What is Reign?
Reign is a literary roguelike; a game of risky dice rolls, abundant choice and dire consequences. A story of constant competition, cemented castes, & dynamic characters; each driven to forge friendships, families and intense rivalries between noble houses, mercenary bands and lowborn clans.
What is a MUX?
A MUX is a Multi-User eXperience. Players cooperate and collaborate whilst their characters are often embroiled in competition. Together, we represent a medium for unrivaled storytelling and immersive, text-based simulation.
It functions very similarly to a tabletop roleplaying game; a persistent, living virtual world that you can log into at any time – shared with dozens of other players, all writing and acting together as they shape the story week by week.
Development Status
– Engine: Evennia (Python-based MUD server)
– Current phase: System design + early prototyping
– Goal: Closed Alpha with core mechanics online in 2026
– Seeking: Interested players, future staff, and feedback
Reign MUX doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s part of the broader Exalted Text universe – the same grim, violet-lit world as Orphan, my dark fantasy CYOA about a young man reclaiming his birthright through struggle & strife. Orphan shows you Cradle before the fall. Reign starts in the chaotic aftermath, while the city is still bleeding and fighting over what comes next.
The best way to follow that whole saga – and help it exist – is through Exalted Text on Patreon.
On Patreon you’ll get:
- Dev Scrolls – design diaries, system breakdowns and behind-the-scenes Reign updates.
- Cradle Codex entries – lore and art covering races, castes, locations and history shared by Orphan and Reign.
- Orphan updates – new chapters, scenes and features in the single-player game that started it all.
- Alpha news & whitelisting info – first notice when Reign’s closed Alpha opens and how to grab a spot.
Free followers are welcome – many posts are public. Patrons help fund the time it takes to build Reign properly.
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Dynasty. Legacy. Family.
Survival is never guaranteed. Death is imminent. The fate of your bloodline must be secured through blood, sweat and tears.
What better way is there to cement a legacy for yourself than through ensuring the future of your own kin? Your own flesh and ancestral soul?
You decide the fate of your family and even who gets to continue on playing as your lineage. Take over as your own heir, offer them to a friend or put up the character for application. It’s your decision, as is every action that you’ll take.
High-Stakes. Dire Consequences.
Reign offers unmatched player agency, adding weight behind every interaction. Roll the dice.
From the very moment that you enter the world of Cradle, you are betting with your character’s life. Each instance of combat has the chance for maiming or a brutal death, whether dungeon delving or vying for power against another player.
Shape the world. An impressive timescale allows for a constantly developing, city-spanning narrative that addresses grim issues; war, plague, famine, slavery and necromancy.
A Grimly Lit, Violent World.
The city-state of Cradle has an engrained caste system. Most people are Slaves or Lowborns, destined for a life of struggle and strife. Only the most fortunate ever ascend their caste.
The Gentry, although literate, are landless and must eek out their own fortunes through brave acts or clever and calculated conniving.
And finally, the Nobles of Cradle are struck in fierce competition with one another, the most powerful of them potentially finding themselves on the King’s newly formed High Council.
Collaborative, Roleplay-Focused.
In Reign, everyone plays part in a living world with a growing, progressing narrative that allows for equal parts cooperation and competition.
Failing, losing and dying are all common occurrences. We believe that they make the rare wins and successes all that much more enjoyable.
There is no grind, only a transparent community dedicated to chasing the ultimate roleplaying experience, together. That’s our promise to you.
Make your mark in the monolithic ruins of Cradle.
SLAVES
Risk life and limb in the arena, where the competition is constant but the rewards taste especially sweet. Offer your services as a bodyguard or perhaps something more lucrative… and nefarious. Perhaps you prefer to linger in the realm of festivity, politics & pleasure, and buy your freedom.
LOWBORN
Struggle up from the lowest depths of Cradle. Strive for security, comfort, wealth, prosperity. Make a name for yourself as a mercenary, soldier or alley-thug. Maybe you’ll start your own business or leverage your skills in a way that doesn’t put your life on the line. Will you merely survive, or thrive in a dog-eats-dog world?
GENTRY
You’re destined for more, but entrenched dynasties and feuding nobility stand in your way. Which avenue will lead you to your destiny? Martial matters, diplomacy & stewardship, or perhaps the path of intrigue and subterfuge will uncover the succulent success that you so desire.
NOBILITY
Long before the Volhynians dethroned the Sorcerer-King, the nobility of Cradle have always been at each other’s throats. Can you maintain your family’s position of power? Is it possible to topple the Usurper? Or will your title be the death of you and all that you’ve fought so hard for?
Create anything.
Let’s explore some of the possible roles, positions, & archetypes that you can assume in Reign.
Join the Exalted Text Discord for devlogs, Q&A and early Reign discussion.
Slave: Aspiring Gladiator, Pleasure Slave, Favored Advisor, Hired Assassin, Part-Time Bodyguard, Future Spartacus, Next Week’s Execution, Faithful Attendant, Careful Concubine, and more.
Lowborn: Rugged Ranger, Rank-Climbing Legionnaire, Steadfast Soldier, Hired Retinue, Lowly Orphan, Struggling Baker, Impoverished Laborer, Tailor Turncoat, Shiv-Wielding Slipknife, Medieval Mafioso, and so on.
Gentry: Ennobled Mercenary, Ambitious Bankster, Enlightened Librarian, Soft Seamstress, Callous Centurion, Poet & Philanderer, Salon Owner, Volhynian Bastard, Feeble Scholar; you can think of more.
Noble: Look… nearly anything you’ve ever wanted to do as a Noble in Armageddon or Arx, you can do here (better). With impact, power, gravitas, and as an established part of the game’s theme and rules of engagement. If only your fellow players don’t thwart your plans first.
Reign MUX: A Literary Roguelike 