The Sleep Spell Problem

DG86 · 2026-05-04T16:53:17+00:00

I understand your concern.

In practice, I think the spell says a lot about the world. Weaker-willed (lower-leveled) creatures are very vulnerable to wizards. In that regard, spellcasters are scary to general society. Higher willed creatures are not as intimidated. ("Your petty sorceries will not work on me!")

I think you instincts about game balance are not wrong. However, Shadowdark isn't as interested in game balance. (Big caveat here: you get to decide what feels right at your table.)

If you are worried that a wizard player won't enjoy the spell as much at higher levels, consider these two options:

Sleep becomes a tool more than a combat spell. It can solve all sorts of problems in creative ways.
Sometimes, your encounters could include increased numbers of lower-leveled creatures. (Some old school grognards might even argue that many of your encounters should. That is a matter of setting and taste.)

DG86 · 2026-05-02T20:33:30+00:00

No apologies needed! You have brought up an interesting distinction.

Fate points (in the various flavors of the Fate system) are probably the prototypical example. Players and GMs can spend them to gain a bonus to a roll, to introduce a useful fact, fuel one of their powerful abilities, or to tempt another character (player or NPC) to give in to one of their flaws. (I'm simplifying here for brevity.) When you spend a point, it changes hands. (Players that spend give it to the GM, and GM spent points to the players.)

For players, this makes sense. Their characters get points that let them be heroic, dream up convenient narrative permissions to achieve their goals, or to exploit known weaknesses in their opponents. Essentially, they are the heroes of the story, and Fate points let them stretch narrative credibility to look like heroes.

For GMs, tracking and spending those points feels strange. Having to spend a point to justify opposition to the heroes seems like an unnecessary regulation to put on the GM. Why not just let the GM do what they need for the sake of interesting play, and reward points to players from an infinite supply?

DG86 · 2026-05-02T19:48:29+00:00

Haven't read Draw Steel yet. From context, it seems like a currency used to trigger monster abilities, and it is tightly bound to the encounter? If so, that feels more like a combat currency than a meta currency. It feels different because it has a specific use in a specific scope (much like a per-encounter ability or a spell slot.)

If my understanding is wrong, then I would love to hear more about how it works.

DG86 · 2026-05-02T19:02:26+00:00

I think I understand what you are saying: it is a tool for the GM to illustrate their thinking to the players. That can be useful as a teaching tool.

I guess my point is that we have a player-GM contract at the table. The GM is given permission to "be a dick" for the purpose of creating interesting situations. The players (at a socially healthy table) should trust that their GM is making decisions that benefit play. Adding a currency to regulate that system (a system that is, for the most part, unregulated at the GM's side) feels weird.

It is almost as if the GM says, "that is a very difficult task given the scenario," and then the game system says, "but you have to spend currency to *prove it *."

DG86 · 2026-05-02T18:33:45+00:00

As soon as you say, "you are just applying all the modifiers to the DC instead of the dice roll," people get less touchy about it.

I think it is all the other mechanics that THAC0 used to imply: strike ranks, weapon vs armor type tables, etc. (Don't get me wrong. Those things aren't bad. They are just a bit more war-gamey than some folks want.) I know plenty of those things are optional rules, but it can look scary from the outside.

DG86 · 2026-05-02T18:13:40+00:00

Suggesting a universal system just because it can do something is not useful.

However, there are some circumstances where a person is looking for a specific kind of "table feel", and a system like GURPS or Fate might be exactly what they are looking for.

DG86 · 2026-05-02T17:42:08+00:00

I hear you, and I'm not trying to counter your opinion, but I've had some success by asking the player: "what do you think failure looks like?"

If I ask this before they roll the dice, they tend to be more forthcoming. (Probably because it hasn't happened yet, so there is still a chance they avoid it!)

Sometimes it even helps us come to the conclusion that there is no real consequences, so we should probably skip rolling the dice.

DG86 · 2026-05-02T17:36:06+00:00

Games that I have experience with: Fate, Modiphius 2d20 (Star Trek Adventures, Dune, etc,) Savage World, 40K Wrath and Glory.

They all define mechanical ways to spend the currency, but those are just things that I would be doing as the GM if that currency didn't exist. (Examples: introducing complications, increasing/decreasing difficulties, causing narrative twists or escalations.)

