Shadow of the Demon Lord

I'm looking for an alternative to D&D and this one seems promising, but I never see it discussed here. What do you guys think about it?

It usually gets a lot of praise here. I didn't get to play it myself so far, but I like what I've read.

It's pretty great. Praise be unto the Shadow.

It's so over-the-top in its attempts to be dark that it comes off as accidentally funny. Maybe that's what you want, though. There are other flavors of almost-D&D clones for games with other kinds of tone. I like The Dark Eye for campaigns that are more fairy tale than superhero or death-metal-album-cover.

Right now i have to choose between this and D&D 5E in my native lagnuage.
This seems cool, but classic d&d maybe could be more free to manipulate

What language?

Well OP, here is an example of a spell fromthe book.

You say that like it isn't a selling point :D

And the illustration to go with it.

Left to right:
>Bleeugghhrr.
>HURKKKK!
>Ah Shitting butter crumpets, me dick's exploded!

Italian: they released D&D 5E manual(without dm and monster books) this very month. It has roughly the same price of Shadow of the Demon Lord

It's okay. Maybe a little better than 5e but not outrageously so.

Is it true that the DC for every roll is 10, regardless of the circumstances? Because that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Numbers are very low, my players 4th level characters have +3 to some of their rolls.
It's really all about getting Boons. Roll a 6 on a boon? You know you're kicking some arse.

It's not that the DC's too low, it's that it's the same for everything. Nothing you can do is more or less difficult than anything else. That's absurd.

It is true for some rolls, but a bit misleading. While the DC is 10 for a straight "do you manage to climb the wall" check, the circumstances are modified by Boons and Banes that can modify your roll to make it harder or easier.

That said, many rolls are kind of opposed, so you're rolling against the targets Defense or Agility or Will or whatever, even then they are rarely more than 15 or so.

So FATAL lite.

It's not the same for 'everything' in that ACs and defenses are not bound to that 10 rule.
However, if a task is difficult (climbing a slippery wall) you impose a number of Banes, which lower their roll, or increase the difficulty, if you prefer.

Fixed TN games are fine, it's not like the probability isn't changed by circumstance and ability.

No not at all, the system is tightly written, character progression is some of the best I've ever seen, with a HUGE array of classes. Basically, 5 base classes, thief, warrior, magician, priest, and one I forgot I think. However, when you level, you choose a new, more specialized class, so Warrior-Paladin, Priest-Cleric, etc. Then, when you level mid game, you get a super specialized class (of which there are dozens) So Warrior-Paladin-Champion, Priest-Cleric-Chronomancer, Thief-Assasin-MasterPoisoner.

It's a very natural/organic progression, and I don't know how I lived without it.

The game is not 5e, but it is a neat little system that is worth looking at, if nothing else. It also goes on sale for 70% off on drive thru as well.

Classic D&D would be more flexible, but 5e is not classic D&D. Take SotDL, it's much better.

D&D 5e is much more friendly to modification and homebrewing.

Compared to what, BECMI or Shadows?

Depends on what you want to do. If you want to drink beer and kill goblins in dungeons, 5e may be better. Otherwise I'd pick Shadows over it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "manipulate" though.

>If you want to drink beer and kill goblins in dungeons, 5e may be better. Otherwise I'd pick Shadows over it.

I'd pick SotDL anyway. It's more streamlined, while still retaining a lot of options.

It's a D&D clone/fantasy heartbreaker but designed by 12 year olds with an oral fixation who think they're edgy as fuck.

It's better than fatal I guess...

It's delightfully self aware. Every cult has a thing about poo and the butt. It's really very funny and easily removed if you hate that kind of stuff.

>Is it true that the DC for every roll is 10,
DC for average tests. It's modified up and down.

>I'm not sure what you mean by "manipulate" though.
Shitty english is a real thing XD
I mean, if i want to modify the ambientation adding(or removing) stuff with a "free" system like d&d i could do it.
As much as i saw, on Shadow setting is a vital part of the game

In what ways?

None of the classes, races, character options, spells, etc. are setting dependent. What possibly could you have a problem adapting to another setting?

I look at the atmosphere mostly: i like good grimdark, but i'm not a 24/7 serious person; when i run a campain i put some silly/stupid things from time to time, and with Shadow's setting i'm afraid to "broke" the game

The game's really self aware. They have a "small portal" spell called "Hole of Glory" FFS.

Just because people constantly misuse D&D, doesn't mean it's any more flexible.

Nah, none of the mechanics seem tied to the setting, you could easily scrub the setting and use the raw mechanics.

Closest would be the Insanity and Corruption stuff, but that is hardly obscure ideas.

Are there modules or adventure paths that are any good?

I've been pretty impressed with them so far.
SotDL provides a pretty good range of modules and adventure paths, most of them pretty short and open-ended with suggestions on how to interweave them into a bigger campaign or how to use it as a jumping off point for a future campaign. There are a couple that actually have full adventure paths such as Tales of the Demon Lord. One thing that I find pretty awesome is that not all of the campaign-starter adventures take place only at early levels, so it's entirely possible to begin from your Master path for a high level adventure without feeling that you're missing out on prior content.

A lot of the adventures tend to be a little more nondescript than something like Pathfinder where every single character the players will ever meet is detailed and has instructions on what to do when the players do X. They're aides to help the GM along; they won't GM for you.

Anyone know the difference between the Spellbinder in the main book and Paths of Power?