Staying Power

I have heard a few reports that some Shadowdark players lose interest after a few sessions. Now, this is not the case for everyone, and many have experienced months- or even years-long struggles with this issue. However, for some player types, I can see why that may happen. Those used to the options and character builds of 5E may find that characters in Shadowdark a bit flat, and with random progression, a few boring rolls could make them lose that connection to their character.

I could run an extended campaign with Shadowdark, no problem. There are ways to keep characters compelling and make them feel like they are advancing. Non-advancement rewards, retainers, favors, magic items, special skills and abilities, unique items, magic weapons, and other things can be given to characters rather than rolls on the level-up chart. The game is also highly mod-friendly, allowing you to add a new advancement system in other areas to keep characters feeling like they are advancing and maintaining player choice.

Granted, there is more in a Shadowdark and OSR game, such as Old School Essentials, in terms of character power and progression. In OSE, you are not getting a random power roll every two levels, and your progression curve is a lot flatter. There are strict non-human level limits, along with a maximum level of 14 for all classes. OSE does not have the problem of people losing interest, or at least I have not heard of it happening much.

OSE has far more "stuff" in it regarding treasures, monsters, retainers, and other non-character powers. Retainers are character power, along with pets like war dogs and other animals. Old-school games let you trade gold for power, and forming an expedition is always better than going it alone. Shadowdark's "on the map" style of play, with every turn a combat turn, will discourage retainer use and a softer theater of the mind style of play in OSE.

Because Shadowdark is more 5E adjacent, the players come from a 5E background and have those experiences and expectations. OSR players have a longer-term perspective on campaigns and character advancement. Getting bored feels like 5E expectations creeping into the game.

I wonder if Daggerheart will retain its staying power, especially into higher levels. Like Shadowdark and a lot of the newer games, advancement stops at level ten. This is also true in Dungeon Crawl Classics, but a level ten DCC character is far more potent than OSE, Shadowdark, and even Daggerheart. Time will tell if Daggerheart will be compelling for more extended campaign play, but from what I saw, this game is retaining players and keeping them interested with the build variety, which is better than 5E.

Also, we have yet to see more official expansions and word of the next book for this game. It is early, but I hope they come out of the gates strong and build a great follow-up game.

Time will tell.