Kelsey Dion

Oh, wow.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, I think it really strips back a lot of the complexity that 5e adds where your characters in Shadow Dark are very simple. They're not really defined by what's on their character sheet so much as what they do and how long they survive in the game and the story that they earn as time goes on. I think that's one big difference.

Yeah, I think it really strips back a lot of the complexity that 5e adds where your characters in Shadow Dark are very simple. They're not really defined by what's on their character sheet so much as what they do and how long they survive in the game and the story that they earn as time goes on. I think that's one big difference.

And a lot of 5e players, I think, are used to playing a very combat-oriented game. Most of the rules in 5e are centered around combat. And there is combat in Shadow Dark, but I think it emphasizes exploration and trying to overcome obstacles without resorting to combat more than 5e does. So that can be one of the most significant outward differences to people who are most used to 5e.

And a lot of 5e players, I think, are used to playing a very combat-oriented game. Most of the rules in 5e are centered around combat. And there is combat in Shadow Dark, but I think it emphasizes exploration and trying to overcome obstacles without resorting to combat more than 5e does. So that can be one of the most significant outward differences to people who are most used to 5e.

Yeah. Thank you so much. It's really centered around the fact that I, as a game master, want to trick my players into thinking I know the whole world and I have everything prepared, even when 90% of the time I don't.

Yeah. Thank you so much. It's really centered around the fact that I, as a game master, want to trick my players into thinking I know the whole world and I have everything prepared, even when 90% of the time I don't.

I designed the book to be a reference where it would be very easy to navigate and then find what you needed and then have generative content baked into so much of what's in the book. Like, tavern generators, name generators, encounter generators, because... Lots of random tables, yeah. Right, right. trying to make topics very easy to grasp and actually easy to remember.

I designed the book to be a reference where it would be very easy to navigate and then find what you needed and then have generative content baked into so much of what's in the book. Like, tavern generators, name generators, encounter generators, because... Lots of random tables, yeah. Right, right. trying to make topics very easy to grasp and actually easy to remember.

So a lot of the design is centered around things being intuitive and all using a unified system so that you don't have to be looking things up all the time. Yeah.

So a lot of the design is centered around things being intuitive and all using a unified system so that you don't have to be looking things up all the time. Yeah.

And you can focus your attention on that generative half of the book where then you can trick your players into thinking you had the whole thing invented when you definitely didn't and you only started preparing five minutes before the game like I do.

And you can focus your attention on that generative half of the book where then you can trick your players into thinking you had the whole thing invented when you definitely didn't and you only started preparing five minutes before the game like I do.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

I've never realized until bringing real time into my games, sort of just as like a tip that I was like, oh, you know, we could try to get the players to make a decision faster by incorporating real time into this. And it was something I was doing in games I was running where a lot of people have like a little sand timer or something.

I've never realized until bringing real time into my games, sort of just as like a tip that I was like, oh, you know, we could try to get the players to make a decision faster by incorporating real time into this. And it was something I was doing in games I was running where a lot of people have like a little sand timer or something.

Yeah, exactly. And I was like, well... I wonder if we can center the game around a slightly less intense version of this mechanic where you have some time, but you see the time ticking down. And that's really to just encourage people to be decisive about their gameplay and to not waffle and get buried in the rules arguing.

Yeah, exactly. And I was like, well... I wonder if we can center the game around a slightly less intense version of this mechanic where you have some time, but you see the time ticking down. And that's really to just encourage people to be decisive about their gameplay and to not waffle and get buried in the rules arguing.