Archaelund

Archaelund is a roleplaying game in which you lead a party of adventurers across a vast open world, pursue your own goals, uncover secrets and take on quests, mysteries and battles. You explore in first person; when combat begins, the view shifts to a top-down battle grid, where you direct your party in strategic, turn-based fights.

Your party has saved enough money to sail east aboard the Silver Star. After two weeks crossing the Andor Sea, the ship reaches Archaelund, the ancient homeland of your ancestors. You soon become involved in a plot connected to the final days of the Andorian Empire, one that threatens the remnants of civilization.

The Fall and the Exile

For millennia, the Andorian Empire united humanity. A magical cataclysm then brought the Horrors from another world, annihilating the Empire and most of the human race within days. A few hundred ships escaped to Varannar, a savage island and distant imperial colony beyond the western ocean. The refugees struggled to rebuild, but never reunited under the Imperial banner.

The survivors formed the Exiled Kingdoms, each shaped differently by the Fall. Varsilia became devoted to Imperial history and tradition; the Ilmarans turned to a fanatical new faith; and in Thuram, the surviving Imperial Wizards established a magocracy focused on arcane matters, which declined into endogamy. In the west, the Kingdom of Mercia emerged from the surviving Imperial Legions, ruling through slavery and arbitrary discipline. The four Kingdoms’ conflicting ambitions and beliefs brought plots and open battles, amid a cycle of war, famine and misery.

The new frontier

Generations later, a sea route to Andoria was discovered, and people learned that the Horrors were gone. Much of the old continent was an uninhabitable wasteland, but explorers found Archaelund, a vast, fertile coastal region. Expeditions carried thousands of colonists, soldiers, adventurers and rogues there, drawn by the promise of land, riches and Imperial relics.

Recolonization brings dangers the Exiles did not expect. Eldritch energies and warped monsters roam a world scarred by the Horrors, while Imperial ruins hold unpredictable arcane hazards. The Kingdoms’ conflicts continue, and the Geldryn, a subterranean people once enslaved by the Andorian Empire, seek to inherit the surface world and are rising in strength.

Explore and fight

You can explore the world as you choose, find secrets, encounter trouble, get involved in conflicts or pursue your own aims. The world contains people to talk to, quests to complete, mysteries to solve, battles to fight and treasures to loot.

Combat uses a bounded system in which each battle matters and opponents remain dangerous. As your characters gain levels, they acquire new tactical options rather than simply higher numbers.

Develop your party

Characters begin in careers such as street ruffian, squire, hunter or beggar. They can later move into new careers, including advanced paths such as Knight, Loreseeker, Assassin and Battlemage. A character’s humble beginnings can also provide unique talents.