Acclaimed Anime Director Shunsuke Nakashige Announced As ‘Sword World’ TTRPG Localization Art Director
by Anton Kromoff
Welcome to the table,
I don’t recall exactly when I saw Record of Lodoss War for the first time. I do remember that as the first few episodes played across the screen, my thoughts were largely, “These elves look kind of odd compared to what I have seen in my Sword & Sorcery novels,” and “This is anime Dungeons & Dragons, right?”
I often wondered if other countries were playing the games that I was running for my friends in the backroom of the comic shop. That room with the weird drip of brown liquid that fell from the ceiling with a rhythm, I swear to this day, was a sign of sentient life.
What I learned from the elder nerds who held court in the back room was that while D&D was being played, there was an alternative game being played in Japan called Sword World. It was first published some time in 1989 and has had a few updates over the years; one in 2008 and again in 2018.
What I know about Sword World is that it uses two D6 to determine everything in the game. There are eight classes, including the Bard, Fighter, Priest, Ranger, Sage, Shaman, Sorcerer, and Thief. There are five major playable species known as the Human, Dwarf, Elf, Half-Elf, and the GrassRunners, who are kind of like halflings.
The reason I bring up Record of the Lodoss War is that the setting of Sword World is Forcelia. That world includes Lodoss Island, from Record, and the continent of Crystania, from Legend of Crystania, that takes place in the same story setting. While these are both secondary locations to the largest continent, Alecrast, all of these locations are part of the larger world setting that has been explored across anime episodes, manga, and light novels.
Recently Mugen Games has announced they would be localizing Sword World for English speakers with a crowdfunding campaign coming in 2026. This is very exciting. Much like Free League’s Dragonbane, this is another well-respected non-American tabletop role-playing game that is seeing English print.
As someone who loves this hobby as much as I do, this is kind of a dark time in history but an amazing time to be alive. I could have never imagined that this sort of thing was possible in print. That is, unless it was something someone had painstakingly translated and then spent hours upon hours printing out on a office printer or at the library, to the irritation of the librarians who had already had enough of our printing out multiple pages of character sheets for the weekly Pathfinder game.
Another bit of exciting news is that Anime Director Shunsuke Nakashige has been announced as Sword
World‘s localization Art Director.
Nakashige is known for his work on series like Solo Leveling, Sword Art Online, and Mother of the Goddess’s Dormitory. Nakashige is a powerhouse. Bringing him on to helm the art direction of Japan’s most beloved fantasy TTRPG for American audiences is a brilliant move by Mugen Gaming, in my humble opinion.
“As we take this to a new stage, I hope we can create visuals that are fresh and exciting,” said Nakashige. “It is important to me that the visuals delight both newcomers and those familiar with the past.”
Echoing the same sentiment, Ai Namima-Davison, co-founder of Mugen Gaming, said “We are incredibly honored to have Shunsuke on board for the Sword World RPG localization. The art for Sword World RPG is central to what we are creating, and we can’t think of anyone better suited to help bring this world to life.”
I am very excited to see how this continues to develop. I’ve wanted to play this game for ages. The thought that it is so close at hand is truly exciting for me. I love this hobby. This is the kind of thing I actually dream about; getting to try new systems and seeing how other cultures interpret mechanics and lore at the table is an absolute delight to think about.
Until next time, you can visit the BackerKit page at this link and keep your eyes on Comicon.com as I will continue to have coverage of Sword World for you as it comes in. Trust me, there is way more incoming!
