Canon Berserk RPG

WORLD OF BERSERK

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The world you've found yourself in isn't just cruel. It's rotten to its very core. Here, violence isn't a deviation — it's the natural order of things. The strong devour the weak, the weak pray for a quick death, and those who try to hold onto even a shred of humanity usually end their days in the mud with their bellies split open. The people here aren't evil by nature. They were made this way by centuries of blood, famine, betrayal, and an absolute absence of justice.

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General State of the World

Kingdoms are constantly at war. Peasants are born, plow the fields, pay taxes, their wives are raped by passing soldiers, their children are taken into the army or into slavery, and they themselves die from disease or the blade by the age of thirty-five. The Church preaches suffering as a virtue while simultaneously burning "heretics" in public squares. Nobles organize hunts on people for entertainment. Bands of mercenaries rob everyone indiscriminately. And at night, things emerge from the fog that even mercenaries prefer not to encounter.

In this world, there are almost no "good" places. Only less horrifying ones.

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This World Smells. It Always Smells.

A mixture of smoke from burning villages, the sweetish rot of decomposing flesh, rust from old armor, the sour sweat of terrified people, and the heavy, almost oily smell of blood that has soaked into the ground so deeply that even rain cannot wash it away. You can get used to this smell. Many do. But you can never stop noticing it completely. It simply becomes part of your breathing.

Peasants here don't eat "stew." They boil the bark of young trees with rats, if they're lucky, and dried larvae. In winter, many freeze their fingers and toes, then cut them off themselves to prevent gangrene. Children learn the taste of raw horsemeat from fallen animals on the roadside from an early age. Women look like old hags by the age of twenty-five. Men who live to forty are considered either very lucky or very cruel.

There are places people call "holy."

The Chapel of Redemption — a small stone church on a hill. Here, inquisitors conduct public purifications. The victim is tied to a wooden cross in the middle of the square in front of the chapel, and they begin slowly. First with red-hot pincers. Then with hooks. The crowd stands and watches. Some pray. Some eat the food they brought with them. Children sit on their parents' shoulders to get a better view. When the screams become particularly loud, many in the crowd begin to smile. Not from joy. It's just easier to bear your own fear that way.

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Beauty Always Stands Alongside Abomination

A golden sunset floods a field littered with hundreds of corpses. Crows are already perched on opened bellies, pecking. The sky at that moment is incredibly clear and tender, pink-orange, with light feathery clouds. This beauty does not soften the horror. It only makes it sharper. A person looks at the beautiful sky and understands that it will be just as beautiful tomorrow, when the crows will be eating him.

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The Astral World, The Interstice, and The Abyss

Between the human world and the Abyss lies the Interstice — a thin boundary where reality distorts. This is not just an "invisible layer." This is a place where the souls of the dead, unaware of their own death, continue to exist as shadows stuck between life and oblivion. Some people are born with a special sensitivity to this layer — they hear whispers, see images they shouldn't see, and often go mad, unable to bear the burden. Those who carry the Brand of Sacrifice live in the Interstice constantly, even without realizing it. They see the world as it truly is, and this slowly eats away at them from within.

Deeper than the Interstice lies the Astral World — a layer where spirits, elementals, demons, and formless beings dwell. This is where the Abyss lies — the final and darkest depth. There swirls the Vortex of Souls — an endless whirlpool of consciousness where all the world's malice is gathered: every scream, every broken dream, every curse ever uttered by humanity. The Abyss is not a place. It is a state. It is humanity's answer to its own suffering.

Every time someone speaks the name of God in anger, every time someone prays for revenge, every time someone sells their soul for power — a piece of that person remains in the Abyss. That is why so many voices are gathered there. They never fall silent.

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Magic and Sorcery

In this world, magic exists, but it is forbidden, cursed, and almost completely destroyed by the Church. Those who wield it are called witches, sorcerers, or heretics. They are burned at the stake, drowned in rivers, tortured to death. But the true mages have not disappeared. They have gone into the shadows, into the forests, into the mountains. They pass down their knowledge from teacher to student in secret, risking their lives for every word.

Magic here is not "magic wands" or "spells from books." It is a call. A summoning of elemental spirits — fire, water, earth, and air. Those strong enough can make a pact with a spirit and use its power. But spirits are not servants. They are partners. And they too demand payment.

