After some bartering in Covenant, the Wastelanders continue their quest to hunt down Thriftway’s raiders. The Wastelanders’ goal? Recover Steve NuGunner’s NuRay 3000. Oh, and a girl who was kidnapped from Covenant by the raiders.

0:00 Intro & Wasteland Recap
5:15 Covenant Refuge and Raider Fallout
13:10 Upgrades, Bartering & Lars’ Plea
20:40 Junkyard Clues & Mole Rat Mayhem
31:25 Tracking Raiders & Teddy Bear Prep
40:10 Ambush in the Wastes: Sneak or Shoot
52:45 Sewer Entrance & Guard Elimination
1:00:50 Shotgun Justice & Laser Luck
1:17:35 Sewer Showdown & Whip Disarm
1:33:55 The Turret Twist & Fallout Cliffhanger

The wasteland adventurers delve deeper into the irradiated heart of the wasteland as Steve NuGunner, Lucky Buck, Goulardi, and Nurse 17 arrive at the battered settlement of Covenant. After narrowly fending off raiders, they resupply, regroup, and are thrust into a high-stakes mission: rescue a kidnapped girl taken by Thriftway’s Enclave-aligned raiders.

Nurse 17 gets upgraded with stealth and speed, becoming a teddy bear-draped death machine, while Steve is laser-focused on retrieving his beloved NuRay 3000. Following tracks to a junkyard-turned-camp, the group uncovers clues leading them to an ominous sewer entrance.

Their infiltration escalates quickly as stealth gives way to gunfire and buzzsaws. From sneak attacks to shotgun justice, the team cuts through the raiders, pushing deeper and deeper into the base. Along the way, they interrogate a survivor, sprint into potential traps, and navigate the green-tinged threat of an oncoming radiation storm. The episode crescendos with a chase into the sewer depths—just in time for the hum of an auto-turret coming online.

A man aims a shotgun in a screenshot from Fallout 4.

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The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 4: Shotgun Justice (S4E20) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets.

On this episode, we talk about the top mistakes we made running ShadowDark (aka “how Ken accidentally enabled hard mode for his campaign”).

Our mistakes include “overly complicate torch management”, “create deadlier rat diseases”, “don’t use Luck points”, and more!

Looking for more ShadowDark content? Check out these Lair episodes:

You don’t need to do torch gymnastics to light a new one. If your old one is burning down, and the players want to start a new torch, they do it. The timer is reset to 60 minutes, and the old torch is discarded.

Keeping fractional torches around (“But we had 15 minutes left on this torch!”) is a natural impulse given the importances (and potential scarcity) of light, but fractional torches make things complicated. And the mechanic isn’t meant to be complicated.

A reasonable house rule I’ve seen for torches that go out less than halfway through their burn cycle is to round down to 30 minutes. Keeping track of “half torches” is still work, but less work than breaking it down further.

That said, if you’re under threat, then yes, there are torch gymnastics. There’s a DC 12 Dexterity check to ignite a torch under such conditions. – If it’s dark, same DC, but with disadvantage. We’ll talk more about that in our ShadowDark house rules episode coming up. (Sly Flourish – https://slyflourish.com/shadowdark_house_rules.html)

The common rat in ShadowDark is infected with a fast acting disease that immediately saps the adventurer’s Constitution. Depending on how you interpret the rule, it either prevents all healing until the adventurer makes a saving throw OR the adventure can’t recover their lost Con until they make a saving throw.

Ken chose the latter.

For Ken’s first few games, he didn’t use Luck points at all. Which, given how deadly ShadowDark is, can be a pretty big difficulty upgrade for players.

Running the same scenario at a convention (and swapping in a Seer character from Cursed Scrolls #3) revealed just how helpful Luck tokens are (the seer being able to create Luck tokens 3x per day).

Ken’s game made spell failure MUCH more dangerous by rolling on the mishap chart whenever a spell casting attempt failed (and not just on critical fumbles, as per the rules).

