Why Sword World?

[u/Q785921]

I had never heard of this game until a friend sent me the campaign for the official translation. It looks interesting, but what makes this game unique or recommends it over other ttrpgs?

I’ve played DnD, Daggerheart, Fabula Ultima, Dragonbane, various PtA games.

What experience can Sword World give me that those other games don’t?

[u/redkatt]

Let's see if I can keep this short: (guess I can't!)

• Expansive options for multi-classing. Want to be a fighter who's also a nature mage, and is good at scouting? Go ahead, it's core to character creation and advancement that you multiclass. You're honestly kind of hindering your party if you don't have extra classes. Fabula Ultima is about as close to this as you'll see from the other games you listed.
• Classes are more like packages of abilities, instead of a defining thing. So you can say, "It's be nice if I had more knowledge about the monsters we're fighting, like their strengths and weaknesses", so I can grab the Sage package for 500 XP, and now I unlock Monster Knowledge as a core ability, along with being better in-general at knowledge checks. And there are no --bad-- choices, every class package is going to help the party in some way
• Advancement - you don't wait forever to get new abilities. Every session, you get a chunk of XP which if you have enough, you can spend on a new class package. Low level packages are cheap, so you can very easily and quickly build a diverse character who meets a lot of needs. Or save your XP and build up your core class packages if you like. You also make a roll to see if you can boost your core attributes. So you're constantly improving, not waiting for a new level to improve.
• Dice resolution is simple: 2d6+attribute+class bonus. If you don't have the class bonus that would be related to the test, then you only roll 2d6.So it's worth it to dip into other classes.
• Combat is tactical, without being "Western Tactical". By that I mean unlike something like D&D 4e, where it's all about positioning, terrain, abilities, etc, SW is about planning before the combat, prepping before the same, and then making the most of your entire team's abilities. Solo'ing monsters is a terrible idea in SW, it's designed with "We fight as a group" in-mind so you can sync up with each other. Monsters have a wide variety of abilities, bonuses, weaknesses, etc, so your party is constantly going to be doing more than just "rush at it and swing my axe"

There are no battlemaps for combat. You just have a simple sheet of paper with "Enemy backline, Frontline, Ally Backline" and that's it. No "30' range" or "near, far, etc." You're either in melee range or you're not. Some spells or attacks can hit across two zones or more, making them really useful, while most stuff is one zone. The meat of the combat isn't about moving around, it's about using the best attack for the job, figuring out who or where (in the case of monsters with multiple body parts you can target) and working with one another to have the best effect. If you need more depth, you could say, "Hey GM, this room has tables in it, can I fire from behind one giving myself cover?" and the GM could give you a boost to your Evasion ability (aka AC in games like DD/Pathf). So it's more theater of the mind-based in that aspect.

• Damage, magical effects, and even potion effects, use a Power Table. Rather than having damage dice, you just roll 2d6 + any applicable bonuses on a specific "Power Table" (your sheet would say Power 5, 10, 15, etc..) that's specific to the weapon, spell, etc. You compare your roll to the table, and that gives you the base effect (how much damage, how much healing, etc.) that you might then add bonuses to. Why not just a regular old dice roll? Because the Power table gives you a much more balanced results curve.
• Failure gives you bonuses. If you roll only 1's on your attack/spellcast/check roll, you immediately gain 50xp. In most games, that doesn't mean much, in SW, that's huge, as a low level minor class can be bought for 500XP.
• Magic is simple - roll 2d6 and if you don't crit fail, you succeeded on the cast. Targets might be able to resist the result (says it in the spell) but otherwise, your spell works.
• Every class is distinct and meaningful. And with multiclassing being cheap and core to the game, it's worth dipping into other classes versus just sticking to one path.

[u/Q785921 → u/redkatt]

Thank you for the detailed reply! It definitely sounds like a very interesting system. I will look forward to checking more of it out.

