[Closed] Until the Last Torch Goes Out (Shadowdark)

System: Shadowdark

Character Creation: Start at Level 1. Standard character creation. (Note: this means you roll 3d6 in order for each stat, not 3d6 x 6 and then allocate as you wish. You also roll for your class talent.)

If none of your stats are 14 or higher, you may roll a new set of 6 numbers.

Lawful or Neutral characters only. We'll be using the deities in the book. Other deities may be encountered during the course of play.

Options from the core book only.

Number of Players: 3-4

Vibe/Aesthetic: Dark and dangerous. Shadowdark style!

More specific: medieval fantasy, dark fantasy. I've played a fair amount of Ironsworn and D&D 5e, so I'm sure those influences will show.

Duration: Since this isn't a pre-planned campaign, there's no set end.

Post Frequency: 4 posts per week.

Consistent activity is expected. If something comes up, let me know, and we'll work around it. But if you go AWOL, or in general can't maintain this game's pace, I'll seek a replacement player.

I may temporarily control a PC if it's necessary to keep the story moving.

Specialized Software and Resources: Game is played here. Off-site character sheets may be used.

Player Experience Requirements: Experience with PbP preferred. Experience with Shadowdark a bonus, but not required.

DM Style/Other Notes: My forte is RP, not mechanics. But Shadowdark is a lighter system rules-wise, so we should be alright.

I don't consider myself a handholding GM. I present a situation, you all decide how to handle it. If you're looking for a game with clear-cut solutions and a GM who does all the heavy lifting, this isn't for you.

My games are usually easy-to-normal difficulty, but I'm embracing the Shadowdark vibe for this game. Foolish, unlucky, and unprepared adventurers will likely find their epitaphs added to The Graveyard thread.

Being an Ironsworn/Starforged veteran, I'm used to writing meaty posts. But I'll try to keep things breezier in this game.

This is an open-ended game, not a pre-planned campaign. You all will decide where to go and what to do.

Game will begin in medias res.

Leveling: Standard leveling, as explained in the book.

Sexual Content: Intimacy is allowed, but not erotic roleplay. Once the clothes would start coming off, fade to black. Think of what a PG-13 movie would allow. If you have questions, ask me, or just fade to black to be safe.

Darker Stuff: Things like torture, mass killing, and slavery may be present, but there won't be gratuitous descriptions.

Maps/Combat/VTTs: Everything will be theater of the mind, including combat.

AI: AI use is allowed.

GM Rolls/DCs: Most GM rolls will be shown, and DCs will be stated. HP, AC, and individual stats of people/creatures won't be stated, but can be inferred.

Initiative: In a safe zone, such as a town: post freely, no initiative, no pause for a GM turn.

During crawling mode (i.e. when you're in a dangerous area): no initiative, players post whenever they're able (actions may have to be resolved by GM), followed by a GM turn. One post generally equals one turn, though a player may make a brief subsequent post, such as writing dialogue to confirm or deny they're on-board with a specific idea. Then a GM turn moves the story forward and ends that crawling round. Repeat.

During combat: GM rolls initiative for everyone (PCs, foes, and any NPC allies) to save time. Standard Shadowdark combat rules.

Lanterns/Oil: A flask of oil burn for 4 hours (40 rounds) in a lantern. 1-5 oil flasks per gear slot instead of just 1 per gear slot.

Some "Nos": No power-gamers, murderhobos, memesters, or contrarians.

Application Process:

1.) Discuss your Shadowdark and PbP experience.

2.) Provide a brief character concept. This can only be a few sentences. Yes, I know your character will be contingent on your initial dice rolls, but I still want to see how you think.

Game link here. Only some brief realm lore has been added. Everything else will be developed during gameplay.

I would be interested. I like me some Shadowdark. I have played 3 or 4 games of Shadowdark on GP since joining the sight.

A Human adventurer looking to make a name for himself and eventually start his own guild. Money talks all other stuff walks. If there is no profit there is no sense. All the rest is left to the dice.

I'm interested as well. I've been playing PbP for a decade or so, though I've only been here for a bit more than a year. I've played a lot of shadow dark, including a game or two here on GP as well!

Questions:
1. Do you allow us to use the Cursed Scrolls to make characters as well? Or just the core book? Either works for me!
2. Can you say a bit about the open ended set up? Are we gonna be presented with a hex map, or some story leads, or.... ?

Thanks!

Always good to see SD here! Question: do you have a setting / sandbox / set of adventures picked out that you're planning to use? You mention it being open-ended, but is there a vibe in terms of desert kingdoms, a western medieval Europe feel, etc.?

Edit: Whoop -- yeah, more or less the same question as Gwen!

I'd like a spot as somebody new to Shadowdark!

I am quite familiar with the OSR style of game. As for PbP, I've run a short dungeon crawl and currently run two other (non-OSR) games right here on Gamersplane. I'm also playing in an OSRIC game.

For a brief character concept, I'd like to play a priest. Nothing really set in stone, but I'm thinking of a novice who was never strong of faith - until one day when her deity answered. She's still not sure what to make of that.

Drgwen:

1.) Core book only. I don't own the Cursed Scrolls or any other Shadowdark supplemental material (yet?), so I'll be sticking with what I know.

2.) Map and brief intro lore is here. Everything else will be developed as we play. Goal is for players to jump right in and learn as they go, rather than trying to memorize a 20-page loredump.

Traveling beyond the starting realm is also possible, but that would probably be far in the future. Hopefully there'd be enough to do in Eryndor to satisfy players for a while.

