01/27/2025

Welcome back to Tabletop Thoughts!

Today, we will examine the Equipment section of the Player’s Companion for Shadowdark.

First, it starts with a section that describes different gemstones and metals. This is great for GMs to use for different treasures. Everything doesn’t have to be a diamond and ruby, there are other precious stones and this section gives descriptions for the GM to use.

The next section is about weapons. This supplement has 25 weapons compared to the 15 in the core rulebook. The new weapons are the bearded axe, flail, morningstar, polearm, rapier, sap, scimitar, sling, and trident. While some of these new weapons are very unique, like the sap or bearded axe, most of these weapons should have been included in the core rules. How are there no polearms in Shdowdark? I know they are limited in dungeons, but they are great in the wilderness and the battlefield. Plus, more options allow characters of the same class to look and feel different. Maybe one fighter uses a sword and shield to wade into the fray while the other uses a polearm to keep the enemies back away from the wizard and cleric.

Next is the armor section. The core rules had only 3 types of armor: leather, chainmail, and plate mail. This supplement includes 13 different types of armor as well as 3 different shields. There is also a helmet with rules for what it does. Each type of armor has different AC modifiers as well as properties to make them feel different. I really like this. You can use different armors to signify different levels of social standing. Low-level guards might have hauberk as armor while their lieutenant has full chainmail. The captain of the guard might have field plate armor. Options are always a plus.

The equipment section is a huge improvement over the core rules. There are 100 items, all included in a random table, that the players can purchase. The core rules had 18 items and one of those was a gem. While some of the items might see limited sales (two-man saw), the expanded list gives the players something to spend their money on. Since it is a random table, the GM can also just roll a d100 to see what the players find inside a chest or small building. Again, I really like the expanded equipment section and would gladly use this in my Shadowdark campaign.

These sections at the end of the supplement are where I find most of the value. Equipment options are always a bonus to any game since they allow customization of the players without a lot of additional rules.

Next time, we will look at the rest of the supplement which includes plants/poisons, traps, and spell catalysts.

Keep on gaming!