Thursday, March 12, 2015

Back This: Shadow of the Demon Lord Kickstarter

Back in the fall, I saw the blurb about Robert J. Schwalb's new RPG Shadow of the Demon Lord and then I saw his offerings to come to stores and demo it.

Then I signed Comic Book World up for it and Rob ran us through an awesome adventure and introduced us to the rules.

And because he's an exceptionally swell guy, he let my group playtest the game.  Let me expound on that a bit too, Rob, is the type of guy that you meet and your fast friends, he's great to talk to and an awesome gamemaster and top notch game designer.

My Hard Times in Jarlsburg posts have been about that game (which we just finished this past monday).  I ran an entire campaign, beginning to end--level 1 to 10 in just about 14 weeks.  And it was awesome.

One of the key tenants of Shadow of the Demon Lords is that at the end of every session, you level, so you finish a campaign.  AND ITS AWESOME.  My players were super excited to see what came next for their characters and narratively, well, it was as if as the mystery of the story began to reveal itself, that the player's characters weren't just a level higher, but because they understood the threat before them better, they were more effective.  Narratively, their increase in power plugged into and enhanced the story I was telling.  The more they knew, they more effective they were.  That's BRILLIANT, man.

I've already backed this game.  Its like a beautiful fusion of DnD and Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 1 or 2E, but only the best parts and carefully cultivated to let the good times roll.  The rules are fully fleshed out and supremely functional, but they fade into the background when they aren't needed.

I can't recommend this game enough.

BACK THIS GAME RIGHT NOW!

You have been warned...

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