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, there is no reset planned for this alpha, and the people running it want to hear what broke.
- Classes
- Four for the alpha: Reaver, Ranger, Sorcerer and Assassin. Druid and Shaman are coming.
- Races
- Two for the alpha: Human and Ngawitu, each starting in their own lands with their own road to walk. More by beta.
- Levels
- 1 to the high teens, and the road keeps getting longer.
- 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.
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Five character slots to an account. Four filled here, one for each class that plays today, across both races and both roads.Header art by Zeus II / Mistigris.
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.
Run a board?
Your callers can play from your BBS, too. Skull Crash takes callers from other boards as a door: they arrive as themselves, with no second account to make, and their characters follow them from visit to visit. There are ready-made clients for ENiGMA½, Synchronet and Mystic, and one for any board that runs a STDIO or DOOR32 door.
A look at it
Captured from the running game — these are real frames, not mockups.
Claudia Ranger Lv16 HP 155/155 ≡ EN 60/60 The Feather Market ° ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Wula Dobile is one street wide and admits it. Adobe fronts stand on both sides, awnings pegged out over the doors, and every third house sells something a pilgrim forgot to bring: cord, oil, sandals, water. Nobody hurries. Talk is about the climb, always the climb, and whether the mules are worth what Kome asks. Behind a wall somewhere a woman is grinding maize, and the sound does not stop the whole time. Enter: the pilgrim house The Feather Market ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Trestles under a long awning, and on the trestles the feathers: hummingbird, laid out on dark cloth by size and by shine, hundreds of them. None are for sale. The Toyu gather what falls and show what they gather, and a trestle carrying two hundred shed feathers is making a claim about patience, not about stock. Buy the cloth, the pins, the cedar boxes. The feathers stay. A board at the end of the row says so in three languages. Enter: the ink house [NPC] Miwe Ngaxara * Miwe Ngaxara moves a trestle a hand's width and checks where the shade lands. * > 58c | 62% | - S W E SE SW ╦
Claudia Ranger Lv16 Ranged │> Mesa Lion Lv14 +2 < HP █████████ 155/155 │HP ██████████ 562/562 EN █████████ 60/60 Arw 257 │ │ Round 1 You > Mesa Lion ── COMBAT ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── > Mesa Lion ██████ +2 │[1] Snap Shot 5 S │[8] Arrow Rain 18 * │[K] Stable Shot 8 S │[L] Viper Strike 15 S >Psn │[2] Shove 10 * │[3] Crippling Shot 8 L >Crp │[4] Snipe 15 S ooc │[5] Quick Shot 7 L │─── 1-8 of 13 ──────────────────────── │ Snap Shot 5 EP Instant │ S R:0-2 Single CD:- │ A quick ranged attack dealing 60% [Up/Dn]Ability [1-9/A-Z/Enter]Use [Tab]Info [Esc]Back * Mesa Lion attacks you! * Combat begins! * ── Round 1 ── * You hold your position.
Maren Sorcerer Lv12 Ranged │> Lane Cutter Lv12 +2 < HP █████████ 99/99 │HP ██████████ 260/260 MA █████████ 157/157 │ │ Round 1 You > Lane Cutter > Lane Cutter ── COMBAT ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── > Lane Cutter ██████ +2 │[1] Arcane Bolt 10 S Lane Cutter ██████ +2 │[2] Force Wave 20 * │[4] Arcane Spark * │[5] Corruption 16 S >Cor │[6] Drawn Thread 15 * +SP │[7] Gathering Ruin 24 * cg │[3] Unmaking 34 U cg │[8] Grasping Dark 12 L >Hld │─── 1-8 of 10 ──────────────────────── │ Arcane Bolt 10 MP Instant │ S R:0-2 Single CD:- │ A bolt of raw arcane force: 2.4 base [Up/Dn]Ability [1-9/A-Z/Enter]Use [Tab]Info [Esc]Back * Lane Cutter attacks you! * Lane Cutter joins the fight! * Combat begins! * ── Round 1 ── * Lane Cutter growls, warning you away.