This makes it much more likely your 1st level character is going to get killed when failing to cast a spell.

Carousing is a big part of the game. During downtime, players can spend gold to have adventures in town, earning XP, acquiring allies (and maybe an enemy). But to do it, they need gold … so it helps to make sure that they’ll actually have that gold when they got home. 

Also, read the carousing and “learn skills” downtime activities before you start the adventure, so you know what the players can do at the end. 

ShadowDark is a cousin of D&D 5e … and 5e has a rule for everything. It’s easy to bring in default 5e assumptions (I’m looking at you, opportunity attacks) rather than looking for the ShadowDark equivalent. 

Do you level up at session’s end or in the middle of the session? This is more a preference than a mistake (though your mileage may vary). Leveling up is super easy in ShadowDark, but it does slow things down a bit.

ShadowDark is a rules-light game. D&D or Pathfinder fans may come in looking for detailed rules for, well, just about everything.

Most of the time, ShadowDark doesn’t have them. Like “Learning” during downtime. The book provides some guidelines for what they can’t do (learn another class’s or ancestries’ unique talents) and two examples of what they can (a new language, how to ride a sandworm using a harness). There’s no big list of skills (but though you could steal from backgrounds).

Don’t worry. Just roll with it.

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The background image is the map from Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur, featured in the ShadowDark quick-start rules.

The post d8 ShadowDark Mistakes We Made (S4E19) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets.

Our group of wastelanders (and one former Vault dwelling weapons tester) defend the fortified town of Covenant from raiders in the latest chapter of our Fallout 2d20 Actual Play campaign. The raiders defeated, the group gains access to Covenant, where they uncover rumors about a ghoul named Thriftway dealing in slaves for the Enclave.

0:00 – Intro: Welcome to the Wasteland
1:00 – Raiders at the Gates: Defending Covenant
4:30 – Entering Covenant: A Safe Haven or a Lie?
9:45 – The Barter Extravaganza: Caps, Junk, and Haggling
26:00 – The Junk Jet Temptation: A Heavy Investment
31:30 – Thriftway’s Shadow: Raiders, Slavery, and the Enclave
44:10 – The Alarm Sounds: Lars Returns, Badly Wounded
50:15 – A Mission Forms: Tracking Thriftway and Saving the Girl
1:03:30 – Outro: Next Stop – The Hunt Begins!

Raiders at the Gates – The team helps Covenant fend off a raider attack and earns the town’s trust.

Covenant’s Secrets – The town appears friendly, but there’s an undercurrent of unease, especially toward ghouls.

The Great Barter Session – A deep dive into Fallout’s economy as the group haggles for ammo, supplies, and a stealth module for Nurse 17.

The Junk Jet Temptation – Lucky Buck eyes a bizarre but deadly weapon.

A Growing Threat – The group hears rumors that the Enclave is buying slaves from Thriftway, but his location remains unknown.

A Sudden Attack – Lars, a local mechanic, returns badly injured, revealing that raiders took his daughter.

A New Mission – With a lead on Thriftway, the party gears up for a rescue operation.

A raider base in Fallout 4. Credit: Bethesda.

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The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 3: Raiders & Rumors (S4E18) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets.

Fallout 2d20 uses zones instead of conventional battle maps or theater of the mind to describe where your characters (and their enemies) are in the game world. In this episode, we talk about how Fallout zones work, offer advice on how to use them, and take a peak at some other games that use zones.

After fighting our way through the wasteland, we geek out about Alien: Isolation, the excellent survival horror game now available on the Switch, and the Foundry Virtual Table Top.