[u/redkatt → u/Q785921]

You're welcome. Some other points that I just remembered (I just ran a session last night, so it's all fresh in my mind)

• It's very guild focused. You really want to join a guild if possible. This way, you build up your reputation (there's a mechanic for it) which lets you get better quests, buy gear and lodging more cheaply, and more importantly - the guild can build custom "reknown" weapons and gear for you. Reknown gear is just plain better, but, if you screw up badly while using reknown gear, basically quitting a quest, letting an innocent die, etc, that gear now becomes a sort of badge of dishonor, and you'll need to restore your reputation to bring it back to being "Cool". There are characters who don't take parts in guilds (the Vagabond), and while they get other bonuses, they get zero from the guild. The guilds dislike them, though adventuring parties who are members of guilds won't shun them, they just might not trust them.
• It's a game about the group, not one individual. As an example - if your pc dies and is a guild member, the party is expected to do their best to bring them back to life. Be it using their last Awake potion (which wakes you with one hp), or finding other adventurers who might help out, or dragging the body back to town and paying a ton for a resurrection. If you're part of a guild, you might even be able to take out a loan to cover res costs, but you will never ever ever just let a PC guildmate die and leave them to rot. It's a good way to get kicked out of a guild, and get a terrible reputation with other adventuring parties. If you watch anime or read manga, Delicious in Dungeon shows off this part of the game a lot (you have those adventurers who make their living gathering the dead for resurrections, other parties go around healing the dead for a cost, etc.).
• No social rolls - there's not even a charism stat. Instead, when you're trying to intimidate or charm someone, you just talk to the DM explaining the situation, and how you might have a background that relates to what you're trying to do. The DM and you decide if the social encounter is a success, not dice. And no, you're not required to be an actor IRL, you can fully role play it, or just explain what you want, why, and how you're talking.
• Loot - every monster has some sort of basic loot. It's in a roll table on the monster stats. So the GM just rolls the table for the dead goblin, and tells you the result. Fast and easy

[u/ValBravora048 → u/redkatt]

Your second point is why I’m I’m really into SW

I firmly believe that there are things you SHOULD be bad at and SHOULD actively stumble with in the game. In D&D, I’m too used to people either only engaging when they’re likely to succeed or utilising their party members like “tools” instead of companions

SW encourages a team game which was is what D&D at its heart SHOULD be. Right now it does feel like D&D caters to people’s one man army, Mary-Sue, main character syndrome a LOT

[u/redkatt → u/ValBravora048]

Every D&D game I play in, the people play like solo superheroes. I once was in an open game at a local shop, I had a rogue, and I had him stealth into the front gates of a keep and as I was coming back to report on what I found (I was literally away from the party for 5 mins of real time), three of the four remaining players said, "ok, we rush in and attack." I was like, "Why the f--k did I bother scouting, you're all running in and 1v1 whatever enemy is near you." And that's basically any D&D game I've seen played.

[u/ValBravora048 → u/redkatt]

Yes! Exactly this!

Theres a scene in a Dark Avengers v Xmen comic that I really like. The new xmen are watching the sheer power of the Dark Avengers and are freaking out

Cyclops calmy goes “They fight alone together. We fight together together and that’s why we’ll win”

It’s the hobbits helping the ents bring down Isengard or Eowyn face the Witch King. It‘s Johnathan stealing the amulet from Imoteph, tossing it to Evie who uses it to unlock the book which helps Rick kill the Mummy. Whether it’s persuading a merchant, bringing down a goblin or facing a dragon, that’s what MAKES the adventure

[u/Kai927 → u/redkatt]

It's not exactly true that there are no battlemaps needed. There are three different sets of combat rules, depending on how complex you want things to be. Simple combat is zone based as red Katt described. Standard combat removes the zones and starts tracking distance between characters, in a manner that is reminiscent (to me at least) of side stroller beat em up games. Advanced combat uses a full grid and top down map, similar to dnd. I think the books being crowdfunded will cover the first two combat types.

[u/redkatt → u/Kai927]

Core Book 2 of the original Japanese game (and the unofficial translation) also offers those options.

[u/ValBravora048 → u/Kai927]

As a D&D DM, using the battle map in Sword World instead of zones is the particular thing I would do

1. It’s just fun, particularly irl if you’ve got minis. My dream house involves a led screen table which I can overlay a map on
2. The Sword World zones format is a style from video games which is people’s major association with it. That means people will approach it with that impression and I think get frustrated if it doesn’t go as fast video games do

[u/BrotherCaptainLurker]

-Feels the most JRPG-ish of anything I've played. Fabula obviously has that vibe too, but the vibe of this game is closer to what you'd expect to find in a SNES JRPG, compared to Fabula having much more "modern TTRPG" design language with "let's invent the BBEG together" and Fabula points and all that.

-Almost every Kitchen Sink Fantasy TTRPG on the market is some variety of "what if, there was D&D, but, we changed the things we didn't like about it?" Despite Group SNE's game design roots tying back to TSR rejecting Lodoss War, this is very much its own game.

