Not DnD - Shadow of the Weird Wizard with Rob Schwalb

Shadow of the Weird Wizard was voted as one of the most anticipated TTRPGs of 2023 by EN World readers. Join us as we discuss Rob Schwalb's family-friendly incarnation of his Shadow of the Demon Lord ruleset. Announced in 2020, this game went through numerous names, and has been long in the making, and redesigns the Demon Lord system for a new audience. The Weird Wizard is an eccentric character who lives in Clockwork City, and whose magic has transformed the lands.

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NOT DND is our weekly streamed show where Jessica Hancock interviews tabletop RPG creators about their games -- focusing on those which are not D&D! You can catch it every week at 10-pm on our Twitch channel, catch up on past episodes on YouTube, or listen to it as a weekly podcast wherever you get your pods! Past episodes include Dune, Star Trek Adventures, WFRP, Blade Runner, and many more.

Weird Wizard Archives - Schwalb Entertainment

schwalbentertainment.com

 

[Doc_Klueless]

wait what

I had a whole thing written here, based on my playtest documents from a year back, and Schwalb having said he wishes he'd used the zones approach from Forbidden Rules from the start... but now I actually looked into the quickstart and he changed it all back to yards, like we're back to dealing with DnD's 'you can play without a grid but we measure everything in 5ft squares so screw you'.

He said that (and I'm paraphrasing here) it's easier to go from non-zones to zones than from zones to non-zones. There will be rules for Zones, but they will be in the Secrets book.

My guess is that the Zones thing was a bigger turn-off for more players than it was a turn-on for players. (For example, I dislike Zones. They're not a deal breaker for me. I still would have backed SotWW (which I have!!), but I don't like them.) He's a smart dude to include the rules for Zones in a GM book while keeping the non-zone rules in the player's book. Mostly because (I think) more people will be coming from Non-zone space who will not understand the concept of Zones and be turned off by them before they even get a chance to try them out.

It's definitely not at "Screw You!" but a "I have to accommodate the maximum number of players to maximize my ability to publish and profit so that I can continue to publish mindblowing good content for SotWW" sort of thing. I think.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I played a bunch of Shadow of the Demon Lord and played a wizard. I remember that as my level increased and the level of the opposing monsters increased my wizard got worse and worse. Since alot of spells in that game are save or suck and the monsters kept getting better and better saves I ended up shooting alot of stuff with a crossbow instead as the game went on.

Is this still a thing in this new game?

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I played a bunch of Shadow of the Demon Lord and played a wizard. I remember that as my level increased and the level of the opposing monsters increased my wizard got worse and worse. Since alot of spells in that game are save or suck and the monsters kept getting better and better saves I ended up shooting alot of stuff with a crossbow instead as the game went on.

Is this still a thing in this new game?

We havent seen a lot of the revamped magic rules. But from what we've seen, I think specialization++ will still be required to be able to deal with higher level foes.

But on the other hand, the system seems to go easier on the ''frightening/horrifying'' monsters that gives you Banes just for seeing them, making spellcasting a little more reliable.

 

[eyeheartawk]

We havent seen a lot of the revamped magic rules. But from what we've seen, I think specialization++ will still be required to be able to deal with higher level foes.

But on the other hand, the system seems to go easier on the ''frightening/horrifying'' monsters that gives you Banes just for seeing them, making spellcasting a little more reliable.

Oh yeah, good catch, yeah you start stacking banes on top of the better saves of the monsters and you may as well just stay home and watch the world burn.

 

[Nikosandros]

I must say that I'm not a fan of the idea of gating three quests behind a $500 pledge.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I must say that I'm not a fan of the idea of gating three quests behind a $500 pledge.

I mean, looks like we'll already have 30+ quests now with all the strech goals. Having 3 be exclusive to the highest pledge tier does not seems a big deal to me. Even with those quests, I dont think this pledge level is worth it, IMHO.

 

[Nikosandros]

I mean, looks like we'll already have 30+ quests now with all the strech goals. Having 3 be exclusive to the highest pledge tier does not seems a big deal to me. Even with those quests, I dont think this pledge level is worth it, IMHO.

Well, it rubs me a little the wrong way, but rationally I can't really argue with your position...

 

[SteveC]

I think there's no doubt that you will be getting your money's worth on this Kickstarter. The amount of material that's involved with it is incredible. Not at the original Shadow KS yet but give it some time. Seriously: the number of additional supplements involved here is ... Weird.

 

[mamba]

I think there's no doubt that you will be getting your money's worth on this Kickstarter. The amount of material that's involved with it is incredible. Not at the original Shadow KS yet but give it some time. Seriously: the number of additional supplements involved here is ... Weird.

yes, if you go by page count this will easily exceed 1000… you started at around 600 and pile on 60 page supplements, it does not take that many to get there, chances are we already are, did not do the math

That is a giant amount of content

 

[Nijay]

yes, if you go by page count this will easily exceed 1000… you started at around 600 and pile on 60 page supplements, it does not take that many to get there, chances are we already are, did not do the math

That is a giant amount of content

Indeed this seems like a great value. I'm looking forward to checking out the quick play materials. Can anyone suggest a link to get an overview of the Shadows of the Demon Lord?