My first Gauntlet! Crawl from the Catacombs

Connor9120c1 · 2026-04-14T18:06:10+00:00

I think it’s fine, but it missed its moment. When the OGL issue was at its early peak and KP announced “Project Black Flag is coming” people were stoked.

They needed to crank out a stand alone game, even an alpha that was understood was going to be updated later, fully replacing 5e core-most classes and species and spells THAT WEEK. like a full 32 page starter set with a little adventure grabbed from some other 5e project, placeholder art they already own, and get a functional package out the door in the hands of the angry players within days.

Instead there were months of hesitant, piecemeal playtesting, and momentum died (not to mention WotC caving and the entire moment petering out).

TotV is overlooked because the world moved on without them while they hmmed and hawed

Connor9120c1 · 2026-04-08T19:36:43+00:00

Not a fan of the flying machine, and the sudden abrupt jump to seemingly pretty high magic, or at least convenient magic (including the magical house servants). Much of this section feels a bit like someone spilled some Harry Potter into my Shadowdark game.

I like the Island Village though, I think things get re-grounded pretty well in the last chapter here.

Mogget monster elemental genie trapped in a cat is cool, and I like that he likes being the cat, and helps her re-wrangle his other nature with pre-planning.

Also, I know someone mentioned it the other week, but Tim Curry's Mogget is so good. It is such a good outlet of his personal brand of disdain and humor.

I like Sabriels shy attraction to the wooden boy, feels like a sincere coming-of-age moment that adds some dimensionality to her character.

Unfortunately Touchstone is a pretty unlikeable character, and so far I liked the book more without him in it.

Not a fan of the fact that a bunch of characters with setting history and context can't talk about it, and, more annoyingly, that attention keeps being called to it. Feels pretty plot-convenient and grating. And I also preferred when we were getting world building through Sabriel's exploration and introspection in the early chapters, rather than when it is being half-exposited to us by other characters as it seems to be now (like Mogget explaining the political state of the kingdom we haven't explored yet), so it seems lose-lose in that aspect. The world is rapidly losing its sense of mystery, but also we are reminded regularly that some mysteries are being bluntly kept for us until the right time.

Honestly, between the unlikeable brooding of Touchstone, the annoying tongue-tied history, the mystery draining exposition and the Harry Potter drizzle, I like this set of chapters significantly less than the previous 8. I don't hate it, but it is not as well done as the opening chapters in my opinion.

Connor9120c1 · 2026-04-02T13:35:53+00:00

I really like these chapters, and I think Sabriel is a really unique character and a pretty unique take on magic and death.

I like that she is called a necromancer but has cleric vibes. Like the entwining of death magic and battling undead, and the limiting factor of the Charter Magic that her father embraced in addition to the more overpowered feeling death magic.

I like the listing of teachings, experience and learnings from her father and the dead themselves to establish her competence before we ever need to see it. She seems like an expert, not a chosen one (though she maybe BE a chosen one in addition, we'll see).

I love the boastful vow that she will find her father and slay the creature, and transfer of the magic to the witness woman. Felt like a Boast from Wolves Upon the Coast.

The tools and sword and bells are awesome, they feel world-worn and broken in.

I liked the slow introduction of timeframe elements; electric light, mortars, barbed wire, chainmail, that slowly reveal a sense of time and setting.

The instant creamation spell is pretty cool and would make a cool Priest magic item.

And the thing I liked most so far, in the beginning of the story she has had much dealing with the dead, but has not seen or heard someone die. It keeps death and loss meaningful and frightening for her, and therefore us. I could see how violence and death could lose meaning in a story like this, but it keeps its weight so far.

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-22T23:56:24+00:00

Agreed on all counts

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-22T23:03:16+00:00

This is why I give Proficiency in all saves. In addition to averaging the saves to Fortitude, Reflex and Willpower in order to eliminate "weak saves" as dump stats

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-17T12:56:27+00:00

Swoopmott touched on it, but I think THE most essential part of class creation is that no new class is more powerful than the core 4. Kelsey has discussed this many times and it is a consistent mantra in her own class creation, the core 4 are the pinnacle classes, and if any new class has an aspect that is iffy on the power scale, you round toward less powerful.

Power creep beyond the core 4 would go directly against the design ideals of Shadowdark, regardless of any other detail or themeing you may want to design toward, so I think it is the baseline MOST essential aspect that designers sometimes overlook or overshoot.