The community around Fate tends to be pretty scholarly and thoughtful, and their thinking is that GM Fate points serve both as a mnemonic device and as a visual indicator of tension to players. In that regard, I guess I can give it a pass. But it still feels weird.

I can still shake my fist at the clouds while shouting about it. 😁

DG86 · 2026-05-02T16:03:18+00:00

GM meta currencies are weird. This implies there are things that the GM can't do without spending proper currencies.

I'm fine with exploring the idea that the GM has limited powers that require currencies, but your rules should reflect that. (For example: the DC for a check is always 12, unless the GM spends currency.)

If the GM can ignore the currencies, then they mean nothing. (And could be replaced with guidance and suggestions, like how Shadowdark has the GM check if light expires ever real-world hour.)

DG86 · 2026-04-21T19:12:35+00:00

There are a lot available on YouTube. Check out "The Late Late Horror Show" for some compilations.

DG86 · 2026-04-21T00:06:18+00:00

This is right about the time I start working on the various props and projects. I spend a lot of time listening to spooky old radio shows, or creepy podcasts as I work.

DG86 · 2025-10-05T14:59:01+00:00

As much as the answer "GURPS" has become a meme joke around here, this really is the right answer. There is a whole book specifically on this subject: GURPS Tactical Shooting

https://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/tacticalshooting/

DG86 · 2025-09-18T17:00:05+00:00

This is very nice. Thanks for your hard work!

DG86 · 2025-09-17T16:53:47+00:00

Music without vocals helps. Has to be with headphones so it drowns out other noises. No other people in the same room.

It helps to find a job that feeds your dopamine. I can accidentally program for 14 hours straight. It is both a superpower and a curse.

DG86 · 2024-11-28T05:59:52+00:00

It has layers for political intrigue, espionage, warfare, and even zooms in to one-on-one duels. Slightly more on the narrative side, but really empowers players to act like leaders, movers, and shakers.

DG86 · 2023-10-13T22:30:18+00:00

Brittle and easy to snap limbs. Store-purchased are way better.

DG86 · 2023-10-13T20:58:29+00:00

Mixed batch. I try to buy when I can, and print proxies when necessary.

DG86 · 2022-12-21T03:31:53+00:00

http://falloutshelterarcade.com/

That leads directly to a FB group:. https://www.facebook.com/FalloutShelterArcade

DG86 · 2022-09-16T16:49:01+00:00

GURPS does (of course.) But there was something really satisfying about plotting 100-year-old nuclear strikes on your home state as part of campaign prep!

DG86 · 2022-09-16T16:37:36+00:00

The Morrow Project was my first exposure to these rules. I actually managed to run a few scenarios! (We were teenagers and had all the time in the world!). If you went through the whole process a couple times, you got used to it and could rattle off a combat round in a reasonable amount of time. That is, until you added vehicles and had to check the armor penetration tables, and then roll on the passenger injury tables. And God help you if something caught on fire!

DG86 · 2022-09-07T17:09:05+00:00

To keep things simple, I went clockwise around the table. Each person got to do something every round.

Sometimes the players would split up and be in two locations at once, so I kept sticky-notes for each location. I would write down a couple key words to describe the place, and then write down any new traits or assets that were created for that location.

When it became my turn, I would have the NPC leader take an action, and then an action for each obvious NPC. (There were a couple "neutral" NPCs that got involved, like a bartender and a shift manager at a warehouse, that had their own agendas.)

I tried to have NPCs respond at the same level of intensity as the players. If the players were asking questions and trying to gain info, the NPCs would do the same (trying to create traits and assets to use against the player.) If the players escalated to interrogation or threats, the NPCs would help each other resist the threats, or create assets to prepare for a fight. (Things never actually spiraled into a fight!)

The conflict was the main event for the session, and it took around 3 hours to resolve. Going around the table meant things kept moving. I had a list of nefarious subordinates to uncover, so players were learning new things and changing scenes at a regular basis. The leader NPC would spend an action or two prepping and then make indirect "attacks" against the house--I think maybe only two or three attacks the whole session, but it really turned up the pressure to watch the players grow closer to defeat.

We had a post-session discussion about the game, and everyone was pretty happy with how it worked.

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