Shadowdark Shadowdark General Thread [+]
- Thread starter overgeeked
- Start date
Shadowdweller00
Hero
I got caught in quicksand once; when I was young and had been taken clamming. Almost cost me my boots!
Shadowdweller00
Hero
"Well...I was banished to the elemental plane of Ice Cream after my parents were killed by ninjas. And as everyone knows, ice cream correlates with heat stroke. So can I roll to make the giant suffer from heat stroke?"
GM: "..."
Reynard
aka Ian Eller
Not "backstory" -- background.
Shadowdweller00
Hero
C.f. "5. Banished. Your people cast you out for supposed crimes."
With some equivocation for "supposed" (i.e. highly dubious claims to) comedic effect.
Scribe
Legend
Cursed Scroll 1 - Diablerie
Dated: Dec 2021
Theme: Demons, Witches, Cults, that kind of thing.
Contents in order as they appear:
A hexmap through a cursed forest with some encounter tables.
3 new Classes, a demon possessed Knight (half caster), the Warlock (not at all the 5e Warlock), and Witch (CHA full caster).
An overview and talent tables specific to the Warlock patrons, other players are able to roll on these tables as well as part of the hexcrawl encounters.
20 Backgrounds.
2 tables of Mishaps for the new Diabolic (the Knight/Witch) casters.
46 spell Witch Spell List, I think most of these are new spells (things like Scry, Dimension Door are not) but I've played neither.
The hex key for the hex map.
14 Monsters, this includes a few named NPCs for the adventure.
17 pages of Adventure with a Map and keyed locations.
Back cover is a table of 20 new treasure items, themed to the rest of the content.
Not a lot of mechanical updates here, but the Patrons could count in that regard, but its a great product imo.
Cursed Scroll 2 - Red Sands
Dated: Oct 2022
Theme: Deserts, Gladiators, Sword and Sorcery
Contents in order they appear.
A hexmap through a desert with some encounter tables.
3 new classes, the Desert Rider (Mount focus), Pit Fighter, Ras-Godai (Assassin)
9 new Weapons
New Rules - Pit Fighting! 3 Tables for Solo Pit Fights, 3 Tables for Group Pit Fights, Arena Table (defines the crowd), Enduring Wounds table, Poisons Table, Mounts Rules.
The book space taken up by the spells in CS1, are replaced with the above rules content here @Micah Sweet
Desert Rules - Related to the hexcrawl, but obviously transferable to any desert location, like say an Oasis adventure.
Hex Key.
14 Monsters themed around the hex and adventure.
22 page adventure with NPC overviews, keys, and maps.
20 items found 'in a dead bandits hand' as the back cover.
This is the Cursed Scroll which combined with the core book is pretty much 'Sword and Sorcery is done' for Shadowdark. I hope Mounts at least gets into the license somehow, along with boats from Cursed Scroll 3.
Cursed Scroll 3 - Midnight Sun
Dated: Dec 2022
Theme: Norse/Viking,
Contents in order they appear.
A hexmap through a set of islands/ocean with some encounter tables.
2 New Classes, the Sea Wolf (Raider type), and Seer, a limited caster.
"Nord" Backgrounds.
Description of 3 Gods. Odin, Freya, Loki.
New Gear, 2 Weapons, 1 Shield with a new property type 'Sundering' that lets you sacrifice the item in place of being hit.
Boats! Rules covering size, movement, and other properties of boats, ranging from a Raft, to a Galleon.
Oaths! A page going over an oath, with 3 examples of how this can work. Its an example more than anything.
3 page 0 level gauntlet with map and key.
2 Page, Arctic Sea encounters (d100, like the core book ones)
Seer Spell List. 4 spells available per tier (5 tiers of course) new or mostly new at a glance.
3 pages of hex key
12 Monsters themed to the book.
17 page adventure gauntlet, with key and map.
20 item back cover of treasure ideas.
Splitting the difference between spells and new rules, this one has Boats and some additional content, but not nearly as much as CS2, to give room for the Seer List.
Personally, I'm partial to CS2 as a game supplement, CS1 as an adventure, but CS3 is not bad at all, doing a little bit of everything with that strong norse "nord" flavour.
Oh and there is a review of the adventure from CS1, here.
Dated: Dec 2021
Theme: Demons, Witches, Cults, that kind of thing.
Contents in order as they appear:
A hexmap through a cursed forest with some encounter tables.
3 new Classes, a demon possessed Knight (half caster), the Warlock (not at all the 5e Warlock), and Witch (CHA full caster).
