Sep 15, 2025 12:50 pm
New DM looking to run a game of Shadowdark. I've run some PBP using 5e, but have been very interested in Shadowdark since I bumped into it. The adventure is a one page dungeon from Elven Tower called The Bands of Power. This will be planned as a one-shot so I and you can get a feel for how Shadowdark plays and works. I'm not sure about balance or anything, and there are certainly deadly traps so be cautious.
Game System
What is ShadowDark? It's a system that that Old School Revival (OSR) feel with a more modern base ruleset. Think pared down D&D 5E with with a focus on speeding up play. ShadowDark is meant to be dangerous. Dungeons are perilous and darkness is deadly. Equipment and resources are precious commodities. More things are decided by player action than by die rolls. Character sheets are simpler, with fewer options and a focus on quick and easy character generation.
For anything falling outside the lines of ShadowDark, I'll expect I'll lean heavily on 5e from which it incorporates some mechanics.
If you don't already have the ShadowDark rules and are unfamiliar with them, you can download the free free Quickstart set from The Archane Library site.
The Pitch
It was hundreds of years ago, in the northern territories ruled by the ancient dwarf lords when Gorffrey, a skillful fire master forged the bands for their king. They are encrusted with two dozen rubies of different sizes each. The face of the bygone king is sculpted on their surfaces. The ancient dwarven magic in the bands gave the king abnormal strength, vitality, and stamina. The intricate spells cast into the bands would help him outlive all his contenders.
The bands caused unrest in the kingdom. Word traveled fast, and it did not take long for assassins to appear. The king was murdered, and the bands stolen. Civil war followed, and before they knew it, all those involved forgot why they were fighting in the first place. The bands were stored away and were soon forgotten, hoping no one would ever seek their might again.
The arcane bands were lost to the world hundreds of years ago. Lost until a mage named Hartvigg, through arcane serendipity, perceived their energy. Hoping to find out more about them but not to risk his skin, he hired a group of foolhardy adventurers to help him explore the vault. Hartvigg claims the bands must be hidden somewhere inside. He describes what path to take in the woods and how to find the ancient dungeon’s entrance.
Content Warning
This adventure will include mild blood, gore and violence, themes of body horror and abduction. There WILL NOT be any sexual references in the game, or foul language (that is my own personal preference).
Character building
We're going to start with Level 1 Characters. A link to the Shadowdarklings site is below to create your characters. I was originally going to limit the selections to Zine #1, but figured we may as well just dive in and see what happens.
https://shadowdarklings.net/settings/sources=CS1,SD,SG&ancestries=1,2,3,4,5,6,7&classes=1,2,3,4,7,8,9,5,6
Shadowdark caters to either rolling up a random character but I’m quite happy for people to roll their stats and apply them where they like to have more say in what character they have. As this is basically a one-shot, you don't need to develope a complex backstory. Just have an idea of some basic characteristics and what their basic motivation is for adventuring, and more specifically why they might have agreed, been tricked or coerced into going on this mission. Feel free to do more than this as well, of course. Make up cities, towns or villages as you like. This adventure takes place near the villag of Far Meadow. If you want to be from Far Meadow, have some idea how/why you gained your level/skills; why you are there/returned, etc.
Don't be surprised if your character dies. Maybe run up a second one, just in case. Not that it takes long to create a new one.
Post Frequency and Game Duration
The goal should be for at least one post a day. This will help to keep momentum going. During combat, things might speed up but I may force things along as slow combat is a game killer.
This is a short adventure, a one pager, and we’ll start "in medias res"; just as the group have found the entrance to the temple. I don’t have enough experience to guess how long it will take to finish, but maybe a couple of months? Maybe less. Mwah! Ha! Ha! Haaa!
Specialized Software & Resources
None. Everything will be handled on Gamers Plane and the Quickstart guide is free. All the character material is available in the Shadowdarklings site so you don’t need access to any of the zines.
Player Experience Requirements
Everyone is welcome; players new to PBP, new to Shadowdark or old hands at both.
How to Apply
We will handle applications here in this recruitment thread. If you are interested, please reply. Once we have enough people, we’ll get set up and start the game.
Thanks to Dante_dark who’s recruitment thread for Against the Cult of the Crimson Hand I stole this from. Ta!
Last edited September 18, 2025 1:36 am
