With help from the Lair community, we collected eight house rules for Shadowdark. On this episode, we run through these rule hacks, offering our thoughts on how they might impact the game. Most of these are not rules we've tried ourselves, so we'd love some more field reports!



And yep, we're looking for even more rules variants. Leave your feedback and/or house rules in the comments, or email us at [email protected].




Want more house rules? Check out d8 Shadowdark House Rules




Chapters



0:00 Intro & Updates from the Lair0:42 House Rule #1 - DM Scotty’s Luck Dice (via Matthew McGugin)3:20 House Rule #2 - Dice Instead of Luck Tokens (via BrentNorton1602)5:43 House Rule #3 - Priest Miscast Tables (via BrentNorton1602)9:40 House Rule #4 - Session-Based XP (via BrentNorton1602)14:11 House Rule #5 - Max HP at First Level (via BrentNorton1602)17:24 House Rule #6 - Magical Tattoos and Moonstones (via BrentNorton1602)21:14 House Rule #7 - Don’t Lose Spell Until Success (via Sly Flourish)23:30 House Rule #8 - Removing Luck-Generating Classes30:03 Obligatory Rambling - Hades II, American Arcadia & Games from the Lair38:13 BattleZoo, More Shadowdark & Outro



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Show Notes



1. DM Scottie’s house rule for luck dice




Details:

https://youtu.be/x13wXuszkLA?si=6B2P4DQjArcXLrOP 



Provided by Matthew McGuigan





Our thoughts:

David - Getting luck or luck dice for failure is interesting. It gives you something for losing a turn in combat. It will change how Shadowdark plays though. You can’t give dice to others like you can with luck. You can accumulate a lot of dice, making it nearly impossible to fail. It can tilt Shadowdark back to superheroic fantasy like 5e is.

Nothing wrong with this. Be aware if you use this house rule, it will change the game a bit more in the player success direction. 








2. Dice instead of Luck Tokens




Details:

Use d6 per level (level 1 gets 1, level 2 gets 2). Can be used to add or subtract from rolls at the table and can be shared with others, but can only spend an amount equal to their level.



Provided by BrentNorton1602





Our thoughts:

David - I think this sounds like a good idea. This gives you the ability to push you just over the edge, but at low level you can tell if spending luck would be worthwhile or not.

You do lose the chance for a big swing from a 1 to a 20.

At low levels you may not have a chance to succeed like you would with a luck token.





It’s a lot less of an impact than DM Scottie’s house rule.








3. Clerics have miscast tables like wizards




Details

The gods are fickle, plus it’s easier if the system is the same for all casters. 



Provided by BrentNorton1602





Our thoughts:

Hmmmm. Kind of like the arbitrary nature of needing to atone. 



Cleric chart vs. Wizard chart.

All wine turns to vinegar until you atone.



A plague of frogs. :) 



Enemies of the deity send someone after you.



Elite warriors of your faith come to beat the crap out of you. 








4. Experience per session, not per monster or treasure.




Details:

1 xp per session. 2nd lvl you need 3xp. At 3rd you need 4 new sessions. Easier to keep track of.

Is the number of xp needed equal to the level you are going toward?





Provided by BrentNorton1602





Our thoughts:

David - It would be easier to keep track of. I see two issues with it:

What about carousing and downtime? Does that XP go away? There’s a knock on effect to the game economy if you get rid of carousing, and remove a reason to go out and get treasure.



This would mean that getting to 5th level would take a very long time/# of sessions. It also takes away the need to gain treasure or do things in the game that would gain you XP.








5. Max hit points at first level




Details

Provided by BrentNorton1602





Our thoughts:

David - If you want a less deadly game at first level,

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