A few words.
I’m speechless about this game. You’ve probably read this a million times on this subreddit, but damn, Shadowdark blew my mind. I’ve run several 5e campaigns, and while the sessions themselves were super fun, the prep work was a nightmare. Combat dragged, even with various homebrew rules meant to encourage creativity, and I realized it felt more like a video game simulator than a tabletop RPG. I found myself trying to turn 5e into something it wasn't. When I discovered Shadowdark, it blew my mind. This game is literally everything I wanted for my table. The freedom, the ease of looking things up, the tables… man, it’s incredible. I still use a few homebrew rules, but they fit the system perfectly, in a totally organic way. Dealing with high-level characters in D&D is a massive headache, whereas in Shadowdark, it’s something I actually look forward to at the start of a campaign. Amazing.