Quote from: Ruprecht on March 12, 2025, 10:47:10 AMI've not played Shadowdark but I really like the art, the graphic design (especially compared to the unreadable Mork Borg style) and the simplicity of the system.

I'm in a similar boat.  I like the idea of it in theory as someone who missed out on it but want a bit more in practice at the table.

I'm not personally into SD, but it's good to see it's still having success. That puts the lie to the as goes WOTC so goes TTRPGs line. And I'm always glad to see wierd west settings.

Kelsey Dionne is simply very good at the business of TTRPG publishing. Unfortunately the existence of successful people and the compulsion to throw stones at them go hand in hand.

Quote from: Festus on March 12, 2025, 05:55:04 PMKelsey Dionne is simply very good at the business of TTRPG publishing. Unfortunately the existence of successful people and the compulsion to throw stones at them go hand in hand.

Sadly true. It is a solid enough game and marketed well, good for her!

Quote from: Venka on March 11, 2025, 06:10:34 PMSo these are reasons to assume that she has some skin in the cultural war game, and simply hasn't chosen to open her mouth on the topic, much as Taylor Swift held back until 2020.  Many here will look at this and say "well, she could actually go full activist and she hasn't", which is fair.  But I think she's waiting for the right time and motivation to pull the mask off.
Hey, I could be wrong.  That's just me.  That's why I don't really trust her.

I really don't see that happening.  Taylor Swift and others spoke out during the past two USA presidential elections.  If Kelsey is a die-hard lefty, the time for her to speak out would have been at election time. Lefty game creators certainly weren't shy about backing Kamala Harris.  Remember that RPG list of losers?   But Kelsey didn't publicly support Kamala in any way.  If she didn't "pull a mask off" for November 2024, when the supposed stakes were high, I don't see her doing it now.  Or in the future. Some (most?) people just aren't overly political.  Kelsey comes across as a nice normie nerd girl, and that's probably exactly what she is.

As for Shadowdark itself, I haven't backed the Kickstarter yet, but I probably will end up doing so.  I just need to decide between the regular or premium tiers. And whether or not I want the new GM Screen.  And whether or not I want that cloth map.  Decisions, decisions...

Shadowdark itself may not be the best RPG ever made, but it's easy, fun, accessible, nice to look at and the company behind it doesn't piss off/alienate their customers. I also really like that they picked a Western Marches campaign. It seems like a good fit for the system.

Quote from: Dracones on March 12, 2025, 06:53:33 PMShadowdark itself may not be the best RPG ever made, but it's easy, fun, accessible, nice to look at and the company behind it doesn't piss off/alienate their customers. I also really like that they picked a Western Marches campaign. It seems like a good fit for the system.

Yes, and it gets beyond the mindset that Shadowdark is only for dungeon crawls which is a smart move.

Quote from: Ruprecht on March 12, 2025, 07:11:04 PM

Quote from: Dracones on March 12, 2025, 06:53:33 PMShadowdark itself may not be the best RPG ever made, but it's easy, fun, accessible, nice to look at and the company behind it doesn't piss off/alienate their customers. I also really like that they picked a Western Marches campaign. It seems like a good fit for the system.

Yes, and it gets beyond the mindset that Shadowdark is only for dungeon crawls which is a smart move.

This is what many people on here and other places have been saying it is lacking: overland travel, more external activities, things to do outside of the dungeon, etc.

Can you do all this on your own? Sure if you have time and experience.   For folks who want to dive in blind never having played D&D or a TTRPG before this makes that process very easy to impliment.

Except hexcrawls are as lame, if not more, than dungeon crawls; the latter at least is the stereotypical thing. The former exists mostly in the minds of OSR people and in Isle of Dread, and nothing else yet has been peddled as the "true way" to play when that was never the case.

$1.33 million as of the time of this post.   Congrats to Kelsey!

Quote from: THE_Leopold on March 13, 2025, 10:28:48 AMThis is what many people on here and other places have been saying it is lacking: overland travel, more external activities, things to do outside of the dungeon, etc.

Can you do all this on your own? Sure if you have time and experience.   For folks who want to dive in blind never having played D&D or a TTRPG before this makes that process very easy to impliment.

Greg Christopher made a GM Companion for Shadowdark that has overland and town travel guides that are pretty snazzy.
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/513490/gm-companion-for-shadowdark

Shadowdark is a good OSR game, one that I would play.  I'm even considering getting it in hardcopy format. 

I recommend it to anybody who wants an RPG.

As for this product, I'm actually going to pass.  However, this is because I'm not interested in campaign books.   I like books with classes, bad guys, and gear.  This feels more like the first one, and not the second. 

Quote from: weirdguy564 on March 13, 2025, 07:22:19 PMShadowdark is a good OSR game, one that I would play.  I'm even considering getting it in hardcopy format. 

I recommend it to anybody who wants an RPG.

As for this product, I'm actually going to pass.  However, this is because I'm not interested in campaign books.  I like books with classes, bad guys, and gear.  This feels more like the first one, and not the second.

From the Kickstarter,

QuoteThe Player's Guide to the Western Reaches has every official character option for Shadowdark RPG released outside the core rulebook, as well as a bunch of brand new material. This includes:

• 18 character classes and lots of new art, including the never-before-seen Kyzian Archer, Green Knight, and Monk of Yag-Kesh
• 8 ancestries with new in-world details, including the new half-elf and the kobold
• All gear lists, including boats, mounts, and poisons
• All spells for each class listed alphabetically by tier
• Lore, religious tenets, and holy symbols for each of the nine major gods
• New secrets and backgrounds tables for characters from the Western Reaches
• New adventuring factions characters can join for added benefits
• Gossip and everyday knowledge about the Reaches (rather than lore dumps)

I'm not trying to sell it - just thought you might have missed this.

I think there were a lot of people who got the core book, played it a bit. Liked it but dropped it cause they thought it was only for dungeon crawls (despite the core book making it clear you can do stuff overland, talk about RTFM) who then missed out on all the additional stuff added in the zines.

Now not everyone mentioned above is new. And if all weirdguy564 wants is classes and items, there's only 3 new classes in the actual Western Reaches setting books. Not sure if there will be any new items, outside of the stuff added in zine 4, 5 and 6. I'd say the big standouts are the books consolidating everything into one format, adding all the hex crawl maps together so they make sense, the 10 new crawl regions, weather mechanics, factions and I think most importantly the "Learning from special NPCs" part, in combination with something in the preview for zine # 6.

Saw that gone over in a video. In the zine it adds more things to do other than getting into benders between dungeons. Spiritual prayer/meditation, skullduggery, magical research and martial training which is interesting. Anyone can do it but it's based on your hit dice. With the checks changing based on that, with d4 being most limited and d8 getting something extra. The learning from npcs part seems to vary, I guess it'll both be for classes and more general as they have a witch and a survivalist as an example.

But the previews for all 3 zines and both books are available for download.

All the current classes are free over at the online character creator, Shadowdarklings. 

I don't need this new book it seems.