Shadowdark: A GM's Perspective

My gamemaster's perspective of "Shadowdark", an oldschool dungeon and wilderness crawling RPG with very streamlined and easy to learn rules. It may just be the best entrypoint into the OSR for new players and players who come from Dungeon and Dragons 5E.
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[@Shamustodd1]

personally the font size was the final decider for me. My eyesight is pretty bad but I can read it just fine. While its clear you didn't approve, I and I'm sure other older gamers or anyone with poor eyesight for that matter appreciate the larger font. I love how clean OSE is but I have a hard time with the font size.

[@Wraithward]

Dude's clearly never suffered eye problems or dyslexia. First time I've ever heard someone complain about visibility enhancements. Accessibility is an underreprseneted issue in this industry and Kelsey Dionne is one of the only creators I'm aware of who formats her products with this consideration in mind. She deserves all the success S.D. brings.

[@ChilliJez]

As someone who has been a DM for over three decades I appreciate the large font size. Often spaces for gaming don't have enough light and I upgraded to high visibility dice long ago. The system itself is great and the rules are clearly worded and concise. I've been having a lot of fun playing it so far.

[@jaybakata5566]

What do you consider high visibility dice? Link?

[@ChilliJez]

@@jaybakata5566 I started off with Koplow glitter dice as they have crisp white numbers on the darker coloured dice. Since then I have bought new sets from Role 4 Initiative which have bigger bolder numbers and a larger D20. I've seen even larger numbers on dice sold on Etsy but they were too expensive for me to consider.

[@Shamustodd1]

I hear you. I have a decade on you but yes dim lighting, tiny font, and old eyes are a combo for a great game to sit in the stacks never seeing use.

[@ChubbyFunster-YT]

Just heard about this video, Sebbaa. This is Chubby Funster. Very happy to see that you enjoyed ShadowSun!

[@BanjoSick]

The book is pretty, but is it still relevant as more than an art piece. There are so many OSR systems. For myself OSR-wise, I think that OSE is enough, tempered with KZbin advice by Runehammer and Bandits Keep. Those books are pretty though.... ... . Argghhh

[@phaedruslive]

It's a good game, but a pdf on sale might make more sense for you if price is what's holding you back. All of these systems probably have about 80% in common and the differences are specific, but may not justify a 60$ hardcover.

[@colbyboucher6391]

Right, the thing about OSR games is they're all remixes of each other ultimately and you're pretty much encouraged to shove them together like lego sets. So why not just yank the mechanics that sound cool and bolt them into your own OSR Voltron? That's mostly what these books are anyways.

[@Sebbaasdungeon]

For me personally, it has become hard to even keep the rules of these games straight. They just mash together in my brain, and I end up GMing them with the rules from every game that I like most. So I'm mostly looking for utility and inspiration in new RPG books. And Shadowdark has a lot of that.

[@kailenmitchell8571]

Are your hands huge or is that a small book?

[@Sebbaasdungeon]

Combination of both. The book is digest or A5 sized. I want to compare my bicep to Runehammer one day. 😉 Who earns the title of "biggest" RPG youtuber? 😁

[@javan6982]

Who needs larger text? Me! Now go away.

[@erikmartin4996]

Excellent reading primer for kindergartners

[@edwardromero3580]

Nice review. I know Shadowdark has enjoyed quite a bit of hype over the last year, and in my opinion it deserves it. I love this game. It’s a lot like my home brew but done better. I’m currently running one game and playing in another. Highly recommended.

[@edwardromero3580]

@user-sp5cl9we4w I’m running my game in the Duchy of Ashlar, a standard fantasy setting from the fine folks at Raging Swan. They have a ton of great stuff that works really well with SD.

[@edwardromero3580]

@user-sp5cl9we4wI’m running the Shadowed Keep, which is set in the Duchy of Ashlar from Raging Swan. It’s a straight forward fantasy setting with a ton of material and works great with SD.

[@PeculiarNotions]

A good and reasonable review. I'm a big fan of Shadowdark.

[@albanmahoudeau1779]

THREE TORCHES DOWN:

[@Aphain]

Thanks for the review! Haven't played a session with the rules yet, just skimmed through the book and read the GM section (which was pretty good, experienced OSR advice). My biggest gripe with the book is the combination of thick paper, large font and small format which contributes to its thickness. Combined with the binding it does not lay flat at all, sadly. Normally I prefer my OSR rules in a small and handy format (A5 etc) but in this case decreasing the thickness of the book would have been more important to me than a small format or minimal text per page. The quality of the book and the layout are superb nonetheless. I think its strength lies more with transitioning 5E players to OSR than as an introductory rule set for completely new players to the hobby (because of its size and complexity compared to full-on OSR titles like Cairn, Mörk Borg, Black Sword Hack etc.) but it definitely has the potential to replace OSE and other Basic-adjacent rule sets in my standard repertoire. P.S.: I love the wild mix of German and English on the character sheet ;-)

[@microwavefriendly42]

Awesome review. Your perspectives always dig deep and enlighten.

[@casperriess6364]

Is the book super small or do you just have massive hands ?

[@Sebbaasdungeon]

combination of both

[@DontForget3oct]

The size is the same as the OSE corebooks

[@lucasterable]

In order to be OSR the handbook has to he A5 size...

[@matthewmcguigan4293]

Nice review. I've been running Shadowdark for a few sessions now and don't quite have the rules down pat, but it's been very fun to play.

[@Sebbaasdungeon]

In my head, all D&D versions combine to a mess of a ruleset. That's what I run Shadowdark with. 😅 But it works!

[@albanmahoudeau1779]

GAME OVER

[@albanmahoudeau1779]

Rudeneck.