“Violence solves nothing. It merely simplifies things, that’s all.”

I understand the dying rules to mean when you reach 0 HP you have 1d4+CON modifier rounds of “dying” before you’re gone. What happens if a monster attacks you while you are at 0 HP dying? Do you lose 1 or more rounds of “dying”? Do monsters just never attack a dying character? I guess that’s simpler.

Bonus— What happens if you’re dying and an area effect like a fireball or something deals damage to you indirectly?

If anyone were bored and wanted a map for the winter.

Rhaega -> Blizzards, snow, trolls (probably) and vikings of course. Natives include the Nords and even an ancient clan of Dwarves who live in Keldrak, they live in harmony? not really but they tolerate each other enough. The industrious Dwarfs and the traditional Nords at odds. The nords have a subfaction of more violent beserkers that strain relationships, not only that but rumors of an ancient frost dragon of whom the name is not uttered (voldemort? maybe) seems to be awakening. (see the largest peak), Things are stirring on the legendary snow peaks and it's ill news.

or just...come up with whatever you want.

Inkarnate for map

Patreon? What? Where? Nah I just love the hobby

In Shadow Dark, are there rules of identifying treasure or would the character just know they found a wand or +2 magical weapon?

For context, I have been playing d&d 3.5 and there are spelled out rules for being to figure out if something is masterwork, then magical, then what the properties are. I have always found that tedious…but at the same time character might not always know what they have from the jump.

I bought Shadow dark recently so I made this map of The Temple from the adventure Raiders of the Lost Temple.

Inspired by u/KristinnEs post in r/dungeonscrawl.

Some of the rooms aren't exactly proportional. Not a lot of planning went into this; trial and error, a lot of guesswork.

Easy come, easy go…

Looking for a short adventure to run with my group. More than a one-shot but nothing super long.

Would like to find something that is more than just a dungeon crawl. Something that perhaps follows more modern adventurer design as

Part two of the trolls of the monster manual

I’ve looked through the book a couple of times, but I couldn’t find much about mounts and carriages. How would you guys handle those in a game?

I’m thinking of a scene like in the Van Helsing movie, with monsters attacking a carriage, or even a full-on carriage chase!

Would the carriage have its own HP? Would you use Dexterity checks to handle maneuvering it? How would you run something like this at your table?

‘…there, in the nameless depths unknown to all except the dark, the great winged beast leapt forth trailing dust with the grace of a moonbeam, and the terrifying indifference of the void from whence it sprang’.

-J.R.R.R. Trollken

A Torch Timer Has Completely Changed My Shadowdark Table

(I am not here to SELL anything. I just am experimenting with speed and cool toys. These things wont be for everyone!)

I recently picked up a physical torch timer for Shadowdark from a small independent maker, and I genuinely can't believe how much my table loves this thing.

It starts off glowing white, but every 15 minutes the light changes, going from yellow to red, then darker and darker red. With five minutes remaining, it starts blinking before finally going out.

It's such a simple little device, but the tension it creates is incredible. I thought it would be a dumb gimmick. Instead, it's become one of the most beloved things at our table. I've even had friends go to work and brag about the lamp!

It's also gotten me experimenting with physical accessories for Shadowdark. Not necessarily things you need, but affordable little additions that actually improve the game rather than get in its way.

I've been messing with magnetic cubes, the Professor's Ultimate Terrain concept, and ways of eliminating traditional grid maps altogether.

One thing we've discovered is that a room really only needs three or four meaningful objects or points of interest. Instead of tracking exact squares and distances, we position enemies around those objects. The chest, the doorway, the altar, the overturned table. You know where everyone is in relation to those things, and suddenly decisions become incredibly fast.

We've even managed encounters with 10+ monsters this way, because I don't need to track every square. I just need to know what they're near and what the players can interact with. So we tested different lego and blocks to see what was faster.

The whole philosophy I'm exploring is how physical accessories can speed up play instead of slowing it down. Give players clear choices, make those choices meaningful, and get out of the way. I feel it created more choices instead of limiting them!

We've managed ten rooms in just a couple of hours, partly because that damn torch was making everyone nervous! It's funny how a physical timer made me appreciate Shadowdark's one-hour torch mechanic even more.

And now I'm wondering why we don't have more things like this!

I'd absolutely love to see an official Shadowdark torch timer someday. Maybe a little black-and-white torch you could hold in your hand, set on the table, recharge with USB, and watch slowly die. I'd happily spend $50 on something like that. I'm actually working on a way to turn my current lamp into a handheld torch that can also stand about a foot tall.

I've been talking with some local gaming shops and convention folks, and they've loved the timer too. It's made me wonder if there's a real market for these sorts of accessories.

I'm going to share more of the physical things we're experimenting with, including what actually works and what just gets in the way.

I've played tabletop games for years, and I don't think I've ever bought such a simple accessory that had this much impact on the experience. It is so... so FUCKING COOL!

Shadowdark has really made me rethink how we use physical things at the table. Sometimes our VTTs, elaborate maps, and endless accessories can actually slow down the very thing we're trying to enjoy. But finding something that makes the game faster, more tense, and more exciting? That's something special.

And there's just something wonderful about being able to pass this game between different GMs and keep everything moving so organically.

I'm curious what everyone else has discovered. What physical accessories have genuinely improved your Shadowdark games? Not just cool-looking stuff, but things that actually make the game better, faster, or more exciting. I'd love to hear what other tables are doing.

EDIT: THE BEST DISCOVERY? SOMEONE ACTUALLY HAS TO HOLD THE DAMN TORCH!

We'd gotten so abstract that nobody was tracking who held it. So now we literally pass around a stick (soon to be the lamp on a handle!).

And suddenly PASS THE TORCH became a whole new game!

Monsters "Attack the Light!" Players panic and pass it around! Torches get dropped, extinguished, or used to smack monsters and scare them off!

And no more sword, shield, AND torch while enjoying full AC. You've only got two hands!

One tiny change turned the torch timer into an entirely new layer of tactics, tension, and absolute chaos. IT'S SO DAMN FUN!