Shadowdark RPG is Live on Kickstarter!

Classic gaming with elegant execution.

Shadowdark RPG is what old-school fantasy gaming would look like after being redesigned with 50 years of innovation.

The game is fast, familiar, intuitive, and deadly. It’s built for sword-and-sorcery adventures where fell monsters slither in darkness and frosty gems glint upon forgotten thrones, waiting to be discovered.

In Shadowdark RPG, real time comes into play. A torch only holds back the looming darkness for one hour of actual game time! There isn't a moment to spare when your only light source is guttering low...

Get ready for old-school gaming in a whole new light!

Get Started Playing

Enter the Shadowdark for the first time. The Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set is the perfect way to introduce you to the game.

The two 68-page, digest-sized booklets give you all you need to play and run thrilling Shadowdark RPG adventures for 1st-3rd level characters!

Look before you leap by downloading the digital version totally for FREE here! Seeing is believing.

Get Yours

Cursed Scroll Zine

Enhance your game world with diabolical new classes, spells, monsters, a grim forest hexcrawl, and an expansive 1st-level dungeon rated "The Best" on tenfootpole.org!

100% ready-to-use with the Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set.

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Publish Third-Party Content

You can use the Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License to freely publish material that is compatible with Shadowdark RPG™!

Find a copy of the most recent version of the license (V1.0) in the Creator Kit.

In a post-OGL world, licensing can be frustrating for creators. Our goal with this license was to keep it short, simple, and direct, not overstuff it with legalese, and give you as much freedom as possible.

We're also publishing the Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License as part of the core rulebook so it will always be available for creators to rely on.

If you have any questions, please reach out to kelsey@thearcanelibrary.com!