A Shadowdark Adventure by Kelsey Dionne
NOTE: Spoiler warning appears further down—this section is safe for players.
This adventure is…
- A one-shot dungeon, set deep in the Tal-Yool jungle
- An excellent introduction for players to the Shadowdark RPG
- Written by Kelsey Dionne, the author of Shadowdark…and surprisingly (in the credits) with additional design by Baron de Ropp, of whom I am also a fan.
- Free to anyone who signs up for Kelsey’s email list
I had the chance this weekend to run Shadowdark for the first time at RPGuild Con 2025 in Memphis, TN. I first played Shadowdark earlier this year at GaryCon, followed by playing in a short campaign led by a friend. After reading the core book twice and absolutely loving it, RPGuild Con was go-time. I looked around at several different adventures–and it just seemed right to run one of Kelsey’s originals.
Not only did I have a great time, but the players did too. In short, Shadowdark is all the fun of old-school D&D without having to agonize over rules. It’s a swift, clean dungeon-crawler that keeps tension high and combat lethal. But that’s just the system. What about the adventure?
Usability – 4/4
Get this. This adventure consists of:
- 1 overview page that gives you the big picture
- A 1-page dungeon map that includes 13 rooms
- 3 pages of room descriptions
- 3 pages of really cool monsters
That’s it. Preparation was a cinch. I basically read it twice. Once several months ago, when I first downloaded it. A month or two back, to see if I wanted to run it for the convention. And then three days before I ran it, to make sure I had the right monster tokens. And keep in mind, all that reading was functionally only seven pages (including monsters).
I’m used to Gygaxian bricks of text, which makes this module an absolute breeze. If you’ve never run Shadowdark and you want to, usability alone makes it worth a shot.
Now! One issue I found was that 4th-level pregens were not supplied. I had to play around with Shadowdarklings.net to create characters (which I heartily recommend). But to save you some trouble, here are six pregens that I used. Feel free to use them for your own purposes:
- Gnashrash, Half-Orc Fighter
- Melin, Elf Magic-User
- Rilin, Elf Priest (Melin’s brother)
- Seg Gedge, Halfling Thief
- Stur, Dwarf Fighter
- Togblid, Goblin Fighter
Art – 4/4
There are six pieces of art in this adventure (including the trade dress), created by Brandish Gilhelm, Yuri Perkowski-Domingos, Dean Spencer, and Indi Martin. While all the art is not only outstanding, but clearly within the Shadowdark vibe, I particularly enjoyed…
- Perkowski-Domingos’ cover
- The [redacted monster] on the bottom of page nine by Dean Spencer
I was fascinated to learn that artists like Spencer make their images available for purchase and use in projects like this on DriveThruRPG at extremely affordable prices. So for any self-publishers out there, this is really neat news, especially since Spencer’s art really connected with me.
Content – 3.5/4
The objective is clear. Players have a treasure map, leading to the Chalice of the Blood Queen. The module begins with players standing outside the ruins of a temple, deep within the Tal-Yool jungle. The temple proves to be a pulpy dungeon with opportunities for combat, social encounters, and even a puzzle or two.
Using my own classification of RPGs and gaming group styles, this adventure would be appropriately described as a Living Plot game. The dungeon is fully stocked in advance–no random generation, beyond random encounters. But you have potential plot points hanging out there, in service of the treasure hunt. How players engage the dungeon will lead to the plot developing organically, as the dungeon and its denizens react.
In summary, this is an excellent adventure that I cannot recommend enough. My only reduction on this score relates to two locations that I felt deserved a little better description. I’ve made suggestions to GMs in the spoilers below to inspire your own creativity.
[Spoiler warning for players—stop here!]
Ok, what’s really going on here? Kelsey does a wonderful job of explaining this on her overview page. The temple has been inhabited by snake people (Viperians) for centuries, even after the fall of their empire. But 500 years ago, their queen (Shanti) became servant to a vampire who gave her the “gift” of vampirism. Over these centuries, the Viperians have begun to worship Shanti.
Half of the tribe living in the temple has begun to grow weary of her reign, feeling she has drawn them away from rightful worship of Nathraxis, their serpentine goddess. Even Shanti’s vampiric lover has been feeding information to the Nathraxis cult leader.
Both factions seek to woo the player-characters to their side in the war between Nathraxis and Shanti. Which will they choose? Vampires or snakes? It’s a fun faction-based storyline that can go a lot of different ways, depending on how players approach it.
Two recommendations to GMs: two important locations needed a bit more description in my opinion. I agree with OSR authors that it’s important to forecast danger, secrets, and traps well. As such, I’d recommend these tips for you.
Trap in Room 7
In describing the floor, say something to the effect of…
The floor is covered in speckled tiles, almost like snakeskin. You’ve seen no other floor in the temple with a pattern like this.
That led my players to monkey around with the floor a good bit. While they still ended up triggering the trap, they weren’t surprised. It even got a solid laugh out of the group.
Illusory Wall in Room 7
Again, we have very little description. As players searched around, they specifically made mention of the walls. I described this one as almost unnaturally smooth in contrast to the other carved walls. It was only moments before they had figured it out.
The goal is not to give things away, but to reward players who intentionally ask good questions about the environment.
Now, go, Game Masters! Take your players into the Shadowdark. And feel free to frequently attack the one holding the torch!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That means if you click and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog!
Leave a Reply