How Shadowdark Fixes Everything Wrong With 5e and the OSR

And play Shadowdark in person with its creator, Kelsey Dionne!

Jan 31, 2024

Greetings dungeon masters! I am currently in Vegas with my good friend, Kelsey Dionne, the creator of Shadowdark.

Actually, I was in her house, sipping tea by the fireplace.

We did a casual charity live stream where we explored how Kelsey dissected and analyzed RPGS to create Shadowdark. We may have wandered off topic occasionally, from stoicism to the pronunciation of THAC0.

As one commenter says, “This was a wholesome good time. I don't even normally like livestreams but this was phenomenal. Great friend chemistry.”

Anyway, check out the live here.

Otherwise, I’ve been hard at work organizing Green Dragon Fest, where you’ll get the chance to play TTRPGS in person with myself and other fan favorite game masters, including Kelsey!

Which leads into our topic for today…

How Shadowdark Fixes Everything Wrong With 5e and the OSR

Shadowdark RPG is an intuitive and complete TTRPG that serves as a seamless bridge into the heart of the Old School Renaissance where you and your group of crawlers use magic, steel, and wits to delve into mysterious ruins, lost cities, and monster-infested depths.

It’s less intimidating

5E is not a simple game. Sure, it’s less crunchy than Pathfinder or GURPS, but handing a player's handbook to a new-to-the-hobby adult who has a career and children to raise, will immediately enter a state of panic.

Worse still, until a player has actually played the game for a few sessions and starts getting a grasp of the rules, character creation is opaquely mathematical and full of unfamiliar jargon to people outside of a hardcore gaming background. Contrast this with Shadowdark, however, which concisely describes the character creation process in only 6000 words on just forty one pages.

Character creation and advancement is simple

Instead of a 20 line matrix table and four pages of ability descriptions, the whole character class advancement ordeal is handled in a six line table.

While there are players who enjoy meticulously planning their character’s advancement, the vast bulk of players are just as excited to crack open the book and find out what new special ability or power up they get when they level up. Rolling for it, instead, just adds to the fun.

Magic isn’t complex

In 5e, the magic system is incredibly confusing for new players and experienced players playing a spellcaster for the first time alike. A 5th level wizard can only cast third level spells, and knows a different number of spells than the amount they can cast per day, except for their cantrip spells which they can cast ad nauseum. It is “exceptions all the way down.”

I believe Shadowdark solves this. Spellcasters know about as many leveled spells as they do in 5th edition, but don't necessarily lose them after a single cast like they do in D&D. Instead, characters may cast a spell as often as they want, so long as they make a spellcasting check of DC 10 plus the spell’s tier rating.

Only after the spellcaster fails this check is the spell uncastable until a long rest. Furthermore, because spellcasters now have to roll that spellcasting check, critical successes allow the caster to double any numerical aspect of the spell, like, charming two people with a charm person, or doing double damage with a fireball.

Adventuring and combat isn’t crunchy

While I’m a huge fan of the tactical nature of 5e combat, the gritty detail of it can be needlessly pedantic. The difference between 30ft and 35ft is seldom worth debating in order to keep the game moving and to remain collaborative with your players.

Shadowdark implicitly gives permission to game masters to be more handwavy with these measurements, and instead uses language like “close,” “near,” and “far” in place of hard distances. Furthermore, resource management is made more important, while maintaining elegance and simplicity. Torches burn out in an hour of real world time, resting in dangerous locations has a risk and reward factor that might drain away limited rations.

Plus, every problem I’ve ever had with the insta-death found in older editions of D&D, or the conversely problematic immortality granted by 5e's Death Saves, is totally remediated in Shadowdark.

Gold and XP isn’t wasted

Older editions dictate that gaining experience points should be based on gold, so there was a lot of gold to be had in earlier editions of the game. But, there was never a good system, besides building a stronghold, for doing something with it. In 5e, gold is about as meaningless as a humanities degree, yet there is still tons of it about, clogging up character sheets.

However, the carousing mechanics in Shadowdark takes all this excess gold and puts it into a fun risk and reward bonus XP system. Wasting gold on ever-more-legendary partying grants a bonus on a carousing outcome roll, adding intoxicated revelry to the narrative in exchange for more experience points.

And the GM guide is a breeze

The advice in the game master section has some of the most distilled and clear advice found in all of RPG gaming. In fact, the advice is expressed so simply and so concisely, reading it might be as enlightening as reading the Tao te Ching.

Lastly, the random adventure hook generator, random encounter tables, and systems for generating monsters and magic items are equally straightforward and inspirational.

Want the chance to play in person with Kelsey? Come to Green Dragon Fest!

Find out more about Shadowdark and Kelsey on her website, The Arcane Library.

Feeling Adventurous? Go On These Side Quests

All the latest news, deals, jobs, tips and more in the TTRPG world.

r/Shadowdark: Join the Shadowdark TTRPG conversation on Reddit!
How Dungeons And Dragons Is Making Its Way Into Therapy: A feel good story. I always love to see how games can be used to change people’s lives.
Sale - An Incomparable Old-School FRPG Megadungeon: Bundle of Holding is having a sale on Halls of Arden Vul (it has 1,100 pages of dungeon!)
5 Great No-Prep Tabletop RPGs Under $20: If you’re short on time or your group is up for trying something new, check this out.
Criminal RPG Activity Chapbook: Railroading: Wondering whether you’re railroading or correctly nudging your players? Find out your ‘degree’ of railroading here.
Dice Week Day 1: Pig: Skeleton Code Machine has a cool series on dice games which you could add a high stakes tavern game scene to your campaign

Creator Spotlight

Replace your loot-mimics with something more unique! This Shadowdark monster is by Star Hat Miniatures.

The 3 M’s Of Adventure Context Using The Midasaur

What Might Have Happened A Millennia Ago:

A king obsessed with wealth was cursed by a god to become a creature of living gold, the first Midasaur.
In an ancient labyrinth, a minotaur hoarded gold, until a sorcerer's spell merged beast and bounty.
An alchemist experimenting with the Philosopher's Stone inadvertently transmuted a minotaur into gold, creating a guardian for his treasures.

What Might Have Happened A Month Ago:

A thieves' guild attempted to steal the Midasaur's coins, only to add to its mass when they were turned to gold.
A curse was uttered by a dying adventurer, whose greed had led him to challenge the Midasaur, resulting in his own golden demise.
The Midasaur's lair was discovered by miners, their pickaxes now part of its gleaming form.

What Might Have Happened Minutes Ago:

A magical earthquake shook the Midasaur's labyrinth, revealing its presence to nearby villagers.
The Midasaur successfully turned an intruding hero to gold, the latest addition to its growing collection of statues.
A ripple of magical energy surged through the Midasaur's veins, hinting at a weakening of its golden curse.

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