Some mages can see the Astral World without the aid of rituals. They hear the voices of the dead, sense the presence of demons, and can foresee events that have not yet occurred. This knowledge makes them both powerful and cursed. No one wants to know exactly how they will die. But mages know. And they remain silent.

The Church declares all magic to be "the work of the devil." But in truth, the Church does not fear the devil. It fears that mages might show people the truth about the world. And the truth is that the world is governed not by God, but by the Idea of Evil, born from humanity itself. And this knowledge would destroy the Church's power in a single day.

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Key Locations

The Kingdom of Midland Once a relatively powerful kingdom. Now a territory of endless civil war and political intrigue. The capital looks wealthy only in its center. Beyond the walls of the noble quarters — poverty, corpses in ditches, and constant patrols that are more likely to rob than protect. The influence of the Church and the Inquisition is strong here.

The City of Windham The old capital. High walls, dirty streets, a massive cathedral where torture is considered a pious act. Thousands of prisoners are held in the city's dungeons. Many have long since gone mad.

The Kingdom of Tudor Midland's northern neighbor. Midland waged a Hundred-Year War with Tudor that wiped out an entire generation of men. Tudor is no less cruel, but more disciplined. Their army is renowned for its brutality even among mercenaries.

The Kushan Empire A massive eastern empire that invades Midland's lands with unrelenting cruelty. Their army uses war elephants covered in heavy armor and their own sorcerers who practice dark rituals forbidden even in Midland. Their emperor, Ganishka, is not merely a man. He is an apostle who rules his empire through fear and magic.

Elfhelm A distant island across the ocean where elves still live. Here, magic is not forbidden but is a part of life. This place seems almost like a dream after the filth and blood of the mainland. But even here, there are shadows. The elves remember ancient wars and know that the world of men will never change.

Falconia A new city built by Griffith on the ruins of Windham after the Eclipse. It gleams with white walls and golden spires, but beneath this beauty lies the same mechanism of fear and control. Falconia is the only "safe" place in the world after the Merging of Worlds. But safety here comes at a price. And the price is loyalty to Griffith.

The Borderlands and the "Black Fields" Vast territories that constantly change hands. Mercenaries, deserters, cannibals, and apostles tired of hiding are most often found here. The soil here is literally soaked in blood. After major battles, corpses sometimes go unburied for weeks.

The Forest of Whispers A dense, dark forest that even experienced hunters enter with great reluctance. There are especially many evil spirits and lesser apostles here. At night, the trees seem to whisper the names of those who must die. Many who entered this forest returned no longer human.

The Tower of Judgment A massive ancient tower used by the Inquisition. "Purifications" are conducted here. Screams can be heard from here for miles. It is said that in the lowest levels of the tower, things are held that even the inquisitors fear.

The Ruined City of Albion A place of mass pilgrimage and simultaneously one of the most cursed points on the map. Something once happened here that left a scar on reality itself. Now this place attracts fanatics, madmen, and those who have already almost lost their human form.

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The Population and Why Everyone Here Is Cruel

The ordinary inhabitants of this world grew up in conditions where kindness is almost always punished. A peasant who shares food risks having everything taken from him the next day, including his children. A soldier who spares an enemy often ends up on a stake himself. Women quickly learn that resistance often ends worse than submission.

That is why here it is normal to:

· Sell your own child if the family is starving. · Inform on a neighbor to get their land. · Rape a prisoner because "everyone does it." · Kill a wounded ally so you don't have to share food.

This is not caricatured villainous cruelty. This is the weary, everyday cruelty of people who no longer remember what it's like to live any other way.

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Apostles. More Deeply

Apostles are not just monsters. They are people who said "yes" at the darkest moment of their lives. Each of them gave up what they loved most. And that "most beloved" is always with them in their new form.

Apostles are former humans who activated a Behelit (a small stone object covered in eyes and facial features) at a moment of absolute despair. To become an apostle, a person must sacrifice what they love most. After that, they are reborn as a monster, retaining their mind but losing nearly everything human.

Apostles are extremely strong physically, regenerate quickly, and often possess unique abilities. They feed on humans (sometimes literally). Most apostles serve higher powers, but some prefer to act independently, establishing personal kingdoms of terror in remote places.

Ordinary people can almost never kill a powerful apostle without special weapons or luck.

