Shadowdark looks so good!

[ryu289]

I am not sure why you are sharing a link to a copy of a blog post hosted on a Russian archive site and not the original article.

I would recommend you share the original post’s url if you want people’s opinions. Edit: See the below post.

I am not comfortable sharing the link as the post is filled with rather hateful speech and would caution anyone reading it if they are not prepared for that.

I am aware of the incredibly tactless and mean spirited language there, but was there any legit criticisms there?

 

[DataDwarf]

 

[darjr]

Eagerly awaiting my invite to play.....

Soon?

 

[Zaukrie]

Soon?

Dm me.....I may be able to play online

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

While we wait for Backerkit to do their thing with the smoke test, Kelsey has scheduled a dungeon design livestream for Friday, which was one of her stretch goals.

If you haven't seen her YouTube videos on dungeon design previously, they're quite good. She takes a slightly different approach than, say, the 5 Room Dungeon model when it comes to varying challenges, and she's very transparent about how she uses randomization to inspire her. She also takes ideas from those watching live.

Friday at noon Pacific.

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm in the smoke test, and there is a lot here! So many tables....so many tables....many of which are useful no matter what you play.

I really like the simplicity of everything here. I don't need 17 paragraphs on every monster's abilities.....I'm not sure how it will play yet, but we'll see at some point.

 

[Zaukrie]

The witch class is very well done. The spells are quite evocative.

I'm not 100% sold on how monsters are presented yet, it's such a large change from what I've looked at for decades now....

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Fascinating that she wrote Cursed Scroll #1 in December 2021.

And shots fired with the Shadowdark Warlock class! (Not a core class.)

If your patron is displeased with you, it can withhold its gifts. You lose any talents granted by your Patron Boons during this time.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Just flipping through the core book.

The random tables for generating shops and taverns are great. Good tables for most environments, although I wouldn't have had the city neighborhood encounter charts mixed in with the wilderness ones.

Lots of pretty standard D&D SRD monsters, and reskinned or renamed ones if they're protected WotC IP ("brain eaters," for instance).

The only gnome is the deep gnome (!).

The unique stuff are the best, and I wish there were more of them at first glance.

• Goat giants are new to me, and creepy: "Highland-dwelling, barbaric giants with goatlike legs, horns, and horizontal pupils."
• The grimlow: "A tall, oval-shaped mammal. A giant, half-moon maw hides on its belly beneath its gray fur."
• The weald hag (the green hag substitute): "Eyes dark as moonless nights, skin made of rotting wood, hair of tangled roots and vines."
• The rime walker: "Human-shaped beings formed from black space ice. Their eyes are two flickering, white lights."

I love that there are mostly random magic items and even the pre-generated ones include a lot of new magic items.

And finally:

This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at
Official Tabletop Resources | Dungeons & Dragons systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at When we share, everyone wins - Creative Commons licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.

 

[Bill Zebub]

The random magic item generation tables are both well done, and finally give some context to the Wizard random talent that lets you create random magic items. Can't wait to see a Wizard roll a 2.