Shadow of the Demon Lord

Overview

Shadow of the Demon Lord is a grim dark-fantasy tabletop roleplaying game set during the last, doomed years before an apocalypse, designed by Robert J. Schwalb and published by his own studio, Schwalb Entertainment, in 2015 following a Kickstarter campaign.  It builds a d20-based system deliberately stripped of the modifier-stacking common to games in its weight class, replacing most situational bonuses and penalties with a single abstracted mechanic. Schwalb later returned to the same core system for a lighter, more traditional-fantasy spinoff, Shadow of the Weird Wizard, released via Kickstarter in 2023.

Description

Characters begin as ordinary commoners rather than destined heroes, in a world where the Demon Lord's return is already underway and survival - not glory - is the realistic goal of most adventures. The Game Master (GM) runs a setting that leans hard into body horror, corruption, and creeping dread, and the game states its demands plainly.  Characters can and do die, sanity can crack under the weight of what they witness, and doing what's necessary to survive can leave a permanent, mechanical stain on a character's soul. It's built for a table that wants
D&D https://groupmanager.gg/library/dungeons-dragons-5e-2014
-adjacent fantasy combat without D&D's heroic framing - closer in spirit to grimdark fiction than epic fantasy, with character death treated as a real and fairly common outcome rather than an exception.

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Posted 6 hours ago
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DND5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5E
DND5.5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E (2024)
...
Burlington
Jesse
Hello adventurers! I'm in the Burlington/Aldershot area (happy to travel to Hamilton, Oakville or maybe a bit further) looking for an in person game as a player. I've been playing D&D for many years, mostly 5e and always online. I've also dabbled in 4e, Spelljammer, PF2e, Shadowrun, Fabula Ultima and soon Shadow of the Demon Lord. Happy to try new systems as long as they aren't too crunchy (Shadowrun 6e even though a simpler edition was a bit combersome at times). I find I'm a better speaker in person than online, and I'd really like to get back to a real table. My only in person game was a short lived one back in university. We had fun but it was too distracting from studies at the time. I'd love to try that again and hopefully find some cool people to hang out with along the way =) I like variety and improv. It's great when the group has good chemistry and there's a mix of strong character dialogue and out of character banter. I like to have a good time and keep the pace flowing. A bit about me: early 30s, male, working an 8-5 engineering job. I train with a club and I'm already in some long running online campaigns, so my schedule is specific but reliable. I'm usually one of the most consistently present players in my games. Sunday to Tuesday evenings work best right now, and Friday nights should open up in March. If you're also looking in the area, let's keep in touch and maybe something will take shape!
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DH
Daggerheart
CoC
Call of Cthulhu
...
Tucker
Daric
Omni gamer that likes everything that's not the biggest game out there.
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VtM
Vampire: The Masquerade
Homebrew
Homebrew
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Online
eikona
I've been gaming since the early 80s. I suck at bios. I have played a bazillion games, and am willing to learn new systems. I prefer long term campaigns, with  focus on roleplay and character development. I haven't listed all games I've played/own, because there's far too many.
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