Shadow of the Demon Lord x2

Through unholy rites in December 2022 we resurrected two offers featuring Shadow of the Demon Lord, Robert J. Schwalb‘s dark fantasy RPG of of grim heroism against a cosmic destroyer. The May 2017 Shadow of the Demon Lord Bundle had the core rulebook and early supplements. And, from October 2018, Demon Lord Victims added supplements and sourcebooks that further explore the Lands in Shadow.

In this fast-playing, low-prep FRPG, desperate heroes battle strange magic, unhinged cultists, and roaming mobs of undead while humanity’s last great empire slides toward oblivion. Shadow designer Rob Schwalb’s long experience on the Wizards of the Coast Dungeons & Dragons design team (both Third and Fifth Editions), as well as his work on A Song of Ice and Fire, Dark Heresy, Numenera, Star Wars Saga Edition, and many other games, shows well in Shadow of the Demon Lord. The game removes time-consuming front-end obstacles to an intense experience. The Gamemaster decides your characters’ starting level; character creation is streamlined and fast (and you can add or change character paths organically during play); an elegant bonus system of Boons and Banes, and a combat round with “fast turns” and “slow turns,” both streamline play. But most important is the inbuilt front-loaded Demon Lord campaign structure.

As Rob explained in a March 2017 YouTube interview with The Brewery, “You know the best part of your fantasy campaign – the one where Orcus is clawing his way out of the Abyss to wreak havoc on the world? Or Asmodeus has finally hatched his nefarious plan, or Tiamat has just hatched all her baby dragons and the world is about to end, and it’s down to your heroes to stop that from happening? You know that really cool part you never get to see because you set it up for level 20, and it’s so far off on the horizon that your group breaks up after two and a half months, and you never ever get there? Demon Lord is the best part of the campaign, dragged kicking and screaming toward the front of the game. So you’re only playing in the coolest parts of your fantasy world. The ‘Demon Lord’ is this umbrella term for whatever awful thing is about to visit your particular setting. So it lets you experience all the horror and wonder that comes from big cosmic devourers, and rains of frogs, and organs coming from the sky, or the sun turning black and poisoning the land.”

If you love Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, the Ravenloft and Midnight settings, Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law novels, or heavy metal music, you’ll want to confront the Void That Hungers – or, as star designer Kenneth Hite describes it, “Pure Spikey Caustic Red-Hot Squirming Deliquescing Rugose Gonna-Bite-Your-Fingers-Off Horned Fetid Monstrous EVIL.”

1. SHADOW OF THE DEMON LORD
[from May 2017]

The titles in this revived May 2017 Shadow of the Demon Lord Bundle make an ideal introduction to the game. This offer’s original run prompted glowing writeups like The Dread Gazebo’s “10 Great Reasons Why You Should Give Shadow of the Demon Lord a Try,” and extravagant praise on Reddit’s /r/rpg subreddit and the RPG.net forums. This bundle was unusual for the large number of customers who initially bought just the Starter Collection, then inquired whether they could upgrade their purchase to the full collection.

Once again there were five titles in this revived offer’s Starter Collection (retail value $42), including the complete 278-page Shadow of the Demon Lord corebook, the Demon Lord’s Companion, the Uncertain Faith sourcebook of divine magic, the fine introductory adventure Dark Deeds in Last Hope, and the Demon Lord Screen.

Those who paid more than this revival’s threshold (average) price also got this offer’s entire Bonus Collection with six more titles worth an additional $55. What’s in these sourcebooks? The titles speak for themselves: Hunger in the Void, Tombs of the Desolation, A Glorious Death, Terrible Beauty, and Exquisite Agony. Plus, Tales of the Demon Lord is a collection of 11 low-prep adventures across the Northern Reach.

2. DEMON LORD VICTIMS [Oct 2018]

This revived October 2018 Demon Lord Victims offer introduced new allies (and opponents) from across the Lands in Shadow. There were nine titles in this revived offer’s Starter Collection (retail value $42):

Beyond the World’s Edge, a travelogue of the strange places and stranger denizens beyond the map in the core Shadow rulebook.
Five gazetteers in the Lands in Shadow series: Borderlands of Tear, Caecras (crumbling capital of the Empire of Rûl), City of Death (Azl, northernmost city of the Confederacy), Kingdom of God (the Holy Kingdom), and A Land Divided (Old Edene).
Three Victims of the Demon Lord race sourcebooks: For Gold and Glory (dwarves), Only Human, and Uncommon Courage (halflings).

This offer’s Bonus Collection added seven more titles worth an additional $42:

Demon Lord’s Companion 2 and Forbidden Rules: New character options, combat rules, and interesting ways to reshape your campaign.
Godless: A World in Fire and Blood: A complete alternate setting for Shadow of the Demon Lord, a post-apocalypse version of our own Earth where desperate survivors pick their way through the rubble of civilization and fight bloodthirsty warlords, degenerate mutants, rapacious biker gangs, horrid monsters, and of course, demons.
Four more Victims of the Demon Lord installments: Between Two Worlds (fauns), Born to Kill (orcs), Ghosts in Machines (clockworks), and Stolen Lives (changelings).

Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) went to these two Demon Lord revivals’ designated charity, the Diana Jones Award Emerging Designer Program. Each year, the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, amplifies the voices of up-and-coming game designers by featuring them during an expenses-paid visit to Gen Con. The global Emerging Designer Program focuses on creators from marginalized communities.