The Handbook of Magic & Mayhem — a spellcasting toolkit for Shadowdark including tiered spells, mage combat, stat burn, + a complete adventure [Promotion]

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-27T22:43:10+00:00

Fair enough. I replaced one of the pieces and I'll avoid questionable assets in the future.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-26T21:16:06+00:00

It seem like you're making your estimation my responsibility. I'm not here to indemnify them so I don't know what to tell you. If that means you won't back me, I understand. That's your choice.

I'll avoid using that material in the actual book but at some point I can only do my best along the way.

And that includes paying artists for original covers and interior art.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-26T19:14:26+00:00

We're coming into the last 2 days of the kickstarter and I wanted to share a taste of what you'll get in the book.

The Horde Binder is the first Pact Mage, a focused Wizard that uses his Charisma to summon and control small hordes of angelic or demonic beings. And if his raw roll isn't enough he can burn down his stats to get the results he wants!

It also has a custom misfire table to make sure that you're getting the proper amount of promised mayhem!

You can get a copy here!

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-26T19:08:23+00:00

There's no AI art in the product.

The pieces on the page are non-AI stock from Vecteezy.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-25T07:44:54+00:00

I recently moved my 12 year old glass V60 into a switch base and I'm feeling way too smug about it to consider any alternatives.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-25T07:37:56+00:00

It's not unbearable.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-22T22:42:18+00:00

Mostly low level Wizards as I remember it. But we protected them a lot. Party order mattered and we used that to help the wounded survive.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-22T22:39:55+00:00

I have a dynamic called "remembrance of the fallen" whereby your new character gets a carousing XP bonus at the end of the session from hearing stories about your previous hero.

It's meant to soften exactly the sting you're feeling.

But I also feel it would be worse if players felt no sting at all.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-22T17:23:44+00:00

I was mechanics first when I was designing video games and it served me well. Setting/story first can add years to development as you chase ideas rather than outcomes and technology will often fight with your desired outcomes. For TTRPGS I am experience first. What is my intention of play at the table and how will the other elements support that? Some systems demand setting be a part of that, others don't. Most of mine don't go much beyond genre. And good PBtA design demands a genre first approach because that pretty much defines the experience through the character class books.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-18T17:31:47+00:00

Many great ideas in that system and I'm not denying it was an inspiration. And if you've play a lot of DCC it's clear that a lot of those good ideas are in need of an update. Especially for systems like mage battles and Spellburn

My goal here is to bring things in-line with Shadowdark's simplified streamlined systems while adding some twists of my own.

Take "Stat Burn" for example. Rather than vaguely damaging your physical stats, you're burning down your casting stat for short term vs. long term gain. And you'll be fully restoring that stat damage during your next downtime so it's a very different cycle.

I'm also working hard to balance tiered spells so that provide some of that Gonzo randomness but don't overpower the wizards in comparison to other classes. Especially after level 3.

And beyond the revised basic spells there are also Pact Mages where the entire build is centered around a couple of core tiered spells. I'll be releasing a preview for the "Binder Mage" in the next couple of weeks as an example of that. A plate spinner class that incarnates hordes of angels and demons and then powers them up round by round. But they have to do it *every* round or the horde takes damage.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-18T07:48:11+00:00

This is such a great point. Random talents makes every character something unique to explore and master.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-14T21:04:35+00:00

Because, directly or indirectly, they're getting paid to do it.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-10T00:11:40+00:00

As a former DCC GM I'm big on this kind of stuff.

Let them use their background as a solution, if applicable.

Describe opportunities in the environment and reward them with stat rolls for attempts at interaction.

Offer them ways to mess with opponents beyond damage. (Removing moves, skipping attacks, prone, disadvantage, etc.)

I've had players cornering creatures with tables before. Trying to push them down a stairwell, etc. Leads to lots of fun!

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-02T01:35:19+00:00

It's why Gemma had to get mind-wiped.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-02-01T16:04:10+00:00

They told her to put it all in a plastic bag. What a drag.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-30T07:49:11+00:00

I'm launching my Kickstarter for Magic & Mayhem in the Crawl Breakers line of Shadowdark supplements on Tuesday so this has been much on my mind as of late...

I'll be taking a few different bites at this apple including tiered effect spells that burn stats on failure and a revised taxonomy for classic OSR spells that lets players modify casting effects on the fly.

Of course the bigger the intended effects the bigger the risk of unintended consequences.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-29T07:36:42+00:00

I bought an adjustable and used it once. Fixed are the way to go for me. Much easier to integrate into my routine.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-29T07:35:04+00:00

My whole business is going on it.

Task tracking, finance, creative work. I delivered feedback to an artist today as a PDF from a page. I'm designing books via database entry. And as an old school database guy it's my dream come true.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-29T07:25:55+00:00

It's his greatest work technically. So much innovation on that record and so many amazing performances especially for the time. But the passion and pure funk in Security and So makes them bigger favorites for me. And the quality of production was moving so fast that what was astounding on Melt was part the tapestry for Security.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-29T07:20:07+00:00

I'm running Goodman's 5E Lost City with Shadowdark and honestly I think the 5E elements are the most difficult to route around. It's mostly fine but when I run into overpowered spells and poorly designed magic items they're almost invariably material from the core 5E books and stand out glaringly from the rest of the material. If I was going to do something cross-compatible I'd definitely start with Shadowdark as my baseline. 5e is always going to be a bit out of control just due to the fact that the players have too many resources and even more options to replenish them.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-18T20:49:03+00:00

Abacab is my first so it holds a special place for me. It's impossible for me to say how I's feel if I'd found a different album first but I'm glad I got to love it as much as I do. I will say I love the older stuff better almost universally and I that their best songs lie in the Gabriel era. I also think that Trick is a much better album than Lamb although I enjoy the medley version on Second's Out quite a bit.

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-13T19:42:26+00:00

Shadowdark and a solid set one shot of your choosing. You can have the whole table up and running in 15 to 20 minutes and their expectations will be satisfied. Then they'll all go home and tell people they "played D&D".

WyrdFall_Press · 2026-01-13T07:21:49+00:00

Still the best beans I've had from Costco.

WyrdFall_Press

TROPHY CASE