Claudia Ngawitu Ranger Lv 16 XP 62% ═[Overview]═[Stats]═[Skills]═[Traits]═[Effects]═[Reputation]═[Professions]══════ ┌─ Vitals ─────────────────┐ ┌─ Primary Attributes ─────────────────┐ │ HP █████████████ 155/155 │ │ STR 10 DEX 48 CON 25 │ │ EP ███████████████ 60/60 │ │ INT 9 WIS 17 CHA 10 │ │ XP ██████████▌░░░░░░ 62% │ │ │ │ Rested 0.0 L │ │ │ └──────────────────────────┘ └──────────────────────────────────────┘ ┌─ Combat ───────────────┐ ┌─ Defense ──────────┐ ┌─ Currency ─────┐ │ Damage 35 - 42 │ │ Armor 66 │ │ 58c │ │ Crit 7.3% x1.5 │ │ Dodge:AoE 0% │ └────────────────┘ │ Accuracy 63 │ │ Parry - │ ┌─ Effects ──────┐ │ Init +0 │ │ Block - │ │ │ │ AS 1.00 │ │ Tenacity 0 │ │ │ └────────────────────────┘ │ Resist 18% │ │ │ └────────────────────┘ │ │ └────────────────┘ [<>]Tabs [Up/Dn]Row [Enter]Detail [Esc]Close [G]ear [B]ags [P]aths(Lv10)
Quest Log Active: 1 Completed: 2 ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ [1:Active] [2:Complete] ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── >The Shadow of the S... │The Shadow of the Stone ███░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 17% │[ ] Track with F │──────────────────────────────────────────────────── │Status: Active │Turn in to Ape Misa'shuyu │ at The Priests' Walk │ │The post in the sun court throws a line, and the │temple has cut a mark where that line lands on the │three days it cares about: on the platform crown, │on the old terraces, and at the wind gap. Ape │wants each mark read. The ground between them │belongs to the mesa lions, and he wants four of │them dead so the ledges are quiet enough to read │from. Four lions, he says. He always says four. │ │ Objectives │──────────────────────────────────────────────────── ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [Up/Dn] Select [Tab] Tab [F] Focus [PgDn] Scroll [a/b] Reward [Esc] Close
Claudia Ngawitu Ranger Lv 16 Equipment ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ─ Weapons ─────────────────────────── │┌────────────────────────────────────┐ Mainhand -- ││ Dune-Strung Longbow │ Offhand -- ││ Common - Bow │ > Ranged Dune-Strung Longbow ││ Requires Level 14 │ ─ Worn ────────────────────────────── ││ │ Head Sandwalker Hood ││ Damage: 11 - 21 │ Shoulder Sandwalker Mantle ││ 2-Handed Ranged │ Chest Sandwalker Jerkin ││ │ Wrists Sandwalker Bracers ││ +1 Dexterity │ Hands Goathide Grip Gloves ││ │ Waist Backlane Belt ││ Strung heavy for air with no │ Legs Qanat-Runner Breeches ││ weight in it. The stave is │ Feet Sandwalker Boots ││ river-wood off the Bontang, hauled │ ─ Accessories ─────────────────────── ││ up the climb at a price the string │ Neck -- ││ never lets you forget. │ Back -- ││ │ Ring 1 -- ││ Sell: 20c │ Ring 2 -- │└────────────────────────────────────┘ Artifact -- │ ─ Piercings ───────────────────────── │ Ear 1 [locked] │ [Up/Dn] Slot [PgUp/Dn] Scroll [Enter] Swap [I]nspect [R]emove [Esc] Close [C]har [B]ags [P]aths(Lv10)
Inventory All 6/26 slots [Esc] Close ═[All]═[Pack]═[Quiver]═[Bag 1]═[Bag 2]═[Bag 3]═[Bag 4]══════════════════════════ ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Traveler's Pack (3/16) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── > [1] Warped Wooden Handle Item [2] Half-Empty Tincture Bottle Item [3] Minor Healing Potion x5 Usable (13 more slots empty) Hunter's Quiver (3/10) (ammo only) ──────────────────────────────────────────── [4] Bundle of Cast-off Arrows x57 Ammo [5] Bazaar Flight Arrows x100 Ammo [6] Bazaar Flight Arrows x100 Ammo (7 more slots empty) ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── [Up/Dn] Item [Tab] Bag [Enter] Inspect [D]rop [M]ove C[o]mbine [Esc] Close [C]har [G]ear [P]aths(Lv10)