Shadowdark Shadowdark Discussion Thread [+]

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've got some of his other stuff, so looking forward to that.

I'm strongly tempted to get his three pack of Shadowdark adventures when they go up on Kickstarter this summer.

 

[Scribe]

I'm strongly tempted to get his three pack of Shadowdark adventures when they go up on Kickstarter this summer.

Yeah I'm a sucker for Shadowdark 'adventure on a card' or one shots. I'll probably need this one too.

 

[Bae'zel]

love her answer to "Shadowdark is not good for roleplaying and not good for long-term campaigns".

I'll have to watch this as I'm very curious about what the general sentiment is.

I have roleplayed wonderfully with very rules-light games. And ran long-term campaigns with very gritty settings or playstyles. Do people really believe that Shadowdark can't support these things? I'd be very surprised if Kelsey feels that way.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'll have to watch this as I'm very curious about what the general sentiment is.

I have roleplayed wonderfully with very rules-light games. And ran long-term campaigns with very gritty settings or playstyles. Do people really believe that Shadowdark can't support these things? I'd be very surprised if Kelsey feels that way.

She doesn't. The video is full of her responding to weirdly bad takes. (No, Shadowdark isn't only good for dungeon crawls and the fact that the level cap is 10 doesn't somehow make it incompatible with long campaigns. She estimates it will take about four years of weekly play to get to level 10. And you don't really need any rules, she notes, to be able to roleplay.)

 

[Bae'zel]

She doesn't. The video is full of her responding to weirdly bad takes. (No, Shadowdark isn't only good for dungeon crawls and the fact that the level cap is 10 doesn't somehow make it incompatible with long campaigns. She estimates it will take about four years of weekly play to get to level 10. And you don't really need any rules, she notes, to be able to roleplay.)

Yeah I just got the chance to watch it. Great answers from her on this one.

That particular question really bugs me when asked about ANY RPG. Like, gimme a break! People can roleplay without ANY rules (make believe) or with only minimal ones (improv).

 

[Scribe]

She doesn't. The video is full of her responding to weirdly bad takes. (No, Shadowdark isn't only good for dungeon crawls and the fact that the level cap is 10 doesn't somehow make it incompatible with long campaigns. She estimates it will take about four years of weekly play to get to level 10. And you don't really need any rules, she notes, to be able to roleplay.)

Been doing a lot of reading around this, and yeah, the concern around 'only 10 levels' seems so overblown, people have a perception likely thanks to various D&D editions that you need more levels, when they are really just not needed.

 

[Mannahnin]

She doesn't. The video is full of her responding to weirdly bad takes. (No, Shadowdark isn't only good for dungeon crawls and the fact that the level cap is 10 doesn't somehow make it incompatible with long campaigns. She estimates it will take about four years of weekly play to get to level 10. And you don't really need any rules, she notes, to be able to roleplay.)

She said a year of consistently weekly play. Which is a fine length. And noted that you can easily slow down advancement if you want.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

She said a year of consistently weekly play. Which is a fine length. And noted that you can easily slow down advancement if you want.

I know some people think weekly RPG games are the norm, but given all of the scheduling issues so many of us deal with, I suspect a year of weekly Shadowdark game is probably closer to two or three years of "we did our best to make this weekly, but life got in the way."

 

[VashVet]

Been doing a lot of reading around this, and yeah, the concern around 'only 10 levels' seems so overblown, people have a perception likely thanks to various D&D editions that you need more levels, when they are really just not needed.

In fairness, a lot of games don’t give a great barometer of how fast to level. D&D 5e makes it more complicated by saying you should level quickly through levels 1 and 2 before going to milestone or XP leveling.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Been doing a lot of reading around this, and yeah, the concern around 'only 10 levels' seems so overblown, people have a perception likely thanks to various D&D editions that you need more levels, when they are really just not needed.

It also feels like they haven't looked at the full Shadowdark book. Wizards have access to wish at level 10. What were they hoping for at higher levels? Shadowdark, like Dungeon Crawl Classics, basically just smooshes most of the 20-level D&D power curve down to 10 levels.