Shadow of the Demon Lord
Core Rules (Revised printing)Best For
Groups who want lethal fantasy horror with flexible character paths and campaigns built around eleven adventures.
Core Mechanic
Roll d20 plus an attribute modifier against 10 for a challenge or the target’s Defense or attribute for an attack. Boons and banes cancel one for one. Roll the remaining d6s and add the highest boon or subtract the highest bane.
Attribute rolls use a common boon and bane procedure. Most depth comes from combining path talents with combat timing and spell effects. Players must learn how afflictions alter those options.
- Free to tryQuickstartA free starter you can actually play
- Get it nowSold newIn print or as a legal PDF
- ✓IndexFind any rule by page number
- ✓GM guidanceA chapter on how to run the game
- ✓Examples of playRules shown in action at the table
- ✓Quick referenceCheat sheet or summary tables
- –Cross-referencesRules rarely point to each other by page
4 of 5 book tools found in the core book
Highlights
Novice, expert and master paths combine freely to create specialized characters. Fast turns trade movement for an earlier action. Insanity and Corruption give frightening encounters and forbidden acts lasting mechanical consequences.
Considerations
Starting characters can die from a single strong hit. The rules include graphic body horror and disturbing effects of forbidden magic. Advancement ends at level 10 after the campaign’s final adventure.
Third-Party Publishing
Rules license All Rights Reserved
Original RPG adventure PDFs that may include permitted ancestries, paths, spells, equipment and monsters, using authorized Shadow of the Demon Lord material in its permitted settings and distributed through DriveThruRPG.
Required program logo and legal notices apply. The program excludes new settings, conversions, copied rulebook text and unlicensed art.
Similar systems
- Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay — A grim fantasy RPG of careers, corruption, and survival in the Old WorldCompare Shadow of the Demon Lord vs Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
- The Witcher TRPG — Monster hunting and mortal danger in the world of The WitcherCompare Shadow of the Demon Lord vs The Witcher TRPG
- Symbaroum — Treasure-hunters and rivals push into the cursed forest of Davokar to plunder the relics of a fallen civilizationCompare Shadow of the Demon Lord vs Symbaroum
- Shifters — Step sideways into a fog-choked otherworld to hunt the objects that poison ordinary streetsCompare Shadow of the Demon Lord vs Shifters
- Cyberpunk 2020 — Cybernetic outsiders taking dangerous jobs in a corporate-controlled futureCompare Shadow of the Demon Lord vs Cyberpunk 2020
- Chronicles of Darkness — Modern horror where ordinary people confront the supernaturalCompare Shadow of the Demon Lord vs Chronicles of Darkness