Venturing into the dark is dangerous, and the Shadowdark RPG offers monstrous threats, dangerous traps, and treacherous hazards to throw at your players. What it doesn’t provide is a hazards chart listing potential damage and check difficulty classes.
So we made one.
What are hazards?
The Shadowdark Core Rules detail hazards — persistent threats like quicksand, sleep-inducing spores, and collapsing walls — on page 115. They’re described as things players might be able to mitigate or evade, but there’s often no way to “defeat or permanently disable them”.
It’s a great mechanic, but unlike traps — whose potential effects and damage are detailed on page 114 — hazard impacts are left up to the game master. Given the open ended nature of hazards that makes sense, but as someone coming from more rule-intensive games like Dungeons & Dragons, I was hoping for a few more specifics.
I found them in the published adventures for Shadowdark, which detail environmental effects, saving throws, and damage. I’m using this chart as a quick reference guide for my campaign. It’s not meant to be a definitive source for hazard difficulties, since not every hazard will require a saving throw or do damage. For those that do, this provides some high-level guidelines for crafting your own threats.
Want to see hazards in action? Scroll down for official and homegrown examples of hazards.
Building a Shadowdark Hazard Chart
| Hazard Level | Examples | Damage | Check DC |
| 0-3 | Short fall, dense rubble | 1d6 | Normal (12) |
| 4-6 | Collapsing walls, enfeebling magic | 2d6 | Hard (15) |
| 7-9 | Drowning hazard, long fall, Toxic gas, crushing terrain | 3d6 | Extreme (18) |
| 10 | Complete cave collapse | 4d6 | Here there be dragons. |
Published Hazards
Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur
There are several hazards in the Lost Citadel of the Scarlet Minotaur. I’ve quoted two of them below as examples.
Room 2: Blinding Cave is a cruel cave that blinds people when they enter it with their torches.
- Walls. Dazzlingly reflective. DC 12 DEX when entering with bright light or blinded for 1d4 rounds (ettercaps are unaffected).
Room 3. Web-Choked Cave is filled with webs (left by what? The PCs will find out…)
- Webs. Sticky. DC 12 STR to break free and move each turn. Highly flammable (1d6 damage to stuck creatures, burns 1d4 rounds).
Cursed Scroll #3: Midnight Sun
Hoard of the Sea Wolf King is a zero-level gauntlet set in the ruins of a Viking-inspired tomb. It appears in Cursed Scrolls #3, and includes several arctic/underground themed hazards.
In Room 5. Stingbat Cave, there is “tarry, black mud”:
- Mud. Coppery-smelling stingbat guano. PCs moving at more than half-speed must pass a DC 12 DEX check or slip and fall.
In Room 15. Flotsam Cave, there are towering piles of driftwood.
- Piles. Precariously stacked debris. Each time a PC touches it, DC 12 DEX or 2d6 damage as they’re crushed under a collapse.
Homegrown Hazard Examples
Basic Hazard
- Minor Geothermal Vent (Damage) – DEX DC 12 check to avoid; 1d6 damage if you fail.
Combined Hazard
- Geothermal Vent (Damage) + Noxious Gas – DEX DC 12 to avoid. 1d6 damage if you fail; CON DC 12 to avoid passing out for 1d4 rounds … and take damage every subsequent round until you wake up or are dragged from the area.
What more Shadowdark?
Check out our other ShadowDark shows and resources:
- Shadowdark RPG Tools & Resources
- d12 Ways Shadowdark is Awesome! (S4E15)
- d8 Shadowdark Mistakes We Made (S4E19)
- d8 Shadowdark Monster Resources (S4E26)
- Shadowdark Impressions (Campaigns & Coffee)
- Unboxing Cursed Scrolls 3: Midnight Sun for Shadowdark
- Unboxing the GM Companion for Shadowdark
Featured Image Meta
Artwork from the Shadowdark Game Master’s Screen. Credit: Arcane Library.