Quick-Start Saturday: ShadowSun Revised

Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

—oOo—

What is it?
ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart is the quick-start for ShadowSun Revised, a dark, post-apocalyptic desert setting which uses ShadowDark as its rules. It is inspired by, and implements, the world of Athas, the setting for Dark Sun, the ‘Swords & Planet’ Conan-meets-John Carter-style campaign for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition, published in 1991. It is one of the few Dungeons & Dragons settings not to have been updated to Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition despite it being a fan favourite. Further, the differences between Athas and traditional fantasy roleplaying, both mechanically and thematically, especially given its inclusion of psionics, has meant that there has been relatively little drive within the Old School Renaissance to recreate Athas or Dark Sun.

It consists of two separate books.

The ‘Player Quickstart for ShadowSun’ is a seventy-six page, 15.37 MB full black and white PDF. The ‘GM Quickstart for ShadowSun’ is a sixty-two page, 12.81 MB full black and white PDF.

How long will it take to play?
ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart includes the scenario ‘Colossi’s Rest’. This will take a session or two to complete.

What else do you need to play?
The ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart needs a standard set of polyhedral dice and the ShadowDark rules.

Who do you play?
The ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart does not include any pre-generated Player Characters, but shows off eight Ancestries and eight Classes. The eight Ancestries consist of Dwarf, Elf, Goliath, Hawkfolk, Human, Lizardfolk, Mantisfolk, and Mule. Of these, the Dwarf and Human Ancestries are what you would expect, whereas the Elf Ancestry differs from Dungeons & Dragons (or ShadowDark), and the rest are new. Elves are nomads, moving from one oasis to another, with limited views on property, so they are often mistrusted in the city-states and the worst of them become raiders and bandits. Goliaths are giant humanoids, but not actually Giants, created as a race by the Mage-Kings. They are fascinated by other cultures and adhere to personal aesthetics which influence their outlook. Hawkfolk have wings, and whilst they prefer to live in high places, cannot truly fly, only hover. Lizardfolk hunt the dusk sinks and Black silt seas for food and construct most of the ships sailing the Black. Mantisfolk are semi-nomadic insectoid humanoids who are absolutely loyal to their clutchmates. Mules are the infertile offspring of Humans and Dwarves, often born into slavery and thrown into the arena as pit fighters and gladiators.

The eight new Classes are the Enforcer, Explorer, Gladiator, Infiltrator, Mentalist, Shaman, Sorcerer, and Warrior. The Enforcer is trained to subdue and capture others rather than kill them, can cause others to freeze on the spot with a look, can place a subdued opponent in manacles, and has Advantage when questioning a captive for information. The Explorer is a scout with Advantage on navigation and tracking checks, knows how to deal with poison, and oddly, knows how to take advantage of others if he wants to betray them. The Gladiator is good at brawling and cheating at gambling. The Infiltrator can knock a target out with a blackjack, has an ear for conversation, and is skilled at Thievery. The Mentalist has a calming presence, has access to psionic powers, knows the silent language of Vedinal. The Shaman can affect undead, has an elemental affinity which protects him against that element and can temporarily create a handful of it, and specialises in nature spellcasting. The Sorcerer is an arcane spellcaster that when spellcasting check is failed, results in defilement and the loss of Hit Points to either the caster or an ally or a captive, which can kill them. The Sorcerer can easily understand languages and learn spells by studying tablets. Lastly, the Warrior is a skirmisher, spurred on in the first few rounds of combat, knows how to use the environment to his advantage with dirty tricks, and is skilled with throwing weapons.

Both the Ancestries and the Classes are clearly inspired by Dark Sun and fans of the classic setting will recognise those inspirations here. One issue clearly implied in the ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart—and thus in ShadowSun Revised itself—is that of slaves and slavery. For example, the Mule is typically born into slavery, the encounter tables include slavers, and both the Enforcer and Gladiator Classes are connected to slavery within the setting. The Enforcer may be capturing them and the the Gladiator may well be a slave. Slavery is a facet of the pulp fantasy and ‘Swords & Planet’ genres that ShadowSun Revised draws from. As an emulation of those genres, it is not unreasonable to include it as part of the setting, but only if handled in a mature fashion. That said, not every player or group is going to want to accept that as part of their campaign.

How is a Player Character defined?

