Sword World RPG, Japan’s long-established fantasy tabletop role-playing game and a major domestic rival to Dungeons & Dragons, is to receive its first official English release. Publisher Mugen Gaming will launch a BackerKit crowdfunding campaign for an English translation of Sword World RPG 2.5 on 20 October, potentially introducing the game to a much wider audience.

Created by Group SNE in 1989, Sword World grew from the group’s D&D session reports, or “RPG replays”, which also helped inspire the Record of Lodoss War franchise. Group SNE president Hitoshi Yasuda said D&D struggled in Japan partly because of TSR’s sales approach, while Sword World appealed through its affordability, accessibility, story focus and Japanese-influenced fantasy style. The English project features art direction by Shunsuke Nakashige and collector’s-edition cover art by Hitoshi Yoneda.