As many of you probably know, we took Shadow of the Demon Lord back to print and used the chance to hammer down a few nails that had gotten loose. While you can enjoy the game without updated the book, many of you have asked for a list of changes so they can be current on the rules. Well, here you go. Thanks so much for your continued support and keep on fighting the Demon Lord!
If you haven’t yet heard, I’m launching a Kickstarter campaign in November (the 12th) to crowdsource the production for a new and sexy supplement for Shadow of the Demon Lord. So far, I’ve been able to produce a slew of high-quality digital products that shine lights on various ancestries and spots on the map, reveal details about terrifying creatures, to say nothing of the many adventures available for the game. However, Occult Philosophy is a different sort of beast.
Clocking in at around 192 pages with about 800 spells, a dozen or so critters, plus twenty to thirty paths, it’s the biggest release for the game since Shadowcame out around three years ago. A book of this size has a pile of expenses, including art, editing, proofing, layout, and graphic design. And, if the campaign does well enough, we’ll do an off-set print run too.
I’m going to make up a few general questions and answer them. In future installments, I’ll get into the nuts and bolts of the book.
Yes. I ran a limited playtest with tons of respondents who took the spells out for a spin in their games. From the feedback along with the testers’ insights, I adjusted the design to ensure that they fit the game and work well alongside other spells.
Yep! One of my earliest goals for this book was to reveal magic’s true extent in the setting. Each tradition receives expansions to the basic rank 0 to 5 spells, but also includes a pair of rank 6 spells along with one of each for ranks 7 through 10.
For sure. I included one new tradition to bring the tradition count up to 42 (the most important number of all). Madness joins the other traditions, offering ways for you to harness your Insanity and weave it into magic to produce spectacular effects. There’s an Elder Gods vibe to these spells too, and, as a result, raises a few new questions about the game’s cosmology.
Of course! We’re including some guidance for playing characters beyond level 10 (building on the method described in Forbidden Rules). I’m also including a slew of expert and master paths. Expert paths, as usual, ground characters in the setting but also speak to specific traditions or pairs of traditions. Master paths offer alternative takes to mastering the various forms of magic, while also offering options to players who concern themselves with the methods of casting—implements for example.
I had planned to include a chapter on each, but I ran out of room. I have a product in mind called The Vault of the Demon Lord, which includes new options for enchanted objects, relics, and trinkets. This book gets unlocked as a stretch goal.
Hmm. That’s a tough one. I’m pretty partial to them all. Here’s a cool one from the Battle tradition.
Duration 8 hours
Magical power flows into you, transforming you into a god of war. You become bigger, stronger, and far more menacing. Your eyes glow with malice and blood paints your body. Any creature that can see you when you transform must get a success on a Will challenge roll with 3 banes or gain 1d3 Insanity. Until the spell ends, gain the following benefits:
Aftereffect You must make a Will challenge roll with 5 banes. On a failure, you gain 3d6 Insanity and take a –1d6 penalty to Power that lasts for 1 week and 1 day. If you would go mad as a result of this Insanity gain, you suffer Battle Madness (see Shadow, page 118) as normal, but the madness ends only on a roll of a 6 and you take 2d6 damage at the end of each round until the madness ends.
Fires Hunger: An Audio-Guided Adventure for Novice Characters
Welcome to Disciples of the Demon Lord! This new program offers a digital platform for people to create adventures for Shadow of the Demon Lord. Have a great adventure idea? You can now publish it. Everything you need to produce the adventure is available at DriveThruRPG. With the tools we have provided, you can unleash the full horror of your creativity onto the world. We’re thrilled to open up Shadow of the Demon Lord to the community who has embraced the game. And, we can’t wait to see what you come up with to speed Urth to its end. You can find out more information about the Disciples program here and here.
The first releases for the Disciples of the Demon Lord program include Salt and Sacrifice by Jerry LeNeave and Ben Menard, a tight light adventure that features carnivorous fish people and human sacrifice. Also, we have Cold Wind to Valhalla by Nat Webb, an investigation into the murder of a notable citizen. Going with the release, Webb has also dropped the City of Lorden Gazetteer, which details the city.