A Player Character in the ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart—and thus in ShadowSun Revised—is defined as a standard ShadowDark Player Character. However, there are three notable additions. The first two relate to the Ancestries. Each Ancestry has a means to regain Luck tokens and a Refusal. For example, if an Elf spends a week or more alone in the wilderness or a Mule spends a week performing hard labour, each will gain a Luck token. The Refusal reflects an outlook that the Ancestry does not have, such as the Mule’s rejection of metaphysics and any idea of an afterlife or an inability, like the Mantisfolk inability to swim in water, dust, or the Black due to a lack of buoyancy. The third is the fact that every Player Character has a Psionic power, called a Wild Talent, not just the Mentalist Class.

In addition, the traditional Alignment of Dungeons & Dragons is replaced by Apathy, Empathy, and Tyranny. As well as being an outlook, these also provide a possible means of gaining Luck tokens.

How do the mechanics work?

The ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart—and thus in ShadowSun Revised—uses the standard d20-based rules of ShadowDark.

How does combat work?
There are no specific combat mechanics in the ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart.

How does magic work?

Magic is formed from six Elements. These are Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Life, and Void. A spellcasting check is required to cast a spell. This can be rolled at Advantage or Disadvantage if an element is particularly strong in an area.

The arcane magic of the Sorcerer has potentially dangerous side effects. If a spellcasting check is failed, it will result in the loss of Hit Points in the caster, an ally, or a captive, and this loss can kill. A Critical Success allows one of a spell’s numerical effects to be doubled, whilst a Critical Failure means a magical mishap has happened. The caster loses the spell and a roll must be made on the Arcane Mishap table. At worst, this can result in a ‘Defilement Surge’, destroying all nearby plants and killing all nearby small creatures, and doing minor damage to all living creatures and inflicting heatstroke on them. If they are already suffering heatstroke, they die!

The nature magic of the Shaman has its own potentially dangerous side effects. However, being nature-based, they are not quite as dangerous.

How do Psionics work?

All Player Characters have a ‘Wild Talent’. This is a natural, but minor psionic ability. It does not include classic psionic abilities such as telepathy or teleportation or clairvoyance. Instead, a Player Character might be ‘Nimble’ and take half damage from falling and less damage from ranged attacks or have ‘Affinity’ with domesticated animals and all riding beasts are reliable. In a traditional roleplaying sense, these are more akin to advantages, but here they can still be interpreted as psionic abilities.

The Mentalist Class is the main user of Psionics, although some powerful NPCs and many creatures and monsters on Althea have them too. Where spells require a spellcasting check to cast them, psionic powers require Psionic Power check to activate a psionic power. The Critical Success and Critical Failure rules apply as normal and there is a Psionic Mishaps table for the latter. The psionic powers are organised into tiers just like the spells for the Sorcerer and the Shaman, but many of the higher tier psionic powers have prerequisites in terms of lower tier psionic powers. For example, Repel is a Tier 2 psionic power that can force opponents away from the user and potentially crush them against walls and other objects. The psionicist cannot learn it until he has mastered the Tier 1 power of Lift, which he uses to lift targets up off the ground and prevents them from moving or making melee attacks.

What do you play?

In addition to its scenario, ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart provides a lot of information about its world of Althea and the rules for ShadowSun Revised. From the start it makes clear that Althea is grim setting in a harsh world where everyone struggles for food, water, and shelter, and might is right. This is reflected in rations containing food and water being treated separately for purposes of survival, and a lack of water will lead to heatstroke, when every roll is made at Disadvantage, and Hit Point loss, which cannot be healed by magic. Extended deprivation like this will kill a Player Character.

The background to the setting explains how the once verdant world of Althea was transformed first by the Shadow Fall of its ancient moon of Sheera, from which the original inhabitants—the Wee Folk—of Althea stole its magic and transformed into many of the Ancestries known today. Second, by the ShadowSun which twisted the magic so that its use would defile the land and the sea, rendering them in deserts and silt. The ShadowSun also melted the metals causing them to flow into the depths, and now metal is rare, with arms and armour and other equipment constructed of wood, bone, and rock. This is reflected in the equipment list.

The travel rules account for the harsh nature of Athlea’s terrain and climate. Any distance travelled means that a Player Character will gain points of Exhaustion, the amount varying depending on the harshness of the terrain. Gain too many points of Exhaustion and a Player Character will suffer from deprivation, which again, is potentially lethal.

