Seasons in Shadow

Optional Community Rules for Shadowdark

 Seasons in Shadow
Optional Community Rules for Shadowdark
This supplement offers optional rules that can be used in lieu of Carousing (see Shadowdark,
pg. 92). Instead of spending their plundered treasures on carousing, PCs can opt to invest in
building a community over the course of several seasons or even years. This community will
look to them for protection as new threats arise, but offer new benefits to those brave enough
to delve into the darkness that festers beneath the earth.
Community Investments
To build a community, the PC invests an amount of GP noted below on the Community
Investments table and rolls 1d8,plus the investment bonus. They then consult the Investment
Results table to determine what new building or resource has been brought to the community.
As the community develops, the PCs and the GM are encouraged to work together to name and
note NPCs and other events to give the settlement a sense of life and vibrancy.
Community Investments
Cost Investment Bonus
30 gp A general call is put and messengers are sent calling for settlers to come +0
to a new tract of land.
100 gp A team of surveyors and workers are hired to clear land in preparation +1
for building a community.
300 gp A minor noble is bribed to endorse a new community and news of the +2
benefits of living there spreads throughout the land with their
endorsement.
600 gp A wealthy merchant takes your investment money and seeds it into the +3
growth of the community.
900 gp A noble family agrees to offer substantial material resources to aid the +4
community in return for a downpayment to fill their coffers with gold.
1200 gp A famed adventurer proclaims your town to be prosperous and free of +5
any dangers that may rise up from the Shadowdark - in return for a
hefty, but quietly made, bribe.
1800 gp A legendary dragon slayer spends several weeks traveling across the land +6
telling everyone they meet of the verdant and prosperous land free of
danger where the crops are bountiful and the seasons are mild. Trusted
and heralded for their legendary valor and upright conscious, no one will
ever doubt their claims.This legendary hero, will of course, expect to have
their travels paid for.
Investment Results
d8 Results Benefit
1 A few settlers arrive with tools to reluctantly try to build a new life. 2 XP
2 A band of exiles, banished for previous crimes, arrive to start their lives 2 XP
all over again, bringing with them several… unique skills.
3 Several families of tradesmen arrive to set up shop. 3 XP
4 A retired dwarf adventurer and a few of their clanmates arrive to 3 XP + a
establish a new tavern whose beer draws travels far and wide. dwarf ally
5 A skilled blacksmith sets up shop, offering a sample of their fine wares 3 XP + 1
as a token of their sincerity. mundane
weapon or
armor.
6 Several families arrive with a plethora of young healthy children, filled 4 XP
with dedication and optimism at the prospect of a growing community.
7 A foppish noble arrives, deciding to build a mansion in town. They 4 XP + a
build a friendship with the party due to their exploits in order to appear noble ally
daring and rugged.
8 A respected clergyman is ordered to establish a new church in the 4 XP + a
community and sets a blessing upon the community and its people. luck token.
9 A local community member approaches the party about establishing a 5 XP + gain
thief’s guild in town and cutting them in. Whether or not they take the 1d10 x 20
offer is up to them. GP or 1d4+2
enemy NPCs.
10 An eager young adventurer comes to town, bringing with them wealth 5 XP + gain a
that is invested in the community. They then ask to join the PCs on 1st level ally
their next adventure. on your next
adventure.
11 A truly strange monster (use Monster Generator and Make It Weird in 5 XP
Shadowdark core rules) arrives on the edge of town and claims the
town as under its protection… as long as it receives proper tribute.
12 A powerful wizard arrives in town and decides to build a tower there 5 XP + a
after retiring from adventuring. He performs strange experiments. Wizard ally.
13 Gold Rush! Someone in town finds gold in nearby canyons or 6 XP + 1d16
riverbanks, turning the town into a boom town. x 100 GP.
14+ While tilling soil, a community member finds an ancient relic was 6 XP + a
believed to be lost forever. It is powerful beyond measure and those 90-100 item
who desire it will come for it… from the
treasure
table
Standing in Community
Each time a PC gains XP from investing in the community they can spend up to one-half
(rounded down) of this XP to increase their Standing in the community. Standing functions like
level, advancing at the same rate and allowing them to gain access to new abilities. Each time a
character increases their Standing they roll 2d6 and consult the Standing Benefit table.
Standing Advancement
Standing Advance At... Standing Benefit
1 10 XP +1
2 30 XP +1
3 50 XP +1
4 70 XP +1
5 90 XP +1

Standing Benefit
2d6 Standing Benefit
2 Purchase Basic Gear at 50% discount from town
3-5 Randomly generated 1st level NPC joins you on your next adventure
6-9 +1 Constitution or Charisma stat
10-11 You begin the next adventure with +1 Luck Token
12 Choose a benefit or +2 to distribute to stats

Standing Titles
Standing Lawful Title Neutral Title Chaotic Title
1 Newcomer Stranger Vagrant
2 Townsman/Townswoman Bumpkin Troublemaker
3 Pillar Tradehand Rabble-Rouser
4 Alderman Friend Ne’er-Do-Well
5 Town Counselor Fixture Criminal
Community Events
Each time any PC advances their Standing, the GM rolls 1d6. If the number rolled is equal to
or under that PC’s current Standing, then a Community Event happens and the player
characters must deal with the consequences. The consequences of these events are noted on
the table below, but can also be used as adventure hooks in their own right. To determine the
Community Event, roll 1d8 and add the PC’s Standing.
Community Events
1d8 + Community Event Effect
Standing
1 A local lord arrives and taxes the All PCs lose 10% of their GP
community heavily.
2 A passing army conscripts many members PCs each lose one ally or hired
of the community into their service. NPC
3 A terrible illness sweeps through the Each PC must make a CON Save
community. Many die of illness or are or begin next adventure with
weakened by plague. Disadvantage on all CON saves.
4 A rash of break-ins and thefts have swept PCs either lose 50% of their GP or
the community. begin next adventure with 0 Luck
6 FIRE! A terrible fire sweeps through the PCs begin next adventure with
community. Homes are destroyed and lives their max HP reduced by their
are lost. Level due to unhealed burns.
7 The seasonal festival turned into a drunken PCs are reduced to the minimum
riot, with reputations left in tatters. XP for their current Standing.
8 Political strife has divided the community, PCs cannot spend XP to advance
halting any efforts to prosper. Neighbor their Standing after the next
turns against neighbor. adventure
9 A plague of stingbats destroys almost all the Rations cannot be bought until the
crops and grain stores. next adventure.
10 A traveling cleric arrives in town and PCs must make a WIS Save or
declares the community to be heretics. An suffer a -2 on all saves to resist
inquisition rips through the populace. spells for the next adventure
11 A traveling sorcerer curses the community PCs cannot earn Luck on their
for their ill-treatment and a rash of bad luck next adventure
breaks out.
12 A demon was accidentally summoned by a PCs must choose to perform a
curious child who discovered a misplaced favor for the demon or defeat it in
tome. combat.
13+ The earth rips open in the middle of the Good luck fighting a dragon!
town and a dragon bursts forth from the
Shadowdark below, attacking the town.
Written by: James M. Spahn Published by: Gaffer Games
Art by: Carlos Castilho, Dean Spencer (https://gaffer-games.itch.io/)
Soul-Burning Torch is an independent product published under the Shadowdark RPG
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