Shadowdark Shadowdark General Thread [+]

[Fenris-77]

I keep looking at Dolmenwood, and my finger hovers over the "buy" button, and then I think..."No....someday they'll port it to Shadowdark."

Of course they won't do that because the system they wrote it for is their own system, which they want to sell more of. But somehow I still cling to that hope the way some people think WotC will eventually revive 4e and the Warlord.

The guy converting DW to SD on the Arcane Library discord is doing a great job.

 

[Bill Zebub]

The guy converting DW to SD on the Arcane Library discord is doing a great job.

I know, but while a conversion document is fine for a single adventure, they're pretty dissatisfying for an entire setting and collection of adventures.

 

[Fenris-77]

I know, but while a conversion document is fine for a single adventure, they're pretty dissatisfying for an entire setting and collection of adventures.

Yeah, that's fair.

 

[Xenolith234]

The guy converting DW to SD on the Arcane Library discord is doing a great job.

He also says that it loses flavor in porting it to SD. I’m not 100% sure why that has to be the case since it’s just mechanics.

 

[Fenris-77]

He also says that it loses flavor in porting it to SD. I’m not 100% sure why that has to be the case since it’s just mechanics.

It's not though. There's a lot of flavour in the abilites and spells and all sorts of places. I can see what he means anyway. I don't think that means it's bad either.

 

[Bill Zebub]

He also says that it loses flavor in porting it to SD. I’m not 100% sure why that has to be the case since it’s just mechanics.

Yeah but mechanics add flavor, so if he's converting content without replicating the mechanics (that is, creating new mechanics for SD) then I can see some flavor being lost. For example, if an NPC prefers using a particular spell, and that spell doesn't exist in Shadowdark, the choices are to create a new spell, or just change that part.

(Basically what Fenris already said...)

 

[Micah Sweet]

I know, but while a conversion document is fine for a single adventure, they're pretty dissatisfying for an entire setting and collection of adventures.

Maybe so, but is the setting really so different that any needed conversion can't be handled by the GM?

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yeah but mechanics add flavor, so if he's converting content without replicating the mechanics (that is, creating new mechanics for SD) then I can see some flavor being lost. For example, if an NPC prefers using a particular spell, and that spell doesn't exist in Shadowdark, the choices are to create a new spell, or just change that part.

(Basically what Fenris already said...)

As I said, I don't see the systems being so different that you can't just make any needed conversions, thus preserving the flavor.

 

[Fenris-77]

As I said, I don't see the systems being so different that you can't just make any needed conversions, thus preserving the flavor.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'just make the conversions'. You'd need new classes, adjusted magic, new monster stat blocks, plus a bunch of new mechanics to handle things like Runes and Glamours. That's a little more that most GMs are going to want to free hand. Perhaps you could expand a little?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'd love to see Kelsey hold a "Mini Adventure in City of Masks" design contest. Or...not a "contest" as much as a "festival".

That'd be a great itch Jam to do (and help make her fanbase aware that there's a whole second set of PDF content, often much weirder and wilder than the stuff on DriveThruRPG).