0:00 Intro – Welcome to the Lair of Secrets
1:00 What Are Fallout Zones?
3:45 How Zones Improve Tactical Combat
9:30 Obstacles, Cover & Hazards in Zone-Based Play
15:20 Zone-Based Games – Fate, Shadowdark, Alien, and More
19:45 Jump Scares – Playing ALIEN: Isolation in the Dark
26:30 How Alien: Isolation Preps You for Running an Alien RPG
31:10 David’s New Obsession: Foundry VTT
34:50 Foundry vs. Roll20 – Which Virtual Tabletop is Better?
37:45 Final Thoughts & Sign Off

The muddled background is the local map for Vault 88 in Fallout 4. Credit: Bethesda.

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On this episode, we delve far from the light to geek out about Shadowdark. The old-school-inspired RPG strips Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition to its essentials, and then adds in some modern sensibilities.

We talk about our favorite mechanics, how it’s impacted our other games (looking at you D&D 5th Edition!), and our players’ penchant for wandering off into the dark.

PLUS: Squishy wizards! Unlimited spells (if they don’t kill you!) Morale failures! AND the upcoming Western Reaches Campaign Setting Kickstarter (link in the comments)

0:00 – Intro: Straight into the ShadowDark
1:30 – Rolling Old-School Attributes (3D6 in Order!)
4:10 – The Darkness is Your Enemy: Why Light Matters
7:30 – Inventory Tetris: The Beauty of Gear Slots
10:00 – Squishy Wizards and the Horror of 1 HP
13:00 – No XP for Combat? Time to Get Creative
15:20 – Skills? Where we’re going, we don’t need skills!
18:00 – Morale Checks: Making Enemies Run in Fear
20:30 – Unlimited Spells (But at What Cost?)
23:00 – Clerical Penance: Displease Your God and Suffer
26:00 – Rolling on the Chaos Tables: Why Randomness is Fun
28:40 – Limited Rules, Maximum Improv
31:00 – Excited for Western Reaches—More ShadowDark Content!
32:30 – Final Thoughts & Where to Find Us Online

Watch d12 Ways ShadowDark is Awesome! on YouTube

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The post d12 Ways ShadowDark is Awesome! (S4E15) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets.

We kickoff our Fallout 2d20 campaign with the protagonists (not sure we can call them “heroes” just yet) waking up in the Wasteland.

0:00 – Intro & Audio Shenanigans
3:15 – Meet the Survivors
8:40 – Escape from the Hospital Basement
14:55 – Reg the Super Mutant Chef
22:10 – Journey Through the Wasteland
29:30 – EyeBot Encounters & Enclave Paranoia
35:50 – The Boathouse Discovery
42:15 – Bloatfly Swarm Attack!
49:40 – Lucky Buck’s Unfortunate Grenade Fumble
55:20 – Steve Learns About Boats & Water
1:02:45 – Looting the Boathouse & Finding the Note
1:10:30 – What’s the Deal with Thriftway?
1:18:15 – Closing Thoughts & What’s Next

Intro Banter & Setup: The team settles in, adjusting audio, discussing wildlife encounters, and reflecting on the horror of screech owls.

Meet the Survivors:

Cryogenic Awakening: The group escapes a hospital basement, encountering a radroach-dissecting super mutant chef named Reg, who warns them to leave before his kin arrive.

First Steps in the Wasteland: The survivors are joined by Svenghoulie, a ghoul carrying grenade-stuffed rubber chickens.

The Journey to Covenant Begins: Along the cracked highways, they dodge a suspicious EyeBot blaring patriotic music and explain the concept of boats to a bewildered Steve.

Bloatfly Brawl at the Boathouse: The team arrives at a seemingly abandoned boathouse, only to be swarmed by oversized, irradiated insects.

Lucky Buck’s Unlucky Grenade Incident: Attempting to clear the infestation, Buck fumbles a baseball grenade, obliterating the bloatflies—and nearly taking Steve with him.

Looting the Wreckage: The team scavenges supplies, discovering food, weapons, and a note pointing them toward Covenant and a mysterious Thriftway.

