Red Sands of The Djurum | Shadowdark Desert Survival
Beneath the scorching sun of The Djurum Desert lies a sandbox of ancient perils, shifting dunes, and lost treasures. Can you survive the red sands?
$15.00
/ Session
Details
1 player following this game
Weekly / Saturday - 4:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2.5–3 hours
0 / 6 Seats Filled
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About the adventure
In this campaign you will be exploring The Djurum, a desert hexcrawl. Food and water are essential when traversing the shifting sands; you never know when you will get lost in a sudden sandstorm or succumb to the blazing sun. Shadowdark is a rules light system, with an old school feel, but with modern mechanics. If you've played games like 5e, you'll understand many of the mechanics right away. However, in Shadowdark, you do not play as an unstoppable hero. You must play smart, manage your resources, and use your wits to survive and gather treasure. This is a great game for those that want a change of pace from other RPGs, yet the rules are simple enough for total beginners to jump right in. This particular campaign is perfect for players who love exploration, player freedom, and survival mechanics that actually matter. There's a whole desert to explore with different people and factions, ancient dungeons and terrifying monsters, and plenty of loot to find along the way. Will you conquer the sands, or become part of them?
Game style
Hexcrawl / Exploration
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Dungeon Crawl
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(6)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Teacher, Creativity
About me
I started playing D&D about 16 years ago, and then began running my own games of 5e 10 years ago, and since then have been running multiple games every week. For the last few years I started running Pathfinder 2e, and have even begun dabbling in some other RPGs like Call of Cthulhu, Mothership, and Shadowdark. My games usually have a good amount of challenging combat encounters, and fun exploration in the wilderness and dungeons. I do still try to balance that with meaningful roleplay, and interesting NPCs. While I'd say I aim for a more serious tone, my games are definitely relaxed and chill. I'm here to have fun, and that happens when all the players are enjoying the game.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
We'll roll up some level 1 characters together, following the standard character creation rules of 3d6 down the line to randomly generate stats.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
Players will need a decent internet connection to connect and play on Foundry VTT, a microphone, and a Discord account. We will use Discord for voice chat during sessions, as well as text communication between sessions. No prior knowledge of Shadowdark is required, beginners are welcome. I do however encourage anyone new to the system to try to learn as much of the basic rules as they can, but I'm more than happy enough to help you learn along the way.
What Aaron brings to the table
We'll be using Foundry VTT with high quality maps, and lighting. I'll also have plenty of Foundry modules to enhance the game and for automation to help streamline the game. There will also be ambient music playing to set the tone. I like to add some original content in that relates to the player characters. If you create a character with a good backstory, or if there's something you want to happen during the campaign, I enjoy working this kind of stuff into the game.
Homebrew rules
Max hit points at first level Spells are not lost on a failed spell check until they have successfully been cast at least once Some pulp mode rules: Each player character gains a luck token at the start of each session, you can have up to three luck tokens, you can use a luck token to turn a hit into a critical hit, and you can use a luck token to force the GM to reroll a roll. Further homebrew rules and rulings can be added or changed as the campaign goes on, and if you have any suggestions, we can decide as a group.
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Computer
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Aaron creates a safe table
We'll have either a session 0, or a group conversation in Discord before the first session to go over safety tools, what content to avoid, and expectations players have. I aim to be welcoming and inclusive to everyone, and encourage any players that have any issues or feedback to message me. It's important for everyone to be comfortable and have fun.
Content warnings
Safety tools used