shadowdark is a popular (as in backordered through january at the time of this writing in october) new ttrpg system that's part of the osr (old-school revival) movement. everything you need to play the game as a pc or gm is in the one core book. the goal of the book seems to be ad&d as you remember it, not how it actually was (which reminds me, i'll probably be updating less frequently after crow country hits ps4 on tuesday). the vibe from the book makes it seem like it's begging to be played in a dank, musty basement, maybe with the gm wearing a cloak or something.
this system looks streamlined in a way that it should be easy to pick up for most ttrpg players and could even be a good introduction for folks who've never rolled those funny-looking nerd dice before (if they don't mind their characters possibly dying. it looks like a lot of success or failure depends entirely on those funny-looking dice). instead of measuring distance for spells and the like in american imperial units the distances are "close", "near", and "far". no skills or feats. the alignments are simply "lawful", "neutral", and "chaotic". instead of rolling for initiative each encounter, initiative is rolled at the beginning of the sesh and goes around the table deosil from whomever rolled the highest, keeping turn order easy to remember. classes in the core book are limited to the original big four (nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, alice in chains) but there are more classes introduced in the offical supplements mentioned below. oddly, goblins are available as a species choice. i'm not complaining. goblins rule and if you agree you're right.
shadowdark isn't simply a rehash, however. there are a few unique mechanics that i can't wait to try. one such is the treasure-based leveling system. there are four tiers of treasure, each associated with a different xp award, and the book leaves it up to the gm to decide which category the treasure belongs to. this is pleasantly surprising for a game with such a focus on dungeon crawling. i really like systems that reward clever thinking as much as they do hacking and slashing. there's also a "carousing" table, where you can gain xp between dungeon delves. a carousing table! the more gold you spend, the harder you party and the more experience you gain. classes also have "titles" based on your level and alignment. these add nothing mechanics-wise but i appreciated them nonetheless. for example, a level 3-4 thief's title is "burglar" (like bilbo) if they're lawful, an "outlaw" if they're neutral, or a "cutthroat" if they're chaotic.
and then the most intriguing new system: darkness in real-time. instead of being measured by time passed by pc actions, a torch lasts 60 minutes of real life time, as in the big hand on your clock moves. when the light source runs out, pcs roll with disadvantage for anything requiring sight and the gm rolls for random monster encounters more frequently. this gave me a devilish idea: make a playlist that starts out with "immigrant song" or "kashmir" to get everyone pumped, then black sabbath comes next, and the music keeps getting heavier as the torch runs down until everyone is listening to orthodox black metal (i mean a group like antaeus or ofermod, not batushka. they go earlier in the mix). especially sadistic gms can stack a bunch of fast and nasty grindcore songs at the end of the playlist. after the torch goes out, spin the evil dungeon ambient of abruptum until another torch is lit. the real life time limit seems like it would encourage quick thinking and teamwork and i absolutely cannot wait to try this out.
something negative that makes this game stand out is unlike most crowdfunded games, this one may have been rushed out a little two soon. i found some contradictions and references to missing things. for example, the thief class page says that they get advantage on checks to disarm traps, but on the "making checks" page it says that thieves never need to roll to disarm traps. in the first official zine, there is a dungeon where pcs can find a scroll of "wrath bolt", a spell i can't find anywhere in the official releases. there is a "wrath" spell and a "lightning bolt" spell. at first i thought this was a even more confusing is the fact that "wrath" is a damage buff spell.
yes, there are official zines (i like this new trend, also seen in the "borg" games, much more than the expensive, bloated supplements of ttrpg past and present), each with a different theme (and new classes, spells, a dungeon, etc). so far there are three zines released with the themes of evil magic, a middle eastern setting, and a scandinavian setting respectively. awesome.
i wanted to save the best part for last: the art. incredible. just look at the cover. imposing, right? the interior art is pleasantly scrappy and earnest black-and-white illustrations emulating the look of older d&d art. when i saw premade goblin wizard character "zaldini" i was instantly in love. the association that first popped into my head was mercer mayer's "mrs. beggs and the wizard", a childhood favorite of mine and an incredibly charming picture book. maybe because both zaldini and the creatures from the book are impressively beschnozzled magical mischief-makers. see the comparison at the bottom of the page.
while the corebook and the zines are on backorder, the quickstart guides are free (well, you have to give them your email address) if you want to try the game this year. i'm looking forward to trying this with a group and looking even more forward to the next revision!
PS please support your local brick-and-mortar independent game/bookstore if you can!
happy crawling <3
