The Japanese RPG That Outsold D&D and Inspired Anime Is Finally Coming to the West

Most RPG fans in the West know Dungeons & Dragons as the king of tabletop role-playing games, but in Japan, a different game has dominated the scene for decades. Now, Sword World RPG—the game that outsold D&D in Japan and helped invent the “actual play” trend—is finally making its way to English-speaking players. If you’re curious why this matters, you’re about to find out.

• Sword World RPG outsold D&D in Japan and shaped the local TTRPG scene.
• The game inspired the first “actual play” sessions, decades before Critical Role.
• Record of Lodoss War, a franchise born from these sessions, became a massive multimedia hit.
• Sword World RPG’s English release is planned, with crowdfunding set for 2026.

Sword World RPG: The Game That Changed Japan’s RPG Landscape

Back in the 1980s, Dungeons & Dragons was introduced to Japan and initially found success—over 200,000 copies of the Japanese Red Box were sold by 1991. However, D&D’s popularity soon faded, and later editions barely made a dent. For example, the 3rd edition Player’s Handbook sold fewer than 8,000 copies in Japan, while the English 5th Edition sold over 1.5 million in North America alone (source).

So, what happened? The answer is Sword World RPG. Created by Group SNE, Sword World RPG became Japan’s top tabletop RPG, selling over 400,000 copies of its latest edition by 2023 (Kadokawa). Its only real rival in Japan is Call of Cthulhu (source).

The Birth of Actual Play: Before Streaming Was Cool

Decades before “actual play” shows like Critical Role became popular, a group of friends in Japan started recording their D&D sessions. These stories were published in Comptiq magazine as D&D Magazine Live: Record of Lodoss War Replay. The sessions became so popular that they sparked the creation of the Replay genre and inspired a wave of novels, manga, video games, and anime.

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Record of Lodoss War’s influence can’t be overstated. The novels sold over 10 million copies (source) and helped pioneer the light novel format, which is now a huge part of Japan’s publishing industry (Forbes).

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Why Sword World RPG Succeeded

TSR, the original D&D publisher, wouldn’t let Group SNE officially publish their actual play sessions as D&D stories. As a result, Group SNE created Sword World RPG. According to Hitoshi Yasuda, “We made Record of Lodoss War because we wanted to promote D&D, but TSR did not allow us to make Record of Lodoss War a part of D&D [to promote and develop it].” (source).

Sword World RPG stands out thanks to its fast and intuitive 2d6 System, as well as its unique magic rules—there are seven forms of magic, each with its own language for casting spells. Over time, the game’s fantasy world grew to blend Western and Japanese influences, making it truly unique.

Coming Soon: Sword World RPG in English

For fans of tabletop RPGs, Sword World RPG’s English edition is something to watch. Mugen Games plans to launch crowdfunding in early 2026, but you can already sign up for updates and a free one-shot adventure.

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