Shadowdark General Thread [+]

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

Kids love it when they die totally unfairly!

They yearn for it

 

[numtini]

In all of my years playing/running RPGs I can’t think of a time a character died “unfairly”.

I can. It was my character in a con game at Origins 82. I was dropped into a room and there was a round object on the ceiling. It was obviously the way out. I said I tried to move it. Left right. They say it won't budge. Push, pull? It won't move. It really won't move left or right? No. Dead from poison.

The magic word was "rotate." If you didn't use that word, you died. I had no idea how I could move something round left or right without it being a rotation and even acted out how I was trying to move it, but apparently you had to use the specific word. Out in a paid game in five minutes.

Not that I'm bitter or anything.

 

[DarkCrisis]

My first 4e game. My lvl1 character peered around the corner in a dungeon; got one-shotted by waiting bandits. GM reprimanded me for not using a small mirror to look. They were very "OSR", despite the system, ie, punishing player choice not character choice.

If there was no roll and he just said "And you get shot in the face and die" yeah thats BS and the DM sucked. If he rolled to attack and hit your AC and you died, that's fair IMO.

A few months ago I had a level 1 Thief try to sneak into a goblin filled area. 3 goblins happen to be hiding in the tree nearby. She failed her stealth check and got filled with arrows. Also, fair IMO.

 

[Reynard]

The project I am working on is intended to be "compatible with" Shadowdark, not an adventure or setting for. This means I can ignore some shadowdark elements. Since the Shadowdark license is not tied to an actual SRD, and the only things you are allowed to reprint are monsters, spells and items, it makes sense to me to do it this way.

I am going to build new classes with a tight focus on my game's milieu, and build an equivalent to the carousing rules specific to that milieu. The goal is to be stand alone, but able to use any adventure made for Shadowdark.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Last time I ran a game for kids under 12 they both said at one point they were trying to get their PCs killed.

Understand that it was not the norm, but not that far off. Most times I find kids are used to character death.

I think it depends on the kid and on their expecations.

When I've run deadly stuff for kids, I tell them it's like a videogame like Spelunky, where characters will likely die horribly, which is why we've got all these pregens there. With expectations set, they're generally fine.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

My first 4e game. My lvl1 character peered around the corner in a dungeon; got one-shotted by waiting bandits.

Because the bandits were waiting 24/7 to headshot intruders? That seems ... unlikely.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Out in a paid game in five minutes.

The exact opposite of what the impulse should be for a con game. DMs should be giving more latitude in general in those cases, not less. Trying to impress strangers with what a tough DM you are is a bizarre impulse.

 

[Fenris-77]

Having killer stuff in the first minutes of play is just poor design for a tournament adventure.

 

[General_Tangent]

Having killer stuff in the first minutes of play is just poor design for a tournament adventure.

Tomb of Horrors has entered the chat

 

[Scribe]

AetherDark has a website, and quickstart rules.

https://aetherdark.com/aetherdark_quickstart.pdf

Aetherdark