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These homebrewed custom modes of play expand on the official modes for Shadowdark provided on page 111 of the rules book. They are neither offered or approved by the Arcane Library.

The modes are modular, designed for use in combination with those in the rules book and Cursed Zines. Of course, some modes, such as Wounds and Afflictions Mode, are incompatible with other wounds modes.

Chaos+ Mode

Players all roll a d20 at the same time at the start of every round. The result is their initiative for that round and their action roll. High roll wins initiative.

The GM doesn't roll initiative. Monsters all act on players’ turns. If they’re attacking, their target is the current player's PC. Otherwise, they just act during a player's turn.

Death Scene Mode

There is no death timer. Instead, on each turn that a character has 0 HP, they may perform one last act and then die, or make a DC 15 Con check as their action to try to stay alive.

When making a Con check:

• On a critical success, they have 1 HP and can move near in that turn (but not act).
• On a success, they are dying, remain conscious, and can speak until their next turn.
• On a failure, they become unconscious and will die at the start of their next turn unless stabilized (giving them a new Con check) or healed.
• On a critical failure, they die at the end of their turn. Stabilization and healing isn't possible.

Stabilizing a dying character with a successful DC 15 Int, spell, or talent gives advantage to the dying character's Con check. Nothing else.

Curing Wounds or Healing a dying character enables them to act on their next turn.

High Stakes Mode

When using at least three gameplay modes in addition to this one, XP awards are doubled.

One Means One Mode

One action per round means only one roll per round. If the player has already had their turn during a round, they can't make any opposing rolls or stat checks until their next turn.