.dungeon is a tabletop RPG love letter to making friends online

An upcoming RPG is bringing the virtual world and real friendships of the internet to the tabletop.

.dungeon - that’s (dot)dungeon - is said to be inspired by massively multiplayer online video games such as World of Warcraft, as well as the isekai genre of anime and manga series such as Digimon and Sword Art Online, in which an everyday person from Earth finds themselves exploring a different world. In this case, that other world is a representation of the internet known as Anwnn.

Rather than focusing on combat, .dungeon’s tension comes from forming relationships with other people - both fellow members of your party, and inhabitants of the online world you explore. Replacing conventional hit points for individual characters is a measure of ‘connection’, shared between the entire party. Connection is gained by interacting positively with people - for example, by sharing stories or art - and lost by finding yourself in opposition.

The players can - and will - find themselves in opposition to plenty. .dungeon’s tests are performed by dice roll-offs, in which the character rolls one die and whatever is opposing them rolls a matching polyhedral. This can be individual people and threats, or something more abstract such as the weather. The higher number wins, simple as that.

Each character trait - which include real-world traits such as perception and charm, as well as knowledge of the virtual world through meta, mastery of its system and straightforward RNG (random number generation) used in truly unpredictable situations - is represented by a die between a four-sided d4 and classic d20. The game world itself takes the form of a 20-sided die, with each face featuring different terrain, adventures and inhabitants.

.dungeon’s classes are said to draw from the different roles of social deduction game Werewolf, bringing elements of the characters’ real world lives into the online setting of Anwnn. The Beast can transform into their pets, while the Artist helps gain connection by creating artwork, stories and poetry. Other classes include the likes of the Knight and the Hacker. The game also allows players to create their own custom classes, with the ability to play adventures from other tabletop RPGs using the simple ruleset.

.dungeon is currently live on Kickstarter, where its campaign will run until October 4th. The campaign has already passed its funding target, with a number of stretch goals - including an audiobook version and hardback edition - lined up.

A free playtest version of the RPG can be found on Itch.io, including a comprehensive set of rules in plain text. The full rulebook will feature additional artwork and visuals stylised after computer code, along with a companion soundtrack available through the Kickstarter.