Shadowdark RPG Hardcover Book - Product of the Year 2024

Shadowdark RPG (Hardcover Book + PDF)

Name: Shadowdark RPG (Hardcover Book + PDF)
Brand: The Arcane Library
Price: 59.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.94 (357 reviews)

$59.00

Old-school gaming, modernized. Jump into the critically-acclaimed TTRPG that raised $1.3 million on Kickstarter! One book, all you need to play.

Shadowdark won the 2024 Three Castles Award for best game design, as well as four gold ENNIEs: Product of the Year, Best Game, Best Rules, and Best Layout & Design.

This is the hardcover book plus a free PDF download. Just want the PDF version? Link here.

"Feels just like the ideal version of a game I was playing forty years ago, but forty years better."

Matt Forbeck, New York Times Bestselling Author and Award-Winning Game Designer, Forbeck.com

"A grimdark witches' brew of B/X, real-time mechanics, and the best random charts I've ever seen."

Professor Dungeon Master, Dungeon Craft

"The perfect jumping-in point for 5e players interested in the OSR!"

Baron de Ropp, Dungeon Masterpiece

Simple, clean, familiar but also refreshingly different. This has quickly become my go-to system."

Jake House, House DM YouTube Channel

What Is Shadowdark RPG?

In Shadowdark RPG, you and your group of crawlers use magic, steel, and wits to delve into mysterious ruins, lost cities, and monster-infested depths.

Wondrous treasures and long-forgotten secrets await you! But don't let your last torch burn out, or you could be swallowed by the Shadowdark...

5E players will find what they've been waiting for: an intuitive and complete TTRPG that serves as a seamless bridge into the heart of the Old School Renaissance.

Old-school gamers will find a system that is familiar and nostalgic, but with major quality-of-life upgrades that modernize the old-school experience.

Your legend awaits, crawler.

Lift your blade, light your torch, and plunge into the unknown depths of the Shadowdark!

Features

• The four core classes: fighter, priest, thief, wizard

• A d20-based, roll-high system

• No darkvision — total darkness is dangerous

• Treasure grants XP, and tracking it is dead simple

• Roll-to-cast spells — magic is exciting and risky

• Simple distances (close, near, far)

• Monster morale and reaction rolls

• Always-on initiative — time is easy to track

• The six classic stats (3d6 in order)

• No skills — just ability checks and advantage/disadvantage

• Separate ancestry and class

• Randomized character class abilities — emergent character growth!

• Low hit points — fast and deadly combat

• Simple encumbrance (gear slots)

Inside The Book

Shadowdark RPG is a complete game with all you need in one tome. It includes:

• 330 pages in a concise, two-page spread layout

• A5 handbook sizing for easy use at the table

• Full rules for characters, gameplay, and GMing

• 239 classic monsters

• 85 iconic spells

• 97 mighty magic items

• Dozens of robust roll tables for just about everything

• Spectacular black-and-white art

• Chapter markers along the side of the pages

• Ribbon bookmark in hardcover version

Simply a delight

I love reading Shadowdark, its large font, well down layout, perfect size, and fantastic binding make for a pleasant reading experience. At first there were a few items I was unsure about like rolling to cast (vs typical slots) or rolling for your level-ups. But I have since come to realize that all of this streamlines the game, rolling to cast gives a simple thing to grant players at level-up time (like increased stats) and rolling for what you gain keeps everything isolated to an easy to use table and keeps the leveling and char creation moving.

I have only played it once, but we all enjoyed it, and some of my players are asking for another go which I am currently prepping. It is fast becoming one of my favorite systems, and is possibly my favorite D20 system at the current time.