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Shadow of the Demon Lord - Am I Missing Something?

Started by AnthonyRoberson, November 29, 2020, 09:49:06 PM

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AnthonyRoberson

November 29, 2020, 09:49:06 PM
So..I picked up Shadow of the Demon Lord because I was looking for a 'dark' game that I could introduce to my 5E players. I have my own homebrew OSR setting that I call 'After the Demon Wars' but I use Old-School Essentials to power it and the system is just not crunchy enough for the young 'uns.

Anyway, now that I have read through the SOTDL book a couple of times, I am a bit confused. While there are some darker themes in it, most of the game just seems a like a 5E Fantasy Heartbreaker. It is certainly not very 'dark' in my opinion. Am I missing something? Do the supplements add a great to the setting to make it better? Curious minds want to know!

HappyDaze

#1
November 29, 2020, 10:16:40 PM
There are a lot of setting add-ons that you can pick up, and most of them are fairly inexpensive. The setting is designed for a darker feel than most D&D (Forgotten Realms, Eberron, etc.), but it's not like playing Midnight. However, the add-on for their religions is fairly dark, especially when you discover the relationship between their gods, fey, and devils (not demons...those are something different). Also, this is a setting where humans created orcs to be their slave (warrior) race...and it went great until recently...

BugbearBrigand

#2
November 29, 2020, 11:26:46 PM
Well it's the only system I know that has several scatological references in it's core book so that's something.

TJS

#3
November 30, 2020, 01:39:51 AM Last Edit: November 30, 2020, 03:55:30 AM by TJS
I don't think it's so much a dark game, as a game full of dark humour.

Or perhaps, since "dark" doesn't really convey much, it would be better to call it a 'grimy' game.

As a rpg it's D&D does grimdark genre.  By that I mean it does a lot of the broad tropes of that genre - Old School Warhammer, Game of Thrones, Joe Abercrombie and his imitators.   But it doesn't explicitly try to be as serious as most of those literary works*, because really, that would be pretty unplayable except with a very select group of people.

*Although to be fair British grimdark such as Abercrombe is actually funny as hell.

theOutlander

#4
November 30, 2020, 04:00:54 AM
Quote from: TJS on November 30, 2020, 01:39:51 AM
I don't think it's so much a dark game, as a game full of dark humour.

Or perhaps, since "dark" doesn't really convey much, it would be better to call it a 'grimy' game.

As a rpg it's D&D does grimdark genre.  By that I mean it does a lot of the broad tropes of that genre - Old School Warhammer, Game of Thrones, Joe abercrombie and his imitators.   But it doesn't explicitly try to be as serious as most of those literary works, because really, that would be pretty unplayable except with a very select group of people.
Mostly this.

Schwalb doesn't hide that he channelled his 14 yo edgy self for the tone of the game.

Jaeger

#5
November 30, 2020, 12:42:22 PM
Quote from: AnthonyRoberson on November 29, 2020, 09:49:06 PM
...I am a bit confused. While there are some darker themes in it, most of the game just seems a like a 5E Fantasy Heartbreaker. It is certainly not very 'dark' in my opinion. Am I missing something? ...

I also have SOTDL.

You are not confused and you are not missing a thing.

It has a few clever mechanical takes on the d20 system. Which are worth looking over.

But the setting is the same old fantasy kitchen sink nonsense, but "Grim" ohhh... ahhhh...

It's a d20 OSR game, but made with WOTC production values.
"The envious are not satisfied with equality; they secretly yearn for superiority and revenge."

Mercurius

#6
November 30, 2020, 03:15:40 PM
How "dark" something is, is really relative. Some folks can't even watch an episode of Game of Thrones, while others think it is Grimdark Lite and merely a gateway to really cool stuff.

I think the solution is simple: Just take something, whether Schwalb's game or Midnight or something else, and turn the toaster dial until you get to your desired darkness.
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