is a Japanese

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

created by

Group SNE Group SNE is a Japanese company founded in 1986 by the current president Hitoshi Yasuda, which produces role-playing games, light novels, board games and card games. Ryo Mizuno was one of the founding members. Group SNE is named after Syntax Erro ...

. 10 million copies of the related books including rulebooks, novels and replays have been sold. The game was first published in 1989; the updated edition, known as the "Sword World 2.0", was published in 2008; the current edition "Sword World 2.5" was published in 2018. Sword World RPG's

system A system is a group of Interaction, interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment (systems), environment, is described by its boundaries, ...

was given the name ''2d6 System'' in 2003. ''

Scrapped Princess is a Japanese light novel series by Ichiro Sakaki and illustrated by Yukinobu Azumi, also known as the popular adult dōjin artist Nakayohi Mogudan. In 2003, it was adapted into an anime series produced by Bones. ''Scrapped Princess'' is ...

'' RPG and ''

Dragon Half is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Ryūsuke Mita. The manga was serialized in Fujimi Shobo‘s ''Dragon Magazine'' from January 30, 1988 to April 30, 1994 and the chapters collected into 7 ''tankōbon'' volumes. It was adap ...

'' RPG's system are also ''2d6 System'', though the games are only partially compatible.

Sword World RPG (original edition)

System

Sword World RPG's classes are called . Each ''ginou'' is a package of skills for that class. It is considered a hybrid system between a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

-based system and a

skill A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of wo ...

-based system, and is often called a ''class-skill system''. There are eight classes (Bard, Fighter, Priest, Ranger, Sage, Shaman, Sorcerer and Thief) for

player character A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...

s and two classes (Dark Priest and Dragon Priest) exclusive to

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

s. Five major races (Human, Dwarf, Elf, Half-Elf and GrassRunner) can become PCs. GrassRunners are a diminutive race similar to a

hobbit Hobbits are a fictional race of people in the novels of J. R. R. Tolkien. About half average human height, Tolkien presented hobbits as a variety of humanity, or close relatives thereof. Occasionally known as halflings in Tolkien's writings, ...

halfling Halflings are a fictional race found in some fantasy novels and games. They are often depicted as similar to humans except about half as tall, and are not quite as stocky as the similarly-sized dwarves. Similar to the depiction of hobbits in the w ...

. The game uses only two 6-sided

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing g ...

, as other polyhedral dice aren't common in Japan. Each 2d6 dice roll is translated into a more wide range of random numbers by using a ''rating table''. The rating table is used for damage rolls, damage reduction rolls and such. An excerpt of the rating table follows. Key number is equal to weapon/armor's requirement strength, or power of spell. Heavier weapon/armor is stronger.

Setting

Sword World's setting, ''Forcelia'', includes Lodoss Island (of ''

Record of Lodoss War is a franchise of fantasy novels by Ryo Mizuno based on the work he originally created for a world called '' Forcelia'' as a rules-free setting for role-playing games (RPGs).Yasuda, Hitoshi. Afterword. . By Ryo Mizuno. Kadoka ...

'') and the continent of Crystania (of ''

Legend of Crystania is a Japanese media franchise of RPGs, novels, anime and manga by Ryo Mizuno and Group SNE. The novels by Mizuno and others were published from 1993 to 2002, based on Mizuno's RPG "replays" serialized in the Japanese magazines ''Comptiq'' ...

''). However, the largest continent, ''Alecrast'' (where ''

Rune Soldier is a Japanese light novel series by Ryo Mizuno, which features the apprentice wizard Louie as the hero. The series takes place on the continent of Alecrast on the world called Forcelia, and is related to the series Sword World RPG. It is ...

'' takes place) is the main setting. Forcelia is a typical fantasy world heavily influenced by games such as ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

'' and ''

RuneQuest ''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson (game designer), Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of ...