An overview and talent tables specific to the Warlock patrons, other players are able to roll on these tables as well as part of the hexcrawl encounters.
20 Backgrounds.
2 tables of Mishaps for the new Diabolic (the Knight/Witch) casters.
46 spell Witch Spell List, I think most of these are new spells (things like Scry, Dimension Door are not) but I've played neither.
The hex key for the hex map.
14 Monsters, this includes a few named NPCs for the adventure.
17 pages of Adventure with a Map and keyed locations.
Back cover is a table of 20 new treasure items, themed to the rest of the content.
Not a lot of mechanical updates here, but the Patrons could count in that regard, but its a great product imo.
Cursed Scroll 2 - Red Sands
Dated: Oct 2022
Theme: Deserts, Gladiators, Sword and Sorcery
Contents in order they appear.
A hexmap through a desert with some encounter tables.
3 new classes, the Desert Rider (Mount focus), Pit Fighter, Ras-Godai (Assassin)
9 new Weapons
New Rules - Pit Fighting! 3 Tables for Solo Pit Fights, 3 Tables for Group Pit Fights, Arena Table (defines the crowd), Enduring Wounds table, Poisons Table, Mounts Rules.
The book space taken up by the spells in CS1, are replaced with the above rules content here @Micah Sweet
Desert Rules - Related to the hexcrawl, but obviously transferable to any desert location, like say an Oasis adventure.
Hex Key.
14 Monsters themed around the hex and adventure.
22 page adventure with NPC overviews, keys, and maps.
20 items found 'in a dead bandits hand' as the back cover.
This is the Cursed Scroll which combined with the core book is pretty much 'Sword and Sorcery is done' for Shadowdark. I hope Mounts at least gets into the license somehow, along with boats from Cursed Scroll 3.
Cursed Scroll 3 - Midnight Sun
Dated: Dec 2022
Theme: Norse/Viking,
Contents in order they appear.
A hexmap through a set of islands/ocean with some encounter tables.
2 New Classes, the Sea Wolf (Raider type), and Seer, a limited caster.
"Nord" Backgrounds.
Description of 3 Gods. Odin, Freya, Loki.
New Gear, 2 Weapons, 1 Shield with a new property type 'Sundering' that lets you sacrifice the item in place of being hit.
Boats! Rules covering size, movement, and other properties of boats, ranging from a Raft, to a Galleon.
Oaths! A page going over an oath, with 3 examples of how this can work. Its an example more than anything.
3 page 0 level gauntlet with map and key.
2 Page, Arctic Sea encounters (d100, like the core book ones)
Seer Spell List. 4 spells available per tier (5 tiers of course) new or mostly new at a glance.
3 pages of hex key
12 Monsters themed to the book.
17 page adventure gauntlet, with key and map.
20 item back cover of treasure ideas.
Splitting the difference between spells and new rules, this one has Boats and some additional content, but not nearly as much as CS2, to give room for the Seer List.
Personally, I'm partial to CS2 as a game supplement, CS1 as an adventure, but CS3 is not bad at all, doing a little bit of everything with that strong norse "nord" flavour.
Oh and there is a review of the adventure from CS1, here.
Reynard
aka Ian Eller
I am not sure what your point is.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Yeah, CS 3 is probably my least favorite as well. I know some people are really into Vikings, and this is a good one for them, but it's pretty one note (although the Seer is a far darker class than it appears on first glance, which is interesting).
I'm also not a fan of real world mythologies in fantasy worlds, and would rather we got new gods of the north, rather than the Norse pantheon.
I do think the good stuff in the Cursed Scroll will be largely welcome split up in the Western Reaches Players Guide.
I'm also not a fan of real world mythologies in fantasy worlds, and would rather we got new gods of the north, rather than the Norse pantheon.
I do think the good stuff in the Cursed Scroll will be largely welcome split up in the Western Reaches Players Guide.
Scribe
Legend
Agreed, it's only 3 God's, but like...file the serial numbers off.
Shadowdweller00
Hero
Fairly simple to convert to whatever local deities you want to use at least. For example a Sea Wolf class that is Luskan-themed using maybe Tempus, Tymora, and Waukeen instead.
The number of fictional worlds that use Norse crossover deities IS surprisingly large...
Similar Threads
Recent & Upcoming Releases
-
June 16 2026 -
June 16 2026 -
September 16 2026 
Arcana Unleashed(Dungeons & Dragons)
Rulebook featuring "high magic" options, including a host of new spells.
Replies (181) -
September 16 2026 -
October 1 2026 -
October 6 2026 -
January 1 2027
