Crafting the Perfect 5E Replacement, Part 8

Why not Shadowdark? Why use Old School Essentials instead of Shadowdark to replace 5E?

I love Shadowdark, it is an S-Tier game for me. There is no better Dungeon-style board game that simulates a dungeon crawl session, in a group, with a timer, than this. This is amazing when played live, with a group, and this is where the game's strength lies. It took the best parts of 5E, and tossed out all the over-designed hubris and a decade of garbage rules tossed into the game. It pays respect to the original game and creators. It captures the feeling of old-school gaming, specifically the fear of the unknown.

Another game that captures the feeling of old-school gaming is Dungeon Crawl Classics, and that is the number-three fantasy game in the world right now by the GenCon standard. And that growth happened organically, and again, with 5E players migrating to that game as a beloved classic. I expect a glut to happen here shortly. 

Shadowdark is getting seriously bloated in the market and on crowdfunding, and this is due to the sheer mass of 5E players migrating to this game as the floodgates open and people flee D&D for greener pastures. The license is open and free. Creators can build here without worry. That is a good thing and a bad thing. I am overloaded with Shadowdark books now. Books repeat each other's classes, and some go far too deep into class design that it looks like a full D&D level of complexity and design flex.

But I do not want the Shadowdark model.

• Torch timers.
• The narrow power range. 
• Random Progression.
• Rolling with advantage or disadvantage.
• The way-too-high 5E ability score modifiers. 
• Spell checks and repeated casting.
• Playing-piece focused play. Ideal for cons and tabletop play.
• Flat character power. 
• Dungeon gaming.
• Closed characters where progression must be rolled for. 

And I do want the B/X model.

• Predictable class progression.
• High-level (10-14) play.  
• Gold-based XP.
• Flat modifiers. 
• Classic, lower ability score modifiers.
• Vancian magic.
• Character and world focused play. Ideal for campaign play.
• Higher character power. 
• Dungeon, exploration, and dominion play with hirelings and followers.
• Open progression where character sheets are added on to. 

Old School Essentials is not as "gamey" as Shadowdark, and it feels more like a classic role-playing game wit ha wider, more world-based focus. Having dominion building and followers is key for B/X, and the high-level game is where the game takes a dramatic turn and the stakes are raised. This is the "second game" that Shadowdark misses since it focuses so much on tabletop dungeon crawling on a map.

Even OSE Classic Fantasy has a dominion game! Every class has rules to attract followers, and the game has four pages of construction and dominion rules. There comes a point where you start to change the world, and OSE gets this. If you want this explored even deeper, play ACKS II. The essential questions "why are we doing all this" is answered in OSE, where in Shadowdark, it is left open. This lack of focus on dominion play is a holdover from 5E, where they give you a bastion for free and make it invincible.

In OSE, you need to clear hexes, hire people, pay for construction, and attract settlers. All this comes from the pile of gold you amassed when crawling around in dungeons. There is an endgame built into OSE where it is lacking in Shadowdark, and this is due to the game's history and focus.

OSE has a much larger focus than Shadowdark. The game also has all the classic pieces that make it feel more natural to me. The modifiers are not wildly overpowered. The progression of the character sheet is more open and not so dependent on the rules or dice rolls telling you what you should have.

If you are more into longer-term campaign play and not so tightly focused on the character's powers, then you will be happier in Old School Essentials than you will be in Shadowdark. The games are very close in initial scope and feeling, but are vastly different in terms of scale and impact. OSE will scale to a hex-based campaign world far better than SD, since this is what it was built to do.

If all you want is that dungeon-based 5E goal-based play with an old-school vibe, then you will be happy with Shadowdark. While everyone is jumping on the SD bandwagon, the game is not designed to be a solution for every 5E and fantasy-gaming problem, and frankly, there are games like OSE that focus on a wider scope that will be a better place for some players.

OSE was designed to play the small and big games very well.

This is why I chose it over the obvious.