Twilight Sword, Part One
The Two Little Mice guys (Household, Outgunned, etc.) are at it again. Twilight Sword is what happens when an RPG designer plays Breath of the Wild and grabs their screen like Bill Gates in Pirates of Silicon Valley, screaming, “I WANT THIS!”
Twilight Sword is published by Free League Publishing. It came out literally a week ago (July 2026, for posterity’s sake) in electronic format. As I review this it hasn’t even all come out; the promised solo rules and soundtrack are still on the way. If they’re amazing I may drop an addendum to this review.
If you want to pick it up in physical form, that apparently was delayed until late August. You may want to hold off until then, especially if you like physical cards, because hoo boy do they loooove their cards in this game.
The Presentation
Please hold all questions until the end
I don’t normally lead off with this, but I just gotta. All the books provided with Twilight Sword are formatted … oddly.
Page sizes are 4.53” x 8.66” (115mm x 220mm). A dive into print sites shows that this is E5 envelope size. I can’t find any place that sells paper in that exact dimension. They don’t want us printing this for ourselves, apparently.
According to 2LM, the main reason the print version was delayed was that their original printer couldn’t handle this format. You don’t say
The cards, meanwhile, are a more ordinary 80mm x 80mm, which can be resized easily to 3” x 3” if you live in one of the eight countries that still don’t use metric. The cards are provided as PDFs, so you’d need to work to get them into a VTT or card app. Many cards are double-sided; the monster cards, for instance, have a pic of the monster on one side and the stats on the other.
The art, spearheaded by lead artist Daniela Giubellini, is very nice, with a little bit of anime-ish cartooniness and the suggestion of cel shading but not going too hard with it. It’s more than a little reminiscent of every Zelda game from Wind Waker forward. I’ll bet that’s what they were going for. Just an inkling. Call it a hunch.
Into the Game World
Here I go, playin’ star again
Player! The bright peaceful world of Radia is in peril! An ancient evil called the Scourge is invading, with its heartless monsters threatening to eclipse all that is right and good in the land and replace it with evil badness. Oh no! Not that!
However, the world has an ace up its sleeve. A multi-cultural, multi-disciplinarian group of Champions has been chosen to rise up, smash the Scourge, and save Radia from a fate worse than game over. In their epic quest, they will sally forth, explore the vast world, fight the monsters, defeat despair, and bring hope again to the hearts of the downtrodden. Soaring 8-bit chiptune plays
… This game, man. From the artwork to the writing, everything presented to you is clear-eyed and straight-shooting. You, heroes. There, evil. Go fight. There’s not a lot of room for dark anti-heroes any more terrible than, say, Cecil from FFIV. The world literally depends on the PCs, and if they fail, everyone dies. They may be reluctant heroes, but they’re still heroes. Otherwise the whole game falls apart.
Players who wish to wrestle with metaphorical demons, the exit is to your left. For everyone else, let’s continue.
Rise of the Champions
I’d like ta see ya tryyyyy!
Making a Champion is a simple affair.
- Choose a name and an Origin. The game lists five Origins: Awakened (open your eyes! You’ve been asleep a long time), Stranger (from another time, another land), Chosen (some schmoe who got touched by Fate), Heir (descended from an ancient hero, called to duty by the blood in your veins), or Unknown (nobody knows why you’re a Champion, maybe not even yourself). Origins don’t give a character anything mechanics-wise besides hooks to hang roleplaying on.
- Choose a Kin. Like above, there are five Kin to choose from.
- Huma: Most people on Radia are these medium-sized humanoids with pointy ears and wide, guileless eyes. Huma have the ability to reroll one roll between Rests.
- Kedi: Adorable little cat-people. They get nightvision and +1 to dodge rolls.
- Pengu: Tall, thick-skinned penguinfolk. They get three extra Health points and a bonus to resist cold.
- Strix: FF’s Black Mage as a race. Can be tall, short, thick, thin, whatever, but they all have night-dark skin and big shining oval eyes. Strixen gain nightvision and two arcane spells even if they’re not mages.
- Toluna: Tall, muscular himbos, with reddish skin, white or blonde hair, and one or two horns on their foreheads. They get one extra Stamina point and mild heat resistance.
Well this is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into
- Set your Abilities. Characters in Twilight Sword have eight Abilities: Strength (STR), Agility (AGL), Vitality (VIT), Perception (PER), Will (WIL), Knowledge (KNO), Charisma (CHA), and Stealth (STE). At first I thought this was a lot of stats for a simple game, then I realized there are no skills. Or rather, Abilities cover both.
Abilities range from 5 to 10. You can either set Ability scores from a standard array (5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 9) or distribute 56 points among them. Abilities can be increased by selecting certain Feats (see step 5). - Determine your secondary scores. Hearts♥️ are your health score, equal to 10 + Vitality. Some Feats, choosing the Pengu Kin, etc. can increase Hearts, to a max of 35.
