#shadowdarkblog

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#Monstober2023 Day 11: Decay

Zombies. These aren't the typical D&D zombies. These are the infected type from World War Z and Z Nation. Good luck. More to come.

Nothing says, “Everything is falling apart,” quite like zombies. For the Shadowdark RPG. We’re going to take the standard issue zombie a few more steps to resemble movie zombies more closely. These creatures are infected by some sort of mutagen or pathogen. They become devoid of reason and rational thought and move purely on instinct toward any food source aka the living. Somehow their senses…

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RPGaDay2024 August 16th.

Shadowdark RPG goes back to that Old School RPG mentality of skipping the fluff and dive straight into character generation. Honestly, it's what a lot of us do with a new RPG book anyway, but Shadowdark does it for us.

An RPG that’s quick to learn: Shadowdark RPG. This game is so simple that it could have just as easily come in a red box with a dragon on the front cover. It jumps right into the game terms, equipment, and a bit of skill/combat resolution. Then the book dives right into character generation. By the time we get to Page 41, we have a full-fledged, ready-to-go character in hand. (Minus spells for…

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Fantastic TTRPG February Day 27: Cold.

I love cold adventures. I love snow in the real world. Here's the Ice Asp presented for Shadowdark RPG.

This chilly little monster is compatible with Shadowdark RPG. This is the Ice Asp. This was one of my entries for RPG Superstar reimagined for Shadowdark RPG. AC 13, HP 45, ATK 2 bite +4 (1d6) + Icy Venom Or Icy Breath (near), MV near (climb, swim, burrow), S +1, D +3, C +3, I +0, W +0, Ch -2, AL N, LV 5 Icy Venom CON DC 13 or 2d8 damage and frozen for 1d4 rounds. Icy Breath Ice Asp exhales a…

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Fantastic TTRPG February Day 26: Conjuration

Playing around with some new spells for a new character class compatible with Shadowdark RPG.

The magical art of producing something from nothing. Dungeons & Dragons rolls this school of magic in with Summoning, which we covered earlier this month. You can find that article here.As Shadowdark RPG and many other games don’t use the tired old D&D magic schools, let’s redefine Conjuration a little bit. We’ll say it’s the arcane art of bringing things to the caster or sending things away.…

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Fantasy TTRPG February Day 20: Cryptids

In a world where magic is fairly common, what creature would be strange? Wikipedia defines Cryptids as, “Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist somewhere in the wild, but whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science.” Now, in most fantasy TTRPGs, science really isn’t a thing (yet.) So, what wouldn’t they have discovered yet?I’m going to go with my…

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Fantasy TTRPG February Day 17: Eldritch Horror.

Talking about the use of Cthulhu and similar mythos in high or even low fantasy TTRPGs. Anyone remember Earthdawn RPG?

Nothing says “Fear me” quite like Old Ones, Elder Gods, and things from beyond. While technically a separate genre from fantasy TTRPGs, Eldritch Horror (the works of HP Lovecraft and the like) is available to us. I’ve been fascinated with the subject ever since the Great Cthulhu himself and all of his friends appeared in Deities and Demigods for 1st Ed AD&D. That was maybe one of the coolest…

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Fantasy TTRPG February Day 15: Fire.

#FantasyTTRPGFebruary continues with lots of passion. Today's subject is fire and here are 5 new Shadowdark RPG compatible spells to try out.

Five new Fire spells for use with Shadowdark RPG. I’m working on my own version of the Pyromancer for an as-yet-untitled book compatible with Shadowdark RPG. (*Everyday I wish it was official, but alas…) I have a lot of spell ideas, especially for the lower tiers. Here are some of what I have planned: Torch Lighter:Tier 1, PyromancerDuration: InstantRange: Touch. With a loud clap of their…

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Fantasy TTRPG February Day 13: Lucky.

How to give characters a little extra help when their players are struggling with low die rolls. It happens to all of us. Other than putting our dice in jail, how do we turn things around?

