Might & Manuscript
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completed
82 ratings
Posted May 19, 2026. Updated June 2, 2026. Played 2171 times for a total of 1918 hours.
description
Might & Manuscript
A Tactical, Text-Based Roguelike
Enter the Dungeon. Master the Logic. Survive the Manuscript.
Might & Manuscript is a systemic dungeon crawler where every choice is a mathematical gamble. You must navigate a dangerous gauntlet of enemies and bosses using a unique three-attribute combat system. There are no random skill trees—only the weapons you find, the feats you earn, and the logic you apply.
Core Features
- Systemic RPS Combat: Master the "Might-Finesse-Smarts" triangle. Every enemy defense is a puzzle; use Smarts to pierce Might, Might to crush Finesse, and Finesse to outmaneuver Smarts.
- Deep Character Customization: With 6 Races and 6 Classes, start your run with one of 36 unique attribute combinations.
- Evolving Arsenal: Discover Pristine and Legendary weapons with over 15 unique properties. From Vampiric blades that heal on hit to Prismatic staves that automatically target an enemy's weakest stat, no two runs feel the same.
- Game-Breaking Feats: Select from a pool of more than 40 powerful feats to define your playstyle. Will you take Second Wind to survive a fatal blow, or Flow State to deal devastating counter-damage?
- Emergent Narrative: Encounter more than 30 unique events where your attributes and character determine your fate. Solve puzzles, identify mysterious potions, or risk it all for a legendary weapon.
This is a playable technical demo featuring:
- 4 Acts of escalating difficulty.
- 25+ Enemies
- Dozens of Weapons and Items
Disclaimer: I'm a solo developer and building a roguelike results in LOTS of unique item and skill synergies that I can't always account for. Let me know if there's any interactions that don't seem to work right so I can get them fixed as soon as possible!
latest update
Patch 0.4.7 June 11, 2026
- Tinkerer's Gamble ability has been reworked. It now has a chance to not use any item if the player has empty item slots.
- Relics have been added. These are one-time use items that have powerful effects! (Observer Blood is now a relic too)
Lemme know what ya'll think of the balancing changes!
view all updates
newest comments
The game used to freeze after winning it, and I did notice the dev's update about a debug code but none was available in the end screen. As of this update, i've beaten the game 4 times and it hasn't frozen on me so far, so that's probably solved.
And in case anyone hasn't played this nice bite-sized little adventure, I highly recommend it.
developer response: Oooooh I like it!
developer response: I'll be adding volume sliders soon!
But it was really fun! Thanks for making it!
developer response: I may have to rebalance the Tinkerer's ability...
AAAAAAAGHHHH MY HEART
top comments
"Ragequit" option leads into a dead end: a black screen with the word "The" printed on it and no way out.
developer response: "Ragequit" doesn't really work in the web build since it's supposed to just quit the game entirely lol.
I'll likely be reworking the 'menus' at the beginnings of runs, but for now I just have enough 'menus' to get you into the meat of the game.
Edit: Menus have been reworked to have an option to take you straight to the character creation screen!
First, I think there needs to be something changed with the player's health or enemies' damage. It is basically required that you are a paladin to heal in combat, because otherwise enemies' damage scales faster than you can gain max hp/heal
Secondly, and maybe I am just extremely unlucky, but I almost never roll 10-17 on the dice. So many single digit rolls, and then a suspiciously high number of 18+ rolls. Again though, maybe this is just an observation bias
Overall like I said, this is a good start. Hopefully this gets updates!
developer response: I'd definitely like to offer other ways to maintain your health through combat as there is a lot of luck involved with staying alive... that being said there are weapons and feats that can keep your health up without needing to be a paladin! Again though, luck is required!
As for the rolls, they are as random as the game engine allows! I know Baldur's Gate 3 has a 'karmic dice' setting that fudges rolls if you're rolling low or high too many times in a row so I might implement something similar in the future.
Thanks for the feedback!
But overall, the game is good and highly recommended. Mechanics are easy and understandable.
Would like an extended version of this game, it's tons of fun playing it
developer response: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I wanted to see how something like this would be received but since it looks like quite a few people like it, I'll definitely be expanding and refining the idea!
developer response: True..... On the other hand..... Getting a lucky feat or equipment pull in a roguelike should make you feel overpowered!
developer response: AC is based on which ability you're using to attack. If you attack with Might, the enemy's AC is equal to their Finesse, if you attack with Finesse, the enemy uses their Smarts as their AC. You absolutely can miss with higher rolls depending on which attack you're using!