Most of what the Game Master and her players needs to run ShadowSun Revised is in the ‘Player Quickstart for ShadowSun’. The ‘GM Quickstart for ShadowSun’ covers terrain types, hazards, random encounters, dungeon types on Althea, and treasure as well as giving an extensive bestiary. It also includes the scenario, ‘Colossi’s Rest’. This is a dungeon adventure set in the body of a fallen golem that has been dug out by giant ants! The rumour tables will provide motivation and the Game Master might want to expand it little with some wilderness travel to show off the travel and survival rules, but the dungeon itself is very nicely detailed, a good mix of natural and the unnatural, both of which are a little weird.

Is there anything missing?
No. The ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart has everything that a Game Master needs to run the included scenario. Probably more than she needs to run the included scenario.

Is it easy to prepare?
No. The ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart contains a lot of information, and the players will need to create their own characters as well as the Game Master preparing the adventure.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart contains a wealth of information about the setting of Althea and the ShadowSun Revised rules. Arguably too much information in comparison to a traditional quick-start, being a lengthy and surprisingly detailed preview of what will be in the main rulebook rather than a quick-start. This does mean that preparing to run the scenario takes longer since the players actually need to create characters rather than choosing them, but it also means that it provides a very good feel for the world and shows you how its play will differ from that of traditional ShadowDark.

The ShadowSun Revised – Quickstart is published by Chubby Funster and is available to download here.

Friday Filler: Player Companion for ShadowDark

If there has to be a GM Companion for ShadowDark—and the honest truth is that there does actually have to be, since there is no official companion to ShadowDark, the retroclone inspired by both the Old School Renaissance and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition from The Arcane Library—then there surely has to be the equivalent for the player. Well, similarly, there is, and that book is the Player Companion for ShadowDark. Like the GM Companion for ShadowDark, this is a third-party supplement for the roleplaying game which is designed to expand on the content in the core rulebook. It includes new Backgrounds, over twenty Ancestries, over thirty new Classes, plus new gemstones and metals, weapons, armour types and materials, adventuring gear galore, and plants, poisons, and traps, as well as catalysts to give spells that little bit more oomph when needed. Of course, a great deal of this volume is aimed at the player, but like the GM Companion for ShadowDark, which was aimed at the Game Master, yet still contained elements that the player could use, the Player Companion for ShadowDark contains content that the Game Master can also use. Probably more so, since the Game Master will be using the content of the Player Companion for ShadowDark to help create her world and her campaign.

The Player Companion for ShadowDark is—like the GM Companion for ShadowDark—published by Chubby Funster. The ‘Alternative Background Table’ lists twenty options, from Agitator, Artist, and Athlete to Trader, Translator, and Wanderlust, all of which are intended to not conflict with the Classes that follow after the Ancestries. Each of the twenty-four Ancestries is given a simple description and a simple ability. For example, the Proudfoot Halfling is ‘Stealthy’ can effectively turn invisible for three Rounds once per day, whilst the Stoutheart Halfling is ‘Quick’ and gains a +3 bonus to Initiative. The Changeling is ‘Mercurial’ and can use innate illusion magic to change their facial features; the Dragonborn has ‘Fire Breath’ and can do so instead of a standard attack; and a Goblin can simply never be surprised in combat. Some, such as the Dark Elf, Deep Gnome, Dragonborn, Gray Elf, Proudfoot Halfling, Stoutheart Halfling, and Wood Elf, are all inspired by both classic fantasy and classic Dungeons & Dragons, enabling a player to select an Ancestry for his character that he might be familiar with from those sources. Others are less obviously inspired, like the Changeling and Gold Dwarf, whilst others still, including the Goblin, Hobgoblin, and Kobold, open up the possibility of roleplaying the Humanoid races of Dungeons & Dragons as Player Characters.

The primary selling point of Player Companion for ShadowDark is its thirty-six new Classes. The full thirty-six consists of Archer, Assassin, Beastmaster, Berserker, Brigand, Buccaneer, Burglar, Charlatan, Conjurer, Druid, Elementalist, Enchanter, Explorer, Gladiator, Mage, Mariner, Monk, Mystic, Necromancer, Noble, Oracle, Pugilist, Ranger, Rogue, Savage, Scholar, Scout, Shaman, Soldier, Sorcerer, Spy, Squire, Thug, Urchin, Valkyrie, and Witch. Some, like the Assassin, Druid, Ranger, and Sorcerer, draw upon classic Classes from Dungeons & Dragons for their inspiration, but in some cases, there is not a great deal of variation between these new Classes. For example, the Brigand, the Burglar, and the Rogue all have ‘Shadowed’ and ‘Thievery’. ‘Shadowed’ grants advantage on Stealth checks and a bonus when motionless, and with ‘Thievery’ on checks to disguise himself, shadow someone, find and disable traps, pickpocket, and pick locks. The main difference—mechanically—is that the Brigand has ‘Knockout’, being able to knock an unsuspecting victim unconscious with a sap; the Burglar can easily grab objects at close distance with ‘Palm’; and the Rogue has ‘Backstab’ and ‘Taking Cover’. There is the same element with the Priest and Wizard type Classes too, all sharing the same core abilities with one or maybe two other abilities.