Stamina🔷 is a resource which fuels Feats, rolling with Advantage, casting spells, and some other things. Stamina starts at 3 for everybody (except Toluna, who have 4). This, too, can increase over time.
Armor🛡️ reduces damage from attacks like you’d expect. We’ll look at that when we get to equipment. - Choose a Way.
No. Ways in Twilight Sword are essentially classes (listed below). Your Way nets you some starting equipment and one Feat from its list.
As you gallumph around Radia, you’ll (hopefully) gather Hope points. For every four Hope you get, you can pick another Feat from your Way. You also have a one-time option to choose a different Way and gain one Feat from it instead. Once you’ve committed to this, you can choose Feats from either list in perpetuity.
There is no third Way. Take that, Bill Clinton. - Finish up. The GM gives everyone one lonesome point of Hope, and randomly chooses one lucky PC to receive a Boon. We’ll get to what all that means in a bit.
Ways and Means
Which Way did he go, George?
Way of the Blade
I say kill ‘em all. Blade-Wayers start with two old weapons, padded armor, and 3d6 Zin (the money of Radia). Example Feats include Bastion (gain 3♥️ and spend 1💠 to parry without using a Reaction), Favored Weapon (do +2 damage with a weapon type of your choice), and Spin Attack (Spend 1🔷 after you attack a monster to deal the same damage to up to two more monsters nearby).
Way of Magic
Zip zap. Magic-Wayers get an old staff, paper and ink, a stamina potion, and 3d6+10 Zin. Their Feats revolve around learning X number of arcane spells plus some special effect, like Quick Spell (2 spells plus spend 1🔷 to cast one spell as a free action in a round) or Arcane Knowledge (4 spells plus Advantage on Knowledge rolls to recall lore).
Way of Light
Good tidings unto you, my child. Similar to Magic-users, Light-Wayers truck in blessings, which are mainly healing and buff spells. Their Feats are similar to Mages too, like Strong Spirit (gain 2 blessings and 3♥️) or Inner Light (2 blessings and casting a blessing also heals 2♥️ to yourself or a nearby ally). They start with either an old staff and a health potion, or an old weapon and padded armor, plus 3d6+10 Zin.
Way of the Wild
Shooting their way to glory, Wild-Wayers schlep about in the wilderness and make friends with like squirrels and shit. They get an old bow or boomerang, an old dagger or short sword, padded armor, arrows, a torch, and 3d6 Zin. Feats include Animal Friend (they really are friends with a squirrel [or other small animal or mount] who can fetch small things and generally help out), Sharpshooter (+1 to hit with ranged and thrown weapons, plus increased critical hit chances), and Wild Training (increase PER, AGL, or WIL by one; this Feat can be taken repeatedly).
Way of the Shadow
Is he there? Is he not? You don’t know! Shadow-Wayers sneak around and stab folks in the butt. They get Feats like Ambush (+1 Stealth and +1d6 damage when making a sneak attack), Dual Wielding (attack one target twice while holding two weapons), or Thief (Advantage to pick pockets and avoid traps). They start with 2 old daggers or claws, 2 lockpicks, a slingshot, a rope, and 3d6 Zin.
Way of the Song
Morale-booster, team face, lovable rogue. Song-Wayers gain a musical instrument, an old rapier or short sword, a slingshot (hey Shadow copycat), and 3d6 Zin. Their Feats include several buff songs, like Battle Song (+1 damage to nearby allies) or Campfire Song (heal more during Rests), or else things like Tempo (-1 to initiative rolls, or spend 1🔷 and just go first in a round) or Silver Tongue (Advantage on rolls to haggle, persuade, or lie).
One small thing I noticed about Ways: they don’t have “class names,” like Fighter or Bard. I think that’s meant to subtly point out that everybody is first and foremost a Champion, not some walled-off role. If that’s their intention, it’s very clever. If not, then I’m very clever.
Boons
He was a man, yes, a big man
Boons are a very rare resource. They’re not actual items, just a spendable point of je ne sais quoi. A character can only have one Boon, and if they spend it, there’s no telling when they’ll ever get another. Characters only receive them when they perform some epic deed that turns the tide somehow, makes everybody at the table cry or cheer, overcomes insane odds, makes a great sacrifice, or some other huge event. GMs are encouraged to grant a Boon no more than once per session.
So what do they do? When a player spends it, their character becomes the focal point of the story. They collaborate with the GM to describe some epic way in which they score a critical success, save the life of a fellow Champion, or somehow instantly recover all their Stamina. This brief interlude highlights the character’s intense valor, purity, and strength of will. For just a moment, everything else falls away, and they stand revealed as a Big Damn Hero.