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Types of Apostles

Beast-type apostles. Those who felt weak and hunted in their human lives. Now they have become massive predators with remnants of a human face. One of them was once a father who sacrificed his only daughter to escape the tortures of the Inquisition. Now his body is a crude mass of muscle and fur, and from his maw, in complete silence, sometimes escapes a sound very much like a child's cry. He hates that sound himself.

Twisted apostles. Their new form is a direct reflection of the sin for which they sold their souls. An apostle who raped in life might receive a body covered in multiple pulsing appendages. A traitor-apostle sometimes has several faces that constantly whisper different versions of the same lie. These beings especially love to play with their victims.

Ancient apostles. Those who have lived for hundreds of years. They have become almost legends. Their names are whispered. They are several times stronger than ordinary apostles and usually serve directly under the God Hand. One of them bears the title "The Immortal" and, over the centuries, has killed and been killed so many times that he no longer remembers his own human name.

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Behelits

Small stone objects of oval shape. At rest, they simply look somewhat unsettling. When the "time" comes, the features on the stone form a face, and the Behelit begins to bleed. It is through it that a person can call upon the higher powers and make a deal.

The rarest and most terrifying is the Egg of the King, or Crimson Behelit. It appears only for those destined for something far more monstrous.

The Behelit is not just a key. A simple touch of it evokes a strange, heavy feeling in a person. As if a cold hole is opening inside the chest. An obsessive desire emerges, mixed with fear and a mad, desperate hope. The longer a person carries a Behelit, the more often they begin to hear in their dreams the cry of a child or the voices of those they love. The Behelit does not rush. It waits for the moment when despair becomes absolute.

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The Eclipse

Once every 216 years, the Eclipse occurs — a moment when the boundary between worlds thins so much that the God Hand can appear in the physical world. On this day, the chosen ones activate their Behelits and become apostles. On this day, thousands of people die so that a new monster can be born. The Eclipse is not just an event. It is a mechanism that keeps this world in a state of perpetual cruelty. It was during the Eclipse that Griffith became Femto. It was then that the Band of the Hawk perished.

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The God Hand. A Mechanism, Not Just Villains

Five supreme beings who are no longer either human or apostle. They exist in another layer of reality and appear in the world only at special moments (Eclipses). Each of them was once a human who went through extreme betrayal and sacrifice.

They are practically all-powerful by mortal standards. Their appearance is always accompanied by mass death and the birth of new apostles. They are not just evil — they are part of the very mechanism of this world.

They do not merely rule. They uphold the very principle of this world.

Void — he who was once a man of the sharpest mind. Now his face is an open brain, and his eyes are sewn shut. He sees causality. He arranges events so that everything leads to the desired end. It is he who places the Brand of Sacrifice.

Slan — the only woman among them. She is called the Princess of the Uterine Sea. She loves pain and lust equally. For her, suffering and pleasure are the same thing. She often appears where particularly refined violence is taking place and observes with almost tender interest.

Femto — the embodiment of absolute pride and ambition. He who was once the ideal for thousands of people. Now he himself has become part of the mechanism that grinds those people down.

Ubik — small, always smiling. He shows victims their own memories in the most distorted and painful form. His task is to break a person's will before the choice is made.

Conrad — massive, resembling a giant woodlouse. Where he passes, epidemics break out. He does not so much kill directly as creates conditions in which people begin to devour each other.

They are all parts of a single whole. Executors of the Idea of Evil.

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The Idea of Evil

At the very depths of this world exists something that some call the God of the Abyss or the Idea of Evil. This is not a personality in the usual sense. It is the embodied desire of humanity to have a reason for suffering. For millennia, people prayed for meaning in pain, betrayal, and death — and the world answered them by giving birth to this entity. The God Hand acts according to its will.

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Evil Spirits and Lesser Demons

In addition to apostles, the world is full of ordinary demons:

· Spirits of those who died in agony, who hate the living. · Small creatures born from accumulated malice. · The possessed, whose bodies have been taken over by something from outside.

There are especially many demons where much violence has occurred: old battlefields, places of mass executions, abandoned torture chambers.

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Factions. Gray and Dirty

The Order of the Holy Iron Chain. Fanatics who truly hunt apostles and demons. They save people. And at the same time, they use torture, burning alive, and collective responsibility. If a village sheltered an apostle — they burn the entire village. Many of them sincerely believe they are doing good. This makes them even more terrifying.

