How to play
Getting started
RPG Thunder is a roguelike RPG that lives in Discord. Your character can die for good, but every life leaves something behind for the next one. Welcome. Mind the spiders.
What RPG Thunder is
You play a hero on a long road east, from Ashsquare towards the far end of the map. You rest in town, then commit to an expedition and see if you come back. Fights are turn-based: enemies show what they're about to do, and you pick one of your 4 abilities in reply.
- Death is permanent. A dead character stays dead, and their level, gold and gear go with them.
- Every life counts. Echoes, class unlocks, life skills and one heirloom carry over, so the next life goes further. See Life, death and heirs.
- It respects your time. Stamina holds 120, enough for a check-in or two a day. Expeditions wait for you between any two steps.
23 cities are open to explore so far. The road goes further; it just isn't paved yet.
Where to play
It's one character everywhere. Your account is your Discord account, so whatever you do in Discord shows up on the web and the other way round.
In Discord
- Add RPG Thunder to a server, or to your own account to play in DMs and any server.
- Type
/startand choose your first hero. - Play with
/townand its buttons, or type/playto open the Activity: the same game with a battle scene and a route map, inside Discord.
Your own screens are private: only you see them. Big moments, like deaths, boss kills and rare loot, are posted to the server for everyone.
On the web
- Go to play.rpgthunder.com.
- Choose Log in with Discord.
- If you haven't played yet, choose Start your journey, then pick one of the heroes on Choose your hero.
Main commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/start | Begins your journey, or picks an heir after a death. |
/town | Your town screen: patrols, gate expeditions and your pack. |
/play | Opens the game as a Discord Activity, with the battle scene and map. |
/fight | One fight near your checkpoint city, for 5 stamina. |
/inventory | Your pack. Wear gear, mark your heirloom and see your consumables. |
/profile | Your character, or anyone else’s. |
/gather /craft /eat /skills | Life skills: gathering, crafting, cooking and eating for stamina. |
/bounties /chest | The daily bounty board and the weekly chest. |
/market /trade | Buy and sell with every server, or trade with one player. |
/party | Form a party of friends and run expeditions together. |
/legacy | Spend Echoes on the legacy tree. |
/boss | This week’s world boss in the server. |
/leaderboard | This season’s leaderboards. |
/cosmetics | See and wear cosmetics. Looks only. |
/classes | The classes of the realm. |
/settings | Choose whether your name goes on wiki discoveries. |
Server admins also get /setup graveyard and /setup game, which pick the channels for obituaries and for public moments.
Your first hour
1. Choose your hero
You're offered 3 relatives. Each has a class and one or two traits. Every new account starts with Warrior only, so at first the traits are what makes them different.
2. Look around Ashsquare
Everyone starts in Ashsquare, a level 1 city. Town is safe. Check your pack, then pick a way out.
3. Go on a patrol
A patrol is a short loop of 3 steps around town, fighting the local wildlife. Each step costs 5 stamina. It's the low-risk way to earn your first levels and some gold, though you can still die.
4. Take the gate expedition
When you feel ready, set out on a gate expedition: a branching route to the next city. At the end of the road waits Ashsquare's gate boss. Beat it and the road opens.
The first time anyone on your account beats that boss, you also unlock a new class for every life after. Your future relatives will be very grateful, or at least more varied.
Fights start on autopilot, so easy ones resolve in a single message. It hands you control when it gets dangerous. Combat basics explains how to take it from there.
5. Come back later
When you run low on stamina, stop. An expedition waits between any two steps, and stamina comes back while you're away. See Stamina for the numbers.
Next, read How a run works for the rules of the road.