Mail Room: Tales of Aragosa

I missed out on the Kickstarter for this one, and the hardcover finally came. This one is sort of fell off my excitement level, since I already have enough fantasy games, and my desire to collect new ones has fallen off a cliff.

Honestly, I like Shadowdark, DCC, OSRIC, and Dungeon Fantasy. Do I have room for another?

This is essentially Low Fantasy Gaming 2.0, a 5E variant I really liked. It tackled the problem of "too much magic" that is chronic in D&D, a problem that spoils the entire experience for that version of the game. Sure, it is fun to "flippy whippy woo" powers around, but eventually it all becomes meaningless and the martial characters quit after a few levels because nobody can put up with the constant caster nonsense in the game.

D&D with too much magic becomes "the game permanently on hallucinogenic mushrooms." Like an addict, the game suffers, divorces itself from reality, and develops chronic conditions. The game also keeps telling itself, "I don't have a problem."

I had this one version of the game where a warlock had this "energy whip" - usable every turn. The entire game felt like a pen-and-paper ARPG, the cool power wasn't special, and it got to be boring after a few turns of "aww cool" turning into "this thing again?"

My group got tired of D&D's overdone magic system.

Even Shadowdark rolls back caster power and puts a cost on magic. If magic is a "shortcut to great power" then it should have a cost. It should be special. Using a magic power should be a single-use game changer. Period.

Infinite use "attack power cantrips" are an abomination to the game, and are as dumb as the "bonus action." Even the word "cantrip" means a minor magical trick or effect. They are not "magnum laser pistols" to be used infinitely with zero cost. 5E cantrips are superpowers, not magic.

Tales of Aragosa is a dense book. I swear words were packed in here extra tight, and I feel the game would have benefitted by being two books instead of one. Shadowdark is a minimalist game, where ToA is a dense rulebook that should have been given room to breathe. I love this much information, but there are times when I flip through this book I get overwhelmed by how much is packed into each page.

It is a good thing and a bad thing. It is a super high-value book full of tables and information, capable of generating entire campaigns by itself. The usability and new player friendliness suffers. If I am playing with new players or random other people, Shadowdark is still my go-to game.

ToA is sort of "Shadowdark plus" in my view. They keep compatible with the monsters and damage scale, which means the ToA book can be used as a "Shadowdark campaign generator." This is still based on 5E-like rules, so it is still familiar to this group of players who have a 5E preference. If you are looking for a 5E Lite game with more rules than Shadowdark, and more options, this is also a good choice.

Considering this is numerically compatible with Shadowdark, you are not losing anything by "side grading" to this game. They have conversion notes in the back of the book for various games, and this keeps with the Shadowdark, B/X, OSRIC, OSE and other scales - while 5E remains the "bag of hit points" outlier. My old-school games are remarkably compatible with each other since they keep the original (non-Wizards) hit point and hit die scale.

I can buy any OSR game, monster book, adventure, or anything else and have easily work with any other OSR game of my choice - Shadowdark, Old School Essentials, ToA, Swords & Wizardry, the Without Number games, OSRIC, or any other. The "damage scaling" Wizards introduced in 3E and on broke compatibility, and these "high hit point" numbers make the game tedious and combats take forever. There is an argument that Wizards never understood D&D from a mathematical foundation, and every version of the game they made missed the mark. DCC feels like an exception, and feels like the game is more tuned to 3.5E hit point levels with classic AC ratings.

If you feel like you outgrew Shadowdark, and you don't want to go to Dragonbane (or back to 5E), ToA is a great game that gives you more depth, options, while keeping that low-fantasy, gritty, dangerous world feeling.

ToA feels worth trying, and as an "advanced Shadowdark" style of game may fill a need I have in my "5E Lite" dark & gritty style of game.

Shadowdark, What's Next?

As much as I like Shadowdark, there is only a little 3rd party support for this beyond a handful of choices. Admittedly, people have just started to get physical copies of the game, but I expected a little more support for a game that made such a huge splash.

I am on an expansion Kickstarter and looking forward to that.

I have found excellent, expanded character options, backgrounds, equipment, and many other options that take the game from a simple dungeon crawl experience simulator to a fully supported OSR 5E game.

