We're on an epic adventure to bring Sword World to English for it's first-ever official translation, and we're so glad you're here! If you follow the campaign, you earned your first of the 3 Swords of Genesis pins!
Next, you can earn the Cardia pin by reserving your pledge.
Not interested? That's OK! You're still set to receive the Lumiere pin with your physical pledge. You can join us on the Discord to stay up to date and chat with other adventurers about Sword World.
Assemble the Legendary Swords of Genesis!
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The First English Release of the Oldest and Most Popular Japanese RPG is Coming to Crowdfunding.
Sword World is Japan’s most iconic tabletop RPG - played by generations of fantasy fans and featured across anime, novels, and pop culture. For the first time, we're bringing an official, full-English release to the West. This crowdfunding campaign will fund the complete localization, design, and printing of the Sword World 2.5 Core Rulebook.
To ensure the highest quality translation possible, we are working closely with Sword World's original Japanese creators at Group SNE. With careful translation of cultural elements and game terms, guidance from the original developers, and collaboration with Japanese translation and TTRPG experts, this localization aims to set a new gold standard. We are putting in the time and effort to get every detail right so you can enjoy playing Sword World the way it was always meant to be.
The popularity of Record of Lodoss War is what encouraged Group SNE to make their own game system based in and around the series, that game system being the original Sword World RPG. Record of Lodoss War has been entered into the Tabletop Gaming Hall of Fame as the creator of the Replay genre for books, shows, and other media. Based on an RPG campaign playthrough, the Lodoss War novels inspired more books, anime, and games. Their legacy has led to the Critical Role Actual Play, their Vox Machina and Mighty Nein shows, and more.
Sword World is not a new TTRPG - it's one of the oldest. Its rules have been refined for decades. Sword World uses a fast, intuitive 2d6 system: easy to learn, but rich in storytelling and tactics. The simplified combat system feels like classic JRPGs, and its side-based combat skips the grid for smooth, cinematic battles that stay focused on the action. Looking for more depth? Use the advanced combat system for more tactical depth when you want it.
The open multiclass system lets you spend experience to grow in any role - mix magic, swordplay, and more to play a character that grows as you do. No rigid classes, just evolving heroes.
With a world built around adventurers' guilds, quests, and dungeons created by swords and magitec, every session feels like an episodic anime arc - complete quests, build your legend, and come back for more.
Thank you!
Click Here to Reserve your Pledge!
Latest from the Creator
Mugen Gaming
4 days ago
😮 New & Improved Sword World Primer Incoming!
⚔️ ICYMI: Sword World Launches on October 20, 2026! ⚔️
We are so incredibly thrilled that everything is moving forward again, and that our new launch date has been announced! We have quite a bit in store for you on this campaign and will be updating the project periodically, so make sure to check back here for more information and sneak peeks.
🎨 Concept Art Reveal 🎨
Speaking of sneak peeks, we have some concept art to share with you! If you're a Fellow of the Blade in our Discord Server, you've already seen this! Our Discord group is the first to hear about updates on the Sword World crowdfund. If you interact every day, you'll earn XP and be added to the super secret Fellow of the Blade channel where concept art like this gets shared first. Join us! It's a really fun community! And let us know in the comments if you'd like to continue seeing concept art…
😮 New Primer Incoming! 😮
Shawn and Ai are going live again to discuss the localization of Sword World and have a few surprises for us, including the release of the new and improved primer!
They'd also love to hear any questions from you related to the localization of Sword World RPG and the upcoming crowdfunding campaign, so feel free to bring questions (you can also drop questions in the comments below, and we'll make sure to get back to you). The livestream is embedded below, and you can watch it here or on YouTube.
Quick Question...
As we continue chipping away at the art, this question popped up: Tell us, if you could only pick one, which character art style grabs you the most...we are simply curious! Poll below :)
🎉 NEW SWORD WORLD RPG LAUNCH TIMELINE WILL BE ANNOUNCED TODAY!
