like it's D&D counterpart, SS&S has the following races - humans, gnomes, half-orcs, dwarves, kobolds, goblins, and other such beings. There's even intelligent undead out there.

* DungeonBypass: When it comes to minions, putting in ways to sneak past the various traps and monsters is very useful. A former minion himself, Thistle uses this information to help his party get to the heart of the dungeon in NPCs. Of course, when it's mentioned that hidden passages tend to be found often, Thistle states that they make good places to hide secret secret passageways in.

* RealityEnsues: The game itself operates in part on this mechanic - forget to buy rations, and you'll starve. If you're starving, you have to hunt/forage. It is also a bad idea to mix certain mushrooms with alcohol. Likewise, get into a fight with the wrong group of people, you'll be lucky to only suffer a scratch, as there might be guards and/or more powerful adventurers after you. Also, some easy jobs pay really well, while some harder jobs only give out a low reward, at least initially, as it's possible to find a great deal of loot while on the quest, or meet up with someone who gives you a discount on some service for helping out their friend/relative in the past, or give you a much more substantial reward.

* MuggingTheMonster: Grumph privately thinks that [[spoiler:Kalzidar]] has done this by[[spoiler:kidnapping Madroria.]] To reiterate, the wizard believes that [[spoiler:the god of chaos]] is screwed because [[spoiler:he pissed off one gnome.]]

** Russell himself is able to terrify Mitch, who was a bully in the first book, with just one phrase in the fourth book - "I know that wound."

* HeroOfAnotherStory / VillainOfAnotherStory: Depending upon how they interact with the world, and especially with Thistle's group, other Adventurers, especially those that are [[PlayerCharacter Player Characters]], can be seen as either Heroes, as in the case of Tim's group or Villains, as in the case of Mitch's group.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: In many cases, the actions of the Players, Mitch and Tim's groups, aren't depicted in the story, although the results are discussed, like the murders that Mitch's group engages in, and the heroics that Tim's group does.

* RealityEnsues: The game itself operates in part on this mechanic - forget to buy rations, and you'll starve. If you're starving, you have to hunt/forage. It is also a bad idea to mix certain mushrooms with alcohol.

* BringingInTheExpert: Variant. In ''Siege Tactics'', two experiences former Player Characters are having a friendly debate over which group of magic users is more dangerous in a fight - those who use a MagicStaff or those who use a MagicWand, the argument being that wands are more accurate at spell-casting but a staff can act as its own backup melee weapon. When one of their friends, who is an expert in magic, comes into the tavern that they are in, they ask her for her opinion, which is, if you can get close to a magic user, they've already lost anyways.

* KillerGameMaster and MontyHaul: Due to the RealityEnsues nature of SS&S, both of these elements are in play. It is possible for a party to take on a quest that initially seems easy, with a paltry reward, only for it to prove fairly difficult, with an even better reward. [[spoiler:As an example, Thistle's party agrees to help out a temple dedicated to Grumble, by locating whomever is responsible for attacking the worshipers and put an end to it. The reward for doing so is a handful of coins. When they take out those responsible, they end up getting several thousands worth of gold, which was later used to buy special items, Eric got himself some new armor from an enemy rogue, and Thistle got the armor worn by Grumble's first paladin.]]