What this highlights is that many of the Classes in the Player Companion for ShadowDark are variations upon a theme. Which may or not be a problem. Used all together, it is a case of there not being enough to differentiate between the Class types, but used judiciously, any of the Classes would work well. For example, all of the Wizard-type Classes would work together if a campaign was set around a magic college and all of the Rogue Classes would work in a big urban environment, but in another campaign, the Game Master might decide that only certain Classes within the various types work within her campaign world, suggesting perhaps, that magic works or that the gods are worshipped in a particular way.

If many of the Classes in the Player Companion for ShadowDark are variations upon a theme, this is not to say that the Class designs are bad. The Archer is simple and straightforward, good with a bow and arrow, able to target specific body parts for various effects and gains better benefits from cover; the Assassin can ‘Backstab’, is ‘Shadowed’ like the Thief-type Classes, but can use ‘Venom’ instead of ‘Thievery’; the Druid has ‘Nature Affinity’, can cast ‘Priest Spells’, and ‘Shapeshift’; and the Necromancer can ‘Command Undead’ as well as do ‘Scroll Study’ and cast ‘Wizard Spells’. In other designs, there is more originality. For example, the Noble knows extra ‘Languages’, gives Advantage on morale for his NPC allies as well as a bonus to attack rolls and initiative with his ‘Leadership’, mind-affecting spells and powers are rolled against him are made at Disadvantage due to his ‘Nobility’, and he gains greater ‘Wealth’. Otherwise, the Noble is a Fighter type, but the abilities of the Class do lend itself to some interesting roleplaying. Similarly, the Valkyrie is a Cleric type Class and can cast ‘Priest Spells’, but added to that, she is ‘Favoured’ and if she uses a luck token to deliver a killing blow, she gets it back, and she has ‘Raven’, meaning she has an unkindness of raven familiars.

Beyond the Ancestries and Classes, the Player Companion for ShadowDark focuses on equipment. ‘Gemstones and Metals’ describes thirty gemstones and metallic trade bars that can be found as treasure and/or traded, whilst the twenty-five weapons gives more choices in combat, many of them of with their unique features. For example, the bastard does more damage if wielded two-handed, the bearded axe and the javelin can be thrown and inflicts different damage if thrown, whilst the dagger can also be thrown, but the wielder can choose whether to use his Strength or Dexterity depending on the bonus. Conversely, ‘Armour’ does not give its various types of protection unique features. The exceptions are the helmet, which grants the wearer Advantage when resisting concussion, blasts, sonic attacks, falling debris, or similar dangers, and the large shield kite, which improve Armour Class when wielded on horseback. There are guidelines for the effects of adamantine, bronze, and mithril armour though.

This is followed by a huge section on ‘Adventuring Gear’ which describes one hundred items that a Player Character might have in his backpack, from acid, an air bladder, and alcohol to a whistle, wooden stakes, and writing ink. It is an exhaustive and quite detailed list. Similarly, ‘Plants and Poisons’ describes twenty-five beans, compounds, flowers, fungi, herbs, roots, and venoms that have a variety of effects, not just poisoning. From arsenic and belladonna to tamarind and wolfsbane, the entries are even more detailed than those given in the ‘Adventuring Gear’ section. This is all useful information, whether for the Assassin or Druid Classes, for alchemists, and of course, for evil NPCs. ‘Traps’ describes six devices that a Player Character could buy and set, such as a flash trap that blinds or a sticky trap that hinders. It gives a cost, which suggests that they can be purchased off the shelf, which might be case in a Game Master’s campaign world. For another Game Master’s campaign world, guidelines on building such traps would have been more useful.

