Game Manual

Coven & Crown is a dark fantasy BBS-style RPG set in the crumbling city of Crownfall. It features text-heavy, atmospheric gameplay with turn-based combat, character progression, a player-driven economy, and optional PvP.

The Gameplay Loop

1. Create an account and confirm your email.
2. Create a character — pick a class, allocate stats, and receive starter gear.
3. Explore — move between zones and search for encounters.
4. Fight — defeat enemies for XP, gold, and loot.
5. Upgrade — buy better gear, bank your gold, level up.
6. Manage your Nerve — stamina pool that regenerates over time and modifies rewards.
7. Survive — death is punishing. Bank your gold. Salvage unwanted gear.

Character Name Rules

• 3–24 characters long.
• Letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, and underscores only.
• Must be unique and pass the profanity filter.

Account Settings

Use Settings in the top bar to change your password. You will need to enter your current password first; then Coven & Crown sends a secure link to your account email where you can choose a new password.

Help & Feedback

Use User Manual in the top bar to open this guide in a new tab. Logged-in players can use Feedback to report problems; the report includes your account, character, page, and browser details so issues are easier to investigate.

Starting Gold

Every new character starts with a random amount of gold: 2–9 gold.

There are five classes. Each determines your combat style, stat bonuses, starter gear, and HP/MP growth per level.

Starting Stats (Level 1, Default Allocation)

Starter Gear

Five Core Stats

Effective Stat Calculation

Your effective stat = base stat + equipment bonuses − injury penalties (minimum 1).

Stat Modifier

The stat modifier formula is: (effective_stat − 10) ÷ 2 (rounded down). For example: stat 8 → −1, stat 10 → 0, stat 12 → +1, stat 14 → +2.

Point-Buy System

At character creation, you have 3 bonus points to spend. Stats range from 6 to 15 (before class bonuses). Your final stat = point-buy value + class bonus.

Combat is turn-based. Each round you take one action, then the enemy acts.

Combat-log narration varies by enemy, progression tier, class ability, defense, intent, and status effect. Mechanical results remain explicit and color-coded: damage is red, healing and recovery green, MP costs violet, defense and shields parchment, and status effects gold. Labels such as Deals, Costs, and Applies ensure color is never the only cue.

Actions

Enemy Intent (Telegraphing)

Enemies in combat do not act randomly; they plan their moves in advance:

• Telegraphed Actions: Before you make your move, the enemy's next planned action is displayed in the combat interface. If the enemy survives your turn, it will execute exactly that action.
• Varying Intents: Enemy intents can include normal Attacks, Heavy Attacks, Guarding, Healing, Debuffs, Siphons (lifesteal), or unique Boss moves.
• Strategic Response: Use this telegraphed information to plan your round. For example, if you see the enemy preparing a devastating Heavy Attack, it is an excellent time to use the Defend action or apply a shield. If they are planning to Heal or Guard, you might want to launch your strongest attack to break through.

Class-Specific Defend Effects

Defending in combat activates a special preparation for the next round based on your class:

• Knight (Counterstance): Prepares a defensive stance. If the enemy uses an attack action on you this turn, you counter-attack to deal damage.
• Witch (Gather Malice): Focuses dark energy. Increases the duration of the next curse (debuff) you cast by 1 turn, or increases the damage of the next spell you cast by 20%.
• Thief (Vanish in Place): Steps into the shadows. Grants +25% dodge chance against the next incoming attack, +20% flee chance, and restores 1 additional MP after a successful dodge.
• Necromancer (Grave Ward): Conjures a bone shield. Prepares a ward that converts 35% of damage prevented by Defend into a temporary shield, capped at 20% of maximum HP.
• Alchemist (Prepare Compound): Readies reagents. Infuses your next ability, granting +15% damage, +20% healing, +20% shield strength, or +10% siphon damage and healing.

