markcsigs.bsky.social
He/Him. Retired dad, husband, and grandpa. Board games, #ttrpgs, 5e apologist, #Shadowdark afficionado. Occasional leftist. Prog rock fan. Proud New Englander.
If you're interested, ask me about #Schadengard, my online Shadowdark West Marches campaign.
195 posts
254 followers
727 following
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Congrats!
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The upcoming Broken Empires has me most excited for crunchier play
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Well they've seen Jurassic Park. They created the mice first so they'd have a natural enemy in case the mammoth's ran amuck.
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So many good ones! But for me, Shadowdark is head of the class.
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Me too! And there are SO MANY good ones out there these days!
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I've got bad news for you. I'm retired. I can play ttrpgs seven days a week. Some times I do. I still don't have enough time to play all the games I want to play.
But it sure is fun to try!
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Some of the best #shadowdark adventures coming out today!
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That game was epic!
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Blake Lively is the Hauk Tuah girl?
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It's hard to keep friends in the Shadowdark
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All the best GMs are!
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At first I thought the abbreviation for Nunavut actually said "NJ", and figured your plan involved moving New Jersey up there, and I was all for that.
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I just think we should hear what cancer has to say and then let the people decide. Why do you hate freedom???
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We brought a bit of dark whimsy to it. While we were unable to stop the Lovecraftian version of Sesame Street from invading our dimension and stealing our jobs, we were at least able to twist it into the light and lovable version we all know. Phew?
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Today, I got to sit at a Pirate Borg table with Teos, completing the trifecta!
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I wasn't able to get into the Shadowdark game, but I did get to sit with Mike on a Phantasy Star ttrpg game, then later that night got to GM a Grimhollow Epic table with him and Mrs Flourish! Many innocent children were slaughtered.
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If you want something mechanically closer, there are alternate settings like Grim Hollow, Level Up Advanced 5e, and Tales of the Valient. While these games have new classes, monsters, etc., you're still playing by the rules of the 5e PHB. But if you're not buying new Hasbro books maybe good enough?
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Yes, absolutely. Sacrifices crunch and optimization for quick play and danger.
Spell check rolls instead of spell slots. No Darkvision for PCs. Light lasts one hour of real-time. Darkness is really, really bad. Inventory is slot based instead of weight.
Pretty much everything thing else is 5e.
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I tell people, "If you've played 5e, I can teach you Shadowdark in less than 10 minutes." So far I've got a 100% success rate.
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That's what my wife said at our wedding!
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We finally have proof. Joe Gola doesn't suck!
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Motherdark! Shadowship!
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Is that also Amy's new pet name for you?
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Just don't forget us, the people who knew you before you hit it big!
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You'll just see my reply in notifications, but you can click through to the thread
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I thought vaccines were illegal now?
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Is that a new pet name from Amy?
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The priest (2) and thief (4) were out but stable. The fighter (5) had died. But somehow the level 1 Pit Fighter @howardmoonbg.bsky.social managed to survive, kill the last Shade of Ramlaat blocking the exit, and get the bodies out to safety! Epic! (2/2)
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That would have been my example! I've tied them into the ranks at various adventuring guilds in town so they actually mean something in game for us, too
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As far as mechanically, we use Discord. I have an "in character" section with a "Posting Board" channel, as well as threads for a number of the taverns and shops in town. Players can post in any of those looking for a crew.
Sorry to go on so long. But you asked! lol 6/6
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When we started I hadn't really played with a lot of the players that joined, but I had a few I could lean on to get the first adventures rolling. Some still prefer to hold back and let others pick, but there's enough going on now that players sometimes plan weeks in advance to book a time. 5/6
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And finally, I'll often bust out the rumor table if my party meets any rival NPC crawlers in the wild. Or give out 1d4 bonus rumors after an adventure if the treasure haul involved finding a large library or ancient tomes. 4/6