Things that Shouldn't Exist: A Shadowdark Megadungeon
Factions claw for power, trade, and survival. They all want something from you. Interact with things that shouldn't exist, and try not to become one.
$15.00
/ Session
Details
Weekly / Monday - 11:30 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2.5–3.5 hours
Campaign Length / 20–100 Sessions
0 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
*Things That Shouldn't Exist* is a classic megadungeon — a vast, layered underworld beneath a desert mesa, packed with factions, secrets, and rooms that reward curiosity and punish carelessness. You will descend into a dangerous place, make difficult choices, and try to come back alive with something worth having. The dungeon is alive, and so are the people in it. You'll negotiate with factions that scheme, trade, and occasionally collapse into violence, and the decisions you make in one corner of the deep will be felt in others. NPCs have agendas that exist whether or not you engage with them — which means ignoring them is itself a choice. Between delves, you'll carouse, trade, hire help, and spend treasure in Last Torch, a rough frontier town that exists entirely to service people foolish or brave enough to go back down. This is Shadowdark, which means torches burn out, luck runs dry, and death is real and fast and sometimes funny. Character creation takes five minutes, tension is constant, and the rules get out of the way so you can make the decisions that matter. Experienced OSR players will feel at home immediately; players new to old-school games will find the system quick to learn and nearly impossible to fully master. If you want faction intrigue, genuine exploration, strange creatures, meaningful choices, and a dungeon that doesn't particularly care whether you survive — this is your game.
Game style
Dungeon Crawl
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(6)
2 years on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Storytelling, World Builder, Inclusive
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
About me
Dungeon Joe is a dad from Florida, USA. He teaches music to little kids, and loves going to work every day. He is passionate about dogs, music, sports, and RPGs. He's has been GMing for 10 years, and also loves to play in other people's games. In the last two years he's fallen head-over-heels for the OSR style of play. Dungeon Joe has had the good fortune to play with so many different people- and one of the things he's learned is that everyone brings something different to TTRPGs, and everyone experiences gaming in their own way. Because he believes strongly in this diversity of fun, everyone is welcome at my table, as long as they bring passion and respect.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
We will roll characters in the first session. Start at level 1. After character death, start at (avg party level/2), round down minimum level 1. Roll a level 1 character. Assign 6x3d6 ability scores. Re-roll only if there are no 14s. Keep low rolls and roleplay the weaknesses. All subsequent level-up rolls are random, Rules as Written. # Classes: Fighter Priest - Use ShadowDark Deities, including "The Lost" Thief - Eliminate Talent (2) "Gain advantage on initiative rolls" - Gain talent (2) "The first time you attack, you may attack twice on your turn" limit 1/hour, limit one successful sneak attack. Wizard Ranger Bard - Note that the max number of Luck a player can have is 1. Also note that Luck is not sharable nor transferrable. Luck earned above max is lost. Warlock - With GM approval, you may re-skin a Patron into something more fun, for flavor only. Witch Pit Fighter Ras-Godai Seer - Note that the max number of Luck a player can have is 1. Also note that Luck is not sharable nor transferrable. Luck earned above max is lost. Roustabout - Note that Roustabout is the only class that may share Luck. This supersedes any other rule at the table.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You'll join https://discord.gg/XdtUAeYjD Everything else is Discord and Owlbear.rodeo, which takes no prep on your end.
What Joseph Hughes brings to the table
I will create an interesting and satisfying experience by allowing the players to be the driving force. There will be no "narrative" other than what the players and PCs create. I'm good at voices and characters as well as improvisation.
Homebrew rules
Expanded downtime rules. Modifications to thief class to make them more fun.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Headphones
Platforms used
Safety
How Joseph Hughes creates a safe table
I'm extremely interested in everyone having fun and feeling welcome at the table. Much of the content and many of the themes will require GM check in. I encourage players to advocate for themselves. Please reach out to me with any concerns. XNO will be digital. Discord makes it easy to feel comfortable messaging concerns immediately.
Content warnings
Safety tools used