Throne Requiem

Throne Requiem is a first-person, party-based dungeon crawler set in a medieval world overtaken by darkness. You form a team, prepare in a town at the edge of the Abyss and send your party into the Dark Tower to fight the beasts within. In Original Mode, you choose from 50 classes to make a six-member team; Tamer Mode gives you one party member, who can recruit one of 58 monsters along the way.

The world and the Abyss

Before the coming of despair, life was normal. Then the sun began to blacken, the skies filled with blood and light became the most traded resource. Beasts entered the world, kingdoms fell and new villages arose. Humanity joined together to march to the Gate of the Abyss, sending parties to explore it and kill the Dark God believed to have created it.

The Abyss can leave your party with broken bones, infections and bleeding wounds. Beasts can also damage party members’ sanity, cause trauma and drive them to leave the party while shouting unknown phrases into the night. Larger enemies can threaten to slaughter your team, and major battles include attacks shaped by choices: a bad decision can lead to an unrecoverable death.

Life in the Town

The nameless Town is where those entering the Abyss rest. Its short history is randomized at the start of each game, affecting things in small ways. It has stores, a church, a prison, a town hall and other places, and its residents offer quests, help and teachings that can aid your survival.

You can buy and sell at stores, or loot them and kill their owners. You can ignore the prisoners’ cries or help them seek revenge against shopkeepers and the Church. A stock-market simulation runs behind the stores and affects whether they remain in business. Your credit with the people determines how much you can buy or borrow. Purchases can improve your standing for loans, but debt compounds quickly; if you take on too much, a debt collector comes to collect a soul.

The Town may have a Pagan or Christian Church, depending on its randomized history. Churches offer services, quests and rewards, often in return for donations, including offerings for those who need Holy Orbs. Beasts also have gods represented by statues in the main dungeon. You can renounce humanity’s Gods and worship these beings, or destroy their statues; the beasts’ gods may answer prayers, but renouncing your faith has consequences and can prevent you from returning to the Church.

Keep your party alive

You need food, steel and courage to survive. Prepare carefully, maintain each party member’s sanity and eat food before it rots. Campfires let party members speak their minds and search for goods, with other activities depending on who is in the party. If someone loses their sanity, they may abandon the group.

Each of the six named crew members begins with a distinct trait. Kestrel leads the group, and their speeches can inspire the party or fill it with despair during battle. Graham has a strong sense of morals; Ceolumnd puts the group ahead of themselves and may ask the beasts to attack them instead. Chad’s fame outside the Abyss has given them pride. Deorwine has a deadly infection and medication that prolongs their life while making them very sick; treatments without side effects are expensive, though the Town may offer other ways to remove the infection. Oswald’s dark past taught them to siphon energy from others, a skill that is effective in battle.

One crew member may be a traitor, chosen at the start if someone has thoughts of betrayal. There can only be one, and you will not know who it is unless someone sees the future—though that person may lie.

Classes and party roles

Your party’s class composition affects how difficult survival is, and not every class is viewed equally by the people. The description identifies 42 classes to choose from, including:

• Knight: a common warrior who uses the Blade to seek adventure.
• Archer: a skilled bow user who once guarded a great wall.
• Mage: a magic user without a specialty in one area.
• Rogue: a scout who uses traditional village weapons and is less skilled at uncovering secrets.
• Doctor: treats broken bones and infections quickly.
• Bard: uses song and dance to give life to the party.
• Druid: speaks to the beasts of the earth.
• Monk: seeks ascendance through prayer.
• Alchemist: creates potions, including unknown mixtures and powerful brews.
• Berserker: enters an unstable but stronger state in battle.
• Sorcerer: gives up years to magic and is physically weak.
• Artificer: fuses holy weapons and creates weapons only they can use.
• Enchanter: focuses on buffs and debuffs, and can visit the Town’s fountain to strengthen a party buff.
• Assassin: a weaker warrior who uses the shadows to make stronger attacks.
• Jester: can buff the party and tell a joke.
• Mystic: speaks with roaming spirits and uses them against beasts.
• Templar: a holy crusader who goes to the Pope to save the Darkness.
• Shapeshifter: transforms into different forms to change how they fight.
• Summoner: brings beasts into battle to take their place.
• Psionic: reads minds and uses them against opponents in combat.
• Runemaster: masters the runes used by beasts and needs items for major attacks.
• Witch: bewitches opponents.
• Seer: sees the future but may lie if it benefits them.
• Geomancer: works with boulders.
• Duelist: uses passion to fuel their skill with a blade.
• Farmer: grows food and is especially good at collecting mushrooms in the Tower.
• Cook: prepares food at campfires or special places to bring joy and extra bonuses; cooked food can rot.
• Juggernaut: wears full-body armor and is slow but strong.
• Pyromancer: uses limited flame, can set up campfires for free and casts fire magic.
• Frost Mage: freezes things.
• Stormcaller: calls lightning from any sky.
• Puppet: a soul trapped in a puppet’s body, weak but infused with magic.
• Demonologist: drinks enough blood to transform and speak with demons; their gifts require sacrifices, and Christians dislike them.
• Scout: watches for threats, finds things near campfires and uses a gun to survive.
• Prisoner: may steal from the party and can gain bonuses with low Karma.
• Karma Sage: draws strength from strong Karma, is disliked by Pagans and is banned from Pagan Churches.
• Merchant: uses debt for bonuses and personal gain; gamblers can also buy store stock through the Town’s market.
• Noble: grows stronger through fame and the people’s worship.
• Monkey: an aggressive pet trained to fight beasts that may go Feral and attack friend or foe.
• Leper: is very sick, less able to support others at campfires and can infect enemies.
• Villager: has no special traits, but gains a stronger special attack when the party is less well known.
• Beggar: knows how to beg, though not everyone responds kindly.
• Soul: has no body and cannot deal damage.
• Child: unskilled and weak, and barely escaped the gallows to join the fight.
• Dog: weak and sickly, with a barely effective bite.
• Panther: evasive after escaping its owner.
• Hamster: the weakest creature in the land, but difficult to hit.
• Elemental: struggles to hold its form and is weak to physical attacks.
• Golem: has a metal body strong against physical attacks but weak to magic.
• Elephant: has a strong body but cannot use magic or equip items.
• Minotaur: gains more stats on level-up than any other class except in agility, but cannot equip weapons or armor.

Choices and consequences

Your decisions can help or harm humanity. You may lead a party that serves everyone or one that looks after itself; your choices affect how people view you and can influence what happens later. The party’s goal is to reach the end, confront the Dark God and overthrow the endless night—or die in the attempt.