Shadowdark: Western Reaches Kickstarter

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadowdarkrpg/western-reaches

The Shadowdark: Western Reaches Kickstarter went live today, and wow, there are a lot of premium-quality, lovely things in this campaign. They are collecting the expanded rules in the Cursed Scroll Zines to add as official parts of the game and creating their own campaign setting for everything.

This feels like "Advanced Shadowdark" without the complex rules and just "more stuff."

If you go "all in," it is a bit pricy, but considering the quality of the components and everything you get, it is an ideal gift for the true Shadowdark fan.

I hope this setting takes on a life of its own and becomes a springboard for novels, adventures, and other stories, much like the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk. Shadowdark will be my "5E game" and the inheritor of my dreams and ideas in the 5E space.

Too dark and deadly? Mod it to be more heroic. The game embraces change, ownership of your game, and unique play style. Want more character power for super-heroic games? Mod it. Are there any pulp play options? In the book. The game can still be deadly while embracing a more pulp-adventure style.

I hope for a big campaign for this one since games that respect the old-school, while inviting in the world's 5E players, are suitable for everyone playing together and provide a sorely needed bright spot in place of D&D 2024's falling flat with many.

I hope this prints and delivers quickly! I also hope there are no issues with tariffs, which have been a sore spot in fulfillment for many projects these days, and no extra added costs.

Shadowdark is worthy. This game pulls in far more 5E players than old-school gamers, just due to the size of the 5E market, and introduces many to our old-school world. It is a gateway game, and making this your primary system is very comfortable. I can teach and play with anyone in 5 minutes and work almost anywhere, from VTTs to chat rooms.

Shadowdark is 5E to me.

We also have the DCC Dungeon Denizens II Kickstarter next week, so this will be a good week for old-school 5E and 3.5E crowdfunding here in 2025.