New Sword World Crowdfund Date Incoming
Hey there, friends! First, thank you all for your patience and support. We are delighted to announce that we will be going live today at 2pm EST on YouTube to discuss the new timeline for the Sword World RPG crowdfund. It took a lot to get here, including traveling across the world to meet with the art team and Group SNE team closely. We had meetings almost every day reviewing artwork, discussing creative direction, and planning the next stages of the project. It was an incredibly productive trip, and we came away even more energized about the quality of what we're working on moving forward.
One of the biggest accomplishments from the trip was finalizing an agreement with an artist that many fans will likely recognize. They'll be working on some very important pieces for us. We're very excited about the opportunity to work together with them and look forward to sharing more details later this month. Spoiler below of the art in progress for Followers of the project. We will reveal who it is soon!
The project continues to move forward, and we welcome any and all questions you have in our livestream today. There may also be a few more surprises you'll want to tune in for.
Chat With Us at Gen Con
We also wanted to let you know that we will be at Gen Con this year! We'd love to see you. We will be at booth #G3062, stop by and say hi in person!
Lastly, we have a quick poll for you! What draws you most to Sword World? We are simply curious. Talk more soon!
We want to share an important update on the Sword World crowdfunding campaign.
We’ve made the decision to delay the crowdfunding launch, with an updated date coming soon. We know everyone is excited for this project, and we sincerely apologize for the delay. Our commitment remains to ensuring that backers of this campaign will be supporting a project they believe in.
Why the delay
This comes down to art production, particularly the cover art. We recently brought on Shun-san as our Art Director, and getting him fully onboarded and aligned across the project has taken additional time. At the same time, we had to make a change in cover artist, and the new artist won’t be able to complete the covers within our original timeline.
We are also committed to using human-made art from Japanese artists. That commitment is important to us, but it does mean longer timelines due to scheduling, coordination, and working across teams internationally.
We are not comfortable launching without finalized cover art, and we want to make sure backers have the information they need to confidently support the project. For us, that means choosing quality and completeness over speed.
What we’re doing about it
We are taking steps to make sure this stays on track. We’ve added additional support on the art production side, and we’re traveling to Japan this month and will be meeting directly with Group SNE, Shun, and the broader art team to ensure alignment and keep everything moving forward smoothly.
The good news
We are very confident in the direction of the art, and this decision will result in a much stronger final product rather than a rushed one.
The other possible silver lining for this delay is that we are also in ongoing discussions with Yoshitaka Amano-sensei’s studio about the possibility of including his work in this project. This is one of the biggest requests we’ve received for art for Sword World and we are very excited about the chance to work with such a legendary artist. It is not finalized at this time, but we will share more details if and when it comes together.
Timing of this Announcement
We also want to acknowledge the timing of this update. We were pushing to have cover art ready to share, and when that became unlikely, to lock in a revised schedule before announcing anything. When it became clear that the art wouldn’t be possible in time, we started working on a new launch date, but when we realized it might cause our art team to make decisions they weren’t confident in, we decided it was better to update you now without the new launch date rather than wait any longer.
Timeline and commitment
Our overall production timeline remains intact. We are still aiming to launch the crowdfunding campaign as soon as we are ready, and we are still targeting completion of the core rules and starter set by the end of the year. While the cover art affects the timing of the campaign, the rest of the project is continuing to move forward.
Our mission is to bring Sword World to you in the best possible form. We know all crowdfunding projects experience delays, and when we came to the fork in the road we decided we wanted to choose the quality and fidelity of the work on the project over timelines. We will always choose to take more time rather than ask for your support before the project is ready.
Thank you for your patience and continued support. We’re excited to share more with you very soon.
-Shawn & Ai
P.S. Followers of the project can view a timelapse below of some Sword World art from one of our Japanese artists working on the project. You can see what a process this all has been from the development of this one single piece of art. Thanks so much for your patience and understanding. We’ll have more to share soon.
