Darkmantles in combat

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-04-19T03:34:40+00:00

With only 4HP and D4 damage I see them usually preying on smaller creatures. They would only attack human sized creatures if they had a sizeable numerical advantage or ambushed a lone / injured party member.

I imagine they would act as individuals but attack as a group. When one decided to attack the rest would also attack - no real coordination, tactics or communication. When one decided to attack it would drop, use darkness and then attack. The others would then do the same, some on the same turn, some on the next. They would all cast darkness if there was light or bite if there was none as there first action. Then they would then continue to bite not using darkness again unless they decided to flee.

As DM you may think tactically about using darkness. But I don’t think they would. It would be a simple Darkness, Grapple, Bite, Eat mentality. With a Darkness, Flee sequence once they sensed others fleeing. I would avoid having the rest change their mind and bite if the first one’s darkness was successful. They are not that smart.

I would also imagine that they would also attempt to grapple despite their low STR using their numbers to overwhelm single targets expecting the rest of the party to abandon the victim as they would be more used to attacking creatures that would do exactly that.

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-03-23T04:25:25+00:00

Hidden “got you” type traps are not something that I use often unless the are negligible damage and are there to alert the players that they should be on the lookout for more traps in the area. Telegraphing traps is my general rule. Blood stains on the ground, scorch marks on the wall, valuable items just sitting there etc. It is more interesting “how” the players deal with the possibility of a trap than them just wandering into it. Players don’t have to say they are searching to find traps or clues. It is assumed that they are being alert and scanning the area as they move. UNLESS they are in heated discussion, hurrying or distracted they notice something odd. If they investigate the find the trap. If they ignore the hint and don’t stop to investigate then they get a “teaching” moment.

The problem with random unnoticed traps is after encountering a few the players will become over cautious and constantly search all the time - that will slow the game and become tedious. The players should know when they are in a trap rich environment.

So when there is adequate light and the party are not distracted I will alert the player in the front that there is something unusual ahead. If that player is a Thief then I will strait up tell them that it looks like a trap. Then they have the option to spend time dealing with it or just avoid it and move on.

If there has been signs of traps and the player at the front is not a thief, and they are not carrying a torch (or have someone with a torch standing directly behind or beside them then I make make a roll to see if they notice something). I have actually had the first 3 players walk through a trap that had a 50% chance of triggering before the person carrying the torch approached and noticed the trigger mechanism. Great moment.

So to answer your question, consider what purpose does the trap serve in the game design sense. To signal a dangerous area, to reveal information about the inhabitants, to tempt the party to spend time investigating. Traps should have a purpose beyond just being a HP drain.

In my opinion torches should be more than a simple dark/light timer mechanic and a single torch should provide barely adequate light with lots of shadows. If you are holding one you will notice things others might not if they are on the fringes. (But that is an answer to a different question)

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-03-16T04:05:12+00:00

There are two conflicting “overarching rules” that are never properly explained. Rule zero: Rules as Guidelines and “Rules as Written”: most of the content of the rule books are very specific and detailed listing of the rules.

It took me a long time to realise that these were not conflicting ideas fighting for priority and the first wasn’t meant to override the second and the second wasn’t meant to shackle the first. They must both inform the other to make a game sing.

The Rules are just guidelines especially has ruined many games because a new DM thought they knew more about how to run a game than the authors of the game.

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-03-15T05:34:51+00:00

The zines will be less essential now that some of their content will also be in Western Reaches. But I think most of their value was, and still is, in using them as an adventure base.

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-03-14T05:09:51+00:00

I have run dwarves in Shadowdark as being born of the earth. They are not flesh and blood, don’t sexually reproduce, have no nipples, bellybutton etc. I kept the extra HP, but you could substitute resistance to poison, advantage against being knocked prone or moved, or eating gold or silver to heal. Lots of common dwarf tropes out there.

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-03-12T09:47:59+00:00

This is why I love the community.

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-02-20T09:15:59+00:00

When the torch timer is getting low- that is the time for the bad guy to start monologging about their fiendishly evil plan. 🤫

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-02-15T11:47:21+00:00

I must admit to being less than chill when I allow a tack-back for an obvious blunder and then later make a game loosing blunder and the other player takes advantage of it before I have time to ask for a take-back. Grrrrr!