Lastly, the Player Companion for ShadowDark describes something completely different—‘Spell Catalysts’. These are things—seeds, berries, resins, petals, roots, bark, flowers, metals, wood, spices, glass, honey, bone, leaves, and more—that when used in conjunction with a particular spell, enhances its effects. For example, a handful of leaves from the mint plant when held casting Levitate enables the caster to move horizontally without needing to push himself off another surface or if the caster holds an olive when casting Magic Missile, the missiles inflict extra damage and can knock a target to the ground! All eighty-five of these, from achiote and anise to wool and wormwood, empower the spellcaster in some way, though limited in each case. The Player Character can buy multiple catalysts at a time, but on the downside, each catalyst takes up a gear slot and can be expensive. For example, it might only cost five silver pieces to purchase the olives for the Magic Missile catalyst, but the silk for the Passwall catalyst is eighty-five gold! Thus this option is not necessarily going to overpower a game, especially if the cost and encumbrance rules are applied, but when it counts, it will give the caster that little bit more of an edge.

Physically, like its forebear, the GM Companion for ShadowDark, the Player Companion for ShadowDark is a decent looking book. The layout is clean and tidy, the artwork is decent, and the book is well written.

Where the GM Companion for ShadowDark is a really useful book for ShadowDark and definitely a book that the Game Master for ShadowDark should have, the Player Companion for ShadowDark is not. This is not to say that none of its content is useful, but rather to say that its content can be useful. The Player Companion for ShadowDark is very much a book that the Game Master will need to pick and choose from, rather than simply use wholesale. She needs to ask herself if she wants every one of its Ancestries and Classes in her game, especially since some of the Classes are really variations rather than whole new Classes. Of course, she can simply decide what she wants for her own setting, but including all of them can lead to too much choice. The rest of the book—the adventuring gear, the arms and armour, the poisons, and the spell catalysts—all add a lot of detail, and whilst well done, again, the Game Master has to ask herself if she wants that degree of detail in her game. There is some useful and interesting content in its pages, but ultimately, the Player Companion for ShadowDark is about choice and giving options, more so for the Game Master than its title suggests.

The Other OSR: GM Companion for ShadowDark

It is surprising that there is no companion to ShadowDark, the retroclone inspired by both the Old School Renaissance and Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition from The Arcane Library. Or at least, an official companion. The GM Companion for ShadowDark is a third party supplement for the roleplaying game which is designed to expand on the content in the core rulebook. Although the book includes some content for player, it is primarily a book for the Game Master. Divided into four sections—‘The World Above’, ‘The World Below’, and ‘Treasure’, it includes a lot of tables, more than a few monsters not found in the core rulebook, and plenty of treasure, as well as some activities that the Player Characters can undertake away from the dungeon or wilderness.

The GM Companion for ShadowDark, published by Chubby Funster, first provides the Game Master with several sets of table for generating content both in and out of the dungeon. The ‘Hex Crawling’ section expands on the rules in the core rulebook by adding ‘Points of Interest’ for nine different terrain types, from artic and coast to river and swamp. Each table consists of two sets of entries, location and development, twenty options for each. For example, in the desert, there might be a ‘Castle Ruin’ that is ‘Frequented by desert caravans’ or has ‘Displayed banners of a defeated army’. To this are added tables for ‘Terrain Hazards’, again for the nine different terrain types, but with entries that can either hinder movement, inflict damage, or weaken or confuse. Some of the locations are marked as a ‘settlement result’, which means that the Game Master then rolls on the settlement tables. These begin with the type, from crossroads to capitals, before digging down into the detail with different districts, such as transient, craft, and spectacle, each of will have one or more points of interest. Further sections adds shops, broken up according to the income levels. There are some nice variations here, such as the predatory moneylender in the poor district, respectable moneylender in the standard district, and the exclusive moneylender in the wealthy district.

Since taverns can be found anywhere, they have their own set of tables. Together, these generate a name, what the tavern is known for, and what food and drink it serves. For example, ‘The Moist Wagon’ is known for its ‘Divisive political arguments’ and is a poor tavern that serves ‘Pigeon Jelly Tart’ and ‘Salted Fish Strips’ with ‘Juggler’s Gold’, a honey-flavoured beer and ‘Bacon Broth Beer’, which makes drinkers ravenously hungry.

