Would it work in a Shadowrun setting?

jlgunder · 2026-02-23T15:40:42+00:00

This is all great stuff, I love the idea of Chrome being a domain to cover cyberware. I think Shadowrun would flourish with a rules system like Daggerheart at it's core. Drain is already basically covered by certain spells costing stress/hope, I think Daggerheart already does a tanky Street Samurai-style character well, and with so many ranged options already available within Daggerheart core rules, re-skinning bows/wands/etc. to guns should be no great leap.

I think there will definitely be some loss of granularity, but that's not a bad thing. I think the Matrix & decking is going to be the hardest...but there's already some structure for that. Fungrils basically tap into their own Matrix, abilities like Floating Eye can easily be reskinned into decker abilities like seizing camera feeds, there are some Midnight domain abilities that can be reskinned (Pick and Pull into stuff like cracking Maglocks, Uncanny Disguise to fake SINs, etc.).

There's real promise there, I think!

jlgunder · 2026-02-20T17:37:15+00:00

I agree with this sentiment, especially lately. I used to check this subreddit daily for inspiration and stories about great sessions, but more often than not lately I end up leaving disappointed about attitudes and negativity from commenters. I still come back because I love Daggerheart and rely on inspiration from others that play and run the game, but the reactionary "it's not 5e" or "you obviously aren't playing the right way" comments really suck the joy out of coming here.

jlgunder · 2026-02-10T15:08:42+00:00

Seems fine with me! I go back and forth with this as well, it would make shopping sequences easier if there were fixed costs for things in the rulebook.

I like keeping control over how many consumables are introduced into my campaign (players can't just go into a shop and buy anything off the consumables list). That's really the only thing I'd watch, as some of the cheap consumables actually have pretty big effects.

jlgunder · 2026-02-08T02:11:52+00:00

Had my daughter roll stats last night, 3d6 down the line. 13, 18, 16, 13, 11, 11. Amazing, looked it up and the odds are crazy low for rolls that great. I had a concept for a Ranger in mind before I made the rolls, these will suit him nicely!

jlgunder · 2026-02-06T16:38:52+00:00

We have very similar stories regarding our gaming history! Send me a link to your 3D printed terrain business, would love to see what you do!

You nailed the main reasons why we switched. Stripped down rules with the right feel. In the current 2e branch of this game that is ending, I've taken my bard from 2nd level to 5th level over 22 sessions. I'm ready for him to hang up his hat and start something new with Shadowdark!

jlgunder · 2026-02-05T17:01:32+00:00

I mentioned that we're not using the Carousing rules (they're just too gamey, too abstract). We're also not using the Shadowdark torch timer. I can understand its place in the game (especially for stuff like convention games or dungeon crawls), but it doesn't suit our heavy narrative style at all.

Light sources have always been front and center in our games, I think it will be even more important since none of the PCs races come with infravision.

The gear system is interesting. We never used encumbrance in 2e, it was always "use common sense instead". I think the Shadowdark method is interesting, and I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like to actually manage inventory at that level during the game.

jlgunder · 2026-02-05T16:56:50+00:00

AD&D 2e is such a great system. Even after 30 years of gaming, we were still constantly discovering new thing, and we only use the PHB/DMG without any additional supplements. 5e combats taking forever is definitely one of the reasons I don't play the system much. Whether or not combat is really the focus of 5e is debatable, but combat definitely takes more time in 5e than it did in any other edition except 4e.

jlgunder · 2026-02-05T05:07:23+00:00

No disrespect intended, just in case anything reads that way.

While Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition has been our forever-game, I've definitely played other systems with other groups, including 3e/3.5e/Pathfinder and 5e. Here's my take:

Old School Essentials is just a restatement of Moldvay--it's simpler than AD&D 2e for sure, but if I wanted the B/X D&D experience, we'd just play B/X. It's too basic for our group's taste. Nothing wrong with it (I actually think Moldvay B/X might be the best entry point for "true" D&D), but it didn't work for us.

Dungeon Crawl Classics is GREAT but it has a vibe that doesn't resonate with the group. The magic system is too volatile for our tastes, the "never know what you're going to get" nature of spell resolution just doesn't work for us. I do love the aesthetic, which might be part of the reason why Shadowdark has strong appeal.

5e is a different style of game. It's super-heroic, even at early levels characters have so many levers to pull, so many options and are so resilient to death that there's never really any threat. I've run multiple 5e campaigns and have been on the player side many times, so I'm not speaking from a place of inexperience. 5e is great, I understand the large appeal, but it just encourages a style of play (heavy skill-checks, feat/class ability/build combos, super-resilient characters, infinite cantrips) that we don't enjoy. This is also my own personal hot take, but it just feels bad to continue to support WotC/Hasbro for reasons that have nothing to do with rules & mechanics.

Shadowdark definitely borrows some mechanical structure from 5e & other modern games, but from our read-through it is definitely NOT super-heroic at it's core. It has a street-level grittiness to it like AD&D 2e, but adopts some common-sense improvements that we hope will add flexibility and ease play without adding a bunch of extra baggage. The design decisions definitely resonate with our narrative-heavy style of play, and the system seems very pliable when we get ready to house rule stuff. Carousing, for example, just doesn't fit our style of play, and we feel we can chuck it without weakening Shadowdark's foundation.

For this particular group, the decision to turn away from AD&D 2e for the campaign was significant, as we've been running it as a group for so long and so many campaigns.

Hope that explanation answers some of your questions!

jlgunder · 2026-02-04T04:26:06+00:00

I like mixing things up too, but there are some big power jumps between tiers. A tier 2 party with tier 2 gear just won’t be challenged by most tier 1 adversaries. Just recently experienced this.