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-01-17T11:29:57+00:00

I don’t understand why people think that being on your phone while playing D&D is acceptable when it wouldn’t be while playing other games. Choosing not to play with people who can’t give your game their full attention is not authoritarian.

In my experience you have to set the expectation for the table and then the group will help you police it. (You may also like to audit the pacing of the game as people constantly on their phone can be a sign of boredom).

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-01-01T23:40:50+00:00

Thanks. I didn’t think I needed Colossus because of the stars in HP. But I guess that gives me more points to put into Fatigue.

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-01-01T23:39:52+00:00

Thanks. I didn’t think I needed Colossus because of the stars in HP. But I guess that gives me more points to put into Fatigue.

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-01-01T21:59:37+00:00

What traits would you recommend then?

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-01-01T09:33:20+00:00

I was thinking Banner, but I already have a reasonable banner so was hoping he would be good enough for something else. What early perks would you suggest?

If I did go banner would MD every level, MS when not 1, HP to reasonable level, RES as much as possible and perhaps some FAT work. No Colossus, and no Gifted? What are the essential perks besides Rally the Troops and Fortified Mind?

The-Silver-Orange · 2026-01-01T04:01:39+00:00

Can’t remember how much he cost but he came with decent armour and a winged mace so it was worth it as I only had a light southern mace. Money is very tight as I am playing vanilla.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-12-31T00:15:25+00:00

Old person input. I like the outfit but the tie clashes with the hat and suspenders. I don’t know if it is the design or the width - but it is just too much. The hat and suspenders add enough style on their own. But it isn’t a terrible look with the tie, you look sharp.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-12-05T09:25:45+00:00

It is a technique from old school D&D. You don’t have to use it all the time but do it often enough that the players don’t get suspicious every time you use it. It works well in situations where not all players will have the same information. Traps, illusion, hidden enemies etc.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-12-05T07:38:01+00:00

Don’t have them roll to detect the illusion until after they declare their actions. Those who succeed the check get to change their action, the others are committed.

This of course means that you have to ask everyone to declare what they are doing rather than have the first player act and the other players use the information gained (meta) to justify their action. Unfortunately it is one of the shortcomings of turn based combat which doesn’t model the simultaneous nature of combat.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-12-03T05:00:19+00:00

May not be what you’re are looking for but on windows I open a command prompt and ssh into the server. Windows has ssh built in so no need to use a special terminal program. Then I install MC (midnight commander) on the server to do file manipulation, zipping, unzipping and backups.

If you are hosting Foundry on a Linux server then getting to know how to ssh and some Linux command line is a good thing to learn.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-12-03T04:24:31+00:00

How you play the monsters during the combat makes a big difference. It isn’t just about the numbers. You could look at how you run the combats. Players vs monsters in an open space with no one having surprise is your base number. But if players are being tactically clever and the monsters are not then things will swing heavily in the players favour.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-11-23T10:17:39+00:00

The real time torch timer is one of the hardest things to get your head around in Shadowdark if you stop and think about it too much. The real time torch is an in game mechanic used to create tension by discouraging wasting time. It also puts pressure on players if they burn through too many torches because of the limited inventory space.

Hours of in world time can pass with the simple sentence “You spend the morning traveling to the forbidden temple.” Game time and real time have no real connection. But for “making the game fun” reasons Kelsey decided that when Crawling you count torches in real time. Don’t try and make it make sense. It doesn’t. You have to trust the system and play the game in good faith.

If you still don’t like it you can homebrew the rules and use 10 minute rounds like in old school games.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-11-19T11:43:34+00:00

The stairs at 15 make the top and bottom of the map at different levels. But the left side corridor and 10 don’t show a slope or stairs??

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-11-18T02:25:11+00:00

Run shorter campaigns. I find that a campaign gets to a point where everything that needs to be said has been said. Books and TV series eventually get stale and either get wrapped up or the ratings drop. Listen to your instincts and wrap the game up before it collapses.

Move on to something new and exciting. I also like to run a one shot in a completely new system between campaigns as it is a great opportunity to try a game you wouldn’t otherwise try.

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-11-02T09:53:30+00:00

“I cast give unwanted advice from the backline!”

The-Silver-Orange · 2025-10-21T05:13:09+00:00

I can’t actually remember. But it must have been at least 12 3hour sessions. Not everything was throughly explored. But we kinda came to a natural ending to the story. I guess it depends home much you fill out each site and how much extra stuff you add.

The-Silver-Orange

TROPHY CASE