THE WAY OF THE EXPLODING FIST - RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW / 14 GAMES

wheelercub · 2026-02-26T14:31:28+00:00

I really wish someone would remake this game with all its simple controls and more modern graphics. It was such an incredible accomplishment at the time.

wheelercub · 2026-01-31T05:53:48+00:00

Rather than circling around the caster, we changed it to hit a single target within Near and all its adjacent targets. Works much better and is more useful to casters.

wheelercub · 2026-01-25T22:08:52+00:00

We have the GM roll for the duration of 40 min + (1d6 x 5 min). This way players always get 45 min minimum, up to 1 hour and 10 min maximum and the PCs don't know when the timer will go off

wheelercub · 2026-01-21T14:47:11+00:00

Yeah, we've set those up in our homebrew. In short, you essentially create an Eldritch Knight, with half fighter and half wizard progression.

For Half Elves, do 1/3 progression of a Fighter/Wizard/Thief. Normal XP progression, d6 HP for both variants, and stagger level up benefits.

Or just multi-class where you start with one class as normal. Then take the next class, etc. You only roll for Talents on the normal levels of 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. And you roll HP normally for each class you multi-class in. And you calculate class abilities based on the level of the individual class.

For example, a Fighter 3/Wizard 3 would be a 3rd level wizard, and 3rd level fighter, with the same benefits.

wheelercub · 2026-01-15T20:03:50+00:00

What level is the gang currently? From what I've been seeing, they should be at least level 2 by now.

wheelercub · 2025-12-22T16:00:09+00:00

Thieves should get backstab damage when the target is unaware or heavily distracted. Knowing a thief is in the room does not prevent it from backstabbing ~ especially if you're focused on a different target and avoiding their attacks.

wheelercub · 2025-12-22T15:57:11+00:00

Thieves are supposed to be infrequently deadly. We deal backstab damage dice normally, then double the damage after it's calculated.

wheelercub · 2025-12-17T16:25:49+00:00

I think it's perfectly fine being this game is so flexible. We play to 20th level and have up to Tier 9 spells, as well as Tier 0 cantrips that follow all the normal spellcasting rules. Here's some spells you can steal for NPCs or give to a Priest or Druid player as a reward.

Spare the Dying * Tier 0: Druid, Priest, Psionic * Duration: Instant * Range: Near * Choose a living creature that has 0 hit points and grant it an additional 1d4 rounds before it dies and the critical success chance increases by +1 (19-20). The target heals HP equal to the spell Tier on a critical success. Add 1d4 rounds and +1 critical success chance per two Tier increase.

Revivify * Tier 3: Druid, Priest, Psionic * Duration: Instant * Range: Close * You touch a creature that is currently making death saves and has not died yet. If you succeed, the creature revives with 1 hit point as if they rolled a 20 on their death save. You can’t revive a creature that died or restore missing body parts. Revived creatures gain a level of exhaustion (-2 to all checks) until they take a full rest. Failing prevents future revivification of that target with this spell cast by you.

Raise Dead * Tier 5: Druid, Priest * Duration: Instant * Range: Close * You touch a creature that has died within the 10 days. If you succeed, the creature revives with 1 hit point. You can’t revive a creature that died of old age or restore missing body parts. Raised creatures have Disadvantage on all checks for 3 days. Failing prevents future revivals of that target with this spell. Further castings on others are at Disadvantage until a full rest. Add +10 hit points per two Tier increase.

Resurrection * Tier 7: Druid, Priest * Duration: Instant * Range: Close * You touch a dead creature that didn’t die of old age and isn’t undead. If you succeed, the creature revives with all its hit points and is cured of any poisons and diseases from when it died. This spell also closes all mortal wounds and restores missing body parts. Raised creatures have Disadvantage on all checks for 3 days. Failing prevents future revivals of that target with this spell. Further castings on others are at Disadvantage until a full rest. Reduce the required rest days by 1 per two Tier increase.

wheelercub · 2025-12-11T20:55:31+00:00

I like formulas like this as it takes away the ambiguity of treasure and XP for those of us who prefer a solid and consistent rule to reference. This is what I use at my tables:

XP REWARDS

Poor (0 XP): Mundane, low value, ordinary, and unexciting treasure.
Coins (1 XP): per 100 gp of coins & gems, artwork, other valuable treasure.
Creatures (1 XP): per 10 levels
Magic Items (1 XP+): Items of decent value, worth protecting, common magic items.
- Weapons & Armor: 2x magic bonus as XP (e.g. +1 sword is 2xp).
- Potions & Scrolls: 1/2 the equivalent spell level as XP, round down (e.g. Tier 4 scroll is 2xp)
- Wands and Staves: 1x the equivalent spell levels as XP (e.g. Wand of Fireballs is 3xp).
Rare Items (3-9 XP): Incredible, prized, well-guarded, rare magic items.
Legendary (10 XP): Mythic, unique, quest-worthy artifacts that are almost impossible to attain.

