Quote from: Thorn Drumheller on March 04, 2023, 05:21:31 PMIn the OSR is archetype, there's racial bonus' and minus'. If you don't like it, don't play in the OSR sandbox.

BX/BECMI D&D and its OSR derivatives don't have racial attribute mods.

Quote from: S'mon on March 04, 2023, 05:29:49 PM
BX/BECMI D&D and its OSR derivatives don't have racial attribute mods.

Touche. Point still stands though.

Quote from: Thorn Drumheller on March 04, 2023, 06:26:43 PM

Quote from: S'mon on March 04, 2023, 05:29:49 PM
BX/BECMI D&D and its OSR derivatives don't have racial attribute mods.

Touche. Point still stands though.

How exactly does it still stand? Racial bonuses are absolutely not a necessary part of the archetype.

Quote from: RPGPundit on March 04, 2023, 01:37:40 PM

Quote from: FingerRod on March 03, 2023, 09:30:21 AM
Nothing feels off to me. Her content and background as an adventure writer is well established.

I'm sure she is in certain scenes. But if you're from the actual OSR (as opposed to some 5e circles or the garycon grognard crowd), NO ONE had ever heard of her until 3 days ago and suddenly it looked like EVERYWHERE was talking about her game all at once, from a total unknown. It had all the looks of a carefully pre-planned marketing blitz campaign.

Okay, I see that. From an OSR perspective she has come out of nowhere. I do not give any credence to QB, paid review or not. I understand why it is a good business move for the success of the KS.

I skimmed the 60+ page preview on OBS. It reminds me of Five Torches Deep. Not the actual rules, but it has one foot in the OSR, one foot in 5e. It is high quality, no virtue signaling, and had good art/overall feel.

And while it is a good value and it will go down as a very successful KS, there just isn't anything new that compels me to buy it.

Quote from: S'mon on March 04, 2023, 05:29:49 PM

Quote from: Thorn Drumheller on March 04, 2023, 05:21:31 PMIn the OSR is archetype, there's racial bonus' and minus'. If you don't like it, don't play in the OSR sandbox.

BX/BECMI D&D and its OSR derivatives don't have racial attribute mods.

Yes but in their case they have race as class so its a bit of a different ball game.

Quote from: Slambo on March 04, 2023, 07:42:09 PM
Yes but in their case they have race as class so its a bit of a different ball game.

Indeed. And you don't need 'Ancestry' when your Class is Elf! 

She goes over her RPG design influences from https://youtu.be/3m6FkPo1QnU?t=3569

Just in case you still doubt she's "True OSR", she includes Stonehell & its author Michael Curtis. Can't get much more OSR than that IMO. Not to mention she was writing Judges Guild licensed published material as a child... more Old School than OSR.

She talks about marketing from https://youtu.be/3m6FkPo1QnU?t=3829 - her wife is a marketing professional. Hence the slickness.

I've got nothing against marketing; or for it (it's all water off a duck's back). But I actually went into DriveThruRPG and search for "Shadowdark." Here's what came out:

• The Nightmare at Castle Goldgloom - Compatible with Shadowdark RPG
• Nightmare Garden of the Space Princess - compatible with Shadowdark RPG
• Kazad Mor: The Cursed Dwarfhome - compatible with Shadowdark RPG
• Soulblight - A Shadowdark Setting
• DARKNESS FIRE BLOOD mini zine adventure - compatible with Shadowdark RPG
• ...

My oh my, how edgy. I guess if you scroll further down you'll find some gonzo settings for it, but this '90s SUPER RADICAL Goth Metal aesthetics kind of puts me off of it, and it isn't even the quickstart rules!

But maybe I'm subconsciously looking for a problem with the game, so I promise I will at least give the rules a once-through. After all, I can always ignore obnoxious settings, right?

I see the Quickstart is here https://www.thearcanelibrary.com/pages/shadowdark - I'll give it a look, though I'm really not looking for another OSR RPG. I liked the look of the sample pages she showed in the Q&A.

edit: Went through it. Very minimalist style indeed. Not sure if like. 

The art's pretty cool, she may have a few good rules (original or not) and I have zero issues with using KS, but I already have a *ton* of great RPG material I'll never use, so I'm passing on this the same way I pass on hundreds of others. I wish her good luck!

Greetings!

Interesting that Kelsey's Shadowdark book has generated more than 600K just in the first three days. She still has 25 days more to go for her Kickstarter, which she started with a initial goal of...10K. *Laughing*

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: S'mon on March 04, 2023, 05:29:49 PM

Quote from: Thorn Drumheller on March 04, 2023, 05:21:31 PMIn the OSR is archetype, there's racial bonus' and minus'. If you don't like it, don't play in the OSR sandbox.

BX/BECMI D&D and its OSR derivatives don't have racial attribute mods.

TBF, BX/Becmi has race as class, which still puts one in the mindset of "while these races are human-like in their appearance, their cultures, mindsets, and goals are alien to humanity".
There are no black elves or Asian dwarves, but there are black and Asian humans,  because while humanity may not be immortal or have a natural resistance to magic, their strength lies in their adaptability, both physical and mental.

Since I can't comment in the red list thread I'll say it her because it seems the best place to do so:

#GamerGate started because of corrupt and incestuous relationships between the games journos and certain game designers.

The creator of Shadowdark paying to QuestingBeast (and maybe others) to review her game stink to high heaven of the exact same corruption and or incestuous relationships, since I suspect that some of the glowing reviews were due to friendship and not money.

I know it's fashionable to browbeat Pundit but I find myself agreeing with the questions.

Pointing out elements of the game taken from other games isn't a sign of "look, she's profiting from my work!" (I doubt Pundit has that mindset since I TOLD him I was taking his monkey people for my Mayan game and he NEVER mentioned crediting him or anything), it's a sign that it's not a product of her mind alone.

Several people here and on mewe have agreed the game doesn't seem all that innovative, so why all the glowing reviews?

I think this is a fair question.

It is a dumb question when aimed at the Kickstarter which everyone expects to have glowing marketing videos on the campaign page. Right down to the friends and family push. No one expects that the Kickstarter page has anything but fluff marketing videos so there is zero corruption there.

If you want to mount up and tilt at windmills, go ask Questing Beast why he does not label his reviews as paid as per the FCC rules. Especially if he includes affiliate links.

If you are going to huff and puff about the Kickstarter, then you are just showing that you lack sophistication and ability to parse reality.