Spellsword RPG Development Update #16 — October 13, 2026
Hello Reader, here are the latest Spellsword updates!
Snapshot / TL;DR
- The 70 Monster Challenge has reached 52 of 70. Twelve more monsters have gone live since Update #15.
- Character Creation got a substantial organization pass. The rules did not change, but Race, Background, Class, Rune Package, Starting Equipment, reference tables, and the final checklist are easier to navigate.
- Starting Spell links from Character Creation now jump directly to the correct canonical spell in the Starting Spell Compendium and open the right nested toggles automatically.
- We restored 96 useful chapter links while removing the old footer navigation clutter.
- Several of the new monsters put negotiation, ambushes, group tactics, and terrain at the center of their encounters.
- The travel batch of monster videos was recorded and scheduled in advance. Its final video releases October 13 at 5 PM.
Major Progress This Cycle
52 of 70 Monsters: A Bigger, More Varied Bestiary
Since Update #15, we have published twelve more Bestiary entries: Amphithere, Minotaur, Banshee, Centaur, Gandr, Corpse Ape, Leshie, Clurichaun, Urisk, Stormhowler, Sasabonsam, and Redcap. That takes the 70 Monster Challenge to 52 completed entries, with 18 to go.
The new creatures give GMs more than twelve additional fights. They introduce different kinds of decisions: whether to bargain with a territorial spirit, how to handle a creature that might be helpful, and what happens when the battlefield itself gives a predator the advantage.
Leshie rules a forest territory and can be confronted through negotiation as well as violence. Clurichaun turns a cellar and its expectations of hospitality into an encounter. Urisk is immensely strong, but finding out why it acted can matter more than fighting it.
Stormhowlers fight as a pack and coordinate their wind effects. Sasabonsam hunts from the canopy, making height, footing, and rescue part of the danger. Redcap has no elaborate supernatural attack to hide behind; it is a potentially lethal early encounter because it can choose its ground and ambush someone who is alone. Those are the kinds of encounters I want the Bestiary to support.
The new monster videos were recorded and scheduled ahead of travel, with the final release set for October 13 at 5 PM.
We have also paid more attention to consistency as the Bestiary grows, especially how creatures use wounds, movement, resources, and other shared rules. The new entries are ready to use, but their provisional Grades still need to be tested in actual encounters.
Character Creation Is Easier to Navigate
After the mechanical revisions in Update #15, Character Creation needed a usability pass. We reorganized the chapter so people can move through character creation in order, but also return later and find a specific rule without digging through unrelated material. This pass did not change the mechanics or balance.
The seven Race entries are now alphabetical and collapsible, with their mechanics before the description and lore. Background Events come before the optional background details, and all 20 event subtables are numbered to match their existing roll outcomes.
We also corrected the structure around Class Masteries so Novice and Apprentice benefits appear under the proper headings. The eight Class Rune Package pages now come before the legacy Fireball example, which remains available but is clearly marked as out of date.
Starting Equipment received the biggest organizational change. All 22 packages retain their rules, restrictions, armor, equipment, and load values, but they now sit beneath collapsible Class headings in alphabetical order. They appear directly after Step 6's equipment instructions, where players actually need them, followed by six equipment reference tables in their own collapsible section.
The final checklist now groups its reminders by the part of the character being checked. We verified that the reorganization preserved the existing rules, tables, and links.
I expect the chapter to be easier to use now. More importantly, the rules people already learned are still the rules they are getting.
Starting Spells Are Easier to Find
Last update, the Starting Spell Compendium solved the problem of maintaining duplicated spell mechanics. This cycle we fixed a different problem: how players actually find those spells.
A spell listed in a Class Rune Package in Character Creation now links directly to its canonical entry in the Compendium. If the entry sits inside an alphabetical section and a spell toggle, the link opens both and takes the reader to the right place. It is a small change with an immediate benefit when somebody needs a spell in the middle of play.
We also check those links before publication, so players should reach the spell they selected instead of having to hunt for it.
Rulebook Navigation: What We Removed and Restored
The rulebook still contained some previous/next links left over from the old source layout. They looked like blog navigation at the ends of sections, so we removed them.
Unfortunately, that first cleanup also removed useful chapter directories and quick-reference links. We caught the mistake before it went live and restored them.
The published version now keeps the unwanted footer rows gone while restoring 96 contents and jump links across eight chapters, including Character Creation's quick-reference links and the Starting Spell Compendium. The side menu is still available, but there are good reasons to give readers a more direct route to material they use often.
