RPG Core

RPGCore

RPGCore is a survival progression mod for Minecraft Forge 1.20.1 built around life management, ghosts, soul recovery, and world consequences.

Lives and Empty Hearts

Each player keeps a persistent life total. When a player dies, they lose one life. If they reach zero lives, they become a ghost instead of simply being removed from the run. Empty Hearts are consumable items that add one extra life and increase maximum health by 2 points. They do not heal current health immediately, so players must manage their remaining life wisely.

Ghost Mode

Ghost players are transformed into a floating, visible player-head form with their skin visible to others. Ghosts ignore normal collision, are silent, and cannot be targeted by hostile mobs. This keeps the player in the world while the rest of the party continues the run.

Lost Souls and the Soul Campfire Ritual

When a player dies in the final life state, their soul remains in the world. A Spiritual Vessel can be used on a Soul Campfire while crouching to bind an available soul and complete the revival flow. The ritual creates a meaningful recovery loop that rewards players for planning and resource management.

World Debuffs

If the entire party falls, the world can gain a random persistent debuff. These effects are saved and not rerolled on reconnect. They are real gameplay penalties and remain active until cleared through the configured progression or world recovery flow.

Boss Rewards and Modpack Integration

Configured bosses can drop Empty Hearts as rewards. Rewards are defined by entity ID and heart count in the mod config, allowing a modpack to tune the progression difficulty without recompiling the mod.

RPGCore Book

The in-game RPGCore Book acts as a practical guide to the actual systems in the mod: lives, ghost state, soul revival, Empty Hearts, boss rewards, and world debuffs. It is designed to help players understand the run flow without inventing unsupported rank systems or mechanics.

Built for Modpacks

RPGCore is self-contained and works without requiring external progression frameworks. It is designed for Forge 1.20.1 and is easy to integrate into a modpack that wants a stronger survival risk/reward layer around death, ghost play, and boss progression.

Supported versions

• Forge: 1.12.2, 1.16.5, 1.20.1, 1.21.1, 1.21.4, 26.3
• Fabric: 1.16.5, 1.20.1, 1.21.1, 1.21.4, 26.3 (requires Fabric API)

Each file was tested on a dedicated server: the mod loads and its automated server checks pass. Client-only parts (GUI, sounds, rendering, key bindings) were not tested.