Everything you need to play

Getting started

1. Create an account. Sign up on this site. An email address is required when you sign up. It is how you recover a lost password.
2. Create a character. Pick a name, a class and a race. The server rolls six ability scores for you with four six-sided dice, dropping the lowest die for each. You choose which score goes to which ability. The server checks that you assigned exactly the scores it rolled, and then applies your race’s adjustments once.
3. Press Play. You arrive in Eastford, the starting town.

Your first minute. Walk toward a villager and press T to talk. Walk into the glowing doorway of The Salty Mug and press E to go inside. Press Enter to say something in chat, and everyone nearby will see it. When you are ready for a fight, face a monster and press X.

Controls

The game runs in your browser and is built for a keyboard. A gamepad also works.

• W, A, S, D or the arrow keys steer your hero. The hero turns and moves in the direction you steer, and the camera follows.
• X attacks.
• Q heals.
• T talks to a nearby NPC.
• E uses a door or portal.
• F mounts a nearby horse, or dismounts.
• Space jumps.
• 1, 2, 3 cast the spells in your first three spell slots (mages only).
• Enter opens chat. Press Enter again to send, or Esc to cancel.
• I opens your inventory and C opens the character sheet.
• 0 resets the camera.
• F3 toggles a small performance overlay.

Gamepad. A standard-mapping controller (for example an 8BitDo Pro 2 in X-input mode) works out of the box. The left stick moves, the right stick looks around, and the buttons fire the same actions as the keys above. You can rebind every button in Settings.

Settings. Open the Settings menu (the cog) to remap gamepad buttons, adjust the camera, choose a render quality (Auto, Performance, Balanced or Crisp), switch characters, or log out.

Classes and races

There are five classes. Each has a hit die, which sets your starting hit points, and a THAC0 curve, which sets how well you hit as you level. Lower THAC0 is better.

• Fighter. Hit die d10. THAC0 improves by one every level. Starts with a long sword and chain mail.
• Barbarian. Hit die d12, the toughest in the game. THAC0 improves by one every level. Starts with a great axe and leather armor.
• Ranger. Hit die d10. THAC0 improves by one every level. Starts with a long sword and leather armor.
• Rogue. Hit die d6. THAC0 improves by one every two levels. Starts with a short sword and leather armor.
• Mage. Hit die d4. THAC0 improves by one every three levels. Wears no armor, starts with a dagger, and is the only class that casts spells.

At level 1 your maximum hit points are your hit die at its maximum, plus a bonus for Constitution. Warriors (fighter, ranger and barbarian) get a bigger Constitution bonus at 17 and 18. Your unarmored armor class is 10, improved by high Dexterity.

There are seven races. Each adjusts your ability scores and changes how big your character looks.

• Human. No adjustments.
• Half-elf. No adjustments.
• Dwarf. +1 Constitution, −1 Charisma. A little shorter than a human.
• Elf. +1 Dexterity, −1 Constitution.
• Halfling. +1 Dexterity, −1 Strength. Small.
• Half-orc. +1 Strength, +1 Constitution, −2 Charisma. Taller than a human.
• Gnome. +1 Intelligence, −1 Wisdom. Small.

Combat

Combat uses the second-edition AD&D rule called THAC0, short for “To Hit Armor Class 0”. The server resolves every swing.

• To hit. The number you need on a twenty-sided die is your THAC0, minus the target’s armor class, minus your Strength to-hit bonus. You hit if you roll at least that number.
• Natural 20 and natural 1. A natural 20 always hits. A natural 1 always misses.
• Damage. Your weapon’s die plus your Strength damage bonus, and never less than 1 on a hit. There is no separate critical-hit multiplier yet.
• Armor. Armor lowers your armor class, which makes you harder to hit. Dexterity helps too.
• Healing. Press Q to heal a few hit points. It has its own cooldown.
• Death. If you fall, the server brings you back at your world’s spawn point after 30 seconds.

Floating numbers show every hit, miss and critical so you can see what happened. For a worked example with real dice, read the THAC0 dev log.

Honor and PvP

Honor is a per-character score you earn by defeating other players. It is separate from experience, and it is saved with your character. You see it as a badge on your player frame.

The reward is built so that farming does not pay:

• Base. The victim’s level times 50.
• Level gap. The reward shrinks as you out-level your victim, and is zero at five or more levels above them.
• Repeat kills. Each earlier kill of the same player halves the reward.
• Same account. Characters on the same account never earn honor from each other.
• Spawn camping. A player who respawned in the last five seconds is worth nothing.

Spells

Only mages cast spells for now. A mage’s mana is twice their Intelligence minus 12, with a minimum of 4.

• Magic Missile. Costs 3 mana. Takes 0.8 seconds to cast. Damage 1d4+1.
• Frostbolt. Costs 5 mana. Takes 1 second to cast. Damage 2d4+1.
• Firebolt. Costs 6 mana. Takes 1.2 seconds to cast. Damage 2d6.

All three reach 12 units. Spells have a cast time, and moving interrupts a cast, and so does taking damage. Stand your ground, or cast from a distance.

Leveling

You earn experience by defeating monsters. When several players fight the same monster, its experience is split by the share of damage each dealt. A monster stops giving experience once you are five levels above it, and gives less the further above it you are.

Level 10 is the cap. The experience you need depends on your class.

• Fighter, ranger and barbarian. Level 2 at 300 experience, level 3 at 900, level 5 at 3,000, level 10 at 16,000.
• Rogue. Level 2 at 250, level 3 at 750, level 5 at 2,500, level 10 at 13,000.
• Mage. Level 2 at 350, level 3 at 1,000, level 5 at 3,300, level 10 at 16,500.

Each level-up rolls one hit die and adds your Constitution bonus, for at least 1 hit point.

Inventory and weapons

Press I to open your inventory. Your equipped weapon sets your damage die and your equipped armor sets your armor class. Some gear is limited by class.

• Dagger (d4) and quarterstaff (d6). Anyone.
• Short sword (d6). Fighter, ranger, rogue and barbarian.
• Long sword (d8). Fighter, ranger and barbarian.
• Great axe (d12). Fighter and barbarian.
• Leather armor. Armor class 8. Everyone except mages.
• Chain mail. Armor class 5. Fighter, ranger and barbarian.
• Plate mail. Armor class 3. Fighter and barbarian.

Mounts

Walk up to a horse in town and press F to climb on. Press F again to get off. A mounted hero travels much faster than one on foot. A riderless horse is solid, so you cannot walk through it.

Worlds

Eastford is the starting town: a church, a tavern called The Salty Mug, and a treeline all around. Guards patrol the town.

Ravenmoor is a second, separate world, a walled town under a cold moon. Each world is its own room with its own players.

To travel, walk onto the glowing ring marked “Travel to Ravenmoor” near the edge of Eastford, and use the matching ring in Ravenmoor to come back.

FAQ

Is it free? Yes. Creating an account and playing costs nothing.

Can I play on a phone? Not well yet. The game is built around a keyboard or a gamepad, and there are no touch controls. Use a computer, or a phone paired with a controller.

How do I recover my account? Use Forgot password. We send a reset link to the email on your account. Accounts made before October 2026 may not have one. If that is you, add one on your account page while you can still log in.

Something looks wrong or runs slowly. Press F3 to see the performance overlay and try a lower render quality in Settings. Then tell us what you saw.