We are in a doldrum here of support, and the game came strong out of the gate with its first release, so there is a lot to do when the books come. I would like more of the fun 'zines' that came with the game and want to see more 6x9" books.

Is it an OSR replacement? Is it a 5E replacement?

No, since OSR and 5E implementations tend to be heavier games. Shadowdark is rules-light, which puts it in that class of games. Rules-light games can be unique and fun, so it takes nothing away.

Does Shadowdark have staying power for campaigns?

I don't know. This game reminds me of a quick, zero-to-hero game - but since the level 1-10 run is 90% of 5E games, why can't it be a campaign game? It is 300 pages, complete, and with good support. Using Shadowdark for many games eliminates many of 5E's superpower magic messes and puts characters and stories first. This is an excellent option for many groups running low-magic games (which 5E does not support, and the low-magic concept disappears when characters reach level 6+).

Low-magic games are more challenging to create than high-magic ones, since removing magic and eliminating magic-using classes from being "the chosen ones" forces you to pay attention to martial play balance. How do you make a game fun without magic? Many designers can't do it, and certainly not those who work for Wizards.

Shadowdark presents classes with random progression paths, which forces players out of "the optimization box" and into problem-solving and roleplay. This is the perfect primer for old-school play since that 5E trap of relying on build optimization to solve problems leads into boring "math gaming" where DPS and insane power combos are all you need to solve any adventure - brains turned off, dice ready to roll.

Tales of Argosa (Low Fantasy Gaming 2) is the same genre, a low-fantasy, OSR-style game, and the sphere is getting competitive. This feels more like a traditional game in the breadth of character options and campaign structure. Where Shadowdark puts a magnifying glass on the dungeon crawling experience, ToA steps back a level and focuses on the campaign game. ToA also has traditional progression with a few choices up the level path, so there is no random progression here.

OSR fans are sitting here saying, our games do this already. I know! But the 5E OSR blends are popular and gateways into the hobby's traditional roots for many. Shadowdark goes a long way to "untraining" many 5E players who don't know the fun of thinking for themselves and solving problems creatively.

This is a good thing, no matter what side of gaming you are on.

But Low Fantasy Gaming (ToA's version 1.0 origin) is a fantastic game, and I still see this having legs even after ToA's release. LFG had many adventures released, and it does a lot of OSR stuff blended with 5E.

I like Shadowdark.

As a one-book "5E dungeon minigame," it is excellent with plenty of random table support (maybe too much). Other games do more, but there is an elegance to a minimalist set of rules that proves you don't need 1000+ pages to communicate a game to a group.

You wonder, with all the "crust" that D&D established as "part of 5E," - how much of it is really needed? How much of those rarely-used rules are needed to recreate the experience?

Shadowdark asks what is more critical, legacy rules people associate with the experience? Or the experience itself?

This is a good game; it has just been quiet, and I want more.

Tales of Argosa Public Playtest

FREE Playtest PDF: 

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/465681/tales-of-argosa-public-playtest

Kickstarter Link (Feb 2024):

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lowfantasygaming/tales-of-argosa

Wow, this one took me by surprise. The Low Fantasy Gaming team is rewriting LFG into Tales of Argosa and rebuilding the concept around a Shadowdark-like experience with a unique art style, presentation, and gritty theme.

How is this different from Shadowdark? LFG was always closer to a 5E-like experience than OSR, though it takes a lot of inspiration from the OSR. This is more Warhammer FRPG and Conan than old-school D&D, and there is cinematic flare here, where Shadowdark is more square-by-square grim-and-gritty. ToA also pulls in ideas from Dungeon Crawl Classics, like dangerous magic, and revamps the martial-caster power divide.

They also may go Creative Commons with this version, breaking away from the OGL and standing on their own. More games need to do this, embrace that Shadowdark energy, express their creativity, and go their own way from B/X, the OSR, and D&D - and make something more than someone else's stuff.

It is great seeing this team spread their wings and fly, taking inspiration from Shadowdark, but keeping most of what made Low Fantasy Gaming fantastic. There are tons of minor, mechanical tweaks in here to refine the experience from the first version and to pare down the cheese and exploits.

And the Kickstarter is next month.

This is another I am all in on.