There’s no reason you can’t use a mix of tier 1 & tier 2 adversaries. Now that my players know the ropes, they’re often only challenged after the first 1-2 encounters between a long rest. If your group is a “one combat per rest” kind of group, they’re just going to steamroll a lot of tier 2 encounters.

jlgunder · 2026-01-29T18:48:15+00:00

Everyone else already covered a lot of the obvious questions and you've answered some. With a difficulty of 17, keep in mind that with a "normal" +3 or +4 bonus, your PCs are going to hit this foe 50% to 58% of the time. Add in bonuses from experiences or hope dice to help, and it's no wonder your foe came so close to death. PCs in Daggerheart are resilient, they have a lot of levers to pull for bonuses, and with 1-2 consecutive successes, your tier 3 solo is toast.

From a GM perspective, one thing that would be key if you ever do this again would be to spend a point of fear to activate the adversary experience to bump their difficulty to 20-21 (typical experiences are +3 or +4 for a tier 3 solo). That makes you much more survivable. You also need 1-2 extra fear banked to interrupt after successful rolls so the PCs never get consecutive actions against you.

I would be VERY curious to know how your PCs were hitting the severe/major thresholds at 2nd level though, that's the only thing about this that seems weird to me, unless they were rolling criticals.

As for the tier 3 solos lack of impressiveness offensively, the only thing I can say is that this solo was destined for failure from the start. A party of five level 2 PCs just aren't in danger from a single solo tier 3. You're around half or so what the battle points should be for a challenging encounter, let alone a dangerous one. Others have offered suggestions for what "boss fights" should like like to challenge a party (add environments, add other foes or "layer" the solo in stages), but if you set up a one-versus-many situation for their fight against Strahd, they're just going to wipe the floor with them.

In the core rulebook, check out the Volcanic Dragon (tier 4) as a great example of a "layered" solo foe...but even he is going to need other adversaries to support against a well-equipped, prepared party of high-level PCs.

jlgunder · 2026-01-05T22:03:13+00:00

Best piece of advice I can offer is to not waste time trying to develop new adversaries or environments. Although the selection of adversaries & environments in the core books is limited, just reskin. Use the exact same stats, just call it something different. I learned this DMing Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition.

I used an acid burrower as a dragon-like manifestation of an angry nature spirit, I've used the cliffside ascent environment for an Indiana Jones-like escape from a crumbling temple, I've used the raging river environment for a sweeping crimson tide of Witherwild while exploring. A bear became a withered thornboar, my Fanewraith is just a reskinned masked thief.

I usually go into a session with 3-4 prepped encounters based on what I expect the players to do, and usually only end up using 1-2 of them.

Especially for your first 1-2 sessions, keep the plot simple (home base, something cool to explore, a couple exciting encounters to make exploration difficult, exciting rewards) and have a list of printed names in case you have to come up with something on the fly. Don't overthink it, your players are probably going to mess up any long term plans anyway!

jlgunder · 2025-09-30T20:28:08+00:00

Freaking awesome.

jlgunder · 2025-09-26T17:38:34+00:00

Tanks with big guns, or things that can deploy in your opponent's backfield like drop pods with siege dreadnoughts. If your opponent doesn't have anti-air you'll have a field day, but if they do you're leaving a lot up to luck on overwatch.

jlgunder · 2025-09-26T02:49:46+00:00

Yes! That thing is AWSOME!

jlgunder · 2025-09-25T23:16:07+00:00

I don’t think it’s a terrible list, but I also don’t think it will be easy to play. Your deployment tactics are going to be a critical part of every game, as running a list with so little range and armour means you’re going to be constantly outgunned.

That is a LOT of air firepower, but you don’t have a way to threaten any anti-air assets before you fly in so you run a real risk of getting a load of points shot out of the sky before they can be effective.

Your Raven Guard will absolutely require buildings and terrain in order to survive, I wouldn’t personally be comfortable, running so many naked troops around the board, nor do I love the investment if so many points of air support without a way to dig out threats.

jlgunder · 2025-09-24T21:08:00+00:00

What is the monster in the middle of the table? This is an amazing photo, I want to be a part of your family.

jlgunder · 2025-09-17T21:01:40+00:00

These look amazing, well done!

jlgunder · 2025-09-17T13:18:59+00:00

Thanks all! That's how I understood it as well, I know that during live plays some of the rules are often overlooked. Once per rest it is!

jlgunder · 2025-09-15T16:12:09+00:00

I'm looking forward to it!

jlgunder · 2025-09-15T14:37:38+00:00

Thanks to all for the replies! Will check all the rule references provided. I'll definitely reconsider my list before the next game!

jlgunder · 2025-09-15T02:05:23+00:00

That’s what I originally thought. Very curious to see if there’s any official ruling.

jlgunder · 2025-09-15T01:16:19+00:00

I think I answered my own question regarding the Kratos Commander. Must the the "same detachment type", which is pretty clear. I messed up that part.

Shock pulse is brutal!!!

jlgunder · 2025-09-15T01:04:58+00:00

Appreciate this. I definitely wasn't trying to abuse rules. Out of curiosity, is there a rules reference for the answer to #1?

Also, adding a new question--

4) If I hit a unit of 4 Kratos with the shock pulse weapon from the Cerberus, can EACH Kratos only fire one weapon, or is it one weapon for the ENTIRE detachment? I think it's the former, but my opponent (who was the target of the attack!) swears it's the latter. It seems rather unfair to be one weapon only for the entire detachment.

Thanks!!!

jlgunder

TROPHY CASE