Spellsword RPG Development Update #3 — April 4th, 2026

Hello Reader, here are the latest Spellsword updates!

Snapshot / TL;DR

• Wild Zone Generator tables V.1 published
• Microtutorials 1 and 2 recorded, editing soon
• Wound Lethality and Bleed Rates adjusted
• Giant Spider added
• Dungeon Generator concept complete, on second iteration
• Companion App downloadable on the member home page or at the app download page(https://spellswordrpg.com/spellsword-companion-download/)

Major Work Completed

Wild Zone Generator Tables

The first of the wave of automation tables we have been focusing on centered on the Wild Zone generators. When GMs or other players roll these tables, they will generate larger swaths of terrain sorted by family before shifting to discovering or generating the specific contents of an individual hex. The full instructions are available in the Running the Game chapter, along with all the tables in version one.

Microtutorials

We recorded the first two microtutorials and intend to have them edited and published on the website soon. These videos introduce the seven RPG dice most of you are familiar with and the very basics of skill checks in Spellsword, focusing on introducing complete newbies to the space.

Wound Lethality and Bleed Rates

After a few strange and frustrating test results, our team decided we needed to adjust wound lethality and bleeding rates and remove the Scratch wound entirely. This has been extended to the existing monsters as well, though we have made Titan Wound Escalation more powerful for higher survivability. Bleed rates have reduced across the board, leading to less urgency from bleeding inflicted in combat but still a strict requirement for such injuries to be tended to. They should still impact play, but not be so immediately lethal that the fight is over in a moment. The chances of the various types of bleeding has been adjusted as well, along with Mortal Wound lethality on the Head, Chest, and Abdomen. See the Combat Chapter for more information.

Giant Spider

The Giant Spider shares a similar hit location table to the Giant Scorpion and places a greater emphasis on hit and run tactics and using the environment than its fellow arachnid. The Giant Spider has venom and makes use of web production. It also prompts us to revisit the harvestables useful in crafting equipment sourced from existing monsters so far, but this is not currently an urgent issue.

Companion App Progress

In the last period of development, the Companion App has become considerably more useful, though it still has its share of bugs. The app is now downloadable for everything but Apple products and allows users to manually import characters more easily. Users can now add money to their characters. Specializations should now be able to be added properly both during and after character creation. Custom Rune Packages can be made during character creation, and the spell creator’s known bugs have been corrected.

Systems Under Active Refinement

Dungeon Generation

What We’re Iterating On

Current development focus rests on Dungeon Generation. We have opted to focus the Dungeon Zone generator tables on producing gameplay hooks and flags rather than on simple map production.

Problems We’re Solving

The emphasis on gameplay over maps and the desire to keep rolling fast, light, yet productive presents unique challenges. We want to avoid hanging the GM out to dry for what a combat environment looks like without overcomplicating the process. Striking the balance here is key.

What’s Still Uncertain

We need to sort out the right degree of detail for what map hooks are produced and for the templates for Dungeon Zone identity without overspecifying or oversimplifying the templates to the point their usefulness is reduced or eliminated.

Design Insight

There’s a statement I came across a while back that stuck with me:

“Complexity is the price you pay for depth. The question is: are you getting your money’s worth?”

In the TTRPG space, “crunch” has practically become a dirty word. Spend any time on X or Reddit and you’ll see it treated like a flaw to be avoided.

And yet, people still seek it out.

They like systems they can dig into. They like mastery. They like having tools that actually do something.

So what’s going on?

Complexity was never the enemy.

Depth requires it. A game can’t offer meaningful capability without asking something of the player. The simpler a system is, the less it can do. The more it can do, the more structure it needs to support it.

The real problem is onboarding.

Not complexity itself—but the time and effort it takes to become functional in a system.

That’s where most TTRPGs fail.

Learning a new game often means reading what amounts to a textbook, organizing a group willing to do the same, and hoping everyone retains enough to actually play. Most groups don’t want to take that risk, so they stay where they’re comfortable.

That pressure shapes the entire market.

Instead of pushing depth, many games reduce friction. They simplify, streamline, or reskin existing systems so players don’t have to learn as much. It lowers the barrier to entry.

But it also lowers the ceiling.

You end up with games that are easy to pick up, but don’t offer much room to grow into. They answer “why not try this?” but struggle to answer “why does this matter?”

Depth is what answers that second question.

It’s why crunchy games haven’t gone away. Despite the friction, they offer something worth investing in.

That’s the balance we’re aiming for with Spellsword.

Not less depth. Not less capability.

But a better way to get into it.

We’re building microtutorials and a structured learning course to go alongside the core rules. The goal is simple: reduce the time it takes to become competent, without stripping away what makes the system worth learning in the first place.

If complexity is the price of depth, then onboarding is the cost of entry.

We’re making sure it’s worth it.

—Christian

What Members Should Test

• Wild Zone Generation
  • What breaks?
  • Where is it great?
  • Does it feel fast or clunky?
  • Does it seem like something is missing?
• Wound Lethality and Blood Loss
  • Review the new rules
  • Run through a few combats
  • Do Abdomen mortal wounds feel more appropriately lethal?
  • Did you have any mortal wounds to the Head that were not immediately lethal?
  • Does blood loss still feel impactful or urgent?
• Watch for Dungeon Generator
  • The Dungeon Generator will likely be published to Alpha and Early Access users before the next update
  • Keep an eye out and offer your feedback

What’s Next (2-Week Objective)

Our current priorities for the next two weeks are:

• Polishing marketing campaign plans, with the initial serious push coming soon (including an affiliate program!)
• Editing and publishing the first two microtutorials
• Planning future microtutorials and course content
• Publishing the first draft of the Dungeon Generation rules
• Developing and publishing at least one new monster
• Adding a downloadable version of the Companion for iOS and Macintosh

That’s the end of this development update! Thanks for reading.

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