Set the Tone Set the Tone THE WORLD What is your game world like? Decide on a few major elements to start. You'll want to consider the following: • What's the environment like? Jungle, desert, swamps, cityscape, oceanic, tundra? • How does the world handle magic? Are wizards abundant, or in hiding? Can priests use healing spells? • What's the overall theme? Grimdark, mythical, urban, gonzo, horror? THE CHARACTERS Are there any character creation rules in your game world? For example, some GMs only allow lawful or neutral characters. Allow the players' ideas to shape reality. Is the priest from an order of witch-hunting zealots? Is the fighter a Red Siege veteran? Add those backstory elements to the game world! SESSION ZERO Help the players make their characters ahead of the first session. This is an opportunity for the players to establish how their characters know each other, build out backstories, and roleplay precursory scenes. START SMALL You don't have to develop much for your first game. You need a starting location, a few interesting NPCs, and a short adventure site. Since the characters already know each other from session zero, kick off the first game in the middle of a dangerous incident or dramatic situation. Bring on the action! Problems and rumors lead to adventures. If you keep introducing both to the characters, your world will continue to sprout and grow.

Not the Enemy NEUTRAL ARBITER You're not the players' enemy; you're portraying the world as it is. Roll your dice out in the open and let the players create their own trouble. Shadowdark RPG has the following mechanics that tempt the players into taking risks. Random encounters. Characters push their luck the longer they linger in dangerous areas. Not all wandering monsters are hostile (see Reaction Check, pg. 113), but there's no guarantee. Light timers. If the characters run out of light, they have a poor chance of surviving a monster attack or deadly trap. Resource management. Gear slots are precious. Is it more important to make room for treasure or bring extra torches? XP. The temptation of treasure and XP pulls many characters deeper into the dungeon. CHARACTER DEATH Character deaths will happen (especially among 0-level adventurers)! The dice can be fickle, and crawlers sometimes get into more trouble than they can handle down in the Shadowdark. When a character dies due to the player's choices and it makes sense, it was a just death. If there is uncertainty ("Did you remember to add your Constitution modifier to your death timer?"), clarify, and then let fate fall. A game world without death is one without risk or tension.