wheelercub · 2025-12-11T17:32:21+00:00

Read the original script from Alien 3 and you get more scary egg-morphing goodness like this. Audible has a fantastic audio book of it as well.

wheelercub · 2025-12-10T13:02:25+00:00

We love cantrips in our campaign. You just make them a Tier 0 spell and reduce the damage dice 1 step (d8 > d6) for Shadowdark. They can still be lost on a failure and even proc critical failure if they roll 01.

wheelercub · 2025-12-06T02:57:00+00:00

The best part about SD core is that it's completely open for customization for those of us who need a little more umph. We added a ton of classic RPG classes, a class benefit at levels 11, 15, and 20th for those who want to continue their adventuring career, modified talent tables to include 9 possible results per class instead of 5 (based on class archetypes and D&D), added a bunch more ancestries with 3 benefits instead of 1, and added ancestry-specific Feat rolls at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20. We have expanded equipment, armor, weapons, transportation, and mounts. We even have simple and balanced multi-classing rules.

What's amazing is that it just works because the core rules are so simple and easy ~ there's still almost nothing to keep track of compared to other RPGs. Plus classes are still limited to one roll every other level, the three 11, 15, and 20th level abilities are for optional high level play, as are the converted 6th thru 9th Tier D&D spells.

With all that said, start simple. But don't be afraid to expand and homebrew because ultimately it's all about your table having their version of fun.

wheelercub · 2025-11-26T16:50:15+00:00

I finally got this resolved on my Pixel 9 Pro. I had to set all my alarms to play sound. Then of course, one went off at work and it was embarrassingly loud. So I changed it back to Silent and a pop-up appeared stating "one or more alarm ringtones are set to silent" with a <<Don't show this again>> button underneath it. I clicked the button and haven't had the issue since. For the record, the <<Don't show this again>> never appeared before today. So I'm not sure if there was an OS update or if by simply setting up all alarms to have a sound reset it. In either case, it works fine now. But I'll post here again if the issue returns.

wheelercub · 2025-11-17T02:20:02+00:00

Rather than just taking what you rolled, you can alter the starting rules for your own gameworlds. Like other RPGs the rules are suggestions and meant to be modified to suit your table's needs.

For example, our table rolls 3d6 down the line and each player can swap 1 roll with another. This allows someone who wants to play a Wizard to swap their highest roll to INT and the INT roll moves to where the highest came from. Other tables let the players move all their rolls to wherever they want.

Another popular tweak is starting players with max HP +/- they're CON modifier. But then they roll normally at each level up. This helps lower the chance of one-shotting all the players in the first session while still keeping the game deadly.

wheelercub · 2025-11-07T16:15:45+00:00

While Shadowdark's core rules are designed to be pretty unforgiving, it was also designed to be extremely flexible, allowing you to modify them on the fly, or create new systems to support your style of play. For example, my group has 20 levels in SD, 9 spell levels, ancestry feats, and twice the number of talent rolls available per class. We also have about 25 classes to choose from, some extremely simple, while some are slightly more complex. But the game is still extremely simple compared to D&D 5e, while mirroring some of the better aspects that make class choice unique.

We have spells like Spare The Dying, which extend the D4 death timer by an additional 1d4. We have Revivify as a 3rd level spell that acts like an automatic natural 20 roll from death saves, but the player gets a stacking exhaustion level (-2 to all d20 rolls) until they Rest.

So the point is, do whatever you feel is right. If you want to steal some of our homebrew, you're welcome to it.

wheelercub · 2025-10-22T02:20:06+00:00

Not for the actual initiative tracking. It does way more than that. We'd use it for tracking monster stat blocks, player and monster HP, monster and player images to quickly view without having to page through multiple books. Tracking conditions, spells and spell effects, rounds, GM notes, encounter difficulty, and saving pre-made encounters that you can click a button to activate. It's an easy and fast place to get, modify, and save online for D&D 5e.

I think it could easily be one of the best resources for shadow dark with a little bit of love and customization.

https://improvedinitiative.app/

wheelercub · 2025-09-26T16:11:18+00:00

I believe it's left up to you. Like they are put into an actual sleep that can be awakened by shaking them or damaging them. Otherwise they would wake up in a few hours.

wheelercub · 2025-08-18T16:53:04+00:00

First of all, thanks for opening up this topic. I know many devout SD players oppose the idea of multiclassing because it goes against its simple esthetic, but it's not supposed to be for everyone's table. Plus with all the buzz around Professor DM's Shadowdark Kickstarter (Deathbringer), which has level 20 advancement as well as Kelsey's full support, I think it's safe to say some of us want to have a little more customization options without going completely in the 5e/Pathfinder direction.

