Play it your way: "Homebrew" rules for Shadowdark RPG

 I'm a member of several gaming communities online, most notably the Shadowdark RPG Official Group on Facebook.  And it seems like every few weeks (or days) a post pops up asking about homebrew rules that different GMs use at their tables.  Now, I'm particularly fond of mine, so I figured what the hell, I'll throw together a blog post talking about what my rules are and why I made the changes that I did.

#1: Zoned Combat

This one really isn't a house rule, but rather it's the way that I interpret the rules and implement them.  Shadowdark already simplifies distances into Close, Near, and Far, which establishes zones quite easily.  I apply this at the table by using Professor Dungeon Master's Ultimate Dungeon Terrain, rather than using a dry erase map or dungeon tiles.

To really fully grok how UDT works, I recommend watching the linked video (and honestly, I just recommend that channel in general, he's GREAT), but here's a quick and dirty version:

UDT has three rings: an inner, an outer, and a middle.  The inner ring represents things within NEAR distance, such as the things in the current dungeon room, or the stuff within one NEAR movement in a hallway.  The middle ring represents things that are FAR.  It will take a movement or more to get from the inner to the middle, or vice versa, but you can generally fire ranged weapons or spells from one to the other (though you may need to poke through a door!)  The outer ring represents things that are far enough away that they cannot interact with the other two rings, but are still AWARE that things are happening (i.e. a Goblin patrol that can hear a combat breaking out, etc).

I use the UDT piece and set up scatter terrain on it to represent the big, interactive things in a room AS NECESSARY during combat.  Otherwise, I run things theater of the mind.  I find that this method, plus #2, let me speed up play by orders of magnitude.

#2: Group Initiative

This one is probably a little bit of a hot take.

I don't have my players roll initiative until combat breaks out.  Kelsey herself pointed out in a video that generally most GMs are pretty good at going around the table and getting everyone to do stuff, and the "Always On" initiative of Shadowdark codifies that.  I personally haven't found a need to be always in initiative, so I just kinda don't worry about it.  Instead, I tend to go around the table from my left to my right and otherwise basically I wing it.  I've been running games for a long time, so I feel (and my players feel) that I have a pretty dialed in sense of sharing the spotlight.

That being said, combat NEEDS initiative to make sense.  But I do it differently, because I like this way better:

When combat breaks out, the player immediately to my left rolls a d12.  I also roll a d12.  Highest roll goes first, ties go to the player.  On the players' turn, we go clockwise around the table declaring actions, but NOONE rolls.  Then, once everyone has declared their action, everyone rolls at the same time and things are adjudicated in an order and manner that makes logical sense.  On the NPCs turn, I just do all the NPCs actions and motor through it as fast as I can.  Then, once both sides have gone, the next player clockwise from the left rolls the d12, and we repeat.

This does three things:

1) It represents the scrum of combat.  You can do your best to coordinate and be tactical about things, but at the end of the day a fight isn't everyone politely taking turns -- it's rough and dirty and messy.

2) It keeps people on their toes -- I've noticed MUCH greater engagement during combat using this rule.  The player who isn't acting doesn't have a ton of time to sit and wait for their turn, everything is happening all at once.  I also have a fair few neurospicy folks that I play with, and they've all said they find this way easier to pay attention to and keep track of.  So yeah, I'm not an expert or anything in disabilities or anything like that, but I'm a huge fan of anything that my players tell me explicitly are helpful measures for them.

3) It makes everything FASTER.  I've found that combats run this way take, on average, less than half the time of running in standard initiative order.  It also helps keep the tension of the combat up, because there's never really time to catch your breath and think -- you have to ACT.

#3: Luck Dice/Deathbringer Dice/Failure Dice/Skill Dice

Based on DM Scotty's Luck Dice and Professor Dungeon Master's Death Bringer, these are special dice that players accumulate over the course of play.  When a player FAILS a d20 roll, they gain 1d6 in their dice pool, which can be used in a variety of ways:

1. Add to any d20 roll the player makes
2. Add to a damage roll the player makes
3. Subtract from a damage roll made against the player

 Players can have as many of these dice as they want, and can roll as many as they choose at a time when using them.  Players can also trade dice with each other.  Players start each session with zero dice.

