Installation & Setup
Requirements
| Minimum | Verified | |
|---|---|---|
| Foundry VTT | v13 | v14.365 |
| Shadowdark RPG system | v3.6.2 | v4.0.6 |
Recommended, not required: shadowdark-extras (verified 6.10.45). It automates imported spells: creature-type gating, effect application, and break-on-damage. Spells still cast without it; you just apply their effects by hand.
Install
Paste this manifest URL into Foundry's Install Module dialog:
https://github.com/DimitroffVodka/shadowdark-enhancer/releases/latest/download/module.json
Then enable Shadowdark Enhancer in Game Settings → Manage Modules.
Replacing
shadowdark-crawl-helper? Disable it. Both modules draw a party strip and hook combat, so running them together produces duplicate UI and conflicting initiative state. The module warns you once at world load if Crawl Helper is active. You can suppress that warning in settings.
What happens the first time you load a world
Everything here runs automatically for the active GM:
| On load | What it does |
|---|---|
| Actor sub-types registered | Mount and Boat appear in Create Actor. See Mounts & Boats. |
| Crawl Strip & Crawl Bar appear | Pinned to top of canvas. See Crawl Strip & Crawl Bar. |
| Default merchants seeded | Seeds Base and Western Reaches shops. See Merchant Shop. |
| Loot setup nudge | Alerts you once if fewer than four loot tiers are bound. See Loot & Treasure. |
| Spell ↔ class re-link | Links imported spells to their caster classes on load. Silent when up to date. |
| Monster backfills after update | Upgrades sde-actors across versions (cleanup, notes, taxonomy). Active-GM only. |
Compendium packs are not created until you need them. Your first import creates them on demand. See Compendium Packs.
First-session checklist
Follow these steps in order. Only the first is required to get started.
1. Decide your movement rules
Go to Configure Settings → Shadowdark Enhancer.
Defaults are deliberately permissive: the strip flags over-budget movement in red, but does not block token movement.
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Combat movement default (ft) | 30 |
| Out-of-combat movement budget (ft) | 90 |
| Enforce out-of-combat movement budget | off |
| Enforce combat movement budget | off |
Turn enforcement on if you want over-budget moves rejected instead of flagged. Combat enforcement defaults to off because Shadowdark combat traditionally runs on player honesty. Details in Movement Budgets.
2. Set your encounter threshold
The encounter check rolls 1d6 and hits on a result at or below your threshold
(default 1). You configure this directly from the Crawl Bar's encounter menu
rather than the settings window. See Random Encounters.
3. Point the loot generator at real tables
Out of the box, the Loot Generator has no treasure tables bound because the module ships no copyright text. Open Loot Generator → Set up loot tables and bind a table for each tier. If you imported the system's Treasure 0–3 tables, Loot Setup binds them in one click. See Loot & Treasure.
4. Choose the character-builder ability method
If your players will use the Character Builder, pick your ability generation method now. It is GM-dictated and shown read-only to players. The default is 3d6, reroll if none ≥ 14.
5. Import the content you own
This step is optional. The module works out of the box with the core system. If you own Cursed Scroll zines or the Player's Guide to the Western Reaches, the Importer Hub converts copy-pasted PDF text into native Foundry documents.
Disabling or uninstalling
Disabling the module leaves all your created content intact: sde-* world
compendiums, actors, items, tables, and characters built with the wizard remain
ordinary Foundry documents. Nothing uses a locked proprietary format.
The module never calls deleteCompendium. If you want packs removed, you delete
them yourself from Foundry's compendium sidebar.
Permissions
| Action | Who can do it |
|---|---|
| Creating or modifying documents | GM only |
| Character Builder | All users (unprivileged players hand off creation to the GM over sockets) |
| Export to PDF | The character's owner or a GM |
| Spending Luck, claiming loot, buying from shop | Players on characters they own |
| Encounter checks | GM only by default (Roll Encounters as GM-only) |