Quick Shadowdark Adventure Using Lazy GM Reference Document

I want to run a quick Shadowdark game with some members of one of my regular groups, so I’m using the steps from the Lazy GM’s resource document by Mike Shea.

Prep checklist looks like this:

• Review the characters
• Create a strong start
• Outline potential scenes
• Define secrets and clues
• Develop fantastic locations
• Outline important NPCs
• Choose relevant monsters
• Select magic item rewards

Review the Characters 

Players will practice rolling and creating their own characters.

Create a Strong Start

Cartography by Dyson Logos

The map I picked is quite linear, but serves my purposes well because this is the first time playing for some of these players and everyone’s first time with Shadowdark.

The lure of fortune and glory has brought you to the Mounds of the Barrow-Kings, ancient rulers of a forgotten age. After discovering the hidden door in a mounded barrow and digging through the wet soil you unearthed a dank passageway leading to a heavy stone door. It appears untouched for long ages, as damp mildew coats the stone walls near the earthen opening and you see the signs of insects burrowing and spider webs strung in the corners of the hallway. All that remains is for you to light your torch and descend into the Shadowdark to see if you live or die and manage to loot some treasure along the way…

Outline Potential Scenes

As players crawl through the dungeon I will check for random encounters and use them if they fit the situation.

Procedure:

1. Roll for Danger Level (pg 130)
2. Roll Room Type (pg 130)
3. Roll Tomb Random Encounter (pg 182-183)
4. Roll for Treasure if necessary depending on CR (beginning pg 270)

Lowest 

Develop Secrets & Clues

1. This tomb is for the ancient elven King Avourel and Queen Syvis.
2. The king and queen were worshipers of Caturix, the elder god of the elements.
3. The Barrow-Kings were of an ancient elven empire calling themselves the Arcanikion, or the Masters of Arcane Creation.
4. The Arcanikion possessed the secret knowledge of the mysterious travel via magical ships to other worlds.
5. The King and Queen’s advisors are buried with them.
6. The arcane contamination of a broken helm for traveling to other worlds has prevented the souls of any of the entombed from moving on to the afterlife.
7. Creatures have burrowed into the tomb over time, leading to a diverse collection of residents.
8. The King and Queen visited the legendary City of Brass upon the elemental plane of fire.

Develop Fantastic Locations

N/A. Rolling randomly regarding each room.

Outline Important NPCs

King Avourel: The ancient king is an intelligent zombie due to the mysterious power leaking from a broken magic helm preventing his soul from moving on. He is inclined to talk, but fights any intruder that takes any treasure without assisting him and his Queen in their plight. He resides in the left burial chamber on the lowest level.

Queen Syvis: The Queen, like the King, is an intelligent zombie. She is similarly willing to listen unless provoked by theft. She is in the right burial chamber on the bottom level.

Tyrael: Magical advisor to the King, Tyrael is a specter, as he has managed to leave his decayed body behind, but is unable to break his soul free of the place. Tyrael knows the source of the contamination, but can’t destroy it himself.

Meira: Long driven mad by her confinement after dead, Meira was once an advisor to the King and Queen. She has zombie stats and attacks immediately while raving regarding other worlds.

Narakles: Wight guardian in the first room of the treasure chambers.

Monsters

Done through NPC development and rolling others randomly.

Magic Item Rewards

Roll randomly for treasure except flying ship helm.

GM Reflections

While we didn’t finish the adventure, we had a good time with Shadowdark. It took a little bit to create characters, but everything worked well. I rolled randomly for encounters, we figured things out as we went. This was the first game I’ve ever run in my own setting, so I think the lore really interested my players. They discovered the mystery because of a random encounter I rolled. One player wanted to fight a wight that appeared “wreathed in holy radiant light,” while the wizard wanted to try to parley. So the wizard cast sleep on their party mates. All the players thought the situation was comical. The wizard player, used to 5e, thought it was interesting that there’s no saving throw for sleep, just the spell roll. It brought up an interesting balance thing in Shadowdark, because most monsters don’t get any way to resist these immobilizing spells.

All in all, it was interesting to see the added layers of tactics and rules that exist in Shadowdark that you really discover through play and adjudication. I still think it’s a great game and would play it again.

This work includes material taken from the Lazy GM's Resource Document by Michael E. Shea of SlyFlourish.com, available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.