Ring Side Report- RPG review of Shadow of the Weird Wizard

Product– Shadow fo the Weird Wizard

System- Shadow of the Weird Wizard

Producer– Schwalb Entertainment

Price– $19.99 here https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/457226/shadow-of-the-weird-wizard?affiliate_id=658618 

TL; DR– A LOT more but not what some expected.  99% 

Basics– Family friendly fantasy Schwalb!  Shadow of the Weird Wizard is Schwalb Entertainment’s family friendly fantasy RPG.  Let’s look at the basics then the breakdown.

Base Mechanics- This game is d20 based with the normal base numbers you would expect.  There are only four attributes (strength, agility, intelligence, and will).  The interesting part is your abilities directly determine a bonus to any roll. If you are asked to make a will roll, you look at your will attribute, subtract 10, and add that number to a d20 roll.  So if you have a will of 13, then then the bonus is +3.  Simple. This goes for everything from attacks to opening a lock.  The number you are aiming for most times is a 10 for a success.

Boons and banes-  Aside from a d20, the other die this game uses often is a d6.  If you have an advantage in a situation, then you roll a boon or a d6 and ADD the value to the d20 roll.  If you have a disadvantage you roll a bane or a d6 and you SUBTRACT the value from the d20 roll.  If you have multiple boons or banes, you roll multiple dice but combine only the most extreme penalty or bonus to your d20 roll.  Boons and banes counteract one another, so two banes and three boons mean you get one boon on the roll. 

Combat- Combat is a bit simpler than Shadow of the Demon Lord.  Here, each side takes a turn with the GM or Sage going first.  All their NPCs go first moving, attacking, or casting spells, and then the players can choose whatever order they want to take.  Each turn a player can move and take an action.  These actions are attacks, spells, and anything else a player can think of.

Leveling up– This is the biggest change Schawlb brings to the world of RPGs.  Leveling up in all the Shadow games is simple and occurs quite often.  After a four hour adventure, you level up.  Not after multiple sessions.  Not at specific XP levels.  Just after every completed game.  Leveling up is also predictable.  Level 1 and 2 you get levels in your base class or your novice path.  Level 3 and 4 you choose an expert path.  5 is back to your novice path.  6 is your expert path.  7 and 8 are a master path.  9 is your expert path, and finally 10 is the master path final level.  The classes/paths are split into four basic areas: fighter, rogue, wizard, and cleric, and this is the same for both the expert and master paths as well.  So you can be a novice cleric, then a mountebank (rogue), and finally an alienist (wizard) and the flow will be fun and works well.

Ok, now my breakdown. 

Mechanics or Crunch– I like the Shadow games.  This is no different.  This one doesn’t have the slow/fast turn mechanics of the Shadow of the Demonlord, but that will make this appeal to a wider audience of gamers.  Aside from that, this game’s goal is to be fast.  Schwalb wants to make an approachable game that flows fast.  And this does.   5/5

Theme or Fluff– Schwalb is not known for being family friendly.  His other stuff is just bizarre and gross AND I LOVE IT.  This is meant to be a very different experience.  It’s well done, but if you want the gothic horror of Shadow of the Demon Lord, you will be disappointed.  However, if you want a family friendly game then this is the Schwalb Entertainment that you would bring to the table. 5/5

Execution–  This is a solidly put together game that meets all the base requirements I need and want in a book.  There is art that breaks up text blocks.  There is a solid layout to ease reading.  And there are hypertext to make this a breeze to move through quickly.  The one thing I do not like is the lack of a walkthrough of making a character and leveling up. I know it’s not hard, but those things are something I think really helps the new players.  That said, this is a near perfect book for production. 4.9/5

Summary– I have always loved what Schwalb Entertainment puts out.  It’s a very different philosophy compared to other RPGs and companies.  This is no different, but it is a change from the normal tone of Schwalb.  Not bad, but different.  You have to know exactly what you are getting here.  This is a player book, not a full system book.  The original Shadow of the Demon Lord was an all in one book.  This is not that.  If you think that this one book will do it all, you will be disappointed.  But this book doesn’t skimp on content as you get a crazy amount of things for your money.  I just would like a few more examples for perfection.  99%