The Holy See. A religious organization that controls the Church and Inquisition across the continent. They hold enormous power. They decide who is a heretic and who is a saint. They decide which books to burn and which to keep. They decide who lives and who dies in the name of faith. Their power is based on fear, and they know it.

The Band of the Black Dogs. Once they were regular soldiers. They were betrayed, left to die, used as expendable material. Now they take revenge on the entire world. They are not just cruel. They systematically destroy everything that reminds them of order and law. Sometimes they protect weak villages… only to pillage them later, when they begin to hope.

The Band of the Hawk. Originally Griffith's mercenary group. After the Eclipse — an organization of apostles under his command. Now they serve not people, but the new world that Griffith is building. Their goal is not plunder or revenge. Their goal is to establish a new order in which apostles rule and people serve.

The Bakiraka. A clan of assassins and mercenaries from the Kushan Empire. They specialize in covert killings and poisons. Their services are expensive, but they always fulfill the contract. It is said they never leave traces. It is said they can kill a person in their sleep without waking them. Many things are said. But the fact remains: if you see a member of the Bakiraka, you have already been marked.

The Skull Knight. A mysterious warrior in skull-shaped armor who hunts apostles and the God Hand. He exists outside ordinary factions. He serves no one. He follows no one's orders. He appears where he is needed and disappears just as suddenly. His true name and history are unknown. But his sword can cut even space itself. And he hates the God Hand more than anyone in this world.

The Mad Prophet. A gaunt man in rags who wanders from city to city. He shouts about the coming Eclipses and how "the hand has already been raised." Most of the time, it's complete nonsense. But sometimes his words coincide with reality with frightening accuracy. The Church has tried to burn him several times. Each time, he somehow ends up elsewhere.

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Key Figures You Might Encounter

· A Guts-like Warrior — a tall black swordsman with a massive greatsword, bearing the Brand of Sacrifice. Hunted by spirits every night. Extremely dangerous, extremely unstable. He is living proof that a person can resist even the very mechanism of this world. · Griffith — a blonde commander, charismatic, almost ideal leader whose dream of a kingdom has already begun to warp everything around him. Now he is Femto, the fifth member of the God Hand, and his goal is not just a kingdom, but the entire world. · Zodd — the Immortal Apostle, who seeks strong opponents. He serves no one but his own thirst for battle. He can appear at any moment, just to check if you are worthy of his attention. · Grunbeld — the Dragon Apostle, one of Griffith's generals. He wears gleaming armor and fights with a chivalry that no other apostle shares. This makes him especially dangerous — he is not only strong but also intelligent. · Mozgus — the leader of the Inquisition, a fanatic who uses torture as a pious act. He sincerely believes that through enough pain, a soul can be cleansed. His methods are cruel even by this world's standards. · Schierke — a young witch capable of communicating with spirits. She is one of the few who still retains a sincere desire to help. In this world, such naivety almost always ends in tragedy. But as long as she lives, she is a ray of hope for those who haven't given up yet. · Ganishka — the Emperor of Kushan, who himself becomes an apostle. He rules his empire through fear and magic. His goal is not merely to conquer Midland, but to destroy the very idea of human will. · Casca — a former commander of the Band of the Hawk, a woman who lost her mind after the Eclipse. She is a living reminder of the price paid by those who get close to Griffith. Puck — a small elf healer who travels with Guts. He is one of the few beings in this world who has retained lightness and kindness. His presence is a reminder that even in the darkest world, there is room for light. · Farnese — a former inquisitor who left the Church and joined Guts. She is an example of how a person can change themselves if they see the truth. · Serpico — Farnese's loyal protector, a master swordsman who uses the wind in his attacks. He is cold and calculating, but his loyalty is boundless. · Isidro — a boy who dreams of becoming a strong warrior like Guts. He is a reminder that even in this world, there is room for dreams.

· Skull Knight — a mysterious warrior who appears at the most critical moments. His motives are unknown, but he always acts against the God Hand.

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Important Laws of This World

Causality. Everything has already been decided. A person can resist, run, kill, save. But the harder they try to deviate from the destined path, the harsher the world pushes them back. Sometimes it looks like coincidence. Sometimes — like cruel mockery.

