[Other] Keep on the Shadowdark

[Inuvash255]

Keep on the Shadowdark

Game System In 2024, Shadowdark RPG won the Three Castles Award for best role-playing game design, as well as gold ENNIEs for Product of the Year, Best Game, Best Rules, and Best Layout and Design.(The award winning...) Shadowdark RPG

Flavor "Gonzo" Weird Fantasy, "A Wizard Did It", The Dungeon as a Mythic Underworld, 4th Edition D&D's "Nentir Vale" / "Points of Light" Setting, Classic D&D fare, dungeon crawling, fighting undead in the shadow of a fallen empire

Theme Dark deeds and evil-doers surround the quaint village of Winterhaven. Enterprising rogues and freebooters from the city of Fallcrest are hired to bring safety to this village on the borderlands.

Setting and Plot Two hundred years ago, the Empires of Humans, Orcs, and Kobolds fell nearly simultaneously. Campaign after campaign of pyric victories and attrition left the Empires dry of resources, magic, and people. The weaknesses came from within- the supply lines were raided by bandits, the villages threatened by monsters, and many members of the beleaguered populations joining in chaotic cults. The past two centuries have been rough; but in the darkness are enclaves of civilization; points of light on a field of night. In the borderlands of the Nerath Empire lies a quiet river valley known as Nentir Vale. It's rife with haunted battlefields, wild forests, and perilous ruins. You live in the city of Fallcrest, and while farming and construction are worthwhile careers- the most exciting and lucrative work lies in adventuring. At your favorite tavern a tattered note appears on the quest board: HELP WANTED Treasure Finders, Ruin Explorers, and Mercenaries of All Kinds A Hefty Sum to the Adventurers to return with a Full Map of Keegan's Keep near WINTERHAVEN Signed, Parle Cranewing, Winter-River Library Not my drawing, but I may update this later with my old map!

Homebrew, House Rules, Etc. Initiative won't be always-on as described in the rules. In live play, it's to make sure everyone gets the spotlight, but in PbP, that's not an issue. However, rounds of posting will be counted, with the GM turn being the start/end of the Round- for the purpose of counting torch timing and other clocks. In combat, initiative will be side-based initiative; where the first to go is determined by the context of the scene. If needed, actions will be resolved in order of relative narrative speed: Defensive Actions -> Noncombat Actions -> Ranged Attacks -> Melee Attacks -> Spellcasting Instead of the pantheon in the Shadowdark book, we'll be using 4th edition's "Dawn War Pantheon". There's a lot of places to look it up, but the image below lists them all. You only need to care about the Law/Chaos aspects of their alignments.

About the GM, and about this game... Hi all! You can call me Vash or Inu, or Inuvash. I've been GMing/DMing for the better part of a decade at this point. I've been on the lookout for a game where the rules are lightweight and don't get in our way of RP; and after a few interesting reviews of Shadowdark, I think this is the one.

Information You don't need a sheet completed to apply, but to work out your character- you're going to need to roll some dice. DO NOT ROLL IN THIS THREAD, roll HERE instead. (LINK ACTIVE) Alternatively, generate a character on Shadowdarklings with only B&D&K checked, and "Random 1". You can edit ancestry and class afterwards if you like. The core rules are free! Check out the Arcane Library site! I'd like this game to be on an almost-daily basis, excluding weekends and holidays. Even if you don't make an RP-post, an OOC-post is fine. In addition, I encourage you to write shorter posts to keep up with it better. Some weeks are bound to be slower than others, and that's okay so long as things are moving along. Mind that this is a goal, not a hard rule. We all miss sometimes, right?

Character Application - Player Name and Pronouns: How should we refer to you? About Me: Anything about you we should know? Game Goals Is there something you'd like to accomplish in the game, I'm open to branching out the adventure in other ways! Character Name and Pronouns: How should we refer to your character? Ancestry: Dwarf, Elf, Goblin, Halfing, Half-Orc, Human, Kobold Background: Grants a minor bit of knowledge or social standing when making your character. Class: Fighter, Priest, Thief, Wizard, Ranger, Bard Alignment: Lawful, Neutral, or Chaotic Deity: Choose one from the Dawn War Pantheon (above) Character Appearance: Describe it here, or use a picture! Even better than those is your own doodle! Character Bio: How did your character come around to be an adventurer? Keep this short, level one characters haven't been at it too long! Easy Character Skeleton [FIELDSET="-"][B]Player Name and Pronouns:[/B] [B]About Me:[/B] [B]Game Goals:[/B] [B]Character Name and Pronouns:[/B] [B]Ancestry:[/B] [B]Background:[/B] [B]Class:[/B] [B]Alignment:[/B] [B]Deity:[/B] [B]Character Appearance:[/B] [B]Character Bio:[/B] [/FIELDSET]

[Inuvash255]

- Reserved Post

[Inuvash255]

The link to the dice rolling thread is now active here.

[bananabadger]

Looks like a great game!
How are you handling the torch-rule since it is so integral to Shadowdark?

[Inuvash255]

Thanks!

Good question!

I'll be going off the clause under Time that reads: "If you can't track real time in your game, assume one hour is equal to 10 rounds."

And when we're in a dungeon, I imagine each round of posting will be a round; where the GM post will be the point where the round ticks over, if that makes sense.

[bananabadger]

Originally Posted by Inuvash255

Thanks!

