Kelsey Dionne is a Genius
Seriously, as someone who's been doing this a *long* time professionally (1988) and much longer personally (1977). I readily admit I drifted away from D&D early on, seeking more varied, player-driven character creation options and different skill/combat resolutions.
When the OSR first manifested, I was disinterested, to say the least. Don't get me wrong - many friends and colleagues made some good bank on their efforts, and I respect that there were (and are) many who gladly embraced these options.
During my attendance at Philadelphia Area Game Expo 3 recently, I finally had a chance to check out this game called ShadowDark in the special "marathon" space set aside for it.
Let me skip to the end here - when I was not otherwise in panels or running my own game, I was in that room as continuously as possible, playing in each instance I could. I fell absolutely in love with the game.
I went to explore purchasing it at your booth; sadly, my finances had taken enough of a dive from the trip that I couldn't spend the (very appropriate) amount asked for. Instead, I picked up the "starter pack" and indulged in that.
At the very end of the convention, one of my absolute dearest friends - Nestor Rodriguez - surprised me with a copy of the core ("Happy Late Birthday," he said).
I am planning a campaign even now; this is how much I am invested in your creation, Kelsey. I haven't run a non-Prowlers & Paragons driven game in literally *years*! This is how much your vision of d20-style play impresses me. I am especially fond of all those amazing random charts; they aren't tedious, they're *fun*! I can see how much they make the GM's task so much easier and enjoyable.
I'll admit I was initially thrown by the one-hour real-time measurement of light; I quickly came around as I saw how it meaningfully impacts both pace and resource management. In fact, so *many* of your clever and innovative design decisions have completely brought me back into d20 "classic" play, and I thank you for that.
Sincerely,
Sean Patrick Fannon
Author of "The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamers Bible"
Writer and Designer for Champions, Savage Worlds, Prowlers & Paragons Ultimate Edition, and more.
