Shadowdark: SoloDark

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

As Kelsey prepares to do the solo play videos that were one of the final stretch goals during the Kickstarter campaign, she's apparently getting interested in creating either a rules supplement or standalone solo game, currently being called SoloDark.

I apparently can't stop myself from fiddling with gameplay systems, so I'll share more about SoloDark as it emerges.
A few things it will feature:
1. Simple oracle system for resolving yes/no questions that factors in likelihood of outcome and unexpected twists
2. Strong tie-ins to Shadowdark core rules
3. A doom die that stands in for (or simply augments) the real-time torch timer
4. Expansions to downtime rules that allow recruitment and different types of class-specific carousing
5. Many more roll tables and generation processes that expand heavily on what's already in Shadowdark RPG's core rules
That's the news I have for now! I'm super excited to get to work on this and develop out some solo rules tuned specifically for Shadowdark RPG.

Which isn't what I would have expected for the next big release. I was assuming we'd see Cursed Scroll #4, with the bard and ranger classes and maybe the free monsters she's released, or maybe a UA-style book collecting all the ephemera.

But official rules to play Shadowdark solo? I'll take that.

(The main book is scheduled to be shipped to backers in October, in case you're wondering.)

 

[Reynard]

I can see it being pretty easy to adapt the (really fun) Shadowdark site creation method for solo play. You really just need a few more tables to detail the results.

 

[darjr]

First video is up.

 

[Reynard]

First video is up.

Cool. Thanks.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

SoloDark is imminent, now that shipping is underway (hooray!).

The two-page spread she shared of the very simple oracle system Kelsey has created showed that the oracle is on page 30-something, and she confirmed that Solodark is going to be published in some fashion and that it's already larger than a Cursed Scroll issue, which is interesting and mildly surprising.

 

[Autumnal]

Really looking forward to it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's heeeere!

SUPER excited to tell you all first that the SoloDark core engine is now available as a free PDF!

There will be more SoloDark material, but this + the core Shadowdark rules is really all you need to play Shadowdark solo with a system that complements its design philosophies.

I'm going to be doing a livestream in the next day or two to share some of the unexpected twists and turns this solo gameplay journey has taken me on since the Kickstarter.

Not only has it opened me up to a really cool style of gameplay I had never explored in depth... it turned me into a terrain crafter and mini painter!!

More details on the livestream in the next day or two!

SoloDark started out as a stretch goal in the original Kickstarter, in which Kelsey was going to record three solo sessions of Shadowdark. But in the process of sitting down to do that, she realized she wanted to flesh out some aspects of Shadowdark and that existing solo RPG engines didn't really click with her. Thus, SoloDark.

My guess is that an expanded SoloDark will be an upcoming book from her in the future.