i.
ai-written dungeons
Every dungeon carries its own bible: antagonist, tone, factions, rooms, written by AI before you arrive, then narrated room by room as you walk.
a text rpg of private descents
each descent written by ai · no two are the same
each door opens
onto a place that
does not yet exist.
You give it shape by walking it. By choosing how to speak, when to strike, what to read and what to leave unread. Some pages let you out. Some keep you.
free to begin · impossible to repeat
now on iOS and Android
a glimpse, moving
watch a descent
Sub Rosa is a text-based RPG where every descent is generated in real time, and every choice shapes the story that follows.
what is sub rosa
Latin: under the rose. The Roman custom of hanging a rose above a table to mark a conversation as confidential.
Sub Rosa is a text-based mobile RPG, inspired by classic MUDs, rendered as a manuscript that has lived through centuries. Each run is a self-contained dungeon: generated by AI, shaped by your choices, kept private.
Fifteen minutes for a small descent. Two hours for a deep one.
a glimpse
pages from a descent
the cover plate
the hub between descents
choose a door
the points, placed by hand
a room, narrated
strike, brace, speak, study
a check against difficulty
what you have walked
generated, never repeated
no two descents are alike
Every door opens onto a dungeon that did not exist before. Rooms, encounters, choices, events, and discoveries are written the moment you begin your descent.
No fixed campaigns.
No scripted paths.
No two journeys ever exactly the same.
No scripted paths.
No two journeys ever exactly the same.
how it reads
eight things kept under the rose
ii.
four stats, one blade
ATK, DEF, CAR, INT: points placed by hand before you step in, more of them the higher you have risen. Strike, brace, speak, study: each round resolves a check against a difficulty, and the result is what you take and what you give. Deeper in, the craft opens: spells for a keen mind, and rare special strikes saved for the worst of it.
iii.
a calling of your own
Take up a calling as you rise: duelist, scholar, silver tongue, warden, delver, each bending a single virtue one point in your favour. A name carried through the door, not a power spike.
iv.
gold, and the armory
Coin banks home from every descent: the whole purse on a clean exit, half on a defeat. Spend it in the armory on the weapon, armor, or charm you carry in next. What the dungeon leaves to chance, you may choose.
v.
a truth in pieces
Each dungeon hides a truth. Inscriptions, dialogue, scattered notes: they accrete. Find enough fragments and the secret reveals itself before the boss does.
vi.
relics, and the study
Carry one to three relics home from a victory; they alter the next descent in small, narrative ways. Everything else you meet fills a private study: creatures, truths, endings, kept whether you win or fall.
vii.
the harder road
Clear a dungeon at its hardest and trials open: stacking bindings, meaner descents, richer rewards. For subscribers, ironman: one breath, whatever the size, and the sterner glory of making it back.
viii.
the weekly descent
One dungeon a week, drawn once for everyone who dares it. Descend the same rooms as every other player and see where you stand: survivor, contender, ascendant, or paragon. A subscriber's rite, reset each week.
at a glance
what to expect
- ·ai-generated dungeons
- ·a text-based rpg
- ·meaningful choices
- ·character progression
- ·a weekly ranked descent
- ·short or long sessions
- ·designed for immersion
where you may descend
nine doors, ninety adventures
two open to all. three open to those who carry the wider archive. four more are being carved.
- Fantasydrowned cathedrals, salt-pitted blades, choirs that should not still be singingopen
- Piratestide-locked galleons, captains who answered the wrong knock, ledgers of debt unpaidopen
- Sci-Fiderelict stations, sealed labs, the ones who remained when the lights went outwider archive
- Horrorhouses that learned your name, towns where nobody finished their sentencewider archive
- Westernborder towns, cursed mines, the long ride and the longer returnwider archive
- Feudal Japanlacquered keeps, oni shrines on the pass, the long quiet of a closed gatenot yet open
- Mythic Antiquitybronze-age labyrinths, oracles still mid-sentence, tombs that have not finished speakingnot yet open
- Steampunkbrass foundries, gas-lit asylums, engines that have begun thinking on their ownnot yet open
- Atomic Eradecommissioned silos, listening posts on the border, rooms still waiting for a signal that will not comenot yet open
the weekly descent
one dungeon, drawn once for all who dare it
Each week a single dungeon is drawn: the same descent for everyone who takes it. One sitting to see how far it lets you go.
How you fare sets your standing among all who dared the same rooms that week: survivor, contender, ascendant, or, for the few who go furthest, paragon. When the week closes, coin is paid to those who placed, and a paragon’s name is kept in the study on a dated trophy.
A subscriber’s rite. One attempt a week counts toward your standing; the rest are practice. Come Monday a new dungeon is drawn, and the standing begins again.
a wider archive
choose how you wish to descend
payment handled by the App Store and Google Play. lifetime is per-account, restorable on any device you sign in to.
Free
the threshold, kept open.
$0
- · five won descents to try the depths
- · Fantasy + Pirates settings (20 of 50 adventures)
- · account level up to 3
- · relic collection up to 3
Monthly
for those just passing through.
$4.99
/ month
- · all dungeon sizes: small, medium, large, epic
- · all five settings, all 50 adventures
- · no account level cap
- · full relic collection
- · ironman runs: one breath, greater reward
- · the weekly ranked descent, with standings and prizes
- · new themes added each month
the keepsake
Lifetime
one passage, never expiring.
$49.99
once
- · everything in monthly, forever
- · the weekly ranked descent, with standings and prizes
- · roughly ten months of monthly, then yours
- · restorable on any device you sign in to
- · no subscription to remember to cancel
- · no price increases, ever
- · the keepsake choice
the first five victories are yours to keep, free. subscribe to open the wider archive, the harder trials, and the weekly ranked descent.
questions, kept brief
before you step in
- is this online multiplayer?
- No. Sub Rosa is single-player. Each descent is your own: sub rosa, kept.
- does it need an internet connection?
- Yes. Dungeons are generated and narrated by an AI running on our servers. You will need a connection for each run.
- what happens if i die mid-run?
- Each dungeon grants you breaths: one for Small, up to four for Epic. Falling to zero HP consumes a breath and returns you to the last rest with full HP. When the breaths are spent, the run ends: partial points are recorded, but no new relic is granted. Relics you brought in stay in your collection regardless.
- are the dungeons really procedurally written?
- Yes. Each run carries a 'bible': antagonist, tone, factions, key rooms, bestiary, written by AI. Each room is narrated on first entry, then cached so re-entry reads identically.
- what carries between runs?
- Your standing (account level), your banked gold, the relics you brought home, and your study: the bestiary, codex, and trophies that grow every descent. Gold spends in the armory on gear to carry in; relics wake in sockets.
- how long is a typical run?
- A small dungeon is 15 to 30 minutes. Medium is 45 to 60. Large is 90 to 120. Epic is two hours or more.
- can i cancel monthly anytime?
- Yes, from your App Store or Google Play account settings. The cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period.