Unnatural Selection and Into the Shadowlands - Shadowdark Supplements Flip-through and Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ธ.ค. 2023
- In which I cover Unnatural Selection by the Dungeon Damsel and Into the Shadowlands by the House DM. They're both great for tables of 5e players that need an easier transition into the Shadowdark world.
Here's where you can get them:
Unnatural Selection (late pledge/pre-orders available):
unnaturalselection.backerkit....
Into the Shadowlands:
preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/p... - เกม
OH HEY! Thank you so much for the review of Unnatural Selection! So happy that you enjoyed it! And after reading some of the comments here, our purpose was to help ease the transition from 5e to Shadowdark (because you better believe we want to open the WORLD to OSR). And we worked extremely hard to make sure that even the Fiend won't be an overpowered version of the fighter, and I think we were successful! There are times when our players feel like the Fiend is underpowered, and there are times when they feel like, "Oh man, that one particular talent SAVED our asses." And that's ultimately what you want. The goal was to make sure that the 4 main classes were always the most powerful, and that ours were great alternatives to add flavor and options.
It's a great product, and the hard work of you and the whole team really shows through! I'm glad to hear the Fiend plays well!
I figured that was the design philosophy, which I talked about in the video. Good to have that confirmed!!
Oh, and thanks for the point about the Finesse weapons -- The d8 censer flail should have been a d6! It has been adjusted and will be reflected in the next update and the print book.
Glad to help!! Honestly, I think even as a d8 it probably would work with the way the proficiencies work in Shadowdark. But it seems better!
Dungeon Damsel and Co. have really been working hard to keep everything in Unnatural Selection within the spirit and the "power" of the Shadowdark corebook, so much so that some of the earlier iterations for some of the classes were practically underpowered. Playtesting and typo fixing will officially resume once the holidays are over.
As far as I'm concerned, the power level seems spot on. It's a great book, and I am really happy that I kickstarted it!
US fully backed by Kelsey Dionne
Lol I own both, great additions to Shadowdark. Which I full support I have left Wotc behind. 1e feel 5e mechanics. Which I fully support, and it doesn't line the pockets to the greedy Dragon.
I think it’s funny that someone COULD NOT WAIT to put in finesse weapons and make Dex OP. 😂
Yeah, I was wondering why it tends to happen! I think it's a desire to have the dexterous fighter archetype as an option for characters, but given the power of DEX in 5e, it's a risky path to take too far. Fortunately, with the way proficiencies work in Shadowdark, I don't think this overdoes it.
20:12 - Into The Shadowlands flip-through begins.
I was waiting to see if you would cover Unnatural Selection. Happy to hear your thoughts and how much of the content would port over into your Curse of Strahd game.
Also cheers and happy holidays. RedMage!!
Thanks mate! Glad to hear that!
Merry Christmas to you!
I did not know about Into The Shadowlands. I will have to pick that up if DriveThru will get caught up with their print on demand. Thanks for the heads up.
Glad I could help!
Between you, Questing Beast, and Dungeon Delve ya'll are conspiring to destroy my wallet and shelf space. Keep it up!
:D Anytime I'm included alongside that duo, I'll happily agree! Thank you man!
With races I've come to ignore many of their mechanical "extras" and only focus on the ability bonus.
I can hear players raging about their 120' dark vision and +5 AC they get from garbage already.
Since no races have downsides, I over corrected and negate much the dumb positives, just leaving the More strong, More magical, or More dodge mechanics behind.
"Everyone can be super heroes, everyone can be super, and with everyone super no one will be" -Syndrome
I feel like that's a common story for 5e DMs: trying to balance and perhaps overcorrecting. Also, I love the quote! :)
I hear zelda in the background! Love it!
Yessir!
some interesting stuff, but just trying to re 5e everything doesn't appeal to me.
Thank you for the overview
You're welcome!
Too bad about the power creep… I appreciate the review. Saving me some money, I think for me, it’s best to stick to the core book.
That's fair. It's pretty easy to design your own ancestries and classes as needed, so these supplements aren't essential by any means!
NOICE good overview
Thanks mate!
This, and the video on Shadowdark proper were very up my particular alley for n the hobby. Thanks so much! You got a new subscriber in me. Looking forward to checking out your upcoming (and older) content!
Great to have you, man!
The music in the background is pretty cool.
I like all these ones a lot
This is a great review
I had already backed Unnatural Selection, and so glad I never bothered with Into the Shadowlands.
I was wondering, are you going to do a review of ShadowSun (a really good Shadowdark version of Dark Sun)?
😈😈😈
I've never heard of Shadowsun, I have to be honest! But I should look into it!
My team and I thank you, and appreciate you!
Assassin (Into the Shadowlands) seems like a weaker version of Thief tbh.
Assassinate doubles damage. Backstab doubles damage on 1st level, but triples on levels 2-3, quadruples on levels 4-6 and so on.
10th level Thief rolls 7d6 for damage when hitting with shortsword (so they deal 7-42 damage)
10th level Assassin rolls 2d6 for damage when hitting with shortsword (technically they roll 1d6 and doubles it, but still range is only 2-12).
Or am I getting something wrong?
No, I think you're right. It just seems like a clumsy version of the thief either way.
I woud LOVE to watch your review of "Grimdark Options for Shadowdark RPG" by Lost Heretic Press. I want to use Shadowdark for a campaign similar to the one @DUNGEONCRAFT1 uses with his players.
I'll have to check that out!
Does the Unnatural Selection Fiend class seem more powerful than the standard Shadowdark Fighter class?
I would say that it has the potential to be wayyy more powerful. It doesn't get the bonus to hit that the fighter does with the main weapon, but...otherwise yeah. It's not one that I would allow at the table. I didn't really think about it before, but I'd probably have mentioned that in the review if I had. It definitely steps on the fighter's toes.
@@RedMageGM Agreed. I would drop their hit dice to a d6 instead of d8. And probably limit their Armor selection, and maybe not allow them to use shields. As it is now, its almost a no-brainer to pick this class over the Fighter.
I'd probably keep the d8 hp, but definitely drop the Armor selection.
Thank you for the suggestion. We will keep that in mind before the final release and printing! WE love to try and allow the community to have a voice and be heard. @@brianthomas4383
Seeing these supplements is sort of my concern with Shadowdark, starting to look a lot like 5E.
It's a definite concern, but Unnatural Selection, at least, stays firmly within the SD wheelhouse. I am glad these exist, but I think GMs should be selective in how they use them.
I wouldn't necessarily be concerned. These are third-party supplements after all.
Yeah! At the end of the day what you use at your table is up to you, the GM.
I think we'll continue to see lots of character and class options since we have an open license and they're fun to design, but I'm planning to keep all the first party material pretty tightly held as far as ancestry expansions go. I'm also intent on linking new classes I write to settings so they can be ignored or easily held apart from the core game rules.
That's great! Since the ancestry and classes are so easy to design, it makes a lot of sense to specialize them per setting and table.