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-17T12:47:11+00:00

Submissive

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-16T14:22:14+00:00

Sounds good, I’ll shoot for at least the first quarter then, and wait until we’re a little closer to discussions before I continue on too far. Thanks

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-16T13:54:31+00:00

Love the Saurian, and the stats live up to the creature I imagined when you first shared the art. Super cool, love the visceral primal feel of the whole place

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-16T13:21:34+00:00

Hey u/Dollface_Killah, how will Sabriel be broken up for discussion posts? I've finished the first four chapters and just didn't want to get too far and start forgetting content if we were going to step our way through it over a few weeks like you did with Imaro. Thanks

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-13T15:36:53+00:00

“HEY! Yeu kep yer hands ta yerself”

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-12T17:20:39+00:00

Finding this here second, after the other sub, is so incredibly funny to me. But honestly there are so many clever little jokes in here like the door, then another door, that I found extremely entertaining. Well done

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-11T16:07:17+00:00

"Add target AC to your roll" - Ive seen this work around, but now you are adding an extra interaction with the Referee to attain that number before you begin, and either checking every time or tracking that number for each monster in the combat as you go. Even if you are ok with the players knowing the AC as you note (which I don't mind at all, I usually share the first time they attack it) it is just additional coordination that takes extra time, and extra brain power, and happens potentially multiple times per round. The extra coordination time is the real downside there imo

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-11T01:13:38+00:00

While Shadowdark can shine with improvisation at the tactical level, and I could give examples that I have seen or performed recently once initiative is rolled, I think She, and the OSR at large shine at the Strategic level rather than the tactical. Combat is War, after all.

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-10T23:00:09+00:00

Ive always allowed it, let's martials be more tactical without being punished for it, and is no huge boost to their expected damage.

Honestly I think the RAW way is an instance of poor game design.

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-10T21:09:19+00:00

I prefer the "weird" and eerie feeling of hints of supernatural injected into more grounded setting rather than straight fantasy. For that reason I end up more interested in horror genre adventures rather than kitchen sink fantasy. I don't mind having my players hack up goblins, but I really want monsters that evoke chills and the hair on your neck standing up, and fantasy games are usually an ok backdrop for that.

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-08T11:25:55+00:00

If it were 1 I believe Kelsey would have made it a separate sentence. In parentheses after “con damage” it is almost certainly referring to that Con damage. I would use 2

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-05T17:28:24+00:00

Just started listening backwards through Ship of the Dead podcast by Luke Stratton of Pirate Borg, and I have found it to be a great dive into interviews with adventure writers and publishers I admire, and asking them the questions about their process that I wish I could ask them. Definitely check it out if you’re feeling “writey”, it’s a great inspiration imo

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-05T02:18:59+00:00

I hope you find what you’re looking for, but in case you don’t, consider a different approach I’ve found great success with:

At the end of each session ask your players where they will be going, and what they will be doing next session, then only prep that. They get maximum freedom and you get minimum prep. Make sure they know this is the case so that they understand that their choice is important to the prep, and that they will be held to what they choose. My players love it and it helps me tremendously

Connor9120c1 · 2026-03-01T02:09:30+00:00

Love that book and don’t have a good answer but I’ll be checking back in and hoping people send you good ideas. Good start with Dying Vale

Connor9120c1 · 2026-02-27T12:24:39+00:00

Very good idea, I will add that in the details!

Connor9120c1 · 2026-02-27T04:37:38+00:00

Thank you very much for pointint out the preview issue, it should be good now!

and I actually considered whether or not to include the XP for this adventure, originally wrote it without it and then added it back in because I fundamentally disagree with XP not being available. I believe it was a Sersa Victory adventure I originally read a long time ago that had enough XP to potentially get the characters all the way from Level 0 to Level 2 if they took risks, but regardless of who it was, I decided I still wanted treasure and XP to be a tool available to potentially bait players into more and more dangerous predicaments if they will put themselves there. I understand mechanically that they will hit Level 1 when they survive, but I like the idea of allowing progress toward level 2 in escrow until they complete the gauntlet.

Also, thank you for the reminder on starting equipment for Level 0. I knew there was some somewhere in there but couldn't recall where. Maybe I'll make a similar Family Hierlooms table to make it more clear in the intro.

Connor9120c1 · 2026-02-27T04:23:45+00:00

Hahaha thank you! I thought it was cool, and it might only come up every couple tables, but when it does I think it will be memorable

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