Spellzard: Second Edition

What is Spellzard?

Spellzard 2e is a small, fast tabletop RPG inspired by the old Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, a bit of British fantasy weirdness, and the kind of play where things go wrong in funny ways.

It’s meant for:

- quick character creation
- fast, dangerous fights
- slightly unreliable magic
- and adventures that don’t take themselves too seriously

You can play it with a group, or as a quick one-shot dungeon crawl.

The core idea

Most things in the game come down to one roll:

2d6 + a stat
higher total wins.

That’s it.

Combat is quick and a bit chaotic, using simple damage bands instead of counting damage dice. If you win by a lot, you hit harder and build Momentum to push your luck.

Magic is strong, but it can backfire in very Spellzard ways. Sometimes you get the spell you want. Sometimes you get fish falling from the sky.

Making a character

Characters are very quick to put together:

- three stats: STR, DEX, WIL
- a few Talents that define what you’re good at
- and a name that tells you exactly who you are

Examples:

Granite the Slightly Cracked
Klorox the Lemon-Scented
Ratty Who Was Seen

That’s usually enough to start playing immediately.

Monsters and running the game

Monsters are deliberately simple. Each one is basically:

- a SKILL
- a STAMINA
- and a couple of tags

So the GM can run things quickly and focus on what’s happening in the fiction instead of looking up rules.

The tone

Spellzard leans into a certain kind of fantasy:

- dry British humour
- odd little creatures
- magic that misbehaves
- heroes who are brave, but not always competent

So you’ll probably see things like:
- herring raining from nowhere
- octopus-headed gentlemen having a drink
- and towers that are obviously a bad idea to enter

What’s in the book

Inside you’ll find:
- the full Spellzard 2e rules
- character creation and Talents
- spells and the OOPS! magic mishap table
- gear, treasure, and random loot tables
- a bestiary of classic and strange monsters
- name and title generators
- and a short starter adventure: The Obsidian Crystal Quest

Who it’s for

You’ll probably enjoy Spellzard if you like:
- Fighting Fantasy and gamebooks
- rules-light or OSR-style play
- quick one-shot sessions
- or running games with very little prep

Make it your own

Spellzard is meant to be hacked.

Pull it apart, change things, add new spells, write your own monsters, set it in your own world. If it works at your table, it’s correct.

License

Spellzard 2e is released under Creative Commons (CC-BY 4.0).
You’re free to share it, remix it, and build on it — just give credit.

Credits

Created by Robertson Sondoh Jr
Published by Experimental Playground Games

Inspired by Fighting Fantasy, classic British fantasy, and a lot of chaotic game nights.

Ready to play?

Grab a couple of d6, make a character, and head toward the tower.

Something strange is waiting inside.

Download Spellzard 2e and start playing.