Shadowdark opens late pledges next week!

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, there are at least two OSR games that I wince a little when I see them mentioned. Even if they both have good points (and both games apparently do), I just wish there was a way to warn a potential purchaser about what a trash fire the creator is without completely derailing an online conversation that's otherwise going great.

 

[Bill Zebub]

And the commerce goes both ways. I'm very likely to buy The Temple of 1,000 Swords and Wyvern Songs to convert them over to Shadowdark along with Reach of the Roach God and the Monster Overhaul, once they're both in hardcover. A rising tide (of more people entering the OSR space) can lift all boats.

This.

I have 1,000 swords in my “to buy” list, I backed two DCC kickstarters specifically to use with Shadowdark, and I’m going to buy anything that comes out for Dolmenwood.

 

[Jahydin]

Which is why many of us are saying we don't need it.
And it's puzzling why people are getting so excited about it. But don't mistake me - I think it's great that they are. I'm in favor for anything that makes people excited to game. I'm just confused by this particular product - when it's so similar to others.

I see a lot of that. What I didn't see is the same attitude when OSE came out, which is funny since it's almost 100% a clone of already existing game that's already been "cloned" countless times before.

Shadowdark is an amalgamation of some of the neatest ideas of OSR:
LoftFP's attitude and tone
OSE's clean layout and adventure presentation
5e's Adv/Dis, attribute bonuses, and monster hp (1/2)
Lion and Dragon's random level-up system
OD&D's tinkerability and dungeon crawl focus

If anyone else can think of something, please add on!

 

[Bill Zebub]

Which is why many of us are saying we don't need it.
And it's puzzling why people are getting so excited about it. But don't mistake me - I think it's great that they are. I'm in favor for anything that makes people excited to game. I'm just confused by this particular product - when it's so similar to others.

Granted I'm not a connoisseur of OSR games so I may have missed some titles, but my personal experience has been that I've been drawn to the aesthetic of OSR, and I've been looking for just the right game, but I haven't liked any of the actual rulesets I've looked at. Retro-clones don't appeal to me...I'm looking for the feel I remember from those days, not the clunky rules. And some of the other leading contenders just have rule-sets that don't appeal to me.

I initially got excited about Five Torches Deep...that felt very close to what I was looking for...but it felt like an incomplete game, and there was so little community support for it. And there were some parts I didn't love.

Shadowdark just hit all the right buttons for me, plus I love the terse writing style and stripped down mechanics (even before Shadowdark I was completely won over Kelsey's Skyhorn adventures for this reason), plus there seems to be a lot of community/3pp support for Shadowark already.

TL;DR: I disagree that "it's so similar to others".

 

[Retreater]

I see a lot of that. What I didn't see is the same attitude when OSE came out, which is funny since it's almost 100% a clone of already existing game that's already been "cloned" countless times before.

Not only that, but OSE has repeatedly cloned itself - making so many different versions that new players are often overwhelmed with "which books do I need?" That's been my primary criticism each time they release a new Kickstarter for OSE.
So perhaps Shadowdark will be a simpler entry into the OSR for new players. I can see that being a selling point.

LoftFP's attitude and tone

Ewww.
The one adventure I played required the characters to be cannibals and eat sentient demi humans (granted, they were gnomes, but still.) It ... uh ... left a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[DarkCrisis]

I guess I’m in the Smoke Test! Just got my email link.

 

[darjr]

I guess I’m in the Smoke Teat! Just got my email link.

Woot! Do eeet!

 

[J.Quondam]

I guess I’m in the Smoke Teat!

Spoiler: suckling at the smoky teat

 

[DarkCrisis]

I’ll get around to looking at it someday . Busy night

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I’ll get around to looking at it someday . Busy night

As long as you clicked the button, take your time!

As of 5:10 Pacific, 32% of smoke testers had responded. So, at worst, when Kelsey wakes up Friday morning, Las Vegas time, the PDFs should go out to all backers.