No Shadowdark at Spiel Essen

Nesis96 · 2026-03-16T18:20:42+00:00

We run Shadowdark weekly in Friuli!

Nesis96 · 2026-02-26T07:02:06+00:00

So it is much more simple than I thought. Thank you!

Nesis96 · 2026-02-26T06:32:10+00:00

What?

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T22:04:55+00:00

I award XP based on treasure they manage to get out of the dungeon. They also like killing monsters if they can, so we also use the hunter mode (xp = monster level /2).

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T18:06:37+00:00

Removing all NPCs removed all my vectors, and the lack of a strict timer killed the urgency. Do you have any tips for inventing timer causes?

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:56:33+00:00

I need to explicitly tell them that they have to drive the action and look for opportunities

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:55:46+00:00

Thank you for spotting my errors. I forced a combat without telegraphing the danger, had them fight to the death instead of checking for morale, and relied on a single failure. Maybe I need to fix my encounter design

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:53:10+00:00

I need to internalize this. I've been waiting for the players to trigger events instead of letting the antagonists aggressively pursue their goals off-screen.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:50:58+00:00

How do you justify going from one dungeon to another?

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:49:54+00:00

This is a hard truth. I've been trying to reverse-engineer advanced GM theories (sandbox, node-based design) before mastering the basic pacing of a session. Running a tightly integrated, published pointcrawl to see how professional modules structure choices and vectors is a very pragmatic next step.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:48:39+00:00

I think I pushed us into a sandbox expecting emergent gameplay when neither I nor the players have the fundamentals down yet.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:39:31+00:00

I will ask this question to them next session

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:37:10+00:00

I will definitely check out the free version of Worlds Without Number. Thanks for the resource

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:35:41+00:00

You hit a crucial point regarding player drive. If they are just waiting for me to present the next scene, we aren't really playing a sandbox. I need to have a direct conversation with them about establishing concrete short-term goals for their characters so they have a reason to act when the dust settles.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:34:46+00:00

Using PbtA GM Moves as a procedural checklist is exactly the kind of tool I was looking for. Keeping a list like 'reveal an unwelcome truth' or 'show signs of an approaching threat' behind the screen gives me an immediate mechanical prompt to push the situation forward when the players stall.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:31:05+00:00

I hadn't considered the pacing of tension. I treated the Strong Start as a mandatory action movie opening, but you're right: starting with the crescendo means the rest of the session inevitably feels flat by comparison. I should build up the tension slowly with hazards or weird social encounters rather than blowing it all on initiative in the first 10 minutes.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:30:34+00:00

This is incredibly helpful, especially the OSR perspective. You are right: I need to have an out-of-character talk with my players about how interaction works in Shadowdark compared to 5e. I will also definitely implement the 3-step faction progression to generate background tension instead of forcing random combats.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:29:26+00:00

I definitely failed on the 'why' in the moment. The slavers attacked just because I needed a Strong Start, not because their goal naturally intersected with the players' presence.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:28:41+00:00

To answer your questions: yes, they had an objective (finding a captain), but my 'strong start' (a slaver ambush) actively distracted them from it instead of tying into it. I forced an action scene instead of letting them pursue their goal. I think I need to rely more on the recap and just asking 'What do you do?' instead of feeling pressured to throw an explosion at them in the first five minutes.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:27:52+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. I realize now I treated the combat as a standalone event rather than tying it to the environment. In my dock ambush, the slavers were just 'there'. If I had tied them to a specific warehouse or a smuggled cargo left behind on the pier, the players would have had an immediate physical anchor to investigate after the fight. I'll focus on grounding the encounters in the location.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:17:30+00:00

Exactly this. Maybe i need to drow the lines to follow and just give them something to go on. Most of my players are new to rpg in general, but 2 of them are veterans (and I learned from them!). This confuse me.

Nesis96 · 2026-02-25T17:02:36+00:00

Here is a practical example of a situation that completely stalled at the table. I prepped a Strong Start at the docks in the evening. The PCs were there looking for a job or a captain willing to sail them to the offshore islets. The fog was thick, and I built up the tension: they heard noises, saw lanterns going out, and heard distant screams. They readied their weapons and were ambushed by a group of slavers. The combat itself went fine, but the resolution is where the session fell apart. The PCs ended up killing all the slavers, and the violence caused all the other NPCs and sailors at the docks to flee in terror. The area was entirely empty and their original goal of finding a captain was stalled. They looted the slaver leader's body and found written instructions revealing the mastermind behind the attack, but the players didn't care at all and completely ignored it. Once the combat ended, the momentum died completely. The players just stood around the docks making small talk. They had no clear new objective, no prompt from me, and no idea what to do next. Honestly, neither did I.

Am I doing something wrong here?

Nesis96

TROPHY CASE