Ashes of Arcanum

About

Ashes of Arcanum is a PC-based RPG and simulator that leans heavily into its tabletop roots. Players build a character from scratch and navigate six distinct realms, ranging from a chaotic red world to a tech-driven gray one, each with its own themes and challenges. The core loop revolves around gaining knowledge and experience to either Ascend, stealing power from existing leaders, or Descend, surrendering strength to a primordial force. Co-op multiplayer adds layers of strategy as parties clash in large-scale duels once characters hit level 21. Every move matters since death isn’t just a setback, it’s a permanent loss. What sets this apart is the rigid structure beneath its open-ended goals. The game forces tough choices: fight for dominance in high-stakes battles or walk away from the chaos entirely. While the lore-heavy setup might feel dense, it gives weight to every decision. Early feedback from playtests suggests the balance between player agency and narrative momentum works surprisingly well, though the lack of solo modes could limit its reach.

Storyline

The "setting"? uhhh A world flourishing after a 10k year long war. 2 gods are dead, 3 are MIA and the other one doesn't care. So the realms they take care of? yeah not being cared for. so you can go to any realm and do whatever you want. and its probably lore and book accurate. theres 6 realms (in the main image of the game) EImon(red- Chaos), Elusia(Green - Nature), Grimlow(Black - Underworld), Sostrum(Blue - Mana), Vidulyn(Gray - Technology), Yumalon(White- Overworld) So with the gods completely out of commissions. It's up to the Ascensions to bring order to the realms. This power given to ascensions is given by the same elder primordial who gave its power to the gods in the first place, but this thing wants you to earn it. So anyways, Your goal as a player(The Fateborne) is to take control of a member(Create one) of Ardron(the universe) and either: 1. Ascend and take control of the realm of your birth to protect it. 2. Descend, and give all of your power to the elder primordial so that they can help take care of the realm of your birth. If your character dies? You get nothing. You lose, GOOD DAY SIR! The kicker is. To ascend or descend. You have to acquire knowledge. experience(points), and become stronger. However once you become level 21. You become an Initiate. You steal half of the current Ascensions power. and your Game Master(Weavers) will set up a duel either between you 2 specifically, or the whole party versus all the parties ascensions at the same time. Big war time. lots of fun. Or you can just concede and Descend right then and there. That's the setting and the plot/reasoning for the game. If your character don't have a goal. Well it has one now, or maybe your character wants to do something else and just accidentally finds themselves in this situation? Who knows. Its your character.