Nerdarchy on Shadow of the Demon Lord Nerdarchy Plays Other TTRPGs
In this 19-minute video on Nerdarchy the YouTube channel Nerdarchists Dave and Ted give an overview of the tabletop roleplaying game Shadow of the Demon Lord. They discuss their experience with playing the game.
The conversation begins with Dave and Ted providing an overview of the game created by Robert J. Schwalb. The core book’s 272 pages contain a complete game in one book. Schwalb Entertainment also offers a plethora of sourcebooks to support and expand on Shadow of the Demon Lord too. The setting and themes for the game are succinctly summed up by it’s tagline and accompanying text.
The End is Near
In Shadow of the Demon Lord, the characters live in the land’s last days, on the frontiers of a civilization tumbling into ruin, all brought about by vile cultists in service to an insane and monstrous being eager to claw its way from the Void and plunder the world and all of creation for souls. Here, death stalks the land. One can hear the gibbering and hooting cries of the insane as an unholy chorus in the darkest hours of the night. Rapacious dragons wing overhead, soaring through the skies, while devils, twisted faerie, scuttle out from the depths of Hell to tempt mortals to darkness. All these threats and more lie in wait for the unwary and incautious.
The video discussion covers the primary mechanics of the game, which is a d20 based system. A roll of the die modified by one of a character’s fundamental attributes of Strength, Agility, Intellect or Will determines results. There’s also a Bane and Boon mechanic for further modification. In addition to those attributes characters also possess Perception, Size, Speed, Power, Damage, Insanity and Corruption traits, which are based on their ancestry, paths and primary attributes.
Shadow of the Demon Lord’s structure keys off the number of sessions in a campaign. Characters begin at level 0 and gain one level for each session in which they participate. This advancement continues until level 10, or 11 sessions of play, when the doomsday nature of the setting dictates the world ostensibly ends. Character development is minimal with only a small number of decisions for players to make after gaining a level. This progression is simple and adds new choices slowly.
The remainder of the video offers a closer look at this progression. Dave and Ted highlight each level’s advancement starting with level 0 and a character’s ancestry and starting profession all the way to level 10 when they choose their Master Path.
Have you played Shadow of the Demon Lord? What are your thoughts on this world on the brink of annihilation? You can find Shadow of the Demon Lord along with all the sourcebooks and supplements from Schwalb Entertainment right here.
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