''. For instance, the GrassRunner race is similar to D&D's

Halfling Halflings are a fictional race found in some fantasy novels and games. They are often depicted as similar to humans except about half as tall, and are not quite as stocky as the similarly-sized dwarves. Similar to the depiction of hobbits in the w ...

and several magic systems (spirit magic, sorcery and divine magic) are similar to RuneQuest's. ''

'' is Sword World RPG's novel and anime series. Over a hundred

light novel A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English languag ...

s or replays (session logs) have been published.

Magic systems

All magic systems in Forcelia are called based upon belief in the power of words. Each magic system has a proper language system as follow, and the language has magic power in itself. - Every character can use common magic (weaker cantrip of High Ancient sorcery) by the use of commercial magic devices and the chant of the keyword in common language.
- Songs with lyrics in the ancient language of High Ancient sorcery.

Sword World 2.0/2.5

The new edition Sword World 2.0 (SW2.0 for short) was released in April 2008 and revised in 2012. In 2018 Sword World 2.5 (SW2.5) was launched.

System

There are 15 classes (Bard, Conjurer, Enhancer, Fairy Tamer, Fencer, Fighter, Grappler, Magi-tech, Priest, Ranger, Rider, Sage, Scout, Marksman and Sorcerer). It uses only two 6-sided

as with the previous edition.

Setting

It has a new

campaign setting A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A ''campaign'' is a series of individual adventures, and a ''campaign setting'' is the world in which such adventures and ca ...

named ''Raxia''. There are 8 races (Human, Dwarf, Elf, Rune-folk, Tabbit, Nightmare, Lilldraken and GrassRunner) in the rulebooks #1-3. ;Original races in Raxia *Tabbit - A bipedal rabbit race who are travelling around the world. *Rune-folk - An artificial humanoid race who have a desire to serve the other races by instinct. *Nightmare - They are mutants of other races and are born with the gift of both fighting and magic. However, because it is believed that their souls are distorted and polluted, Nightmares are looked at askance. *Lilldraken - A race of bipedal dragon-folk who like commerce and peddlery.

Replays

Group SNE pioneered a new book genre called ''replay''. Replays are RPG session logs arranged for reading, similar in style to

s. The first replay, ''

'', is a replay of ''

''. From that time, replays became popular in Japan, and not only with RPG gamers. Several characters and parties in replays are as popular as characters of

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

(for example, the beautiful female elf Deedlit in ''Record of Lodoss War'', who was played by the male

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novelist Hiroshi Yamamoto). ''Sword World'' replays are popular, too: about 10 series and over 40 books of original ''Sword World'' replays were published until 2008. Since 2008, more than 30 series and over 80 books of ''Sword World 2.0'' replays were published, as of 2016 September.

Video games

There have been three

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

s released by

T&E Soft was a Japanese-based video game developer founded in 1982. Although they have made games with a wide variety of genres, they are primarily known in the U.S. for their golf and puzzle video games. The original company exists today under the name ...

officially based on ''Sword World''. These were ''Sword World PC'' for the

NEC PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more th ...

in 1992, ''Sword World SFC'' for the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

in 1993, and ''Sword World SFC 2: Inishie no Kyojin Densetsu'' for the Super Famicom in 1994. In 2009, ''Sword World 2.0'' was released for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

handheld game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the cons ...

as a role-playing

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...

that attempts to simulate the full experience of playing a tabletop RPG. The game features branching plot paths and

multiple endings A narrative typically ends in one set way, but certain kinds of narrative allow for multiple endings. Comics * ''The Death-Ray'' by Daniel Clowes. * ''Cliff Hanger''. Literature * The ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' series. * ''Fighting Fantasy ...

, as well as virtual dice rolls that partially determine the events, character parameters, and enemy encounters.

External links

Official Website of Sword World 2.0/2.5

References

{{Record of Lodoss War Japanese role-playing games Fantasy role-playing games Record of Lodoss War Kadokawa Dwango franchises Role-playing games introduced in 1989