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One of DungeonTube’s top creators (Professor Dungeon Master at Dungeon Craft) is working with Roll For Combat to create Deathbringer, a Shadowdark RPG variant with an old school focus on action, action, and action. Voted the most anticipated TTRPG on EN World (here), death is the best way to “level” in Deathbringer. As the most anticipated TTRPG on EN World, it only makes sense to talk to Professor Dungeon Master about the game, being friends with pig-faced orcs, what Deathbringer magic is like, and how a lazy Susan led to a gaming innovation.
EGG EMBRY (EGG): Thanks for talking about your Backerkit campaign for Deathbringer, Professor. Can you sum up your setting and its hook for those interested in learning more about why Deathbringer was voted the most anticipated new TTRPG of 2026?
PROFESSOR DUNGEON MASTER (PDM): Sure, Egg! The setting of Deathbringer is a cross between Savage Sword of Conan, Heavy Metal Magazine, and Thundarr the Barbarian—the things I loved as a kid. The Shattered Empire was slammed with a comet and the shards from the impact—known as moonstone—scattered around the world. The moonstone is valuable because its used to make magic weapons, armor, and potions. It also emits radiation which mutates humans into monsters. Very grimdark, low-fantasy where magic is dangerous and wizards (Doomscribes) are walking neutron bombs.
EGG: If I followed Deathbringer’s design history correctly, this game was going to be a wholly original system at one point in time. Why did you choose Shadowdark RPG over letting your own ideas rule the gaming table?
PDM: Great question. I don’t think D&D is a game so much as it is a language. What we call “different systems” (Pathfinder, Shadowdark, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Old School Essentials, etc.) are dialects of the same language. Shadowdark is the dialect I chose because it had great stat blocks, clear rules, and it’s popular. Why make the audience choose between game systems? Kelsey’s fans are my fans. It’s the same audience and I though both games would be better if I didn’t ask them to choose. But I want to make it clear Deathbringer is a standalone game with its own unique rules and all material designed for Deathbringer is compatible with Shadowdark and all OSR modules. The monster stat blocks don’t need to be changed. I just ran Village of Hommlet with Deathbringer without changing a single hit point and it worked fine.
EGG: There’s no magical healing in the game. Does that imply other limits on magic? Is Deathbringer magic focused on combat or problem-solving or making friends with pig-faced orcs?
PDM: Doomscribes do not automatically gain new spells when they level up. The must be taught a spell by serving a patron NPC or find the spells by searching through dungeons. When you gain a spell you tattoo the formula on your skin. There are no spell-slots—its roll d20 to cast. On a Nat 20 the spell has 2x effect. But on a Nat 1 you roll on a miscast chart and the effects are brutal: you grow a tentacle, open a mouth to hell, or cause all the crops within a 1 mile radius to wither and die. So magic is dangerous.
Deathbringer’s focus is not just combat, but heroic, cinematic action. We replace all feats, skills, and class features with a pool of d6s called “Death Dice” that can be spent to increase other dice rolls. This mechanic allows ANY character to cause massive damage, rage, sneak attack, swing from a chandelier, or haggle with a merchant just when they need to. And it saves time and helps players stay in the narrative instead of pausing to check their character sheet or look up rules. Players get bonuses for taking their turn quickly and taking action instead of making overly complex plans. So it’s more than just combat.
And no one can be friends with the pig-faced orcs. They are not human and love to eat babies as shish kebab.
EGG: In your videos, you’ve expressed a… mild disinterest for in-game shopping. How does Deathbringer handle the mundane elements of RPG such as spending your loot, discovering plot hooks, or downtime?
PDM: I hate shopping. At the start of the session, everyone loses d6 silver coins and you re-supply. There are no magic shops so there is no “better dagger” to shop for. And you get XP for taking plot hooks instead of side-questing. There will be carousing tables though. Carousing is fun.
EGG: With a name like “Deathbringer,” should players see this as a finely tuned old school character grinder TTRPG? Or is this a setting with a larger campaign story waiting to unfold? Or is it both?
PDM: Both. It’s more than an OSR clone. The Death Dice mechanic and death mechanics lean into narrative games. And yes, Deathbringer is a world which we look forward to revealing if the first Backerkit campaign is successful. I’d love to detail The Shattered Empire and Caves of Carnage in the next book.
EGG: You’re working with a who’s who of current TTRPG creators such as Baron DeRopp, Grace World Destroyer, DM Scotty, Bob World Builder, Kelsey Dionne, Brandon “Runehammer” Gillam, Luke Stratton, Daniel Fox, and Ben Milton. Your game is steeped in old school philosophy and new school gameplay. Are there any old school creators you want to add to the list of creators that are making Deathbringer a reality?
PDM: Ed Greenwood springs to mind. The man is a real-life wizard. Many of my collaborators are fans of those OSR games because in retrospect, they’re a lot more robust, flexible, and faster than modern games.
EGG: For fans that don’t know you, what’s your TTRPG history? Where was your work first published?
PDM: I was first published in Dungeon Magazine back in the 1990s. I published three scenarios with them. Wolfgang Baur was the editor for most of that period. Tony “Planescape/Spiderwick Chronicles” illustrated one of my scenarios. I worked with Christina Stiles, who has gone on to publish many scenarios for Goodman Games and Paizo. I was in competition with Chris Perkins. He published SO many scenarios they made him editor! Chris was always better. Great writer.
EGG: That’s a solid resume! What conventions are you attending this year?
PDM: I hope I don’t leave any out—as of right now—Gen Con, Pittsburgh Gaming Expo, Mythic Con Charlotte, and Pax Unplugged in Philadelphia. In 2027, the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo, Gary Con, hopefully Origins and Gen Con again. But I’m adding cons all the time. Also—if there are any con organizers reading this—if anyone wants to run “Bahama Con” or “JamaiCon”—I will be happy to be a guest! The Caribbean needs more cons.
EGG: A Caribbean Con with Pirate Borg would be fun! How did you land upon the idea for Ultimate Dungeon Terrain (UDT)? You physically built the terrain which begs the question, why circular instead of square?
PDM: I was tired of covering my table with terrain and my players spending most of their time in only a couple of rooms and complaining about not being able to see over the walls. I started putting my Dwarven Forge on a lazy Susan and just building one room at a time so everyone could move it and see what’s going on. Then I saw Hankerin’ Ferinale using a round piece of Styrofoam on Drunkens & Dragons (now Runehammer) and something clicked in my head—what if I used low walls and built the room in live time? Just put the minis in the middle and built the environment they were in? And it worked! And I didn’t have to spend a half a day setting up or cleaning up terrain.
EGG: Thank you for talking with me. Where can fans follow Deathbringer and your DungeonTube videos?
PDM: Thanks for having me! I can be found on Backerkit and Youtube.
Deathbringer TTRPG by Professor DM from Roll For Combat
- END DATE: Aug 13, 2026 at 8:00pm EDT.
- CROWDFUNDING ON: Backerkit
- PROJECT TYPE: Shadowdark RPG (Deathbringer variant)
- “Forged in blood by Professor DM and Roll For Combat, with contributions from Brandon Gillam, this is not another safe fantasy game. This is steel. Fire. Consequence.”
Egg Embry does not use AI in any of his writing. He participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, Kobold Press Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, Kobold Press, and Amazon. If you like the articles at EN World please consider supporting the Patreon.
