Arilyn
Hero
That's rough? You are good!
Shadowdark Shadowdark General Thread [+]
- Thread starter overgeeked
- Start date
Why thank you! Dopamine is always nice.That's rough? You are good!
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
(I'm switching back to talking about Shadowdark in this thread, instead of continuing to pointlessly bump that other one....)
I've been playing Shadowdark always starting at 1st level, but just ran my first gauntlet. It was way more fun than I expected. Lots of dying. The players were laughing the whole time, and developed strong attachments to the surviving characters.
I've been playing Shadowdark always starting at 1st level, but just ran my first gauntlet. It was way more fun than I expected. Lots of dying. The players were laughing the whole time, and developed strong attachments to the surviving characters.
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Honestly, it's one of the main reasons I do general threads as +. Keeps out the nonsense. In theory at least.
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
I don't think the other thread was inappropriately negative, but somebody not liking an RPG isn't newsworthy enough to keep discussing endlessly, either.
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Sure. I've just found that around here there's a tendency to dogpile anything and everything that's not 5E or a close clone.
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
There was an interesting comment about Kelsey's adventures not having options other than fighting monsters, which I think is illuminating. At first it puzzled me, but then I realized that a lot of D&D players probably expect those other options to be spelled out, or at least made obvious. The thing about SD (and OSR/NuSR in general) is that not only are those "other options" not spelled out, but even the author of an adventure might not actually have had other options in mind when writing it. The telegraphing of the danger, sure, but the solution to the danger is entirely up to the players.
What I think this really gets to is one of the most important distinctions of OSR play. That is, if the "other option" to combat isn't described in the adventure, and the players have to improvise, then it's up to the GM to decide how likely their plan is to work. That's core to the OSR aesthetic, but anathema to players who are used to relying on rules, not GM judgment.
That difference is probably one of the key areas where playing Shadowdark with a 5e mindset will lead to nobody having fun.
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Yeah. People definitely need to read the book and maybe even some of the foundational documents to the OSR before diving in from 5E or you're going to have a bad time. The best I can remember is this is touched on in Shadowdark. But I haven't read it in awhile, so I'm not certain.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
I'm working on my Appendix N Jam submission and brainstorming with a friend. One of the obstacles I'm putting in is kind of a pain in the ass and I'm not sure how players will solve it. But I'm not worried about it because the reward for doing so is really good and I have faith that players will come up with a novel solution to this crazy problem I'm dropping into the adventure.
My players, about half of whom prefer 5E over Shadowdark (the live games alternate between the two campaigns), have always been this way, though. Some people are just born troublemakers, I guess.
Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
Two other observations:
Sometimes I think that advocates for Shadowdark, or OSR/NuSR in general, exaggerate the avoidance of combat. (Either that or I'm doing it wrong...). It's true that you can't assume that encounters are designed to be won in combat, and that many times if you start a fight you're missing out on a potential ally, but combat is an important (fun!) part of Shadowdark! I'd be disappointed to go a whole session without fighting something. I think it's more important to emphasize fighting smart. That is, going into a fight with more of a plan other than just charging in and rolling initiative.
The other thing that isn't emphasized enough is that although classes don't have as many built-in abilities as in some other games, magic items tend to have interesting features rather than straight up +N combat bonuses. So you still accumulate a set of "buttons to push" on your character sheet as you level, they just tend to not be class specific or predictable in advance.
Sometimes I think that advocates for Shadowdark, or OSR/NuSR in general, exaggerate the avoidance of combat. (Either that or I'm doing it wrong...). It's true that you can't assume that encounters are designed to be won in combat, and that many times if you start a fight you're missing out on a potential ally, but combat is an important (fun!) part of Shadowdark! I'd be disappointed to go a whole session without fighting something. I think it's more important to emphasize fighting smart. That is, going into a fight with more of a plan other than just charging in and rolling initiative.
The other thing that isn't emphasized enough is that although classes don't have as many built-in abilities as in some other games, magic items tend to have interesting features rather than straight up +N combat bonuses. So you still accumulate a set of "buttons to push" on your character sheet as you level, they just tend to not be class specific or predictable in advance.
