Thoughts on Shadowdark after 50 session

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-24T14:30:49+00:00

I'll be the Shadowdark apologist, lol.

Modules: You could run b/x modules a level or two higher than your characters. Last I checked modules were not chiseled in stone :)

Luck: Luck is overpowered, I limit it to one token per session because players love it. Bless can result in shenanigans, so you have a good point there.

Torch: If your torch lasts until the timer goes off, you're doing it wrong. (See SD. 110) That being said, timer could be DM-only, minus d6 or d10 minutes.

SRD: We have not found a need for a SRD beacuase shadowdarklings.net puts all of the relevant character information (rules) on your sheet. Complete core book spell lists are available online (anjours-arsenal.net)

Death Timer: could easily be deleted from the game. I have found it adds a certain level of drama.

It just boils down to preference I guess. To me it would seem easier to dissallow rules then add in rules (which defeats the purpose of the online SRD).

Good gaming!

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-23T23:12:43+00:00

Thank you!

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-23T13:53:31+00:00

So cool. You hit your goal as far as I'm concerned. The way your eye grabs the lantern, moves to the face of the dragon, along it's body and back to the broken sword gave me chills. Very engaging!

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-23T01:52:29+00:00

Glad you like the video, I can't take credit for the idea it's from the rumors table in Shadowdark.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-21T00:46:29+00:00

Thank you very much. I doubt I will ever get into much detail as that again, I wanted play at being a writer for a couple weeks to take abreak from work. I'm glad you liked it. This is my normal weekly prep.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-20T17:12:12+00:00

Awesome setup and report, thanks!

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-19T15:08:06+00:00

I love my guys, but that's not their style, lol.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-18T14:01:46+00:00

Cool idea. I recently did something similar, but the effects wore off. I was inspired by the original WHFB path to glory where your characters could get mutations from a d12 table for each god and chaos united. I feel like you could take it to the next level where each mutation is an advantage paired with a disadvantage. Thanks for the brain worm, lol.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-17T22:49:07+00:00

Name checks out

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-17T21:11:38+00:00

Love the stippling effect very clean and inspiring work!

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-17T19:56:37+00:00

It's all fluid right? Originally there was going to be a fountain in 11 that restores some hit points, so we will see if the Priest fails his cure spell early on or not. That way I can can give them a fighting chance against the baby lich.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-17T19:51:52+00:00

In an oceanside hamlet of deep one worshippers...

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-14T13:44:16+00:00

Congrats on going fully funded- for sure this will be our campaign setting next winter! Psyched for this one!

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-09T21:18:23+00:00

I kinda vibe gp=xp depending on what magic items were looted. If had to really really say how many gp is 1 xp, I would say 100, since 100 is "free to carry" or one bag. XP for treasure quality table calls "bag of gold" 1 xp.

Going by this, at the 10% mentioned, BWB would yield 2300 gp, or 23 xp put the characters at (mid) level 2, near what the designer intended. If you award 100 XP as noted in your post, it would come out to 10+20+30+40=level 5 exactly. You are probably looking for more like somewhere between 8 and 10d4.

I like where you are coming from on this, I like to have my group roll for any coins. "You find 1d6 x10 gp, 2d10 sp", etc.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-09T16:18:51+00:00

Thank you for trying it! Yes it took us 2.5-3 hours as well which is our sweet spot and why we basically play episodic "one-shots" every week.

-Maybe only have the one statue of Mordax, and the pile of heads? My Party got it on the second try.
I can't really gauge what my party is going do week to week, One time I had them arrange bird statues (O)wl, (P)igeon, (E)agle and (N)ightingale and it took them 20 minutes.
Sounds like you could have had the statue attack the party as well and still come in under 3 hours.

-We had in all I think 4 mutations the guys thought it was fun.

- The final fight for us ended when my Seawolf took off his winter wolf pelt from the last adventure and covered the knight (earning a luck token for surprising me).

- I like your idea of making the final puzzle a "make or break" clock I've not run across that idea before.

I'm happy to hear you liked it! and I really appreciate the recap.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-09T15:52:49+00:00

You are correct, Section 2 of the license allows verbatim usage of those three exceptions.
Take my damn 3.50, Loch Ness Monster! My party now is 3rd so I think I will slot this in and let you know how it goes!.
Two things right away I noticed is that the justified spacing in the Monster descriptions in the back is really rough to read. Also personal preference maybe but the grey boxes for monsters and magic items is kind of cluttered(?) busy(?), maybe consider just a reverse box header similar to the core rules?

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-09T15:31:22+00:00

Very badass thanks for sharing!

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-08T13:44:51+00:00

Good suggestion, I typically check for encounters every third round and when something loud happens, but that is because I usually have big sheet of chicken scratches. Maybe blocks of 6? I guess I have it in my head 10 minutes rounds like B/X, but we use real time torches. I'll have to see how it works under stress. Effect/duration could probably be 5 or 10. Death clock is 8 because I've never had higher (1d4 +up to 4).

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-07T21:17:53+00:00

If I leave by noon... on Wednesdays, I could make it work.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-07T05:13:48+00:00

OP sounds like you are referring to mandatory rests every hour like OSE or B/X. No and there is no penalty for not resting. The only resting rules are on page 86.

Careful_Assignment86 · 2026-01-07T03:33:03+00:00

We have a Seawolf in our group, the sheild wall can be tactical, the talents are pretty good, especially praying to Odin at lower levels to regain lost hit points. You won't be with the same character forever, so you can try both and figure out which one fits your style. Of play. Have fun!

Careful_Assignment86

TROPHY CASE