Shadowdark is quickly becoming my favorite TTRPG. Its simplicity makes homebrewing easy without breaking balance. It also addresses by biggest issue with 5e, it actually rewards treasure hunting, since PCs must earn gold to advance.

Whenever I learn a new system (the curse of being a forever GM), I build an adventure for it. This is one of two I’ve created for Shadowdark. This one is inspired by classic OSR dungeons where rival factions vie for dominance in the dark. For good measure, I added an ancient dwarven city, long fallen, now ruled by a necromancer. The necromancer manipulates the factions into destroying one another so he can swell his undead ranks.

The main inspirations for this dungeon are Caves of Chaos—the 5e remake of Keep on the Borderlands—and Barrowmaze. Running Caves of Chaos in the past led to some truly memorable player–monster alliances. Olly the Orc and Harry the Hobgoblin will live in infamy in my group (I needed names on the fly,I was expecting a fight, not a parlay!). The players even taught them the value of trade over conquest.

From Barrowmaze, I borrowed the idea of the mongrelmen and created a race of mutant humanoids adapted to survive the dangers of the dark.

Without further ado, here’s the back-cover summary and player pitch I use when running this dungeon in one-shots. Download the full adventure below.

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Adventure Summary

Descend into a living dungeon, where every alliance is fragile and every victory feeds the darkness.

When monsters erupt from the depths beneath the village of Umberstead, desperate defenders pursue them into the caverns below. The tunnels once led to the dwarven city of Thargrond, but now form a labyrinth of warring factions and restless dead. In the heart of Thargrond, a necromancer known as the Pale Warden desecrates the city’s ruins, feeding on the chaos he’s sown and growing stronger with every fallen soul.

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Player Pitch

Umberstead is under siege.
Strange mutant creatures have fled from the depths—what horrors drove them to the surface? Fight beside the villagers, then descend into a cavernous underworld where rival factions clash for survival, unaware they stand between you and something far worse.

Feedback or other comments: reach out at worldsbywally@gmail.com, or find me on Threads.

Hope y’all enjoy it!