Good question!

I'll be going off the clause under Time that reads: "If you can't track real time in your game, assume one hour is equal to 10 rounds."

And when we're in a dungeon, I imagine each round of posting will be a round; where the GM post will be the point where the round ticks over, if that makes sense.

That does! Thanks for the explanation!

[Mitsubachi]

And I think my work here is done.

[Howling Winds of]

This game looks super fun! To increase the fun, let's see what the random Character Generator gives me!

Character Application [B]Player Name and Pronouns:[/B] Howl (He/Him?his) [B]About Me:[/B] Played off and off the RPG Crossing World for some time, in lots of different systems.. [B]Game Goals[/B] I would love to discover a hidden secret *maybe in a chest or behind a hidden door in a dungeon/treasure room) and also fight and slay a BBEG![/FIELDSET] [FIELDSET][IMGR]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/22/ea/1d/22ea1d5f83dd26b15fd6199db1250ebc.jpg[/IMGR] [B]Character Appearance:[/B] see right[B]Character Name and Pronouns:[/B] Nysra (She/her) [B]Ancestry:[/B] Human [B]Background:[/B] [TT="Cult Initiate"]: You know blasphemous secrets and rituals.[/TT] [B]Class:[/B] Fighter [B]Alignment:[/B] Chaotic [B]Deity:[/B] Kord, God of warfare and destruction [[B]Character Appearance:[/B] see right [B]Character Bio:[/B] [SPOILERBUTTON="Bio"]After the fall of the Empires, what remained of the Humans, Orcs, and Kobolds sought to consolidate their resources. where once infighting had made their holding bloated and easy to capture and supply lines easy to disrupt, many sought to take up arms against the various monsters and bandits, others looked to various Gods and Goddesses for some sign of relief or an escape from the madness. A child of a mercenary father and priestess mother, Nysra was often found in the local temple dedicated to Kord, who many saw as one way to guide them through the chaotic times. While she did not personally practice the faith, or have a desire to become a priest in the temple, she instead took after her father and [/SPOILERBUTTON]

[/noparse][/FIELDSET]

[Arkanis]

Withdrawn, in hindsight there is no way I could ever keep up with a daily post rate, sorry. I wish you the best of luck with the game though.

[KingHabby]

Hi! This system looks great, haven’t tried Shadowdark yet, but I’m very familiar with DnD and DCC and Dungeon World, so I’m sure this will be easy to pick up. I’m down to play whatever class is needed for the party, otherwise I usually prefer to play a wizard or thief type.

[Tacobob]

- Player Name and Pronouns: Tacobob He/Him About Me: I've been an RPG'er for a very very long time. Game Goals: To play a kobold! I had a weird desire to play one. Character Name and Pronouns: Sister Yappe (She/Her) Ancestry: Kobold Background: Urchin Class: Priest Alignment: Lawful Deity: Moridan Character Appearance: Adorable Little Orange Scaled Kobold. Character Bio: Yappe grew up on the streets in an rather unpleasant neighborhood in the city of Fallcrest. Looking to help people even less fortunate than her, she joined a local temple and slowly learned her way as a healer. She worked at the temple until one day, it was gone. Somebody blew it up with magic, or something else, nobody was alive to tell her what happened. Deciding she would drown her sorrows at the tavern, she noticed the sign as she was about to enter and decided she would become a heroic adventurer! She could help people and also make some new friends in the process.

[Inuvash255]

Originally Posted by Arkanis

Withdrawn, in hindsight there is no way I could ever keep up with a daily post rate, sorry. I wish you the best of luck with the game though.

fwiw; I'm not that strict on that posting rate. It's a goal, not a rule.

And it's mostly to drive engagement, for myself and others.

Posting OOC 'counts' in my opinion- just as a regular interaction with the game, myself, and the other players.

[Inuvash255]

Also, thanks for the character apps, Tacobob and Howling Winds!

[KingHabby]

WIP

- Player Name and Pronouns: Habby, he/him About Me: I’ve been playing RPGs on and off (mostly off, unfortunately) for twenty years. I love anything fantasy, and I don’t like taking things too seriously. Game Goals: Stur believes that his ancestor was the head engineer of the construction of the Keep, and was killed to protect its secrets. Stur wants to retrieve their toolbox. Character Name and Pronouns: Stur Fungalsworn, he/him Ancestry: Dwarf Background: Class: Wizard Alignment: Neutral Deity: The Raven Queen Character Appearance: Stur doesn’t care much for personal grooming or hygiene, but has a warm smile and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. He has a thick, knotted, tangled beard, usually has thick layers of dirt under his thick fingernails. He wears a thick leather apron in which he keeps his knives, woodworking tools, and magical implements. Character Bio: Stur Fungalsworn sells mushroom and fungal blooms he grows in his cellar, as well as what he forages in nearby forests and graveyards. He is a decent cook and a reliable friend. When he was much younger, he was inducted into a death cult that worshipped the Raven Queen and had a deadly obsession with fungus. Though he was able to escape the cult and that lifestyle, he still has a much less fervent faith in the Raven Queen, and still enjoys mushrooms.

[Howling Winds of]

Originally Posted by Inuvash255

Also, thanks for the character apps, Tacobob and Howling Winds!

I kind of...maybe..broke the code a little. But fear not! I will fix it...this week!