Closing Thoughts & Next Steps: The session ends with a healed-up Steve demanding answers about Thriftway, as the group prepares for what lies ahead.

Cryo-chambers from Fallout 4. Credit: Bethesda.

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The post Fallout 2d20 Chapter 1: Wasteland Wake-Up (S4E14) appeared first on Lair Of Secrets.

Ken elaborates on the Attention Economy – how many things people need to keep track of – for D&D 2024, and how it differs from the 2014. (and yeah, this explains his initial reaction to the Blade Ward cantrip back in Episode 5).

He reviews the idea of the Action Economy (how many things a player can do in a round), how it relates to the Attention Economy (how many things a player needs to keep track of), and the implications for speed of play.

0:00 – Intro – What is the Attention Economy?
1:15 – Action Economy vs. Attention Economy
2:45 – How D&D 5E Streamlined Play
3:30 – High-Level Play and Complexity Challenges
4:20 – D&D 2024 – Exciting or Overwhelming?
5:10 – Final Thoughts & Experimenting with the New Rules

Watch The D&D Attention Economy – Greyhawk ’76 (Ep. 7) on YouTube.

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Ken recaps his group’s second session using the D&D 2024 rules, with specific looks at Blade Ward (spiffy spell, won’t save you from critical) and Mastery (a character ability that unlocks special characteristics of weapons).

0:00 – Welcome to Greyhawk ’76
1:10 – The Burrow Boys Arrive: Ogres, Halflings, and a Goliath
3:20 – Trickery and Tragedy: Illusions, Combat, and Critical Failures
5:10 – The Standoff Turns Deadly: James Fairheight’s Fate
7:00 – D&D 2024 Playtest: What We Learned

Watch Enemy Mine – Greyhawk ’76 (Ep. 6) on YouTube.

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After venturing into the dark with only a torch to guide their way, the Campaigns & Coffee crew talks about their experiences playing the ShadowDark RPG (where they ARE very likely to be eaten by a grue).

They discuss the dungeon-delving, old-school-inspired game’s real-time torch mechanics, its focus on fast-paced and high-stakes decision-making. They also look at encumbrance (no, you can not bring a golf club bag’s worth of weapons), spell mechanics, and the game’s relentless tension.

0:00 – Welcome
1:00 – First Impressions of Shadowdark RPG
3:05 – Torch Timer: Exciting or Stressful?
5:36 – How Shadowdark Brings Back Old-School D&D
8:11 – Minimal Planning, Maximum Action
12:30 – Encumbrance: You Can’t Carry Everything!
16:25 – Spells, Failures, and Magical Chaos
18:00 – Fun (and Bad) Player Choices
20:46 – The Overlord’s Healthcare Question
22:06 – Outro and Final Thoughts

Watch Shadowdark Impressions (Campaigns & Coffee) on YouTube.

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Cover art from the ShadowDark core rule book. Credit: The Arcane Library.

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On this episode of Lair of Secrets, we present the our guide for new Game Masters, packed with advice, tips, and encouragement for those ready to take the GM seat. We explore choosing the right game, gathering players, preparing efficiently, and rolling with mistakes while ensuring a fun and engaging experience.

0:00 – Welcome to the Lair & GMing 101
2:00 – Choosing the Right Game for You & Your Players
5:00 – Prepping Smart: Rules, Research & Quickstart Guides
8:30 – Finding & Pitching to Players
11:45 – One-Shots vs. Campaigns: Starting with Low Commitment
14:20 – Tools of the Trade: GM Kits & Digital vs. In-Person Play
17:30 – Rolling with Mistakes & Improvising on the Fly
20:15 – Setting Expectations & Managing Player Dynamics
23:00 – Encouragement for New GMs & The GMUary Initiative
25:10 – Closing Thoughts & Join the Lair Community!

Watch The Lair’s Guide for New Game Masters (S4E13) on YouTube

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Cover art for the D&D Essentials Kit. Credit: Wizards of the Coast.

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