Systems Under Active Refinement
What We're Iterating On
The newest monsters are ready for Early Access use, but their Grades remain provisional until we have more combat evidence. Several of these creatures are intentionally sensitive to terrain, preparation, group size, or player choices, which makes a simple damage comparison a poor substitute for actual encounters.
Stormhowler's overlapping wind effects are one of the clearest things I want table evidence on. Sasabonsam needs encounters where rescue and falling actually matter. Redcap needs to prove that its early-game danger comes from ambush and cunning rather than simply being overtuned.
Character Creation's mechanics did not change during the organizational pass, but the new structure still needs ordinary users. If something is technically easier to navigate but players still cannot find it, that is useful information.
Problems We're Solving
The 70 Monster Challenge is now far enough along that consistency is becoming its own problem. Producing a lot of creatures quickly is useful only if the numbers, resource assumptions, and standard rules stay consistent between entries.
We're watching for inconsistent wound effects, resource values, and other shared-rule assumptions before they cause trouble at the table.
We also still need actual play behind the major systems published in Update #15. Starting Equipment, the rebuilt Starting Spells, Blood, and the current Character Creation competence model all have stronger rules foundations now, but none of that replaces people trying to break them.
What's Still Uncertain
Monster Grade Evaluation is still a development framework, not a promise that a Grade predicts every encounter. Terrain, party tools, magic, information, preparation, and encounter control can move a fight considerably.
I expect some Starting Spell numbers, equipment loads, and package details to change when playtesting gives us good reasons. The underlying structure is better, but individual numbers still need to earn their place.
Design Insight
We nearly made the rulebook harder to use this cycle while trying to remove something that genuinely needed to go.
The rulebook still had old previous/next links left over from the source layout. They looked like blog navigation, repeated links already available in the side menu, and cluttered the ends of sections. We decided to remove them. So far, so good.
Unfortunately, the first cleanup removed more than those footer rows. It also stripped out chapter directories and quick-reference links that had a different purpose. In the version we were reviewing, Character Creation had lost useful shortcuts, including direct routes to the Starting Spell Compendium. The rules were still intact, but finding them would have taken more work.
I think the mistake was treating two kinds of duplication as though they were the same problem.
Last update, I talked about the Starting Spell rebuild. Keeping multiple copies of the same mechanical spell meant that every correction had to be repeated, and one missed copy could leave two conflicting versions of a rule. Moving those mechanics into one canonical Compendium solved that problem.
But a second link to a canonical rule doesn't create a second version of the rule. It just gives somebody another way to find it.
A new player may read Character Creation in order, from Race through equipment. Someone making their fifth character may already know exactly which Starting Equipment package they want. And in the middle of a session, a player might need a particular spell or Combat rule without reading the rest of the chapter. The side menu works, but a useful chapter directory can be faster for those specific jobs.
Once we caught the overcorrection, we restored 96 contents and jump links across eight chapters while leaving the unwanted footer rows gone. The result keeps the rulebook cleaner without making everyone take the long way around.
That's the distinction I'll be paying more attention to from here on. A duplicated mechanic creates a maintenance problem. A well-placed link to that one mechanic can solve a usability problem. I want one authoritative version of a rule, but I don't want only one way to reach it.
The rule or info you are looking for should be easy to find.
—Christian
What Members and Testers Should Test
- Build a character using the reorganized Character Creation chapter. Tell us what you still have trouble finding, especially Rune Packages, Starting Equipment, and the final checklist.
- Use the direct Starting Spell links from Character Creation. If a link lands in the wrong place, fails to open the relevant toggle, or makes you hunt for the spell anyway, tell us.
- Use the twelve newest monsters. Pay attention to whether their Grades match the actual threat they create rather than just their raw damage.
- Put Stormhowler packs into real encounters and watch how overlapping winds behave.
- Run Sasabonsam somewhere that height and rescue actually matter, and run Redcap as the ambusher it is supposed to be rather than standing it in an empty field.
- Keep testing Starting Equipment, Starting Spells, Blood, and the current Character Creation competence rules from Update #15.
- Share anything weird you find in the Spellsword Discord.
What's Next—2-Week Objective
- Keep the 70 Monster Challenge moving, with 18 monsters remaining.
- Get real combat and usability testing behind the newest Bestiary entries and the major systems published in Update #15.
- Keep developing Grade Evaluation using actual encounter evidence rather than treating the current framework as finished.
