Nice session report with Shadowdark. What’s your opinion on this game?
I have yet to run Shadowdark, but it seems like a perfect way to introduce D&D 5E players an oldschool dungeon craw campaign. There’s familiar mechanics (dis/advantage), the old percentile Thief skill tables are gone, and DCC-style “roll to cast” seems like it’d be more palatable for folks used to attack Cantrips and ample spell slots. Plus, Kelsey Dionne is a fantastic adventure writer, so we’re all but guaranteed years of top-shelf modules.
Are percentage-based skills hard to understand? I’ve played a bunch of BRP stuff (Call of Cthulhu/Delta Green), so it’s basically second nature to me.
Though maybe it’s because you’re mixing d100 and d20 at that point…
Yup, unified resolution mechanics tend to be easier for new players to grasp. (I suppose a good comparison would be if Call of Cthulhu had you bust out a d20 to resolve breaking and entering.)
Shadowdark (like White Box: FMAG) replaced the d100 thief skills table with a simple, “Roll advantage on Thief type ability checks.” It’s a personal preference thing, but I like it.