Spells of Arcanetheria

Heroes die. The village remembers.
You are a mage with a staff, a few half-learned spells and one life. Go down into the Forgotten Crypt, out through the seven-way crossroads, into the Thornwood and up the Mountain, and fight everything that lives there with magic alone. When your health hits zero, roll the d20. Make the save and you rise again. Miss it, and your hero is gone for good, their name carved on the Wall of Memories.

But nothing you do is wasted. Every expedition feeds the village: its Prosperity grows, buildings rise, lamps are lit, and every new hero sets out a little better armed than the last.

Knowledge is power

The old arcane knowledge lies scattered across the land: scrolls in crypts, pages in the hands of the dead, words of power lost in the mines. Every fragment you recover teaches you a new spell or takes one you know deeper.
Over 70 spells across five callings, plus the Forbidden: fireballs, chain lightning, poison clouds, frost, hexes and more.

Mastery to rank 100: every piece of knowledge you find is a rank, and skill points add more. A spell at rank 50 is not the spell you started with.

Passive spells: master a spell and set it to cast itself, up to five at once.

Seals reshape a spell: faster, wider, piercing, lingering, cheaper.

Mana is precious. Out of it, your staff still hits.

The dice decide

The d20 death save: every fall is a roll. Survive it and it leaves a scar for life. A natural 20 brings you back unscarred, at full strength, in a wave that throws your enemies back.

Haggle with the merchant, look for what he hides under the counter, and try your luck on the road. Every choice is rolled, and some are permanent.

A hero, built your way

Five callings: the Wizard, the Sorceress, the Priest, the Monk and the Arcaneborn.

Six attributes that each open something new at 15, 25 and 40: sharper eyes find hidden caches, a strong body swings the staff harder, luck saves your life.

Feats every five levels, each a choice of path: a boost, a trade-off (Glass Cannon, Blood Pact, Overchannel...) or a feat of your own calling.

Gear that grows: the deeper you go, the stronger what you find, from an apprentice's staff to the Archmage's, with dozens of kinds of affix and 18 unique items with strange powers.

A village that outlives you

Prosperity 1–100: a lasting gift for every hero, every fifth level.

Aether builds the tavern and more. Rumours point to hoards, shortcuts and a boss's weak spot.

The Arcane Smith tempers your gear stronger and reforges what it rolled.

Curses: choose badly on the road and the whole village pays. Crows gather on the roofs and the well runs black, until the shrine lifts it.

The Wall of Memories keeps every hero who ever fell.

Places that get darker

The Forgotten Crypt and Morvane, the Witch of the Crypt.

The Thornwood: open glades, wolf packs, poachers in the trees, and the Thorn Mother waiting in her glade.

The Mountain: foothills where harpies dive from out of reach, six levels of mines to get lost in (or Blink straight through the rock), and the Iron Thane in his hall, a dwarf king with a hammer of thunder.

The Crossroads: seven roads, some still closed by thorns, snow, a broken bridge, black water or fog.

Strangers on the road and the mountain, a beggar who asks too much, the Black Rot, and secrets the game won't explain.