For Player Characters, the GM Companion for ShadowDark gives rules for Farkle, a dice game that will complement the Thieves & Wizards card given in the core rulebook. It gives something else for them to do when they are carousing, but the supplement also gives alternative activities for the Player Characters other than carousing and learning. ‘Acts of Devotion’ gives devotional events that devout Player Characters can invest in and potentially gain a benefit. For example, ‘You violate local laws in an act of piety and are arrested. Your allies must pay 10 gp to release you.’ which earns two Experience Points or ‘Your celebration is attended by devotees from far away temples. They become convinced that you are the next great religious leader of your sect.’ which grants six Experience Points and up to thirty-two devoted acolytes! ‘Combat Training’ does a similar thing for martial Player Characters who practise their weapon skills and for Wizards conducting ‘Magic Study’, there is a table for the results of their research, and all in a similar level of detail.

For the ‘The World Below’, the second section, builds on the dice-drop method detailed in ShadowDark with more tables. These start by determining the danger level of the dungeon, its entrance, size, and type, followed by room type, encounters with NPCs and rival crawlers, and even how the room changes over time, such as ‘Filled with fragile objects that repair themselves when PCs leave.’ and ‘Slowly fills with water, slime, mud, sand, or similar material.’ Other tables add scenes of a combat’s aftermath, dead zones, unique objects to be found, and monsters, whether single, mobs, or bosses. Similar to ‘Terrain Hazards’ for the ‘Hex Crawling’ section, the ‘Dungeon Hazards’ adds dangers for caves, deep tunnels, ruins, and tombs. Further tables expand upon NPCs which can be used for encounters outside of the dungeons as well as in, but as can the tables for creating Rival Crawlers. This includes ancestry, alignment, Class and/or monster, party name, preferred tactics, and even party secrets.

What can be found in a dungeon starts with simple ‘Dungeon Dressing’, worth only a few coppers at most, rising in level to match the rough Level of the dungeon or encounter. So, Dungeon Dressing might be ‘Five inches of leather lacing from a corset’ worth a copper piece or ‘Three large cheese wheels, mouldy and decaying’ worth nothing, but later Levels might contain a ‘Set of carved ivory cutlery covered in halfling runes’ worth twelve gold pieces or ‘Playing cards featuring drawings of Elvish maidens’ worth twenty-eight. The higher the Level, the more likely there is to be treasure to be found and yes, there are tables for this. They include potion descriptions and effects, magic armour to which can be added features—appearance, scent, and quirks, as well as a possible bonus and benefits (and even curses). There are similar tables for weapons and utility items too. In addition, there are table for Boons to be earned from creatures, monsters, NPCs, and organisations, and secrets to be found and blessings to receive.

Further, beyond the tables that the Game Master can roll on, the GM Companion for ShadowDark describes over seventy magic items. For example, the Imposter’s Wand can be pointed at a spellcaster to spell a First Level from him and until the next sunrise, the user can cast the spell, and further, it can be used by non-spellcasters! The Potion of the Unicorn hardens the imbiber’s skin like a rhinoceros, improving his Armour Class, and also makes him grow a horn from his head which he can use as a magical dagger. The Promise Bow is an intricate ironwood longbow with Elvish runes and silver accents, which is a +2 longbow, and grants the benefit to the wielder of attacking at an advantage if fired after declaring his intention to kill a particular enemy, but until that enemy is killed, the promised enemy is slain, all other attacks are made with disadvantage. The bow has a personality and is convinced that there is a pattern to the wielder’s choice of targets and will speculate on it.

Lastly, the GM Companion for ShadowDark gives the stats for monsters and creatures ranging from First Level to Ninth Level. There are thirty-nine in total, from Aarakocra, Ant (Giant), and Assassin Vine to Troglodyte, Vegepygmy, and Werebear. Most fill in the missing entries in the ShadowDark core rulebook, but there are new ones too like Frost Maggots and Armitage.

Physically, even if it is not the official companion to ShadowDark, the GM Companion for ShadowDark looks like it should be. The layout is clean and tidy, the artwork is decent, and the book is well written.

To be fair, much of the GM Companion for ShadowDark does consist of tables, ones that compliment those in the core rulebook. They are though, tables filled with evocative content that are essentially prompts. They can be rolled on ahead of time as part of the Game Master’s preparation, to help her set up her world, but they are also simple and direct enough that the Game Master can use them in play to drive emergent world generation if that is her wont. If the table are pushing the Game Master to be inventive, then the rest of the book is already so, with a wide selection of new and interesting magical items and three great additions to downtime activities for the Player Characters that give both them and their players more options without overwhelming post-adventure activities. The GM Companion for ShadowDark is a solid set of tools for the Game Master to enhance her campaign and her game play.