We just wanted to drop a quick note because we realized we just crossed the 3,000 reservation threshold. WOW! Thanks so much. Your enthusiasm for this project really warms our hearts. We'll have a lot coming up to share, but for now, thought we'd ask you all to share some thoughts with us:
One of the most frequently asked questions so far has been "will there be stretch goals and what will they be." Unfortunately, we can't divulge much information about that yet (see our latest livestream where we discuss some of this). We'd love to hear your thoughts though. What kind of Sword World content interests you the most?
Here's a poll with a few choices (had to keep it short and simple to avoid giving anything away)...but feel free to get wild with your ideas. As always, we love to hear your thoughts and feedback. Now's your chance to help shape the campaign 🤩
We have gotten some recurring questions that we'd like to have the answers to in one place, and since the FAQ's page on BackerKit can't be accessed until the project launches, we decided to do an update with all of the important questions we get regularly answered, and we'll make sure to edit/review/add and change anything as we move forward.
Are you planning to localize all of the Sword World RPG books?
We will be working through the books with Group SNE. This will take some time. It won't all happen at once, but we are planning to do additional books and work through the back catalog. This crowdfunding campaign performing well would help to move that process along!
What will the size of the book be?
We are still finalizing, but it will likely be 8.5 x 11 (letter sized). This is because the Japanese written language is more space efficient, and the books would be insanely thick if we chose a smaller form.
Will it be in black and white?
We will be releasing the Sword World RPG Core Rules in full-color!
International fulfillment?
We are planning to ship to wherever we are able! While this campaign is allowed to ship to other countries, it will have to be on a country by country basis due to shipping restrictions. We will keep you updated!
FYI: Just a note to potential backers who want to reserve but are worried that we won’t ship to their countries: This reservation lasts till the day of launch so you don’t need to reserve immediately, and we should have some more information on shipping before launch.
Is this a 1:1 translation?
No, it functionally cannot be. However, we are working with Group SNE as the authority on the translation to make sure it's as close to the source information as possible. This requires difficult decisions, however, those decisions are being made with the original creators of the game in order to make sure you are getting to experience Sword World the way it was originally intended.
Will you be using Generative AI for art and translation? What is your stance on AI?
Our stance on AI is similar to what most game producers is: we have absolutely no intention at all to use generative ai in any part of the release of Sword World. We are working with Japanese artists, we are doing the translation, we are working with writers and proofreaders that are human, so every step of the way we are having humans produce the art and translation.
...we'll keep this page updated with more FAQs as they arise!
📣 Livestream with Shawn and Ai | Why Is Sword World Taking So Long?
Hey hey, my friends! Shawn and Ai will be live again today at 2pm EST! We know the wait for the Sword World Crowdfund has been a long one, so we wanted to talk a bit about WHY it is taking this much time. TLDR - we are not willing to sacrifice quality for speed. Shawn and Ai will be talking all about it today in the livestream, and they'll also answer any other questions you might have. Here are some frequently asked questions and their answers, just to get them out of the way now:
What kind of tiers will there be in the crowdfund? Unfortunately, we can't answer any questions about tiers yet as those have not gotten final approval from Group SNE yet.
Are you planning to localize all of the Sword World RPG books? We will be working through the books with Group SNE. This will take some time. It won't all happen at once, but we are planning to do additional books and work through the back catalog. This crowdfunding campaign performing well would help to move that process along!
What will the size of the book be? We are still finalizing, but it will likely be 8.5 x 11 (letter sized). This is because the Japanese written language is more space efficient, and the books would be insanely thick if we chose a smaller form.
Will it be in black and white? We will be releasing the Sword World RPG Core Rules in full-color!
International fulfillment? We are planning to ship to wherever we are able! While this campaign is allowed to ship to other countries, it will have to be on a country by country basis due to shipping restrictions. We will keep you updated!
You can also drop questions in the comments here, below! See you soon!!