Damage Formulas

Player attack: Random(weapon_min, weapon_max) + stat_modifier − enemy_defense (minimum 1). Unarmed: 1–2 damage.

Enemy attack: Random(1, enemy_dmg_max) − your Grit modifier (minimum 1).

Player Evasion

You have a 5% + (Guile × 1%) chance to dodge any enemy attack entirely.

Victory Rewards

Defeated enemies in PvE battles award XP and Gold, scaled by your current Nerve state and the level delta between you and the enemy. Fighting enemies far below your level yields drastically reduced rewards.

Additionally, successful PvE victories restore 5% of your maximum MP (with a minimum of 1 MP). This MP recovery does not apply to fleeing, defeat, or PvP battles. The victory screen lists each XP, MP, and Gold gain on its own line.

Loot Drops

Two independent rolls on victory:

• Enemy-specific drop: Some enemies have unique drops at a fixed chance. Disabled for repeated boss kills.
• Rare gear drop: 5% base chance (modified by Nerve) to find a random weapon or armor within ±2 levels.

Combat Resume

If you refresh or lose connection during combat, the session persists. You'll be redirected back to the fight when you return.

Each class has unique abilities unlocked at specific levels. You can equip up to 3 active abilities at a time. Newly learned abilities are auto-slotted if you have room. Open BOOK on the dashboard to manage the combat loadout; its main information button explains the system, while the information button beside each ability shows its full effect, MP cost, unlock level, and current slot status.

Abilities execute a variety of effects, such as dealing damage, healing HP, siphoning health, or applying shields. Each ability scales off its primary stat (Might, Wits, Guile, or Grit). Some physical abilities use your equipped weapon's damage and fall back to unarmed damage if the weapon is missing. Recasting a shield replaces its remaining strength instead of stacking it.

⚔️ Knight

🔮 Witch

🗡️ Thief

💀 Necromancer

⚗️ Alchemist

Ability Damage Tiers

The level cap is 25. Reaching an XP threshold makes you eligible for the next level but does not advance you automatically. Use Preview Level on the dashboard to review exact maximum HP and MP gains, ability unlocks, automatic ability-slot behavior, restoration, and whether the level grants attributes or items. Confirm advancement from that preview when ready for stronger encounters. Advancement processes only one level at a time and extra XP remains banked.

XP Table

Milestone HP/MP Bonuses

In addition to per-level HP/MP gains, you receive bonus HP and MP at milestone levels:

Progression Arcs

Nerve acts as a stamina pool that limits sustained grinding without blocking you from playing. Every character has the same maximum Nerve capacity of 30, regardless of level. Your Nerve pool regenerates automatically over real elapsed time (1 point every 30 minutes, online or offline) and fully refills at 4:00 AM Eastern Time.

Nerve States

Nerve Costs

• Search the Blackwood / Crownvault: 1 Nerve per search, paid when you click the button.
• Hunt for Enemies: 1 Nerve, paid when you click the button.
• Combat victory / Flee / Defeat: 0 additional Nerve. The search or hunt already paid the cost.
• Boss encounters via Search: 1 Nerve total. The search paid; the boss result adds nothing extra.
• When Nerve is Spent, you can still explore and fight normally, but rewards are reduced to 25% until it recovers.

Boss Repeat Protection

Killing the same boss again on the same day yields only 20% XP/Gold and disables all drops entirely.

Item Types

Inventory Limits

• Carried inventory: 30 stacks maximum.
• Tavern storage: 100 stacks maximum. Safe from death.
• Stack size: 99 per stack (consumables and materials).

Rarity Tiers

Item cards identify rarity with the written tier, a diamond marker, a colored name, and a slim left border. Common uses muted parchment, Uncommon uses poison green, and Rare uses Coven violet, so rarity remains readable without relying on color alone.

