Sellswords & Spellslingers

What is Sellswords & Spellslingers

Sellswords & Spellslingers is a solo and cooperative fantasy miniatures game for 1 to 6 players, from Ganesha Games and designer Andrea Sfiligoi. It came out in January 2018.

Each player builds a party of fantasy adventurers with a point system. Then you pick a scenario and try to complete the mission. There’s no opposing player. The monsters and events are run by a deck of cards, so everyone at the table is on the same side.

In Ganesha’s words, the game “has no rules for player versus player combat.”

Between missions your characters gain experience, and a list of campaign activities gives them things to do besides fighting. Ganesha says that “with creative players and the right attitude,” you can use it as a rules-light RPG with no GM.

It works with any miniatures in any scale.

How it plays

One roll for everything. Every action uses the same mechanic: roll a d20 against a difficulty number, with modifiers from your character’s traits.
Only the players roll. Monsters never roll dice. When one attacks, the hero rolls to defend.
Cards run the enemy. Event cards move the monsters and throw in surprises. Monster stats sit on their own cards, so there’s no hunting through the book mid-game.
Not IGOUGO. Ganesha says the activation system “creates fog of war and uncertainty.”
Build heroes your way. The open point system lets you design characters, including giving them disadvantages to save points.
Small parties. Each player runs 1 to 6 figures. Each scenario needs 1 or 2 boss monsters and 3 to 8 minions per player.

How to start

📖

Sellswords & Spellslingers (PDF)

The full rules, cards and counters. $8 on Ganesha Games' Gumroad store.

Get the rules. The PDF is $8. It includes the 68-page full-colour rulebook, 30 monster cards, 23 event cards, 16 spell cards, 8 potion cards, and hundreds of counters if you want to play without miniatures. A French translation is in the same download.
Print the cards. The game needs the deck. Print it yourself, or order professionally printed cards. A full-colour paperback of the rulebook is sold through Lulu, but it doesn’t include the event cards.
Gather the kit. At least three d20s, a couple of d6s, pencil and paper, a tape measure in inches, and a 36” × 36” play area.
Find your miniatures. One to six heroes per player, plus plenty of monsters. Any scale or brand works.
Add more when you want it. Ganesha sells campaigns and monster supplements: Last Stand at Mistham ($8, five scenarios), Close Quarter Battles (12 scenarios in the city of Luurkana), Beasts of Norindaal (39 new monsters) and the Beasts and Foemen card deck ($2.99, 24 new foes).

Community & reviews

Ganesha Games publishes all of it, from the core rules to the campaign books. If you’d rather play against a friend, Sfiligoi’s older Song of Blades and Heroes is the head-to-head fantasy skirmish game on the same shelf.