… Then their big scene ends and they still have to go back to work on Monday.
Rolling and Hitting
Ready Player 1-6
After all that rigmarole, the book finally begins to describe the CAT (Created at Twilight) system to us. And it’s … a simple d12 roll-under system against a relevant Ability. Natural 1 is a critical success, natural 12 is a critical failure, add up to +3 to the Ability for better odds, subtract up to -3 for worse ones, roll with Advantage or Disadvantage when necessary. It’s no more complicated than that.
Combat begins by having every PC and monster roll a d12 for initiative, acting in ascending order. Besides the Way of Song’s Tempo Feat, there’s no way to modify this roll unless one side is surprised, which gives the Champions Advantage (if they’re the surprisers) or Disadvantage (if they’re the surprisees). Champions who roll the same number decide who goes first. Champions always act before monsters on the same initiative roll.
On their turn, Champions can take one Movement and one Action. Actions are your usual gamut: Attack, Activate a Feat, Cast a Spell, Dash (move twice), Defense (gain Advantage on the next parry or dodge), Help (give an ally +1 on their next roll), Push (knock a monster down with a Strength roll), Wait to take your turn until later, or Escape with an Agility roll. If all Champions escape from a battle, the monsters regain all their ♥️ and 🔷 and will have to be re-fought if they still want to get past them.
When it’s not their turn, Champions can still perform Reactions, like Dodging attacks with an Agility roll or Parrying with a Strength roll, plus a melee weapon or shield. Some Feats give other off-turn Reactions as well. Most of the time, Champions are the only ones who roll for attacks or dodges; many monster attacks only roll for damage and it’s up to the target Champion to make a roll to avoid it.
Attacking requires a roll vs. Strength for melee weapons, Agility for finesse weapons (rapiers and such), or Perception for ranged weapons. Weapons and monster attacks do damage in increments from d2s to d20s. Can’t get away with only bringing d12s to the table, sadly. Armor reduces incoming damage like you’d expect.
At 0♥️, Champions take a Wound (a status effect which gives Disadvantage to STR and AGL rolls) and must make a Will roll. On a success, they may continue to fight but will need to make more Will rolls if they get hurt further. On a failure, they receive the K.O. status effect. A K.O.’d Champion is effectively out of the fight but not dead, essentially sitting on the ground with stars and birds orbiting their head. The Champion can still take a potion or eat something if they have it in their inventory, or else receive a blessing or feat to remove the condition. Now if the entire party is K.O.’d at once, well …
Combat is intended to play Theater of the Mind style, so Range is abstracted as Close, Near, Far, and Too Far. If your table insists on using a map, then Close is 1 square away, Near is up to 5, Far is up to 15, and Too Far is beyond that. (Assuming a square is 5 feet, that makes “Too Far” only 75 feet away. Too far for what? Charades?)
To heal, champions must Rest. A full-fledged Rest requires a full night’s sleep somewhere safe as houses, like a friend’s house or an inn, and restores all ♥️ and 🔷, recharges all spells, and removes one status effect. A Short Rest can be taken once between regular Rests, and recovers 1d12♥️ and 2🔷, or 2d12♥️, or 4🔷, or one status effect. Short Rests also recharge one spell.
Monsters
Mad, monstrous nightmare shapes to blast the world
The Scourge of monsters invading Radia are literally evil given shape. They have no souls or minds, and exist only to terrorize and kill. So leave that conscience at the door and stab stab stabbity stab.
Monsters have the same Hearts♥️, Stamina🔷, and Armor🛡️ that Champions do, plus a Threat💀 level. Any monster with a 💀 higher than 1 rolls multiple times on the initiative track and takes that many Actions per round. Some monsters also have their own Feats. A monster that loses all its ♥️ dissolves back to the miasma from which it came.
Each monster card has a list of either four or six Actions the monster may perform. Each turn, the GM rolls a d4 or d6 and chooses the monster’s Action randomly. If it’s an attack, the GM will select the target randomly from all Champions within range. If nobody’s in range, they’ll run toward somebody instead. Monsters with an agenda of some sort, like guarding an area or protecting the big boss, might act in a more predictable manner, at the GM’s choice.
Some monsters have a Special Purpose Action (usually an extra powerful attack) which costs 🔷 to activate. The GM can choose to forgo the regular random stuff and pop one of those off instead.
Monsters can come in standard varieties, or, for more of a challenge, Variants. Any monster, even the weakest types, can be upgraded to Elemental (gain an Elemental Affinity, see below), Blue (+3♥️ and +1 damage), Red (+5 ♥️, +1 damage, +1🛡️), or Black (double ♥️, +1 Threat💀, +2 damage, +1🛡️, and can parry or dodge on a roll of 8 or less) Variants.