Consumables

How You Earn Gold

How You Spend Gold

Blacksmith

• Buy weapons and armor (level-gated — you can't buy gear above your level).
• Shop listings are grouped as Available, Requires Higher Level, and Already Owned. Owned items appear last with subdued styling.
• Sell eligible unequipped gear for a flat 50% of its base cost (minimum 1 gold).
• Salvage unwanted unequipped weapons and armor into crafting and progression materials.
• Option to "Buy & Equip" for immediate use.

Healer

• Clinical Restoration: Restores missing HP (1g per 5 HP), missing MP (1g per 5 MP), and cures afflictions (15g each). Free for levels 1–2.
• Sell Supplies: Sell consumables and materials to the Healer at 50% of cost. Supplies are listed alphabetically by name.

Bank

• Deposit/Withdraw gold freely.
• Banked gold is safe from death — you cannot lose it.
• Interest: 1% every 24 hours (minimum 1 gold). Collected manually via button.

Player Market

• List items for sale at your chosen price. Suggested price shown (Blacksmith sell × 1.2).
• Buyers pay full price. Sellers receive price minus 5% tax.
• Listings expire after 24 hours — items return to your storage.
• You can cancel listings to get items back.

Apothecary (NPC Shop)

Located on the Market page. Sells Healing Tonics (15g), Mana Tonics (20g), Smoke Bombs (30g), and Lockpicks (25g) at fixed prices.

Tavern

• Atmosphere & Rumors: Draw from more than 40 mechanical hints and pieces of local gossip covering Crownfall's major activities and destinations.
• Storage: Store items safely (up to 100 stacks). Storage items are never lost on death.
• The Tavern has its own local chat channel.

Office of Corrections

• Respec Stats: Reallocate your point-buy stats. Cost escalates: 100g → 250g → 500g → 1,000g.
• Change Class: Switch to a new class (same escalating cost, shares the counter). Resets abilities and recalculates HP/MP.
• Corpse Recovery: Pay the Registrar to retrieve a corpse from anywhere: 20 + (level × 5) gold, doubled for Crownvault. Inflicts a random injury.

Municipal Rat Confirmation (Emergency Work)

• Emergency Payout: Destitute adventurers level 3 and above can perform emergency work for the municipality by counting rats in the City Square.
• Level Requirement: You must be level 3 or higher. Levels 1–2 are covered by Crownfall's newcomer protections (free healing, protected death).
• Gold Eligibility: Available only when both your carried gold and banked gold are strictly below 10 gold.
• Combat Lock: Blocked during active combat sessions.
• Daily Limit: Limited to exactly one claim per game day (resets at 4:00 AM Eastern time rollover).
• Reward: Awards exactly 25 gold added directly to your carried gold.

The game world is a connected graph of locations. Select Location on the dashboard to open the full-screen travel map, or use the local navigation buttons. Major districts use restrained accent colors and background washes as orientation cues, while their written names and descriptions remain the authoritative location indicators.

World Map

City Square ─── Tavern
     │
     ├── Blackwood Gate ─── Blackwood Forest
     │
     └── Streets
           ├── Arena Lobby ─── Arena Pit
           ├── Witch Market Alleys (Witch only)
           ├── Crownfall Graveyard (Necromancer only)
           ├── Gutter Court (Thief only)
           ├── Knights Keep (Knight only)
           ├── Alchemists Sanctum (Alchemist only)
           └── Crownvault Gate ─── The Tax Crypts (Level 5+)

Combat Zones

Blackwood Exploration Events

When you "Search the Woods" in Blackwood, 1 Nerve is spent and one of these happens (weighted random):

• Combat (2/7 chance): Random enemy encounter.
• Shrine (1/7): Full HP/MP restore.
• Witch's Hut (1/7): Buy a Healing Tonic for 5 gold.
• Resource Find (1/7): A random crafting material.
• Nothing (2/7): Atmospheric flavor text.
• At Level 5+, there's a 25% chance any event is replaced by the boss.

Search cannot produce more than three non-combat events in a row; the next search is guaranteed to start an encounter.

