There have been a couple of threads about this RPG.  The general consensus has been that ShadowDark is an OK game, but nothing special.  It might have even been fun and trendy to hate on the game because the author seemed to pay the right YouTube people to talk about her game to boost the hype for ShadowDark past what it deserves.

Well, now I have the full game and can see for myself.

I have to say that assessment of the full game is right on.  It is good, but not great.  It is better than I expected at least.  But, that doesn't mean we can't talk about it in detail again.

The good:

1.  Easy as hell to read.  A lot of the game is laid out so everything fits on the one or both pages you are looking at.  It is rare for a topic to spill over to another page.
2.  All the important bits and tables are repeated in the very first couple of pages.  They're not at the back.  They're at the front of the book.
3.  Fixes for some typical D&D issues.  High constitution doesn't add to EVERY level hit points, just 1st level.  Likewise, high strength only helps hit rolls, not damage rolls.  So, higher level characters are not astronomically better than 1st levels.
4.  Magic is a skill test. You can re-use spells until you fail a roll, then that spell is off limits until you reset after a long rest.  As somebody who dislikes Vancian magic, this is a selling point by itself.
5.  Simplified inventory system.  You carry 10 items, and gear all has a size number
6.  Weapon and Armor traits from 5E.  It makes the different weapons have uses, and I am also like this a lot.
7.  Leveling up has a table you roll on.  Nothing crazy, but this prevents min-maxing builds, and that every character is identical to another character.

The Bad.

1.  Only four classes in the core rulebook.  I am not happy about that at all.  I want to play a Paladin, Samurai, Knight, or an Archer, not a generic Fighter.
2.  No world.  I know, most people like making their own, especially in fantasy.  However, I like having a default setting anyways.
3.  1 hour long real time tracking of torches.  Yes, I think this is silly.  I won't be using that rule if I play ShadowDark.
4.  It costs the price of a full game in a world where you can download Swords and Wizardry, Basic Fantasy, and Old Swords Reign for free, and print a book for $5.

The closest game I can compare this to is Old Swords Reign.  Both game are BX games with 5E elements.  ShadowDark is the easier game to explain and play, but I would still probably want to play Olde Swords Reign over it because of how you can customize your classes in Olde Swords Reign.

So, buy it if you want to, but it isn't anything amazing.

You can like, permanently lose spells, and even an easy spell is 5% likely to create some wacky problem.  You listed this under "good", but I got to that part and was like "I'll never run or play this, got it".

Also like, while there's a bunch of things I really don't like about Shadowdark, I don't view them as being actual problems.  They are 1000% not for me, but there's plenty who want those, so great.

I do have a small meta-problem with the way Shadowdark gets promoted by people who recommend it "for anyone interested in OSR' or pretend that it's an entry OSR game, or a standard example of the genre, or whatever. If you watch totally unrelated 5e products by the 5th Edition E-Celeb Crew, they will either never bring up OSR at all, or bring it up to tell you how good Shadowdark is.  I think this is because they are friends with the creator or something, and I'm sure they had a good time reading a well put together book that knows what kind of game it wants to be.  That's the thing I don't like about it- someone basically showing up to shill it.  Sometimes that's actual fans and players though, and I don't want to paint them with a harsh brush.  But man, sometimes with that game, I just don't know.

Thirty bucks for a .pdf....LOL!

https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/products/shadowdark-rpg-pdf

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on February 07, 2024, 04:22:39 PM
Thirty bucks for a .pdf....LOL!

I mean, if people are willing to pay that, great for her.  It doesn't exactly seem abusive to charge that IMO.

Yes you are 

Nah, I'm just playin'. Buy whatever you want.

For the record, I don't care who Kelsey Dionne pays off or butters up for good reviews. It just annoys me a little to see something so un-innovative be so wildly successful.

Quote from: Venka on February 07, 2024, 04:26:53 PM

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on February 07, 2024, 04:22:39 PM
Thirty bucks for a .pdf....LOL!

I mean, if people are willing to pay that, great for her.  It doesn't exactly seem abusive to charge that IMO.

OSE Basic Fantasy Rules Tome.pdf is $20.00 still a bit high but if you are a B/X fanboy like me, reasonable. It's free if you buy the print book.

Labyrinth Lord (no art).pdf... Free
With art: $9.99

Basic Fantasy Rpleplaying .pdf...Free.

Osric...free

Dungeon Core Classics...oddly they don't have a .pdf of their big rulebook. But the quickstart is free (with starter adventures) and it has the roll-to-cast-or-blow-up-the-party mechanic that so many people seem to like. Not judging.

Swords and Wizardry Revised...$4.99

Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia .pdf .....$9.99

To me Shadowdark seems like a Wait-and-see.  There isn't anything the game offers that I can't get elsewhere for cheaper. 

Hell I could play the 5e basic rules for free if I felt like being called the scum of the Earth and the root of all evil because of my ethnicity. 

The Shadowdark book cover looks interesting.

I think it was pitched as an introduction to the OSR, for people who were already playing 5E.  It wasn't pitched as a faithful tribute to B/X or AD&D.  It may seem like something primitive and different, to those used to playing via all of the 5E splat options?

Weakling!

Your penance is to roll 3d6 down the line 1000 times.

Whatever, I'd play Shadowdark if someone I knew was running it. It's a game, I'd give it a chance!

There is clearly an opportunity here; to release Feydark, the RPG.

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on February 07, 2024, 04:22:39 PM
Thirty bucks for a .pdf....LOL!

https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/products/shadowdark-rpg-pdf

"The PDF version of the Shadowdark RPG core rules! Old-school gaming, modernized"

I read that as "Old-school gaming, monetized" 

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on February 07, 2024, 04:51:31 PM
Hell I could play the 5e basic rules for free if I felt like being called the scum of the Earth and the root of all evil because of my ethnicity.

I'm GMing the 2014 version of 5e Basic, it doesn't have any race hatred in it AFAICS. That was more a 2020+ thing really.

Quote from: Jam The MF on February 07, 2024, 05:26:48 PM
The Shadowdark book cover looks interesting.

You can scroll a bunch of pages there. I see lots of good art and some cool encounter tables.

Shadowdark seems like a good game.  There is nothing wrong with supporting good games. 

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on February 07, 2024, 04:22:39 PM
Thirty bucks for a .pdf....LOL!

https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/products/shadowdark-rpg-pdf

Greg Gillespie's new Dragonslayer game is also $30 for the pdf