When I hear “luck,” I tend to think reality bending. The fine line in fantasy TTRPGs between superpowers and regular characters is magic. Reality bending is basically magic. If we were talking about a superhero game it’s a power. If it’s fantasy, then it’s just another part of magic. If it was horror, we’d be making a call to the SCP Foundation, our friends at Arkham (No, not the Batman one)  or…

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Fantasy TTRPG February Day 11: Roads

Creating a world by thinking about how people interact with roads and how roads interact with the world. Blazing new trails is the definition of adventure.

I love playing out travel in fantasy TTRPGs. So many interesting things can happen just traveling from Point A to Point B in a world filled with fantastic monsters and swarthy scavengers. Not all monsters live in dungeons. Not all dungeon monsters stay there all the time. I know some players just want to say, “we hit the road and arrived in the next town three days later” like it’s a travel…

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Fantasy TTRPG February Day 5: Pentacles.

Five fun magic items developed around the pentacle.

That cute star etched onto the amulet is good news for once. Okay, easy mnemonic for those who don’t know: If the point is up, it’s a pentacle.  If the point is down, it’s time to frown (pentagram.) That’s how I learned it, anyway. Pentacles are generally associated with good things. Learn more about real-world definitions of pentacles in this Wikipedia article. For our purposes here, I’m going…

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Fantastic February 3rd- Three.

#FantasticFebruary kicks off with a trio of Storm Hags for Shadowdark RPG.

Shakespeare, Tesla, Bride of Frankenstein, and just a touch of Independence Day. These tall, blue skinned figures have large black almond shaped eyes with black hair constantly standing on end always appear in trios or covens of six or nine. They communicate via electric signals sent from their long, spindly fingers to one another. They constantly levitate, unaffected by terrain.They are always…

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Creature Feature: Tendriculos!

Gushing over this leafy carnivore, the man-eating Tendriculos!

Surprise. It’s not a Pokemon. This carnivorous plant is like being attacked by a dump truck with tentacles in the middle of the forest. It’s one of my favorite all-time monsters. The entry shown here is from Matt Finch’s Monstrosities as printed by Frog God Games. You can find it here on DriveThruRPG.com.The creature originally appeared in Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition. I fell in love with it…

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Building a Better Monster In d20 Fantasy Games.

Talking a bit today about monster creation. I love monsters. I love making monsters. I want more monsters, especially for games such as Shadowdark RPG. Let's dive into the madness that lurks in the mysterious dark together!

I’ve been on a personal crusade to educate myself on monster creation. Some Game Masters get by on just a core book or Basic D&D Player’s Handbook. These GMs make up all their own monsters from scratch tailored to their campaign. I admire that level of creativity.I’ve been pushing my creativity and personal boundaries when it comes to making monsters lately. I have some ambitions about creating…

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Tieflings? Is This a Thing Now?

We'll chat a little bit about Tieflings, their history and whether they belong in every game. I also give my take on their counterpart: the Aasimar. Half Angels. I've statted them up for Shadowdark RPG.

TTRPG Twitter is buzzing about Tieflings in d20 Fantasy games. These spawn of demons (or devils?) originally appeared in the Planescape campaign setting for 2nd Ed AD&D. They became a “standard” Player Character race in D&D 4th Edition Player’s Handbook. Unofficially, they were available in 3rd Edition via the Green Ronin Aasimar & Tiefling sourcebook. You can learn more about them here on…

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Playing With the Lights In Shadowdark RPG.

Giving some thoughts for Shadowdark RPG GMs. Here are 8 more drawbacks to having to carry that pesky light source through the dungeon. Hee hee hee hee!

One of the best mechanics in the game is lots of fun for the GM. Light is one of the most precious commodities in Shadowdark RPG. Torches last all of ONE hour in real time. Inventory space is somewhat limited. How to players keep the torch fires going and still survive the horrors beneath the surface? Here are a few thoughts to go along with what was listed in the Shadowdark rules: Fighting…

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Card That Didn’t Make the Cut.

My 3 versions of King of Diamonds for the Deck of Many Portals supplement compatible with Shadowdark RPG.

Here’s a little nibble of the Shadowdark compatible project I’m working on. The basic premise is the deck is an artifact that the group finds. It’s based on a standard deck of 52 playing cards (Jokers removed.) After one card is drawn, the deck disappears to reappear in another part of the Universe. It is uncertain how many of these decks exist.Failure to draw a card causes the deck to begin…