You'll encounter story leads as you play. As noted, game starts in medias res, rather than a plain ol' tavern start. You'll decide how to handle whatever situation you find yourself in...or you can simply walk away? Maybe? We'll see!

Harrigan:

For vibe...More specific: medieval fantasy, dark fantasy. I've played a fair amount of Ironsworn and D&D 5e, so I'm sure those influences will show.

I don't have any pre-planned adventures ready. I have ideas, but no railroad-y plots that'll whisk you all along without much player agency.

Map and lore info is discussed above.

Original post updated to reflect what we've discussed.

Ah, @Harrigan , I see you are inspired by the best lol

As for character concept, I like to wait until I see my rolls and pick my class before coming up with something. I've played several Shadowdark classes but I don't have a preference.

EDIT: Oh! Thanks for the info, Totes! Yeah, sure, I'm interested!

EDIT 2: Since you state you want a character concept anyway, I'll add one! Varla is a grim and vulgar young woman from blackfen swamp. The daughter of a fishing village that fell on hard times, Varla was of little help to her family, seeing as how she loathed fishing and had little skill with it. So she did the only thing sh was ever good at -- she took up the sword and sought work as a mercenary. Her hope is to scrape together enough coin to lift her family back home out of poverty, perhaps even to move that out of the swamp to a more comfortable home.

Nice -- dig that map and your setting. That's all I needed to see -- also interested. I have a shitload of of PbP experience going back to 1995 when I first ran PBeM games. Lots of OSR in my background, have played (but not run) multiple games of SD, live and via PbP.

I can be flexible with a concept and tend to like filling party gaps. I tend to avoid thieves and favor fighters, but also dig SD wizards and clerics. I do have a couple of PCs ready / leftover from a stalled West Marches campaign -- Valka the Fighter and Ezramicus Thrine the Wizard.

Valka is a northern mercenary type, a spear maiden if you will, while Thrine is a heavily tattooed and badly behaved Wizard who tends to wear out his welcome wherever he goes...

I see you've already got four players interested but I'd like to express my interest too. I'm relatively new to both Shadowdark and PbP but I love what I've experienced so far in both. I've played three Shadowdark One Shots via VTT. I haven't played SD via PbP yet but I've played in five PbP games for Pendragon, Call of Cthulhu, D&D5e and The One Ring 2e.

For character concept I usually lean toward a dwarven or human fighter or cleric of a lawful good alignment in a tank or healer role. Similar to others, though, I'm happy to follow where the dice lead and fill in any gaps in the party.

I'll throw my hat in the ring, as well. Besides reading the book, I have no play experience with Shadowdark, but it's been on my short-list for games to okay for a while now. I had some PbP experience two decades ago, and although I've been here since November of last year I haven't had the best luck with PbP games. 😅 I was briefly in a game of Draw Steel with @Drgwen, so maybe she'll vouch for me, lol.

While I typically gravitate towards spellcasters, I'm more than willing to fill any roll. To give you a sample of a character that I'd make, though:

Atticus had a good life. As a young man, he was apprentice to a master blacksmith, and had a sweetheart that he was engaged to be married to. The conscriptors came to town and dragged him off to war. His life would be here for him when he returned, Erich had said, and then gave him a kiss.

A year passed. And then another. And another. Five years of brutal war and horrors beyond his comprehension before he could take it no longer. Under cover of night, Atticus deserted and fled back to his home town.

War had come for his home while he was gone. He returned to the blackened bones of houses and the people he had grown up with. He sorted through the bodies of his friends and family, and found them all accounted for.

Never more than an apprentice, never more than betrothed, once a soldier, now a criminal, Atticus puts the only tools he has left, his sword and shield, to bloody work as an adventurer, looking for death in dark places until he can find the men who tore his world from him.

Decent interest thus far. 💪

I'll leave recruitment open for a few days in case others want to toss their hats into the ring. Expect to hear more Saturday or Sunday.

Right now, I'm leaning on taking 3 players, to keep things simpler and (hopefully) faster. But we'll see. Who knows what flights of fancy will take me in 2-3 days' time?

Some things I forgot:

AI: AI use is welcome. However, please don't use it to write your entire posts. It's strange to interact with a person who's copy/pasting their "writing" from a chatbot.

GM Rolls/DCs: The book says the GM should reveal DCs. An interesting design choice, in my opinion; I thought OSR-style games would want to keep those secret from the players to increase tension.

Still, I have no firm preference, so I'll probably put up a poll and let the players decide whether to keep all this secret or known to all.

Initiative: We'll do our best to use the "always on" initiative for crawling. (And combat, of course.) Round robin style to start with, since this is PbP; everyone can post their turn when they have time, then we'll move on to the next round.

If we have issues with this, then everyone can roll initiative so they'll know exactly when they're supposed to take their turn...or some other fix, if necessary.

I’ll withdraw my interest. Thanks.

Ah, same here. Not a fan of AI writing in games.

Ditto :(

SD injects a number of modern sensibilities into an OSR framework -- the visible DCs are one example.

Will admit I'm not a fan of always-on turns when not in combat (in PbP), and AI writing is a hard stop for me.

No to AI also

No problem with you offering the option to use AI, if the player wants to, at all.

Looks like only one person remains interested.

As such, recruitment will remain open longer.

Thanks for being upfront about it, btw -- and good luck with the game!

I am still interested, I just meant I will not be using AI.