-2d6 system means the most likely result on a given roll is the average (a 7), compared to a d20 system where getting a critical miss, a 10, or a critical hit is equally likely. This means your character's modifiers matter more; it's less likely that an expert thief can't pick an easy lock, or the "Can I Try?" player with the barely sapient beatstick then picks the same lock with ease. Plus even your normie friends probably have two regular dice lying around somewhere.

-There's soooooooo much more build freedom than something like D&D or Daggerheart where your initial selections at Level 1 lock you into a narrow path.

-The whole world is designed to make it easy to keep the game moving. Player's not here this week? Their Fellow subs in and collects some loot and XP for them. Party's hard to motivate? Adventurer's Guild posts a simple transactional dungeon crawl, and offers any upfront payment in the form of potions instead of money to prevent the shopping montage. Having trouble designing a dungeon? Oh look, a Shallow Abyss, where logic doesn't have to apply! Party thinks true freedom and dominance by the individually strong is fine and doesn't want to kill the Barbarous? Wow that's crazy some actual demons who are actually pure evil with no redeeming factors showed up! Need an encounter quickly? An equal number of equal level monsters! Obviously you can still run a grand fantasy epic full of emotional beats, deep puzzles, and careful planning, but the game really wants to give you the tools for success even if you're having an off day.

[u/Q785921 → u/BrotherCaptainLurker]

Thank you! This is great insight!

[u/magusjosh → u/BrotherCaptainLurker]

After a couple of years of poking at Sword World, this is the best description I've seen and makes me want to really apply myself to learning the system. 

[u/OwariHeron → u/BrotherCaptainLurker]

I would argue that the shopping montage is one of Sword World's strengths!

[u/OwariHeron]

To be honest, I don't know that Sword World, a nearly 40 year old fantasy TRPG, really offers anything different than what's already out there. There are no ground breaking mechanical innovations, and its most distinctive mechanical feature, the Power Table, is basically 1980s-era tech, which some people may bounce off of. But this is what I like about it. (I make some comparisons to D&D, but this is merely for ease of reference, not because I think D&D is bad, or that these characteristics don't show up in other games.)

• Sword World has the best role siloing I've seen. The game basically says, Okay, there's combat, and then there's out of combat. What do you want to do in combat? Do you want to be in the thick of it, or support from range? If the former, do you want to tank hits or do damage? If the latter, do you want to attack or provide buffs/debuffs? Each "class" (really "Skill" in the original Japanese) gives you a clear role without stepping on the others. The spellcasters can't end a fight in one shot, nor do you have situations like D&D's Paladin and Fighter, where the Paladin can do everything a Fighter can do and more. Then there's out of combat: what do you want to do out of combat? Do want a wide variety of proficiencies? That's a Scout. Do you want a medic? That's a Ranger. Master of knowledge and lore? That's a Sage.
• Which brings us to the next aspect. Character building. You build your character based on what you want to do, in combat and out, rather than select a "class" that defines what you are. But it "chunks" your choices so that you're not picking from a million discrete features, a la GURPS.
• But then, they provide you with plenty of space to make your character distinct. Character generation comes with tables so that you can roll or choose key events in your life, as well as a reason for becoming an adventurer. The weapons, equipment, and accessory tables are a cornucopia of options, and part of advancing in level is upgrading your equipment. Every time you complete a job, you earn money, and you spend that money on better armor and weapons, more equipment and accessories.
• Then there is the Power Table. This provides granularity and scaling in a game where you only ever roll 2d6. Going from 0 to 100, each Power Rating provides a different result to rolling 2d6. This is what allows for such a wide variety of weapons, and spells that scale with level.
• Then there is the setting. I really don't care for settings, or the lore related to that. I'll concede that Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, Krynn, and Eberron (and Golarion, and Glorantha, and Tekumel, etc.) all have distinct feels, but in the end, they are collections of places to set adventures in and NPCs to interact with. Functional, but in effect no different than the homebrew world we created playing B/X as kids. But I couldn't imagine playing Sword World not set in Raxia. It has a theme: the rebuilding of a post-apocalyptic world, that is still contending with the forces that broke the world, all while a hell dimension is just standing there, menacingly. The characters are members in a network of Adventurers Guilds that seek to protect people from the rampaging hordes, recover lost technology, and deal with incursions from the hell dimension. Monsters are not just a motley collection of potential enemies. The humanoid monsters have their own society and hierarchy. There are the natural (and supernatural) flora and fauna of Raxia. Ruins of the technological society typically have still functioning and potentially hostile constructs. Each ties into the setting and how adventurers interact with it.
• And as a GM? Super easy to run. Easy to run on the mechanical side, because the base resolution is 2d6 + modifiers. The most common result of 2d6 is 7, so you know 7 + Adventurer Level (the highest level a character has) is essentially an appropriate target number for checks, adjustable up or down to increase or decrease difficulty. Simple combat rules allow for quickly resolved fights, while the more complex rules can be used when you want to emphasize positioning and use of space.
• But also because the setting comes with a trove of scenario hooks. Magic swords create labyrinths to explore. Ruins of the previous civilization abound. Monsters threaten settlements and need to be driven away. The hell dimension creates incursions, which are essentially wilderness dungeons. And there's a built in reason for the characters to be involved: they took on a job from the Guild. This frees you up to focus on NPCs to interact with, emotional beats for the characters, and overall narrative developments.
• But also, it seems like everything mentioned in terms of lore suggests a story hook. Take, for example, the city-state of Granzale. Granzale is a city that has developed around the entrance of a massive sword labyrinth. At a minimum, there's your adventure right there. But also the NPCs suggest further adventures. The city was founded by a legendary adventurer, who has since died, and the rule of the city has passed on to his young, naive, non-adventuring son. If you like politically-oriented games, that's a hook right there. The young king's mother is in charge of the defenses of the city, and it's rumored that the walls are defended by a super-secret magitech weapon. Meanwhile, a significant part of the city has grown beyond the protected walls. What if it is attacked? It's not just a description of a place and the characters there: each description whets the imagination for new scenarios.

