Category: Old-School Essentials
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Review: Kingmaker – Paizo – Pt. 1
The writer is playtesting Shadowfinder rules in Pathfinder 2 while adapting the Kingmaker adventure path. They appreciate the open-world nature, but find the conversion to Pathfinder 2 complicated, especially regarding stronghold building. Although initial sessions flow well, concerns grow about future campaign challenges, particularly after the third book’s conflict.
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Czech Republic Fantasy Map
Preparing a Kingmaker campaign set in the Swordlands, a Czech Republic-inspired region. Multiple adventuring groups explore this monster-filled frontier. Custom hex and climate maps support terrain, weather, and exploration.
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Review: Among the Living – Paizo
Among the Living is a flexible, Halloween-themed Shadowfinder adventure set in a gaudy opera house hiding dark secrets. Streamlined for quick play, it balances drama, undead threats, and tactical variety, offering a solid one-shot with adaptable challenge levels.
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Review: Souls for Smuggler’s Shiv – Paizo
During our autumn coast trip, we ran Souls for Smuggler’s Shiv as a streamlined point crawl with fewer random encounters, focusing on key story beats. Adapted easily to Shadowfinder, though Paizo’s layout and excess lore caused some difficulty mid-game.
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Gods of the Forbidden North, Vol. 1 (OSE Adapted for Shadowdark) – Pulp Hammock Press – Part 1
The author reviews “Forbidden North,” highlighting its extensive details and variety of encounters. Though adaptable to campaigns, the writing lacks clarity and organization, making it challenging for GMs. While Book 1 offers useful content, subsequent books fall short. Overall, “Forbidden North” shows potential but suffers from excessive details.
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On Downtime and Demesnes (Basic D&D) by Hack & Slash Publishing
Used this for alternatives to Shadowdark’s carousing rules. Chock full of ideas on downtime, includes random outcome tables for piety, carousing, gambling, pit fighting, crafting, and a whole slew of other options. Great book to get ideas going.
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Monastery of the Mellified Monks by eyesforteeth (Adapted for Shadowdark)
OK, I love weird, funky adventures. This was great for several reasons – the plot hook involves a noble who wants to eat a mellified monk for “virility”, there’s a zombie bear that breathes swarms of bees, a honey ooze. While not superb, it’s pretty darn good. Also, it’s short and sweet, playable in one…
Dubious Heroes 