Hunt for Enemies also costs 1 Nerve and always starts combat with a random Blackwood enemy. No additional Nerve is charged when you win, flee, or die.

Crownvault Exploration Events

Requires Level 5+. Events:

• Combat (2/6): Random Crownvault enemy.
• Sealed Ledger (1/6): Find a valuable Sealed Ledger item.
• Complaining Gold (1/6): Gain 25 gold, take 2 damage.
• Dusty Clerk (1/6): Find a Mana Tonic.
• Skeleton (1/6): Flavor text.
• At Level 8+, there's a 15% chance to face the Auditor of Bones boss.

Fast Travel

Use the Location button on your dashboard to fast-travel directly to any zone or city service, bypassing the normal connection graph.

Under Level 3 (Protected)

• 10% of carried gold lost permanently.
• HP set to 50% of max. Teleported to City Square.
• No corpse dropped. All items retained.

Level 3+ (Full Penalties)

• 10% of carried gold lost permanently (destroyed).
• 25% of carried gold placed on your corpse.
• All carried and equipped items placed on your corpse.
• Items in Tavern storage are safe.
• HP set to 50% of max. Teleported to City Square.

Corpse Recovery

Injuries are persistent stat penalties applied when you use the Registrar for corpse recovery. Multiple injuries stack.

Curing Injuries

Injuries can be treated via Clinical Restoration at the Healer, costing 15 gold per active injury (free for levels 1–2).

Arena Duels (Safe)

• 100% safe. No corpse, no gold loss, no item loss.
• Winner receives 50 XP.
• Challenge via the Arena UI or the /duel <name> command.

World PvP (Lethal)

• Available in non-safe zones only.
• Loser drops a full corpse (gold + all carried items). 10% gold permanently lost.
• Initiator gains Heat and Threat.

Brackets

You can only challenge players within a +/- 3 level range of your current level.

New Player Protection

Characters under level 3 with PvP protection enabled cannot be challenged. Protection is permanently disabled for both players once a challenge is accepted.

Safe Locations

PvP is blocked in: City Square, Tavern, Bank, Healer, Office of Corrections, Market, Arena Lobby, and the Blacksmith.

Alchemist class only. Craft consumables from gathered materials via your Inventory.

Material Sources

Turn in proof-of-kill items at the Market for gold rewards. Requires the matching material item in your inventory; contracts you cannot currently claim have disabled Claim buttons.

Chat Channels

• Global: Visible to all players (when not at the Tavern).
• Tavern: Only visible to players at the Tavern.

Slash Commands

News Feed

The dashboard shows recent game news — player deaths, PvP and Arena victories, boss kills, bounty completions, corpse recoveries, rare loot, and system announcements. Automatic notices vary their wording while always stating the relevant names, locations, rewards, losses, or recovered belongings.

Who's Online

The dashboard shows players who have been active in the last 5 minutes. The global navigation also displays a broader Players Online count for players active within the last 15 minutes.

• Bank early, bank often. Carried gold is lost on death. Banked gold is safe and earns interest.
• Salvage unwanted gear. Break down off-class or low-level gear at the Blacksmith to get materials.
• Watch your Nerve. If it runs low or becomes spent, your rewards are reduced, but you can keep exploring and fighting.
• Store valuable items. Items in Tavern storage survive death. Keep backup gear there.
• Use the Defend action when you're low on HP and waiting for an opportunity to heal or flee.
• Carry Smoke Bombs. They guarantee escape from combat — useful when outmatched.
• Sell materials at the Healer. Consumables and materials can be sold at the Healer for 50% of their value.
• Alchemists should gather materials. Crafting potions and bombs is cheaper than buying them.
• Don't fight enemies too far below your level. Rewards are drastically reduced when the level gap is large.
• Retry an expired form. If a page remains open long enough for its security token to expire, the game rejects that submission safely and returns you to refresh the action.