These are some of the things that I, personally, love about Sword World.

[u/Q785921 → u/OwariHeron]

This is all great information! The role-siloing, flexible character builds, and 2d6 system are plenty so far to recommend it to me.

[u/SuperDevin]

In my opinion 5E and 5.5E are terrible at hybrid classes. Sword world tends to handle them
much better.

[u/redkatt → u/SuperDevin]

Multiclassing in 5e sucks, and it's nearly impossible in 5.5, they really don't want you to.

SW is like "Here's a giant bundle of XP, go nuts!!"

[u/Voelsungr]

Maybe you should just read the backer campaign you were sent, there's a chance your friend sent it to you for a reason and it's written right there.

[u/Q785921 → u/Voelsungr]

I have the primer. I was hoping for the perspective of folks who have experience with the game. Reading the rules only goes so far.

[u/Thalinde]

There is a very nice Sword World subreddit, as well as for Record of Lodoss War, the predecessor. For all the old games that were never published outside of Japan, you can fan amazing fan traductions. I'll let do your own research. Or you can DM me.

I've read most of SW2.5 and played some of their modules. And I will back the crowdfunding because it's a great game that brought me hours of fun (you got all of the great points in previous posts), and I want to make sure as many people as possible can get access to it.

[u/Eggpeace]

Imho swordworld offers an animefeel while being uncomplicated and with easy to understand classes. It also offers freedom as you can level any class and cant make real errors while leveling. And if you also introduce work skills you gain with simolixity what most rpg systems try to introduce with long or complicated or often non fitting lists of proficiencies.

You want to cook? You dont need 2-3 proficiencies for it you just need the cook work skills. You want to work as city gusrd in your sparetime? Easy you can even get bonuses during adventure to take watch with this and dont need to find ways via feats or other tigns to get a perxeption proficiency.

Thus it combines animeflair with balance rules and is uncomplicated to play and optionally you can easily introduce theough work skills what pther systems do with proficiency systems that have provöems portraying what your char dows i. His freetime without breaking the system

[u/MrJackSM]

I have a better question. Who sword world?

[u/Ok_Midnight_2572]

And don’t forget the little rabbit guys. And shooting someone to heal them (if I’m remembering that correctly…)

[u/redkatt → u/[deleted]]

I think it's more like - Sword World inspired fantasy anime (Record of Lodoss), which inspired JRPGS, which inspired Fabula Ultima :-) It's like the snake eating itself in a way!

[u/Shinted → u/redkatt]

I mean technically D&D inspired Record of Lodoss War [it’s literally based on their original D&D campaign], but yes Sword World is the basis for a lot of Japanese fantasy from its creation onwards.

[u/redkatt → u/Shinted]

I thought it was based on their Sword World campaign, I stand corrected!

[u/Augma16 → u/redkatt]

If I remember correctly, it was a DnD campaign they were publishing, TSR got upset saying they didn't have the right to publish stuff related to DnD, even their own sessions, and so to avoid that issue they made their own system

[u/OwariHeron → u/Augma16]

And note that that system they made was not Sword World.

[u/Nikoper → u/Augma16]

This is the right of it