Shadow of the Demon Lord by Robert J. Schwalb is a role playing game supplement published by Schwalb Entertainment. This is the core book for the Shadow of the Demon Lord system.
The supplement is available as a 274 page PDF for $19.99 from RPGNow, as a softcover print on demand book for $39.99, a premium softcover print on demand book for $64.99 and a hardcover print on demand book for $74.99. In each case, the PDF and print on demand book can be purchased together for the same price as the book. The PDF is the version reviewed, which was purchased at the reduced price of $11.99 during a sale. Two pages are the front and rear covers, one page is the front matter, two pages are the Table of Contents and Foreword, four pages are the Index and one page is a character sheet.
The single page Preface explains the author’s interest in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and how, after working on Dungeons & Dragons, he wanted to work on a game he could call his own.
The Introduction briefly explains the game (although not with a “What is an RPG?” section), that it uses d6s and d20s, other material needed, the role of the players and Game Master, an example of play and using the book.
Chapter 1: Character Creation is on creating characters, which starts with Ancestries. Ancestries are the game’s races and each has different benefits. The core races are Human, Changeling, Clockwork, Dwarf, Goblin and Orc. Each ancestry has different benefits and has several tables to roll on for age, build, appearance, background and personality. They also have a paragraph on creating a character of that ancestry and the Expert level benefit gained by it.
Next is Professions, which are occupations, areas of knowledge etc. that a character will have. There are six different profession categories, each of which then has a table of different individual professions. A character starts with two and these allow a character to do and know things related to their profession.
Starting Equipment has five different levels of wealth, from Destitute to Wealthy, and characters start with equipment based on their wealth. The actual equipment is explained in Chapter 6. There are several d20 tables of interesting things – often very peculiar things – a character might start with.
Roleplaying is the final part of the chapter and includes such things as building a group, character traits, starting at higher levels and level advancement. Levels are not experience based.
Chapter 2: Playing the Game is the actual mechanics of the game. This covers time, rolling dice, attributes, characteristics, damage, afflictions, the environment, roleplaying and, of course, combat.
Chapter 3: Novice Paths starts with the first four of what is a fundamental part of the game, the path. Each path gains abilities as the advance in level, and also gains new abilities at Expert and Master. The four novice paths are Magician, Priest, Rogue and Warrior, which are generally familiar in concept. The description of each takes up only a page. There is also an optional table on Group Identity, to explain how a group came together.
Chapter 4: Expert Paths has more advanced paths, sixteen in total, divided into four for each of the Novice paths. There is an optional table to define a character objective and an option for characters to choose a second Expert path instead of a Master. Each Expert path takes up a page and lists the abilities gained at different levels.
Chapter 5: Master Paths has 64 different paths and some tables for Master story development and sample quests. These paths have the shortest descriptions as they gain abilities at fewer levels, but these abilities are all high level ones.
Chapter 6: Equipment has money and living expenses for standards of living, plus lists of fairly standard types of equipment; armour, weapons, adventuring gear, clothing, tools, transportation, hirelings, potions and incantations (scrolls).
Chapter 7: Magic covers magic. All magic is divided into different traditions, such as Arcana, Life, Theurgy, including three dark magic traditions, Curse, Forbidden and Necromancy. To learn spells from a tradition, and every character has the potential to cast spells, that tradition must be discovered. Some paths allow the discovery of magical traditions, but there are others ways this can happen, some of which are suggested in the traditions. There are a lot of traditions but each only has a comparative handful of spells, many of which should be familiar to those with a background in D&D-derived games. Many of the traditions have side effects when learned; for example, the Air tradition results in the air constantly moving around the practitioner.
Chapter 8: A Land in Shadow gives some fairly brief details on Urth, the official primary setting for Shadow of the Demon Lord. It starts with brief overviews on gods – they may or may not be real – magic, other worlds, reincarnation, science & technology, monsters and time, as well as on the Empire, which is detailed further later, and the Demon Lord. Next is information on the continent of Rûl, the primary continent on Urth covered in the setting. Geography, nations, both of the empire and without, and various important cities and settlements. Many of these are covered in more detail in their own supplements. Northern Reach is a specific small area of the Empire that is covered in greater detail, with its history, geography and climate, major settlements and people and cultures. There is also a map of the Northern Reach, which is intended to be a starting area for campaigns.
