DOOMSPIRAL: Quickstart
A downloadable game
“Saltcrag is your only way off this shore, and then up the cliffs toward the lands of the gods." - Tetherless Tarvold
Venture to Saltcrag, the rain-savaged fortress at the end of the world, in the quickstart dungeon of DOOMSPIRAL, a new roleplaying game system from SoulMuppet Publishing.
This product features all the rules you need to play DOOMSPIRAL, as well as 6 premade character backgrounds and a short 1-2 session adventure.
The world has begun a perilous Doomspiral of decay and despair. Before long it will be dust. It is on your characters, the Forsaken, to reforge the Loom of Fate and either reestablish order or bring this dying world to a swift, clean end.
The world of DOOMSPIRAL draws inspiration from the dark fantasy creations of Hidetaka Miyazaki. Exploring this labyrinthine love letter to Dark Souls and Elden Ring, you’ll find a combat system that rewards player mastery, a sprawling and interconnected world that invites you to explore every cave and dungeon, and an enigmatic array of monsters and non-player characters that may help or hinder your Forsaken on their quest to kill the gods themselves.
DOOMSPIRAL is written by Nick Spence (Gangs of Titan City, Best Left Buried, Heist Game) with illustrations by Dwyn D’Alton Goode.
DOOMSPIRAL will face its first boss fight (a Kickstarter campaign) in September 2025.
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Had a blast running the quickstart with a small party
The main complaints were that the Oracle's kit didn't feel as worthwhile in the quickstart. The Grave Robber felt too tanky for the amount of damage it could easily do, the Stalvagger felt much too versatile and the Scholar felt lacking in it's variety of spell usage as it couldn't even take the second option from the spellbook you find.
In terms of combat it was an absolute blast that was easy to pickup and enjoyable to find strategies in. Am looking forward to the full release of the game.
Really intrigued by the game's vibes!
It nails that moody Soulslike atmosphere in a tabletop format, which is no small feat. (We shall not talk about that darksouls d20 """game""")
There's so much potential here, and it feels like the game wants to be this singular, grand, glorious campaign with a deep lore and a final god-tier antagonist (which is awesome!).
That said, I feel like there is a future intention to frame the game to have a singular, grand campaign with all the lore/plot/clmax typical to soulslike (like your future intention to explicitly playtest boss battles);
I think the pacing could really benefit from being broken into smaller narrative arcs, something like distinct "hunts" or focused dungeon/area explorations (similar to how CAIN does exorcism missions or Vaesen handles investigations). Clearer arcs (like one dungeon, one mystery, one cursed beast, etc etc) could make sessions feel tighter and more satisfying while still feeding into the bigger story and the oppressive mood.
... OK, that might lean a bit closer to Bloodborne’s mood than Dark Souls.. but it's still very much in the Soulslike family, no?
i can suggest maybe a dedicated section in the rules for what happens during one “hunt” or journey, alongside stuff about bonding with NPCs, other PCs, preparing to the next mission or even building up your base/Nexus, would add some nice rhythm to the overall experience.
Really excited to see where this goes!
P.S.: for the love of God please add bookmarks to your quickstart's PDF. I can even do that for you, if you prefer XD
I must say, from what I can read this is definetly one of the most interesting and well thought attemptes at translating a souls-like game style into the TTRPG format.
The quickstart layout and art is also really good, I'll definetly try this out with my group and will keep an eye out for when that kickstarter campaign starts