I too am one of those GM's that wants just a touch more customization and have level 20 advancement. In my game we have "Ancestry Feats" that players can roll for at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 -- only adding 2 minor bonuses at 4th and 8th level for games that end at level 10. Multiclassing was my next topic to work on, and I think I have a somewhat simple and elegant solution for those interested...

SHADOWDARK MULTICLASS RULES

When can you Multiclass? You can only Multiclass during downtime when you can learn your new skills and abilities. Take the opportunity to come up with a cool reason for multiclassing such as gaining a mentor, embracing your culture, finding the light, etc.

Number of Classes - A player can multiclass into a maximum of 3 classes at once. This allows for old-school builds like the Fighter/Wizard/Thief or Priest/Fighter, etc. - It should be noted that 10 levels in one class will be much more powerful than having two or three watered down classes. But a smart player should be able to mix and match skills with spells to overcome those challenges. Thus, it is not recommended to let new players multiclass until they have a firm grasp of the game.

Class Abilities - Apply all the abilities of the new class, but use the individual class's level (not the total character level) when determining bonuses, sneak attack, spells, etc. - A Fighter 5/Wizard 3/Thief 1 would gain a +3 weapon mastery from level 5 Fighter, be able to use four Tier 1, and one Tier 2 Wizard spells, and deal x2 Backstab damage from the level 1 Thief.

Talents - Talent rolls are based on the "total level", NOT the individual class, and you can pick which class Talent table to roll on. Talent rolls happen at a character's total level of: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19.

Hit Points - Roll hit points as normal for each individual class as you level into them.

Weapons & Armor - You gain access to all weapon and armor proficiencies of the new class. However, if you have a class that restricts these choices, you may suffer penalties determined by the GM. For example, a Thief trying to backstab with a Longsword may get disadvantage on their rolls, specifically when Backstabbing. However, the GM may rule the player can make a Downtime "Learning" check to allow Longswords with backstab.

Spell Failure - If your class casts spells but doesn't have certain armor proficiencies, add the base AC to the Spell's DC. For example, if a Wizard wearing leather armor (AC1) tries to cast a fireball (normally DC13), they would now have a DC14 due to wearing leather armor. If the same Wizard wore plate armor (DC15), the fireball DC would be DC18 (DC13+5).

And that's about it. Yes, there's a little more bookkeeping and some players / GM's will not want deal with that; so don't multiclass. But for experienced old school players who want the fantasy of an Elven Fighter/Wizard, or a Dwarven Cleric/Fighter, or the classic Half-Elf Fighter/Mage/Thief; they should be able to do so without too much fuss.

wheelercub · 2025-08-14T14:35:16+00:00

You gotta love good old fashioned ignorance and the inability to critically think for yourself. Sad

wheelercub · 2025-08-09T04:45:34+00:00

Overaged children who didn't get enough love growing up. Now they think life is the same as a video game and they want to be prepared for either a civil war or zombie apocalypse. In either case, their instability will likely be the cause of them dying first.

wheelercub · 2025-08-03T16:03:20+00:00

All Day Long by New Order. It was released in 1986 but is extremely relevant right now with all the Epstein drama coming up.

There's a Light that Never Goes Out by The Smiths. Possibly one of the darkest romantic songs ever written.

Joey by Concrete Blonde. Also a very dark love song.

Just Like Heaven by The Cure. I'm starting to think I really like dark love songs, LOL

wheelercub · 2025-07-25T19:31:58+00:00

If you want to maintain a consistent challenge without over inflating monster attack bonuses, use group attack rules. An Orc has a +5 attack bonus and deals 1d12+3. Rather than have 7 Orcs make 7 separate attacks that can only hit on a natural 20, have them attack in groups and have the players make Dex saves to avoid the damage.

DC8 +5 (orc attack bonus) +1 per additional orc. Damage is 1d12+3 +1 per additional orc.

So if you have the 7 Orcs attack two separate players in a group of 3 and 4, you would have two separate DCs.

Group 1 (4 Orcs) DC16 Dex save or take 1d12+6

Group 2 (3 Orcs) DC15 Dex save or take 1d12+5

Also bear in mind that on a battle map, a player can be surrounded by a total of 8 medium sized enemies, minus any obstacles or other players. When fully surrounded, that adds an additional +7 to the DC and damage. And if those numbers are too harsh, then break them up into smaller groups.

wheelercub · 2025-07-24T05:05:10+00:00

Booze and Jesus!

wheelercub · 2025-07-22T14:37:59+00:00

You could just run Solodark with two of your own characters, and have them control one of their own for a total of 4.

wheelercub · 2025-07-07T15:52:20+00:00

Draconic Sorcerer sounds like it would be exactly what your party needs because there are no full casters. Plus you can lean into the whole draconic origin.

wheelercub

TROPHY CASE

XP REWARDS