Religion and Belief covers the various major and minor religions and Cosmology covers such as dimensional pockets, hidden kingdoms, the Underworld where souls go and Hell, where evil souls get tortured by devils, who are actually corrupted faeries. It concludes with the Void, where demons come from, and an overview of the Demon Lord.
Running the Game is the GM’s section. This covers creating and running adventures and campaigns, travel and exploration, combat, player characters and secondary characters (the latter are NPCs). Shadow of the Demon Lord is the actual shadow itself and game effects it can have. Whether or not a GM uses the Shadow is up to them, but there is a d20 table of various influences the Shadow can have and what that can do to the setting. Which includes a zombie apocalypse.
Game Master’s Toolbox has various things that can affect characters, such as corruption, insanity and disease, as well as more natural hazards and traps. Rewards has different treasures characters can find. Magic items, known as enchanted objects, are not common in this setting. Each magic item is unique, their creation is beyond the skill level of any character using the core rules and you won’t find them for sale given their rarity. So, no hamlets with several hundred gp of magic for sale that you’d see in D&D 3.x/Pathfinder. There are tables to use for the random creation of enchanted objects. Relics – artefacts – are even less common. They are naturally unique and are pretty dangerous. Unlike enchanted objects, there are some sample relics. Another reward is levelling up, which isn’t done through experience. Characters will gain a level when the GM decides that it’s appropriate.
Chapter 10: Bestiary starts by explaining how the monster stats are organised before going on to cover the different creatures. In some cases, such as Animal, there are general stats for different sizes of animal and notes on modifying them for specific creatures as well as descriptions of some individual animals, such as Bears. Following on from the creatures are Characters, which are stats for some standard NPC types that could be encountered. This is followed by how to customise creatures and character templates that can be used to give a creature capabilities similar to those possessed by characters. Finally, there is a table of creatures by difficulty.
Shadow of the Demon Lord in Review
The PDF is extensively bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents is thorough and hyperlinked and there is also an Index. Navigation is excellent. The text maintains a two column format and appeared to be free of errors. The layout is full colour and the book is extensively illustrated with colour custom illustrations up to about half a page in size. Some, but not all, of the monsters are also illustrated. Although illustrations for every monster would have been appreciated, this is very rare. Presentation is also excellent.
This is the core book and it is all that is needed to actually play the game, but the Player’s Guide might be useful for players to have for themselves. It isn’t essential though. Similarly, some adventures might be useful; again, these are not totally necessary as a GM can create their own. There are many inexpensive adventures to pick up though. There isn’t a lot of detail provided on the actual Urth and Rûl locations, just a more general overview. If Rûl, and Urth are used, some supplements for the starting area are advised. Again, most of these are inexpensive.
The overall impression of the game system is something that is similar to, but different and distinct from, Dungeons & Dragons. There are elements that will be familiar – some of the spells and monsters are definitely familiar – but elements that are different, such as the levelling system. Oh, and that the world is doomed. It’s doubtful that characters will be able to stop the eventual success of the Demon Lord – but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try. The setting, as described, is grimmer and grittier than most typical D&D settings. Even though magic is fairly commonplace, magic items are not. Given the author’s liking for Warhammer, it is perhaps not surprising that Shadow of the Demon Lord has some similarities to Warhammer’s Empire. There is a clockwork/steampunk edge to the system as well, but it doesn’t dominate it.
Level advancement is definitely different to D&D-derived games. Characters do not gain experience; they advance after completing goals that the GM decides, probably at the end of an adventure. Advancement allows them to take new paths, so they could broaden their skills, or more tightly focus on particular areas. Classes – or paths, as they are in this system – are not as restrictive as they are in other games. The game is probably familiar enough that those with experience in other systems should be able to grasp it quickly, but different enough to make it stand out – those too used to D&D/Pathfinder may find it a bit more grim and dangerous than they are used to. The lack of abundant magic items will also be noticeable – and far more realistic than some other systems. It does make any magic item found much more valuable.
Shadow of the Demon Lord is a dark, interesting and sometimes grim fantasy system and it can be found by clicking here.
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