Player Companion for ShadowDark

Player Companion is a supplement for the ShadowDark RPG, published in 2025 by Chubby Funster (under Greg Christopher), sold via DriveThruRPG and print-on-demand (POD) formats.

It seeks to expand player options by offering new ancestries (subraces), backgrounds, classes, equipment, poisons, gems/metals, traps, and more. The product is intended both for players wanting more variety and for GMs looking for additional tools to tailor campaigns.

🛠 Contents & Features

From the Table of Contents and community previews, here are the confirmed content areas:

• Ancestries: The book adds ~24 ancestries beyond the core ShadowDark options. Examples include (but are not limited to) Changeling; Dark Elf; Deep Dwarf; Dragonborn; various Elf, Gnome, Dwarf, Orc, Halfling sub-types; Hawkfolk; Kobold; Lizardfolk; Proudfoot Halfling; etc.
• Classes: A large number of new character classes are included (table of contents lists many). These are intended to provide more archetypal options for players, ranging from martial, arcane, stealth-oriented, and hybrid classes.
• Backgrounds: New backgrounds for characters, helping to flesh out origins, roleplaying hooks, and mechanical flavor.
• Equipment & Gear: Expanded lists of weapons, armors, traps, plants/poisons, gemstones and metals. These give more options in gear and resource management.
• Traps & Gear Talents: The companion includes traps and equipment-based options that tie to character builds, background or class.
• Roster & Balance: The book aims to integrate cleanly with the core ShadowDark rules — new options are intended as drop-in additions rather than replacements.
• Production: The physical product is listed as ~112 pages, POD black & white (hardcover/softcover) size approx 6.25″ × 8.75″ (digest/digestish format).

🎯 How It Feels in Play

From community feedback and early reviews, here’s how the Player Companion performs during actual games:

• More Variety, More Character Differentiation: Players report that the new ancestries/backgrounds/classes allow for more diverse character builds. Groups where many characters were similar now find new identity niches.
• Potential Power Imbalance: Some ancestries or class options are considered by players to be stronger or more flexible than core ones. For example, ancestries that grant beneficial resistances or extra inventory slots are viewed by some as overshadowing core choices.
• Gear and Utility Enhancements: Traps, expanded equipment, metals/gemstone rules, and added background gear help with flavor and mechanical decisions. Players like that their character’s gear choices feel more meaningful beyond just “what damage die” they use.
• Art & Presentation: The art style and layout are frequently praised for fitting with ShadowDark’s tone: moody, gritty fantasy, OSR aesthetic. The digest-sized format keeps it portable and friendly at the table.
• Ease of Use: Many reviews note that the additional options do not require heavy conversion; class and ancestry rules slot in relatively smoothly, though GMs need to assess the new options for balance in their table.

✨ Highlights & Best Features

Here are parts of the Player Companion that stand out:

• Ancestry Depth: The expanded range of ancestries is a clear highlight. Players wanting to feel more than just “human vs elf vs dwarf” get subtypes with distinct flavor and mechanical difference. Changeling, Gold/Gray/Snow Elf, Hawkfolk, etc., offer options tuned to various campaign types.
• Backgrounds that Add Roleplay Hooks: Backgrounds give more personal stakes, starting equipment, and personality fodder, which helps new characters feel distinct at the outset. Good in campaigns that emphasize small group dynamics.
• Equipment & Poisons & Metals: For GMs who like to give environmental or gear-based challenges, the book’s additions (plants & poisons, new metals and gemstones) help surface those kinds of adventure complications.
• Class Expansion: New classes broaden player options, helping bring new archetypes into ShadowDark games—stealth, scout, arcane, etc.—without breaking from the existing power curve in many cases.

⚠ Things to Watch / Limitations

• Balance Variance: Some ancestries and classes are seen as stronger than baseline options. If a campaign is tuned for the core book only, adding several new “high-utility” options at once may shift what is considered balanced. GMs will likely need to gate some potent options or use them with care.
• Option Overload for New Players: For players just beginning with ShadowDark, the extra choices may overwhelm. There’s a trade-off: more variety means more to compare and decide, which slows character creation.
• Quality Variation of Entries: Some ancestries or classes feel more “polished” than others—flavor vs mechanical edge varies. Some entries may need small tweaks to match the table’s expectations (e.g. what “resistance means” in practice, what equipment/traps are commonly available).
• Art and Layout Tradeoffs: Being a POD/B&W format, some artwork is lighter or simpler (grayscale, line art) rather than fully illustrated. While the design is solid, it’s not always high-gloss; for GMs who expect lavish illustration, this may be a factor.

🧭 Who Should Use This Supplement

This is especially for:

• Players who want more character identity, variety, and flavor in ShadowDark games.
• Groups who have run a few campaigns already and feel limited by the core ancestries / classes.
• GMs who want to give players more options at character creation, expand gear and traps and environmental elements.
• ShadowDark tables wanting to maintain the system, tone, and pace, but broaden the toolkit without switching systems.

Less ideal if:

• You prefer minimal expansions or want to keep only core classes/ancestries to maintain tight balance.
• Your campaign style is very rules-light, or you want fast character creation with minimal decisions.
• You expect highly illustrated art or color internal pages; POD/B&W might feel less premium than other supplements.

🗡 Final Verdict

Player Companion by Chubby Funster is a strong expansion to the ShadowDark RPG that delivers exactly what many players and GMs have been asking for: more options, more flavor, more gear, more variety. It does so without fundamentally altering the core engine, which is a plus for tables that like the base system.

While it has minor balance concerns and may overwhelm brand-new players, its strengths—ancestry depth, class variety, useful gear and trap rules, evocative presentation—make it a worthwhile purchase for anyone who’s invested in ShadowDark and wants to stretch its possibilities. For mid-campaign players or GMs looking to refresh or expand their options, this is one of the better third-party supplements out there.