She's now sharing the working version of the doc on the Discord. It's very incomplete at the moment, but it definitely looks like she intends to bring it to market this year, along with the next three Cursed Scrolls and maybe -- it's not clear -- a print version of Shadowdark Thunderdome.
I checked out on WotC D&D when they axed 4e. These days if I want a D&D-like experience it's either 13th Age (for 4e vibes) or an OSR game (for anything else) - but frankly, I don't even get that urge very often any more.
Plus how do you capture an "old-school feel" with a game that has 5e-like Death saves AND Long rests? That isn't old-school at all . Finally there's nada for long-term campaigns outside of the very new-school method of fighting monsters until you hit level 20 or whatever. No land-ownership. No strongholds. No armies. No political intrigue. You're literally stuck in the dungeon FOREVER
No one having infravision in one of the main points of the game. None of the characters can see in the dark, all of the monsters can. Keeping track of light and trying to avoid the darkness is one of the themes of the game. I'll also add that is not presented as an old school clone. It's a 5e heavy variant with strong modern OSR inspiration.
I'm a softy, so house-ruled all spells get to work at least once before losing them.
This is to keep the torch mechanic relevant to all players.
Shadowdark is not meant to replace any of those more robust systems; it's soul focus is quick dungeon delving, just like you pointed out. It's for when I have some free time at work, so I draw a series of cool little dungeons on an index cards, then the following week some friends drop by and want to game unexpectedly, so I grab my cards and we're up and playing in minutes.Finally there's nada for long-term campaigns outside of the very new-school method of fighting monsters until you hit level 20 or whatever. No land-ownership. No strongholds. No armies. No political intrigue. You're literally stuck in the dungeon FOREVER
Overall I put Shadowdark in the same class as RISUS or Maze Rats: Beer & Pretzels rpgs that play more like a board game. All it really did was reaffirm how complete and expansive the D&D Rules Cyclopedia is.
