How would YOU change Shadowdark?

[Reynard]

Not really. I’m running shadowdark currently and backstab has come up a few times

Let me change my example
Party of 6 vs say a troll

I let the thief take an action to hide and following turn they backstab on their turn.

Do you think the thief can hide in the middle of the fight? Is there cover or concealment? is there a reason the troll would suddenly think the thief had disappeared from the battle?

This is literally being argued on the discord forums.

A lot of people come to SDfrom 5E and so really want there to be concrete rules. Which is ironic and fun, because 5E is really bad at concrete rules (especially for stealth).

Do they get just the one backstab? Does the halfling get 2 if they don’t use invisibility

You're the GM. If the halfling is invisible, does that mean the troll is unaware of the attack to you?

I just want clarification in the rules

I think you should embrace the rulings over rules nature of Shadowdark. You will enjoy running it more.

Same goes with a vial of poison . How does that work

This has come up a couple times. i am not famiar with the issue with poison. What is going on?

Auto success vs auto fail. If the rogue has time they auto pass find secret doors and traps?

You only roll if there is a chance of failure. Do you think given unlimited time that the door can be found?

Backgrounds. Herbalist. What does that mean. Does the herbalist auto know the berrys are poisonous. Can they tell the queens wine is poisoned?

You're the GM. What do you think?

There’s in my opinion a lot of discretion left to the gm

Yes.

and I’d love to see how Kelsey runs these

Me too. You can watch her run the game on a few streams, including solo games.

Now I’m running my campaign in a Ravenloft type setting where torches are needed all the time but are torches needed outside the dungeon in your worlds. A hex crawl involves traveling and encounters outside. Do you stop the torch timer then?

The Shadowdark is the underground or other places where the darkness is your enemy. You need a torch (or other light) anywhere the Shadowdark is.

 

[Fenris-77]

Good point. Fair enough. But it still isn't complicated: it is a question for a ruling in the context of the moment.

No, I don't think it's complicated at all. It's a very specific difference from the Ras Godai ability actually, and nice bit of design IMO.

 

[Bill Zebub]

But that de-emphasis works both ways. If it's de-emphasized, why does it matter at all?

To repeat: I am not the poster who said it was badwrongfun to use a standard array, or otherwise "build" characters with higher than average scores. I explained why I, a longtime D&D optimizer, really enjoy the SD approach and why the randomness is an integral part of it.

So, yes, it "matters" but not so much that it breaks the game if you don't use it.

 

[DarkCrisis]

You are making it more complicated than it needs to be. this is not a game designed with granular rules and explanations for every circumstance. It is the GM's job to answer questions like "Can I backstab." All the GM has to do is look at the circumstances in the moment and make a ruling.

Another reason to love the system.

I also like that "the race/class/background knows what they are doing" aspect. Who can hunt for food in the wild? A Ranger. Who can tend to a wound? A cleric or someone with basic med training.

If your character can justify it to the DM they can do it and usually without a roll.

 

[wicked cool]

Do you think the thief can hide in the middle of the fight? Is there cover or concealment? is there a reason the troll would suddenly think the thief had disappeared from the battle?

A lot of people come to SDfrom 5E and so really want there to be concrete rules. Which is ironic and fun, because 5E is really bad at concrete rules (especially for stealth).

You're the GM. If the halfling is invisible, does that mean the troll is unaware of the attack to you?

I think you should embrace the rulings over rules nature of Shadowdark. You will enjoy running it more.

This has come up a couple times. i am not famiar with the issue with poison. What is going on?

You only roll if there is a chance of failure. Do you think given unlimited time that the door can be found?

You're the GM. What do you think?

Yes.

Me too. You can watch her run the game on a few streams, including solo games.

The Shadowdark is the underground or other places where the darkness is your enemy. You need a torch (or other light) anywhere the Shadowdark is.

All I’m asking for is clarification. Not arguing and I appreciate the back and forth but even Kelsey is clarifying rules not in the rule book
I wouldn’t mind seeing a shadowdark 1.1 version

Poison is an encounter
Does a potion of fly last as long as the spell

I wouldn’t mind some universal rules as there are official gauntlets at cons.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Another reason to love the system.

I also like that "the race/class/background knows what they are doing" aspect. Who can hunt for food in the wild? A Ranger. Who can tend to a wound? A cleric or someone with basic med training.

If your character can justify it to the DM they can do it and usually without a roll.

Absolutely agree, but I think a lot of longtime players/GMs think that bold part brushes up against heresy. My impression is that a lot of people roll dice for practically everything.

 

[Bill Zebub]

All I’m asking for is clarification. Not arguing and I appreciate the back and forth but even Kelsey is clarifying rules not in the rule book
I wouldn’t mind seeing a shadowdark 1.1 version

Poison is an encounter
Does a potion of fly last as long as the spell

I wouldn’t mind some universal rules as there are official gauntlets at cons.

I struggle to watch other people play RPGs. But what would be interesting to me is a collection of (written) scenarios, organized (or searchable) by theme.

For example, "here are three or four different scenarios using stealth, and how Kelsey would adjudicate them..."

EDIT: my leap of logic may have not been apparent here. What I would like is not more detailed rules, but official examples of interpretation of existing rules.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Absolutely agree, but I think a lot of longtime players/GMs think that bold part brushes up against heresy. My impression is that a lot of people roll dice for practically everything.

Thats where stat checks come in. Want to hunt for food? Roll under your Wis stat.

Easy.

 

[Reynard]

All I’m asking for is clarification. Not arguing and I appreciate the back and forth but even Kelsey is clarifying rules not in the rule book
I wouldn’t mind seeing a shadowdark 1.1 version

Poison is an encounter
Does a potion of fly last as long as the spell

I wouldn’t mind some universal rules as there are official gauntlets at cons.

No, I get you. Sorry, i did not mean to go on a screed. this is a "what would you change" thread after all.

I just really like that SD leans so heavily into "rulings over rules" and sometime get a little evangelical.

 

[Reynard]

Thats where stat checks come in. Want to hunt for food? Roll under your Wis stat.

Easy.

On 3d6?