Shadow of the Weird Wizard Is Finally Here!

Long anticipated, it’s here! You can grab the PDF from DriveThruRPG. In fact, it has hit the #1 spot on the site.

By Rob Schawlb, SotWW is the sequel to Shadow of the Demon Lord and presents a more family friendly version of the game system.

Not DnD - Shadow of the Weird Wizard

Shadow of the Weird Wizard voted as one of the most anticipated ttrpgs of 2023 by EN World users. Join us as we discuss Rob Schwalb's family-friendly incarna...

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Shadow of the Weird Wizard® is a fantasy roleplaying game in which you and your friends assume the roles of characters who explore the borderlands and make them safe for the refugees escaping the doom that has befallen the old country. Unsafe are these lands: the Weird Wizard released monsters to roam the countryside, cruel faeries haunt the shadows, undead drag themselves free from their tombs, and ancient evils stir once more. If the displaced people would rebuild their lives, they need heroes to protect them. A brand new game built using the system powering Shadow of the Demon Lord, this game gives you everything you need for you and your friends to champion the innocent, to brave grave dangers, and right terrible wrongs, all while exploring the wild frontier of the borderlands!

Some saw him as a mad sorcerer who commanded eldritch powers of staggering might. As proof, one only has to look at all the abominations he set loose in the lands—the hybrid beasts, the multilegged hulking collectors, floating eyes that hang in the air trailing their nerve endings. And then, far, far beyond the edges of the new lands rose the walls of the Forbidden City and the clockwork peoples who dwelled there in seeming servitude to the dread mage who ruled over all he surveyed.



But the Weird Wizard is gone. His shadow remains, but the figure casting it disappeared and none, not even his closest servants, know where he went. It might be coincidence that his absence preceded the bloody civil war that tore the Great Kingdom apart and that precipitated the violent struggle between the other nations in the west, or the Weird Wizard might have had some stabilizing influence that enabled civilization to flourish once more following a far older, nastier decline. Too, he could have been the source of the conflict and abandoned the world to its fate.

Either way, the instability sends people by the thousands spilling into the borderlands. As this territory grows more and more crowded, refugees are looking to the east to make their homes. The first forays into the strange place have ended with disappearances and death, and the few people who have returned carry tales of hostile inhabitants, cruel faeries, and hideous, ravenous monsters. If the new lands would be tamed, there must be peace with the inhabitants.

Such efforts demand heroes. Luckily, there might just be a few around. This book shows you how to make a hero who can meet and triumph over the greatest challenges of exploring a world that stands in the shadow of a Weird Wizard.

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[Baumi]

Thank you for this. I hope more people talk about the game system. Does the magic system use spell points, spell slots or something else?

The number of uses per rest are written in the spell themself. Most are usable once, but some more often. The thing is that every time you learn a spell you can choose an existing one and can cast it as often again. So you can either learn many different spells or only a few and can cast them much more often.

Also spells are divided into 30+ Traditions. Each time you learn a Tradition you can learn spells from that but also gain one of four Talents. If you choose a Tradition again you gain another Talent. So, like with spells, you can either specialize or generalize.

 

[Baumi]

Uff I forgot the small fonts They make it really hard to read sometimes (if you have older eyes).

 

[Thomas Shey]

For those who want to buy it, you have to know that without the bestiary it is not really playable at the moment (dont know if the DL Monsters would work well). So only buy it if you want to read and study the rules, but to run it yu would be better wait for the Secrets book.

My feeling is that if the time frame for Secrets is what's claimed, it'd take me that long to internalize the material in the first book anyway.

 

[Zaukrie]

I was pretty interested in this, as I bought the Demon Lord Humble Bundle and found the character stuff interesting.....

I've read several reviews talking about the layout crossing pages a lot, and the rules being a bit wordy at times, which is a bummer.....I'll wait for the monster book to see what we/I do.....

 

[Retreater]

What a strange thread.
How about some discussion about the game itself ?

There is no game ... only Zuul?

I mean, yeah, I could talk about the game - if there was a game.
So I'm actually trying to do some research here. The Quick Start sample game has been removed from the Kickstarter Link to the hosting site on DriveThru.
Without challenges, you literally cannot test the game. There's nothing to play. How do I know if a character is balanced against a monster - if that monster has 5 HP or 500 HP? And how are we supposed to interact with the game - just have PvP?
The MDCM Playtest is a more complete game. Honey Heist is a more complete game.
Weird Wizard cannot be reviewed until the other book is released.

 

[Zehnseiter]

There is no game ... only Zuul?

I mean, yeah, I could talk about the game - if there was a game.
So I'm actually trying to do some research here. The Quick Start sample game has been removed from the Kickstarter Link to the hosting site on DriveThru.
Without challenges, you literally cannot test the game. There's nothing to play. How do I know if a character is balanced against a monster - if that monster has 5 HP or 500 HP? And how are we supposed to interact with the game - just have PvP?
The MDCM Playtest is a more complete game. Honey Heist is a more complete game.
Weird Wizard cannot be reviewed until the other book is released.

I don't understand your argument ? Games the release their core rulebooks in a staggered way is nothing special at all. Happens all the time from D&D 3E to the lasted Rolemaster edition. That business as usual. What is the problem ? Worst case you wait a few months and buy it then.

As far as I understand is the backers of the kickstarter get both printed books books delivered at the same time. So this bock is basically an early release as the game probably won't get printed before the second book isn't finished. That is actually a good thing. Why sit on a finished book ?Release it as PDF early and get some feedback on stuff that is wrong and was missed. ( And wrong and missed stuff is in every first release ) It will improve the print version. Cubicle 7 does this all the time. Just look at that Eldari book for Wrath & Glory.

 

[Thomas Shey]

While it'd be easier with opponents pre-canned, its not like you couldn't put together a group of "enemy" PCs to try out the mechanics.

 

[Retreater]

I don't understand your argument ? Games the release their core rulebooks in a staggered way is nothing special at all. Happens all the time from D&D 3E to the lasted Rolemaster edition. That business as usual. What is the problem ? Worst case you wait a few months an buy it then.

I don't know about Rolemaster, but I can speak about the 3.0 staggered release.
What else was released with the 3.0 Player's Handbook's release?

• First, it included a rudimentary bestiary in the back
• Second, there were downloadable free adventures ready on release date (including 3PP games such as Necromancer Games' "Wizard's Amulet").
• Third, there was the 3.0 SRD - which I think was available before the Monster Manual

To my knowledge, Weird Wizard has none of this, not even some free downloads on Schwab's website to "get you started."
It's not a complete game and can't be playtested - ergo, it can't be reviewed.

 

[Retreater]

While it'd be easier with opponents pre-canned, its not like you couldn't put together a group of "enemy" PCs to try out the mechanics.

Assuming enemies use the same mechanics? But even so, you would have no concept of how to build encounters.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Assuming enemies use the same mechanics? But even so, you would have no concept of how to build encounters.

Yes, and? I have to point out most games don't actually have much guidance there. Its a very modern conception and only exists, that I know of, in a handful of games.