Shadowdark crawlers have one simple rule: don’t let the torch go out.
So let’s break that rule.
Accursed Photophage
Crawlers enter the Shadowdark to find loot and buried treasure. Too late, they realize this is no vault; it’s a dungeon!
This lightless, underground prison was constructed to hold the Photophage, a titanic spirit jailed by the gods in the Dawn Ages to stop it from eating the sun. On this mortal plane, it presents as a 15-foot-tall golden head. It resembles a human infant and is supported just off the ground by six sets of golden wings. It speaks Celestial, but is only capable of sincere praise.
While in the presence of light, it cannot be harmed.
It is found dormant, dark and empty. Exposed to torchlight, it will begin to fill with terrible glory, siphoning the light from the flickering flame and amplifying it exponentially. Within moments, it is nearly too bright to see.
Once the crawlers enter the dungeon, it is only a matter of time before the Photophage reaches the surface. If it does so, it will only grow more powerful. Light, heat, and tomorrow’s sunrise all balance on the fate of this battle.
Stat Block
TITAN, PHOTOPHAGE
15-foot-tall floating baby’s head, formed of burning gold. Innocent. Hungry. Apocalyptic.
AC 10, HP 49, ATK 1 bite +5 (1d10) and 4 radiant lances +10 (1d12)
MV half near (fly), S +0, D +0, C +0, I -3, W -2, Ch +5, AL C, LV 11
Glory. Immune to damage. Hostile spells targeting the photophage are DC 15.
Blinding. Any creature who looks directly at photophage, DC 15 CON or blinded.
Light Eater. In darkness, loses radiant lance attacks, Glory, and Blinding.
Considerations
Ok, so you’re going to fight this thing in total darkness. What does that mean?
Shadowdark’s rules for this are on page 84 of the core book. Short version? Disadvantage and random encounter checks every single round. We’ve already accounted for the disadvantage with the low AC; once players have cracked the puzzle, they shouldn’t have any more trouble rolling damage against this thing. However, we still have two things we should think about: how will we communicate the solution to our players, and what does our random encounter table look like?
Communication
As a general rule, I avoid putting puzzles between players and success. They work best as locks on shortcuts and bonus treasure. Besides, an unsolved puzzle can be a more tantalizing memory than a victory. Unfortunately, if this puzzle is left unsolved, your crawlers will be lasered to death with radiant lances and your Shadowdark game will be over.
So let’s talk clues.
Give at least three. Start with something environmental, something your players can find. Maybe an early room in the dungeon displays the gods battling the creature in two murals. In the first, it’s day and the creature dominates the gods. In the second, a god (Ord, if you’re using the base set) casts a shroud over the sun, and the gods bind the Photophage beneath the earth.
Second, say it out loud. Have the fodder monsters in this dungeon focus fire on torch-bearers and lampshade this in your dialogue. “Kill the Key-bearer! The Prisoner must be contained!”
Finally, if you hit combat and your players still don’t get it, use combat description to prod them. “Your blade cuts deep, but then there is a surge of light from your torches and the creature’s flesh regenerates.” If one of the PCs goes down, start getting explicit: “It siphons light from your torches to replace the photonic energy of its body.”
Is it explicit? Yes. But the thrill is not in cracking a difficult puzzle; it’s in having the key to kill an invincible monster.
Random Encounters
So total darkness is deadly, as per Shadowdark rules. That means an encounter every round. So what should be on that encounter table?
Stuffing it full of monster combats is a non-starter. The Photophage is already a deadly monster, so throwing in enough monsters to be an independent threat every turn is… it’s just too much. Frequency of monsters should be either 1-in-4, 2-in-6, or a similar ratio, depending on the size of die you’re using.
Consider giving these monster types similarly light-and-torch-based abilities; maybe -2 AC per light source within close or a weakness to fire. You want the players to be aware that by putting themselves in darkness, they’ve endangered themselves or lost normally crucial tools, but also know that they have some time before they’re interrupted.
So what do we fill the other random encounter slots with? We’re looking for trap-like encounters that work equally well as a crawling-turn hazard or a combat round complicator. Locating the dungeon in a seismic fault could provide a lot of possibilities. ‘DC 12 STR or become prone and drop what you’re holding’ would work great; losing a torch early in the dungeon could make entering total darkness by choice later more meaningful. ‘DC 15 DEX or take d6 damage from falling rubble’ helps with the hp attrition the missing combats could provide.
Spread the Light
File off the serial numbers and use this concept as your own. We always try to lean into what makes a system mechanically unique; just look at our Magic Swords for Shadowdark. Take that philosophy to your Shadowdark game. You may find there’s plenty of value hidden in the dark!
Like what you’ve read? Check out some of our other Shadowdark Monsters or do us a solid and buy one of our Modules. You won’t regret it!