Core Rulebook
Your torch is a timer. Your mana is a countdown. Your humanity is a currency.
The world ended nine hundred years ago. The sun dimmed. The Shroud fell. And in the perpetual twilight that followed, humanity learned to survive by the light of a torch and the edge of a blade.
Sunderwake is a dark fantasy tabletop roleplaying game where every resource is a lifeline. Your torches burn in real time. Your mana pool doesn't reset at dawn. And the Corruption system will grant you exactly the power you need to survive — at a price you won't understand until it's too late.
Nine classes. Seven ancestries. One book. No safety net.
How dark a grey are you willing to become?
Overview
Sunderwake is a complete, standalone dark fantasy roleplaying game built around three mechanical pillars: light, magic, and corruption. It runs on an original d20-based system — not a retroclone, not a heartbreaker, not a 5e reskin — built from the ground up to make survival matter.
When you light a torch, the GM starts a real clock. Sixty minutes. The darkness doesn't wait. Casters draw from a finite mana pool that doesn't reset after a nap. Only the safety of a fortified settlement restores everything. And the Corruption system tracks every dark bargain and moral compromise, granting real mechanical power — darkvision, necrotic resistance, freedom from hunger and sleep — until at Corruption 10, your character is no longer yours.
This is a game about desperate people in a world that has already ended. It just hasn't finished dying.
What’s Included
- ▸Nine classes: Fighter, Rogue, Ranger, Paladin, Tinkerer, Cleric, Wizard, Sorcerer, Warlock
- ▸Seven ancestries: Human, Dusk Elf, Deep Dwarf, Hollow Halfling, Tiefling, Dhampir, Automaton
- ▸Full mana-based magic system with 140+ spells across six tiers
- ▸Corruption system (0–10 scale) with real mechanical consequences
- ▸Real-time torch tracking rules
- ▸70+ monsters with tactical behavior and fear checks
- ▸Boons and banes system
- ▸Complete equipment list and economy
- ▸Four ready-to-play adventures
- ▸Twelve pre-generated characters
- ▸GM guide: encounter building, sandbox tools, and session prep
Storefront Description
A dark fantasy tabletop RPG where your torch is a timer, your mana is a countdown, and your humanity is a currency. Nine classes, seven ancestries, 140+ spells, 70+ monsters, and four adventures — complete in one book. No other books required. Game mechanics released under CC-BY-4.0.
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