So what's the deal with this Deathbringer thingie?

Matrix Sorcica · Feb 18, 2026

It's $3.99 for 4 pages on DriveThruRPG, it gets raving reviews and is the most anticipated rpg of 2026.

And I know nothing about it.

What makes it special? What's the story? Help me get on the hype!

Retreater · Feb 18, 2026

I don't think it's the same thing. The PDF on DriveThru was released in 2022 and seems to be a house-rules pamphlet for 5E. The one still in development that "won" the most anticipated RPG of 2026 is based on Shadowdark. Professor DM threw out the original idea of making his own system last year and decided to partner with Shadowdark as a rules hack.

And it's special because Professor DM is a YouTube personality. He and the publisher (Roll for Combat) specifically advertised to get people to vote on ENWorld, so much of the interest was artificially generated by people who had never heard of these boards in an attempt to ramp up excitement (and money) for their crowdfunding.

Between you and me, it's a rules hack for Shadowdark and nothing especially noteworthy.

Fenris-77 · Feb 18, 2026

So if he needs $3.99 for four pages I don't need to read it.

mamba · Feb 18, 2026

Matrix Sorcica said:
What makes it special? What's the story? Help me get on the hype!

not sure you want to get on the hype after knowing what it is, but here goes… it is based on Shadowdark, goes up to level 20 and generally dials things up a notch, both lethality and hero actions.

This should be a decent short overview

and the homepage

https://kickstarter.deathbringer.com/

ironically I think I am more interested in the adventures mentioned…

Morrus · Feb 19, 2026

Matrix Sorcica said:
It's $3.99 for 4 pages on DriveThruRPG, it gets raving reviews and is the most anticipated rpg of 2026.

And I know nothing about it.

What makes it special? What's the story? Help me get on the hype!

That's from the same creator, and has the same name, but isn't the one that was voted most anticipated in 2026, which is a hardcover Shadowdark mod produced in conjunction with Roll For Combat.

Bill Zebub · Feb 19, 2026

Just took a look at it. Initial impressions:

It sort of reminds me of Five Torches Deep in terms of stripping things down to the bare essentials, which in general I like. (I was a big fan of FTD, too, except that there was never any additional content for it and I LIKE BUYING STUFF. Then Shadowdark appeared...)
However, the self-imposed constraint of the tri-fold is overly contrived because the resulting layout is smushed and the print is too small, and the result is probably too sparse.
Although I like simplicity, the magic "system" (perhaps "sentence" would be a better word) strikes me as too simple. Likewise "use any OSR or 5e spell you like" feels like punting on one of the harder parts of game design.

TheSword · Feb 19, 2026

Retreater said:
I don't think it's the same thing. The PDF on DriveThru was released in 2022 and seems to be a house-rules pamphlet for 5E. The one still in development that "won" the most anticipated RPG of 2026 is based on Shadowdark. Professor DM threw out the original idea of making his own system last year and decided to partner with Shadowdark as a rules hack.

And it's special because Professor DM is a YouTube personality. He and the publisher (Roll for Combat) specifically advertised to get people to vote on ENWorld, so much of the interest was artificially generated by people who had never heard of these boards in an attempt to ramp up excitement (and money) for their crowdfunding.

Between you and me, it's a rules hack for Shadowdark and nothing especially noteworthy.

Everyone was able to point their fans to the survey. I know I certainly did for WFRP 5e

Don’t be sour. Credit where credit is due. They cared enough to go
to the site and vote. That is high anticipation.

Unlike a lot of commentators he is actually a long term published writer and pretty cool dude.

His vision for Deathbringer is based on his approach to the game formed over a lifetime.

Matrix Sorcica · Feb 20, 2026

TheSword said:
Everyone was able to point their fans to the survey. I know I certainly did for WFRP 5e

Don’t be sour. Credit where credit is due. They cared enough to go
to the site and vote. That is high anticipation.

Unlike a lot of commentators he is actually a long term published writer and pretty cool dude.

His vision for Deathbringer is based on his approach to the game formed over a lifetime.

Do you have some insight in this vision to share? I find it very difficult to find out what this game really is (supposed to be). Thanks.