Maleficarum

Maleficarum is a tabletop roleplaying game of folk‑horror, witchcraft, and war. It unfolds in the year 1645, when England is torn apart by Civil War. Royalists cling to King Charles, while Cromwell’s Parliamentarians—the Roundheads—march beneath the banner of Parliament. The fragile order of law has collapsed, leaving villages prey to fear, hunger, and the whims of magistrates who wield justice like a weapon.

This is an age of upheaval, where the clash of armies is matched by the collapse of trust between neighbors. A whispered rumor may condemn a woman to the gallows, while a soldier’s loyalty may shift with the promise of bread or coin. The war has stripped away the protections of crown and church, leaving ordinary folk exposed to famine, plague, and the terrors of the unseen.The land itself seems unsettled. Smoke drifts from ruined villages, mingling with the mist that rises from marshes and fens. The sermons of godly ministers thunder against sin and witchcraft, yet their words often carry the cadence of spells as much as scripture. Soldiers march with muskets and pikes, but many conceal charms and talismans beneath their armour, for they know that steel alone cannot guard against the whispers of the night.

To play Maleficarum is to step into this world of uncertainty, where war and witchcraft are inseparable, and survival demands both courage and faith. It is a game of muskets and scripture, of whispered bargains and broken oaths, of men and women caught between the clash of armies and the pull of Hell itself. Here, every choice carries weight, every shadow may conceal a threat, and the struggle for England’s crown is bound to the struggle for England’s soul.

Maleficarum is not a campaign game. Folk‑horror thrives in standalone, one‑shot tales of terror. There are no experience points or character levels here. Player characters are not heroes, but people with dark pasts who stumble into harrowing, often fatal encounters with malevolent forces beyond imagination. Survival is never assured!