Shadowdark Shadowdark General Thread [+]

[Mannahnin]

I think I heard that they scaled back the "early bird passes" because regular folks were having trouble getting into games.

That would be cool. One time I just showed up on the day, and let me tell you the pickings were slim!

 

[Scribe]

So, Q4 was pretty painful for me. Anyone know of any updates here for the Kickstarter?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So, Q4 was pretty painful for me. Anyone know of any updates here for the Kickstarter?

We've passed 30 days since the last update, and Kelsey is pretty responsive to the nag messages from Kickstarter, so I'd expect one soon.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So, the last time we played, we ended with carousing, as per usual, and got the result that a bard was now friends with a party member. I was asked who the bard was, to which I cleverly responded "uh ..." (I later went back and added a new NPC bard to the players setting guide.)

I'm thinking that I should proactively create a bard and a wizard (the other result that shows up a lot on carousing tables) for each town the PCs are likely to wander into. This actually feels like a good worldbuilding exercise, making them all distinct and appropriate to the town where the carousing takes place. They wouldn't appear until the carousing roll summons them into play, but I wouldn't be stuck flatfooted in future.

How does everyone else handle "and now there's a new NPC" result on random tables?

 

[Scribe]

How does everyone else handle "and now there's a new NPC" result on random tables?

I've been wildly disconnected from anything RPG for a good bit here, and I dont have my book near me but I could have sworn there are tables for this unless I pulled them from something else.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've been wildly disconnected from anything RPG for a good bit here, and I dont have my book near me but I could have sworn there are tables for this unless I pulled them from something else.

There are but, and I know this is heresy to some, I'd rather have something bespoke to each setting.

I'm going to publish an adventure* with a halfling town alongside an analogue of the Mississippi River. The NPCs who populate that should feel different, IMO, than the ones I might run into in, say, the Gloaming.

I also created a whole new random table of names for this halfling community, so this is something I'm big into generally. These halflings are river halflings, and not generic ones from the core book.

* Well, finish, polish and republish a half-finished one I did for a jam that I ran out of time on.

 

[overgeeked]

How does everyone else handle "and now there's a new NPC" result on random tables?

Pick a comedian or character from a TV show, movie, or novel I like and drop them into the game. Whoever comes to mind first or pull from a list if nothing comes to mind.

 

[Arilyn]

Excited about playing in new Shadowdark campaign. I'm very happy with my Pit Fighter's stats, as I rolled really well. Then I rolled double 1s for gold. My poor guy is starting the game with a shortsword and 3 gold. Yep, that feels like the beginning of a Sword & Sorcery story!

 

[Velderan]

So, the last time we played, we ended with carousing, as per usual, and got the result that a bard was now friends with a party member. I was asked who the bard was, to which I cleverly responded "uh ..." (I later went back and added a new NPC bard to the players setting guide.)

I'm thinking that I should proactively create a bard and a wizard (the other result that shows up a lot on carousing tables) for each town the PCs are likely to wander into. This actually feels like a good worldbuilding exercise, making them all distinct and appropriate to the town where the carousing takes place. They wouldn't appear until the carousing roll summons them into play, but I wouldn't be stuck flatfooted in future.

How does everyone else handle "and now there's a new NPC" result on random tables?

For the bard, you should just have 1 famous bard in your world who can be encountered anytime drunken nonsense is required. The name @Snarf Zagyg comes to mind, no idea why.

 

[Xenolith234]

I’m on the verge of starting up a Ptolus campaign and some of the group are ambivalent towards system, and some are wanting me to “just run 5e.” One of those is my wife. How can I make Shadowdark happen instead?