Skull Crash
Thirteen crystal skulls fell out of the sky seventy thousand years ago, and where they landed, people woke up. Empires grew around the seven that were found. Six are still missing, and something has begun coming through the gaps they left.
Skull Crash is a text-mode RPG played through a terminal: eighty columns of CP437 and sixteen colours, the way the scene has always done it. The world is written rather than generated. Combat is turn-based and cares where you are standing.
Where it stands
This is an early alpha. The world is small, the systems are not finished, and you will find rough edges. It is playable, it saves your character, and the people running it want to hear what broke.
- Classes
- Two for the alpha: Reaver and Ranger. Assassin, Druid, Shaman and Sorcerer are due by beta.
- Races
- Two for the alpha: Human and Ngawitu, each starting in their own lands with their own opening quests. More by beta.
- Levels
- 1 to 9. Past that the content runs out, for now.
- Found a bug?
- Type
reportand what happened. It goes straight to the sysop, and during an alpha it is the single most useful thing you can do.
S K U L L C R A S H ───────────────────── Character Selection ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ─ Characters (2/5) ────────────── │ > Claudia │ [portrait placeholder] Toyu Ranger · Lv 9 │ Shrine Approach │ Claudia │ Ngawitu · Toyu · Female Rudokai │ Ranger -- Beast Caller background Common Reaver · Lv 5 │ The Village │ Lv 9 XP █░░░░░░░░░ 10% -- empty slot -- │ -- empty slot -- │ Quirks -- empty slot -- │ * Nervous │ │ Location: Shrine Approach │ Last played: 13m ago │ ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ [Up/Dn] Select [Enter] Play [N]ew [D]elete [L]ore [Esc] Log out
Five character slots to an account. A Ngawitu ranger and a human reaver, at different points in the alpha.
Getting in
There is no separate address to connect to. Skull Crash lives inside Xibalba: connect to the board the way you would for anything else, then type SC at the main menu.
A look at it
Captured from the running game — these are real frames, not mockups.
Claudia Ranger Lv9 HP 107/107 ≡ EN 42/42 The Lane ° The Village ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Doya Doshe. The Wise Houses. Thatched dwellings of woven reed and carved wood, open to the lane from the north. Stone-ringed fire pits, children cutting between huts. Dyed cloth hangings mark the doorways -- sunset oranges for the Toyu households, deep blues for the Yuru, mixed without any pattern. At the south end of the square, the Popol Nah stands wide and low, its reed door open. The forest edge is visible to the east. Enter: the Popol Nah [!] [NPC] Kolu Dexira [!] [NPC] Hishu Tevi [CRITTER] Doshe Bushiwi The Lane ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Household huts line both sides of the lane -- woven reed walls, family symbols carved above each door. Cook smoke from a morning fire. Someone left a pair of child's sandals beside a step. The lane opens south into the village square, where the Popol Nah stands at the far end. [NPC] Pelu Doshe > 10s 45c | 10% | - S W - NW SW
Claudia Ranger Lv9 Ranged │> Skull-touched Prowler Lv8 +2 < HP █████████ 107/107 │HP ██████████ 71/71 EN █████████ 42/42 │ │ Round 1 You > Skull-touched Prowler > Dodo Pepora ── COMBAT ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── > Skull-touched P... ██████ +2 │[1] Snap Shot 5 S Dodo Pepora ██████ +2 │[5] Arrow Rain 18 * │[6] Viper Strike 15 S >Psn │[7] Stable Shot 8 S │[2] Shove 10 * │[3] Snipe 15 S ooc │[4] Quick Shot 6 L │[8] Unarmed Strike * │────────────────────────────────────── │ Snap Shot 5 EP Instant │ S R:0-2 Single CD:- │ A quick ranged attack dealing 75% [Tab/`]Detail [PgUp]Log [/]Cmd [Up/Dn]Target * Skull-touched Prowler attacks you! * Dodo Pepora growls, warning you away. * Combat begins! * ── Round 1 ── * Dodo Pepora joins the fight! * Dodo Pepora joins the fight!
Claudia Ngawitu Ranger Lv 9 XP 10% ═[Overview]═[Stats]═[Traits]═[Weapons]═[Effects]═[Reputation]═══════════════════ ┌─ Vitals ─────────────────┐ ┌─ Primary Attributes ─────────────────┐ │ HP █████████████ 107/107 │ │ STR 10 DEX 27 CON 16 │ │ EP ███████████████ 42/42 │ │ INT 10 WIS 15 CHA 10 │ │ XP █▌░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 10% │ │ │ │ Rested 0.0 L │ │ │ └──────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─ Combat ───────────────┐ ┌─ Defense ──────────┐ ┌─ Currency ─────┐ │ Damage 15 - 21 │ │ Armor 15 │ │ 10s 45c │ │ Crit 6.3% x1.5 │ │ Dodge:AoE 0% │ └────────────────┘ │ Accuracy 63 │ │ Parry - │ ┌─ Effects ──────┐ │ Init +0 │ │ Block - │ │ │ │ AS 1.00 │ │ Tenacity 0 │ │ │ └────────────────────────┘ │ Resist 14% │ │ │ └────────────────────┘ │ │ └────────────────┘ [Tab] Switch [O/S/T/W/E/R] Jump [Arrows] Select [Enter] Detail [Esc] Close
Quest Log Active: 1 Completed: 0 ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ [1:Active] [2:Complete] ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── >The Sanctuary Awaits │The Sanctuary Awaits ███████░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 33% │[ ] Track with F │──────────────────────────────────────────────────── │Status: Active │Turn in to Suli Doru │ at Eclipse Cenote │ │Know the ground before you need it. Three places, │all from the water. West of the cenote, the │training grounds, where the teachers drill. East, │the village, where the work is handed out. South │down the sacbe, the Sun Stone in its clearing. │Walk all three, then come back to the cenote. │ │ Objectives │──────────────────────────────────────────────────── │ - Walk to the Training Grounds, the Village, and │ the Sun Pillar ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [Up/Dn] Select [Tab] Tab [F] Focus [PgDn] Scroll [Esc] Close
Claudia Ngawitu Ranger Lv 9 Equipment ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ─ Weapons ─────────────────────────── │┌────────────────────────────────────┐ > Mainhand Beyu Saju ││ Beyu Saju │ Offhand -- (2H) ││ Uncommon - Bow │ ─ Worn ────────────────────────────── ││ Requires Level 8 │ Head -- ││ │ Shoulder -- ││ Damage: 9 - 16 │ Chest Hide Vest of the Tortoise ││ Speed: 2.8 (4.5 DPS) │ Wrists -- ││ 2-Handed Ranged │ Hands -- ││ │ Waist -- ││ +1 Dexterity │ Legs Torn Leather Breeches ││ │ Feet Worn Boots of the Owl ││ A slim recurve Kipa strings │ ─ Accessories ─────────────────────── ││ himself, the belly shaved from │ Neck -- ││ kara heartwood and rubbed with │ Back -- ││ serpent fat until it looses │ Ring 1 -- ││ without a sound. It draws light │ Ring 2 -- ││ and holds a bead on prey that has │ Artifact -- ││ not yet heard you. │ ─ Piercings ───────────────────────── ││ │ Ear 1 [locked] ││ Sell: 1s 10c │ Ear 2 [locked] │└────────────────────────────────────┘ [Up/Dn] Slot [PgUp/Dn] Scroll [Enter] Swap [I]nspect [R]emove [Esc] Close