Shadowdark Finally Played Shadowdark

[Mannahnin]

I ran SD a few months ago for a group (one of the players begged).

It was ... I began as a DM running Basic & then AD&D. SD had the feeling of ... Bumper Cars®. You know like, it was fun, but the Advantage feature and the Death Saves turned the experience into "sanitized" fun. It's the Saturday Morning cartoon version of D&D

My experience so far is that it delivers much the same experience as Basic and AD&D back in the day, with fewer house rules or much less fudging needed.

 

[Emerikol]

I played the red box, 1e, 2e and at no time did I have constant TPK's. I had the rare character death but it wasn't happening all the time. Back then treasure was the only x.p. I gave out. Fighting happened a lot and sometimes the group had to flee especially at lower levels. My groups just used smart tactics. I hate the way D&D these days is just run into the middle of the room, no formation at all, and everyone starts fighting people around them. Any game I would write would result in a TPK in that situation.

 

[TwoSix]

My first thought was Castles & Crusades. Though maybe he should also give Index Card RPG a try.

I also recall Retreater also enjoying Dragonbane, but two of his players did not.

Cracking the code of a game that will fit Retreater's entire group requires a Rosetta Stone I do not have.

 

[Aldarc]

Cracking the code of a game that will fit Retreater's entire group requires a Rosetta Stone I do not have.

Right now, I would be happy to find games that fit just Retreater.

 

[Nebulous]

I’ve said it before and here it goes again: AD&D 2e with some optional rules layered on to address some of your complaints is the game for you. That was the D&D you remember and is probably the only way to try to recreate it today even if it likely won’t be like you remember.

That sounds like Castles & Crusades, which would have been 3e D&D if WotC hadn't stepped in to save TSR.

 

[Emerikol]

That sounds like Castles & Crusades, which would have been 3e D&D if WotC hadn't stepped in to save TSR.

It's a very solid game. I still want a skill system but I could play C&C any time. I own a lot of it.

 

[TwoSix]

Right now, I would be happy to find games that fit just Retreater.

Just going by the summary I posted a few days ago, that sort of game does kind of seem like an underserved niche? Like it's the type of style I could see a fair amount of players in the more traditional camp wanting to pursue.

"Lighter than 5e but still crunchy" does seem roughly like Daggerheart, but might lean too much towards the narrative side. You'd want a game that mostly eschews the more narrative tendencies of the bulk of lighter-weight games currently being made.

Something like Break! could fit if the genre conceits appealed.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My first thought was Castles & Crusades.

Outside of multiclassing or spellcasting, I don't think there's really any meaningful character customization choices in Castles & Crusades, although its multi-classing is amazing (better than any edition of D&D, for my money).

 

[Aldarc]

Outside of multiclassing or spellcasting, I don't think there's really any meaningful character customization choices in Castles & Crusades, although its multi-classing is amazing (better than any edition of D&D, for my money).

Probably not, but C&C reads a bit like TSR D&D but on a 3e d20 frame.

There is Worlds Without Number, but I don't if that's too much or too little character customization for Retreater.

 

[Retreater]

Outside of multiclassing or spellcasting, I don't think there's really any meaningful character customization choices in Castles & Crusades, although its multi-classing is amazing (better than any edition of D&D, for my money).

The new Armory book adds weapons with new traits. Also there are battle maneuvers. So that could provide some customization. I'm also aware of a lot of classes added outside the core book (such as the Adventurers Backpack). Plus there's fan created content such as a psionics system.
Choosing things like your primary attributes, races, etc, give some customization. It's not a bad system. I'm not in love with the SIEGE engine, but I've seen houserules that make it a little more straightforward.