This is probably my second favorite rule that I use at my table.  I STRONGLY recommend picking up either or both of the products I linked above, because they absolutely deserve it.  This addition lets the players customize what they're good at, by choosing when to roll their dice.  And it's really, REALLY satisfying for them to save up their dice and dump them all at one go.  And my players love it, because it takes the sting out of failure and gives their characters ever so slightly more survivability.

#4: Resting in a Dangerous Place

Resting in a dangerous place is inherently less restful than in safety.  When you complete a rest in a dangerous place (such as in a dungeon or a dangerous part of the overworld), the following rules apply:

• You regain 1 HD hit points and recover 1 point of stat damage.  Dwarves roll their HD with advantage.
• Spellcasters recover 1d4 lost spells.

I want the decision of when to leave the dungeon to be impactful.  The players can choose to take longer in the dungeon, pressing on for more reward, but it should come at a cost.  In this case, deciding to stay in dangerous places means that you have fewer resources available to you then you would if you stayed in town.

#5: Dual Wielding

Fighters and Thieves can wield a Finesse weapon in their off hand.  If they do, roll both weapon's dice for damage, and use the higher result.

Dual Wielding is a hot-button topic in Shadowdark right now.  I like giving my players the option, but I HATE the idea that they get an extra attack out of it.  So I allow them to gain a benefit from dual wielding, without it getting completely ridiculous.

#6: Exploding Dice

A player's damage dice explode!  If a player rolls max damage on their attack, they roll the dice again, and keep doing so as long as they keep rolling max damage.  Enemies and NPCs (including hirelings and retainers) do not have their damage dice explode.

I added this in because my players love it.  It's just a fun, exciting thing to see happen, and even if it *slightly* unbalances combat in favor of the PCs, I honestly don't care.  I have plenty of other ways to make combat difficult for the PCs, and this just adds an extra layer of fun.

#7: Death Timers and the Coup-de-gras

Death Timers are rolled in secret by the GM.  Additionally, if a creature is attacked while unconscious and dying, their death timer automatically ends.

This one is a two part one.  First, I like the secret Death Timers for increasing the tension at the table.  You know what your CON modifier is, but you never really know exactly how long you have to save your unconscious friend.

Secondly, the Coup-de-gras is really just me codifying something that makes logical sense as a ruling at the table.  This way, it's not a surprise to my players if/when it happens.

#8: Experience Points and Leveling Up

You only gain XP for SECURED treasure, i.e. Treasure that you take back to town from the dungeon (or that you take to a secured base that isn't the town).

This is another way that I force my players to make choices -- do they push further into the dungeon to get more treasure, or do they return to town to level up, and risk the dungeon's denizens being prepared for them when they return?

#9: New Characters

When a player character dies, the player has two options for how to replace them:

1) Roll a new character, who starts at the bottom of the experience scale for the Average Party Level (APL).  I.e. a party with four characters (2 lv 3, 1 lv 2, and 1 lv 4) has an APL of 3.  So a new character comes in at 3rd level with no experience towards level 4.

2) Alternatively, the player can choose to promote one of their Retainers to be their player character.  In that instance, the retainer joins the party at its current level and gains 1d8 experience points.  It loses any retainer specific abilities that it had, and instead has the appropriate features and talents that it should as a PC.  For more information about my Retainers rules, you'll have to wait (see #10 below!).

I went with this because I like the idea that death has consequences, but not insurmountable ones.  So a new character *should* come in somewhat less powerful than the dead character, but not by a ton, because I don't want to punish the player for their character dying.  Kind of a fine line to walk, and this way of doing it just feels right.

#10: Hirelings and Retainers

This one is gonna need its own post, I think.  I've been working on dialing in my Hirelings rules for a while now, so I'll have a separate post later explaining it.  For the purpose of this list: my players can hire laborers to help them in dungeons, and may attract the service of more powerful underlings called Retainers, who work *slightly* differently than Hirelings (see also the New Characters house rule).

So that's the house rules that I apply at my table.  Try some of them out, if you want to!  Next post, we go back to designing a dungeon.  Keep your eyes open for my Hirelings and Retainers rules, they'll hopefully be coming out before the end of the month!