What is an Open Table anyway?

An open table is a style of tabletop gaming with a large flexible playerbase. This was the original way of playing D&D-- Original Dungeons & Dragons states the game is played by groups of four to fifty players! Only a handful of players participate in each game session, but all player characters inhabit a shared world. This style of play fell out of fashion in favor of a more tailored narrative-style play of long campaign arcs and a small but stable party of players (think: Critical Role). Ben Robbins repopularized this older "open" style of play and detailed the logistics with his famous West Marches campaign. If you plan on running a game in this style, reading Ben Robbins' blog and watching Matt Colville's video on the topic is highly recommended. I've been running a game in this style for a while now, so I feel like I have some authority to speak on this topic.

Slay the Scheduling Monster!

The reason I run a "West Marches" style game is because I had a problem: a lot of my friends want to play TTRPGs, but consistently scheduling games for adults with lives is a nightmare. Running an open-table allows me the freedom to play without worrying about anyone missing the story because they can't make it to game night. If people can't play on a certain day, they just won't play. Every session begins and ends in the central town, and I run my games like episodes of a TV show with an ensemble cast. Different combinations of characters and guests appear in each episode. If people want to take on a high-level vampire, they are going to see if anyone playing a Cleric is available to help.

As it stands, I have run dozens of sessions with dozens of players of all levels in this open-world/open-table campaign. Some of these players are seasoned veterans who love being able to drop-in whenever they want to play. Many more of these players have had an interest in tabletop games, but never played before.

Shadowdark: the right tool for the job.

I'm a big believer in finding the right game system for your campaign. I love crunchy, tactical games-- Pathfinder 2e is my favorite game ever. But a crunchy tactical game isn't the right tool for an open-table game with lots of new players. I want my game to be so accessible that a total newbie can jump right with little instruction. The math should also be "flat" enough that even their first-level characters can make a difference. Experienced players should immediately feel at home as well. For me, Shadowdark is that game.

Shadowdark, for the uninitiated, is kind of the new hotness... it won a bunch of gold Ennies in 2024, including Best Game. It's a hybrid of 5e and B/X, with a smattering of DCC weirdness for good measure. In other words, it's a familiar game to anyone who has played any edition of D&D and it's got a certain "old-school" sensibility/accessibility that allows complete TTRPG noobs to immediately jump in. Seriously: many of my players had never picked up a D20 before, and they were up-and-running in minutes.

This is thanks in part to Shadowdarklings.net, the official (and free!) Shadowdark character creator. Without this resource, characters would still only take a few minutes to create, but this site allows people to instantly create a character in one click. This, plus the free Quickstart set can provide dozens of hours of entertainment and is an amazing introduction to the hobby itself.

"Old School" Philosophy

Shadowdark falls somewhere in the Old-School Renaissance, philosophically speaking. While its mechanics are similar to modern D20 games, its basic assumptions are a bit more "old-school." I'll try to describe what I mean and how it's conducive to this style of play:

Monsters are lethal (death is a real possibility each fight) and XP is gained from finding treasure, so battles are best avoided. Players need to find creative ways to explore and interact with the environment to survive.
Character creation takes minutes, not hours. Each ancestry is described in a sentence or two, and each class fits on a page or two-- there is very little required reading.
Character sheets are sparse, so player creativity is paramount. If they enter a room with a rug on the floor, they don't roll an Investigation/Perception check to look for a trap door. Deciding to look underneath the rug will reveal the trap door, if it exists. The answer won't be on your character sheet.
The game is exists at the whim of the dice. Everything can be randomized and you can have entire sessions or arcs based on random tables.

It also builds upon these principles in some really cool ways:

Carousing ties everything together. At the end of each session, players sell all of their hard-won loot and go out partying. The bigger the party, the more chance for additional XP/rewards. In essence, players can turn gold into XP, and they are always hungry for more. The more they play, the stronger they will become, and each session begins with the players nearly destitute.
Shadowdark may be deadlier than 5e, but it doesn't feel unfair. Magic is roll-to-cast, so (most likely) your wizard can cast more than one spell, even at first-level. Thieves know how to thief, even at first-level. Everyone has something cool but not complicated.
Even after dozens of sessions, we have only had a handful of deaths. Characters don't die at 0 HP, they go unconscious and a death timer starts.
Shadowdark recommends you go loosely around in a circle and ask each player for input, even outside of combat. I was skeptical of this "always-on initiative" at first, but I have grown to love it. Everyone gets a turn in the spotlight.
True to its name, adventures largely take place in the dark. None of the player-characters can see in the dark, and torches run out in one real-time hour. Inventory is tracked in slots, so there is time pressure to get things done before running out of light.

Some people think that you can't have a long-form campaign using this type of system, but I haven't found that to be an issue. After the first few levels, characters can take a few hits and might have some magic items or allies. Those first levels are their backstory.

My only complaint, really, is its greatest strength: the mechanics are simple. It's simple enough that anyone can play it with barely reading any rules. It's compatible with every "old-school" module under the sun, so there's an endless stream of content geared toward this type of storytelling. Because of this great content, neither I nor my players are bored, but as a lover of "crunch," there's not a lot more to it. In place of "character builds" and feats are unique magic items and interesting, deadly locations.

What is an Open Table anyway?

Slay the Scheduling Monster!

Shadowdark: the right tool for the job.

"Old School" Philosophy

Return to The Dungeon?