Things and Stuff
Also, stuff and things
The equipment chapters are pretty normal. Champions have a number of inventory slots equal to double their Strength, and every item they can buy has an inventory slot score. So. You see where this is headed.
Weapons have a Type (Melee, Ranged, or Shields, which can be used to attack as well as parry), a Range, and a Damage score. Weapons can also have Feats of their own, essentially keywords like Accurate, Finesse, Thrown, Two-Handed, etc.
Armor has a defensive rating from 0 to 3 and its own set of Feats, like Enduring Cold or +1 to Charisma (everybody’s crazy for a Sharp Dressed Champion, after all). Medium Armor gives Disadvantage on Stealth rolls, and Heavy Armor adds Disadvantage to Agility rolls as well.
There are some unique Accessories listed here as well: the Paraglider (glide from any height, costs 🔷 to use), the Grappling Hook (Advantage to climbing or swinging), and the Surfboard (move on water or snow without penalty).
We can’t leave a list of Zelda-like items without discussing that most hated of subjects: Durability. These optional rules give weapons an extra Durability score which must be rolled against whenever the user suffers a critical failure on an attack or parry, chooses to hit hard (roll damage again and keep the second result), or a monster causes them to drop it. If a d12 roll is greater than this score, the weapon shatters; if equal or lower, the Durability score reduces by 1. Blacksmiths can increase a weapon’s Durability score by 1 for a small fee.
Eating food or drinking a potion is a free action, and can quickly restore ♥️ and 🔷 as well as give other perks like resisting hot and cold or removing non-K.O. status effects. Champions can also forage in the wilderness for a long random list of ingredients to cook into dishes or brew into potions. So don’t hesitate to fling armsful of apples and frogs into every outdoor wok you see.
Spells and Elements
Spellements
In the world of Twilight Sword, there are eight Elements in opposition with each other.
Some monsters have an Affinity with an Element, which gives it immunity (no damage) to attacks with those effects. It will also have resistance (half damage) to the next Element in the cycle, and weakness (double damage) to the previous Element in the chain.
Besides these main eight, there’s a ninth Element, Twilight, which every other Element is weak against. Attacks and weapons which inflict Twilight damage are vanishingly rare, and should only be provided at enormous cost right before the big, campaign-ending boss fight.
There follows a list of Spells, both Arcane and Blessings, plus a list of common spells for both Ways. As previously mentioned, characters receive spells through Feats. Between each Rest, a spell can be cast one time as an Action. Casters can’t be wearing non-clothing armor, carrying shields, or be under the Silence status effect.
Once cast, a spell is considered Expended. An Expended spell can only be cast again at the cost of 1🔷. Spells can be recharged during Rests as noted above. Exceptionally, if a spell requires a roll to cast and you get a natural 1, that spell has no cost; it’s either not considered Expended the first time you cast it, or you don’t have to spend 🔷 to cast it again. There are no spell levels. Everything on the list is available from the get-go.
Example Arcane spells are Blue Bubble (inflate a bubble around yourself and nearby allies; inside everyone can breathe underwater and are immune to falling damage), Fireball (make a KNO roll to explode a 1d8 damage ball of Fire Elementalness on a target and everyone near it), and Magic Clones (make a KNO roll to create two illusory copies of yourself; when you’re hit, roll 1d6 and a clone is hit and destroyed on a 3+ instead). Blessings include Heal (roll CHA to heal 2d8♥️ to yourself or a nearby ally), Haven (you and nearby allies can weather damaging hot or cold), and Life (roll CHA to bring back one ally from K.O. and give them 1d8♥️).
Common spells are available to both magic-using Ways and include Build (build or repair a simple structure using resources around you), Magic Hand (summon an invisible hand to manipulate the free market things nearby), and Levitation (lift yourself up by your bootstraps and fly around a little).
Magic items exist which shake up this Way monopoly.
- Scrolls contain one spell which can be cast by anyone for no cost or roll, and are destroyed immediately afterward. A found scroll should first be identified by a KNO roll, though I suppose that’s not strictly necessary if you love danger.
- Heart Stones and Stamina Stones permanently give the Champion who attunes to it an increase in ♥️ or 🔷, respectively.
- Elemental Weapons combine the bonking power of a weapon with the cleansing power of Elemental damage. A Fire or Ice weapon will keep the bearer warm in cold climes or cool in hot ones, respectively.
- Legendary Items simply imbue the bearer with some magic power, like a Flying Cape giving Levitation or an Enchanted Mask giving Disguise. The spell in these items can be cast once per Rest, but they must be Attuned to the bearer first. A Champion can Attune any number of items, and items can never be un-Attuned.
Next time: We are the world