The Brand of Sacrifice. Those who bear it become a beacon for hungry spirits every night. They cannot always kill. But they can keep you from sleeping. They can show you your worst memories. They can whisper until you start cutting your own veins just to make it quiet.

Morality as Luxury. Saving one child often means condemning ten others to death. Showing mercy to an enemy today means a knife in the back tomorrow. In this world, the "right" choice is almost always the most painful one. And the world actively punishes those who try to remain human.

Night is always more dangerous than day. Especially for those who bear the Brand of Sacrifice.

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Beauty as Sin. Gender as a Sentence.

In this world, beauty is not a gift. It is a curse. It attracts attention, and attention in a world where the strong devour the weak almost always ends in violence. A beautiful face, a beautiful body, beautiful skin — these are not reasons for admiration. They are reasons for possession. Those born beautiful rarely live to old age, unless they are strong enough to protect themselves, or cruel enough to kill anyone who looks at them with lust.

The Church calls beauty "the devil's trap" and teaches that striving for it is a sin. But in truth, the Church simply fears that beautiful people attract the attention of not only humans but demons as well. Apostles, spirits, demons — they all gravitate toward beauty like hungry dogs toward meat. And the Church knows it cannot protect the beautiful. So it declares them guilty. It's easier that way.

To be a woman in this world is to be born with a burden that cannot be shed. A woman here is an object. First she belongs to her father, then to her husband, then to her children. Her body is a resource — traded, paid with, raped, and neglected. A woman who tries to take up arms or speak as an equal to a man usually either dies quickly and dirty, or becomes so cruel that she ceases to be seen as a woman in the eyes of others.

A woman's position changes depending on where she is. In Midland, women are considered the property of men, but can manage the household if their husband is at war. In Tudor, their situation is slightly better — women can inherit property, but only if there are no male heirs. In the Kushan Empire, women are not considered human. They are used for labor, breeding, and entertainment. In elven lands, a woman can be a queen or a warrior, but such places are almost gone. In Falconia, women serve Griffith just as men do. The only difference is that violence against a woman is considered a lesser offense than violence against a man.

If you are a girl in this world, you are always one step behind. Your chances of surviving alone are almost zero. If you are a beautiful girl — you are a target. If you are ugly — you are simply uninteresting, and that might save your life, but not from hunger or disease. The only way to survive as a woman is to find a strong man to protect you, and hope he doesn't turn out to be as much of a beast as the rest. Or become cruel enough to be more terrifying than any man. But that is rare.

To be a femboy or a feminine guy in this world is even worse. You are both a man and a woman, and neither. Men look at you with disgust or lust. Women — with envy or contempt. You don't fit any role. You cannot be a warrior, because warriors must be rough and masculine. You cannot be a woman, because you don't have the right body. You are an exception. And exceptions in this world survive only if they are strong enough to prove their right to exist. Or if they are so weak that no one is interested. But more often than not, they are simply used.

Femboys are seen as "convenient toys." They are soft enough to be broken, but masculine enough to be used as a man. If a femboy tries to pretend to be an ordinary guy, he risks being beaten or killed for being "abnormal." If he shows his femininity too openly, he attracts the attention of those who want to "try something new." In most cases, femboys end up either in brothels, in ditches, or in the dungeons of the Inquisition, where they are "treated" for sinful behavior. If a femboy is strong or smart enough, they can survive, but it requires constant masking and a willingness to kill.

To be a half-human or a being with non-human blood is to be an outcast by default. People do not trust you. The Church wants to burn you. Demons consider you weak and uninteresting — or, conversely, prey. A half-human, if they do not hide their nature, can be killed simply because they are "wrong." If they hide — they live in constant fear of exposure. The only exception is if they are strong enough that no one can threaten them. Then they become someone to be feared, not pitied. But that happens rarely.

The connection between beauty, femininity, and sin is not just prejudice. It is a defense mechanism. People fear what attracts demons. They fear what reminds them of weakness. They fear what they cannot control. And they destroy it to feel safe. Women, femboys, beautiful people — they all become scapegoats. They are blamed for attracting misfortune, and that justifies violence against them. It turns them from victims into the guilty ones.

In this world, being "different" means being already dead. The only question is: exactly how will you die?