The Barrowmaze Expeditions | Shadowdark Open Table
Beneath the old hills lies the Barrowmaze: a sprawling necropolis of tombs, treasure... and restless dead. All in a day's work for you, adventurer.
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Saturday - 1:00 AM UTC
Session Duration / 2.5–3 hours
Campaign Length / 1+ Sessions
1 / 8 Seats Filled
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Meet your party members
1/8
About the adventure
Beneath the old hills lies the Barrowmaze: sealed tombs, lost treasure, restless dead, and doors that should probably stay shut. This is an open-table Shadowdark campaign built for drop-in, drop-out expedition play. Between sessions, we’ll rally the company in Discord to assemble the roster for our expedition. Easy to play when you can, easy to skip when you can’t. Once we embark on each Barrowmaze Expedition, we’ll start in town, keeping the shop RP to a bare minimum. Then: get to the cursed Barrowlands, find something worth carrying out, and survive long enough to spend it. Shadowdark is fast, dangerous, and old-school. Combat is deadly. Sometimes retreat is smarter than battle. Light matters. Time matters. Clever plans matter more than optimized builds. You do not need a tragic backstory or a 20-page character arc. You need guts, curiosity, and maybe a backup character. The story is not scripted. Factions move, rival treasure hunters make trouble, and old evils awaken in the dark. The map grows because the table earns it. The world keeps moving whether your favorite character lives to see it or not. You become a skilled adventurer... not just your character. For players who want dangerous expeditions, flexible attendance, creative problem-solving, old-school dungeon crawling, and a persistent campaign without heavy scheduling pressure... the Barrowmaze Expeditions Company wants you. Join the Barrowmaze Expedition Company: New players welcome, no experience required. Bring a torch.
Game style
Dungeon Crawl
Sandbox / Open World
West Marches
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(19)
3 years on StartPlaying
162 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Voices
About me
I run horror, sci-fi, and strange fantasy games where choices matter, mysteries unravel, and the best moments are the ones nobody planned. My StartPlaying reviews are still catching up to my actual table mileage: I’ve been a full-time professional GM for years and have run thousands of live online RPG sessions.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Characters begin at Level 1 and can be created before the session or quickly at the table using Shadowdark’s fast character generation system (shadowdarklings.net). Random generation is encouraged, and discovering who your character becomes through play is part of the fun. Long backstories are entirely optional — your character’s story will emerge through expeditions, survival, triumph, and disaster at the table. Replacement characters are quick and easy to create if disaster strikes. The first 10 minutes of each session will be dedicated to questions, then the adventurers form a party and set off in search of treasure.
New expedition table forming. 1/3 players enrolled; campaign launches at 3. This is an open-table Shadowdark game built for flexible attendance: once the campaign launches, expeditions can run with 2+ available players. We’ll use Discord between sessions to assemble the roster, so you can play when you’re free and skip when you’re not. You only pay when you play. Best fit: players who enjoy clever plans, risky choices, fast characters, and finding out what’s in the dark.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
- Discord - Roll20 Accounts are helpful. You'll get a discord link when you join the game. Jump on there and we'll get you going with anything else you might need. Rules explanations and onboarding are provided during play.
What Gamemaster Dan brings to the table
- Roll20 with maps (of explored areas) - Ambient music and atmosphere - Fast onboarding for new players - Clear rules guidance - Dangerous but fair gameplay - Tactical combat - Improvisational world response to player actions - Stable continuity between expeditions despite any changing roster of players - A welcoming environment for both new and experienced players My GM style emphasizes: player agency, emergent storytelling, meaningful choices, and exploration-driven play. The world is not balanced around the party. Clever play, caution, negotiation, and retreat are all valuable tools for survival.
Homebrew rules
None to start; as we continue to build the community, if homebrew rules emerge, we'll post them to the discord.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Gamemaster Dan creates a safe table
This is an old-school fantasy adventure game featuring: dangerous exploration, undead horror, traps, resource pressure, and character death as a possible outcome. Player safety and comfort remain important. We will use: - Lines & Veils - Open Door - X/N/O discussion tools - Ongoing check-ins as needed The goal is challenge and tension, not misery or humiliation.
Content warnings
Safety tools used