Shadowdark Heads to the City of Masks With New Cursed Scroll

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Over the past few years, Shadowdark has carved out a reputation as one of the most successful old-school fantasy games in the modern TTRPG space. Lean, fast and dangerous, it blends OSR sensibilities with contemporary design and has quickly grown in popularity. A big part of its success, however, has been its ongoing line of Cursed Scrolls; zine-like publications that expand the game’s scope with new rules, character options and setting information.

Now, Shadowdark creator Kelsey Dionne has released her latest expansion in the form of Cursed Scroll 6: City of Masks. The new zine is a major deperature from the dungeon crawls and wilderness exploration of past Cursed Scrolls and instead introduces a new urban fantasy theme, complete with new classes, spells and one of the biggest campaign settings yet.

Notably, this latest Cursed Scroll is only available as a PDF to backers of the recent Shadowdark: Western Reaches Kickstarter campaign (which generated a whopping $2.8 million in funding), so if you missed out on, you may have to wait a little while longer to get your hands on it. In the meantime, below we take to the streets and unmask all the details on what’s inside.

What’s included in “Shadowdark: City of Masks”?

City of Masks is a 68-page Cursed Scroll supplement for Shadowdark that functions as a mini campaign setting, rules expansion and player guide all wrapped into one. It includes the following new elements:

New Character Classes

This latest Cursed Scroll introduces two new classes, both designed to shine in an urban setting but flexible enough for any style of campaign. The Bard class is a non-magical performer who excels at storytelling, diplomacy, and manipulating crowds. Their abilities include Fascinate, (which lets the Bard transfix nearby low-level targets with a focused performance), Inspire (which grants the Bard a limited pool of luck tokens to hand out each day) and Magical Dabbler (which allows Bards to activate wands and scrolls using Charisma).

The Duelist, meanwhile, is a nimble, fencing-inspired combatant who thrives on agility and flair. Their abilities include Parry (which lets them automatically turn a hit into a miss once per day), Taunt (which grants advantage on attacks against an enemy who fails to strike them) and Tale Spinner (which allows the Duelist to deceive strangers into believing they are a famous figure).

New Spells

The scroll also introduces 18 new lawful Wizard spells, all of which have more of an urban feel to them, but can also be applied to just about any Shadowdark setting.

Tier 1 spells include Cleanse (removes a poison from a touched creature), Flare (blinds nearby enemies with a burst of light), Reveal (cancels invisibility and exposes hiding creatures) and Ward (prevents you from being surprised for 10 rounds).

Tier 2 spells deepen that versatility with Absorb (halves incoming damage), Meld (lets you ignore hindrances to movement), Pacify (forces a low-level creature to make a morale check), and Push/Pull (moves a creature or object a short distance).

At Tier 3, wizards gain access to more specialized magic such as Banish (expels an extraplanar creature), Forbid (blocks teleportation in the area around you), Identify (reveals an item’s magical properties) and Speak With Object (lets you ask objects yes or no questions).

Tier 4 features Glyph (creates a magical trap with several possible triggers) and Stasis (suspends a willing or weak creature outside of time), while Tier 5 wizards can cast Abjure (a mutual-death spell that kills both caster and target) and Permanence (extends one of your spell effects to a full year).

New gameplay elements

Like most previously published Cursed Scrolls, City of Masks also contains several new gameplay elements. In particular Shadowdark’s downtime rules receive one of their biggest upgrades yet. Characters can now invest their between-session hours into Spiritualism (removing curses or gaining XP), Skulduggery (committing crimes, spreading rumors or avoiding the authorities), Martial Training (improving weapon skills or unlocking new proficiencies) and Magical Research (crafting scrolls, potions or wands).

City of Masks also introduces a dramatically expanded carousing system, which now includes tiered events ranging from 30 gp to 4,000 gp. XP rewards are also tied to how extravagant the celebrations are there are now multiple ways to influence or be influenced by a character’s renown. It also includes two extensive d100 lists of carousing benefits and mishaps, covering everything from gaining allies, wealth and magical perks to waking up in the Duke’s Donjon, accidentally joining a cult or being hexed by a street mystic.

A new urban fantasy setting

Most of the new Cursed Scroll is dedicated to the city of Meridia, the first official urban fantasy setting for Shadowdark. It’s a bustling, canal-filled metropolis inspired by Venetian intrigue and Renaissance theatrics, and it marks a major expansion beyond the game’s traditional dungeon-crawling roots. Home to nearly 90,000 people, the scroll breaks out Meridia’s eight distinct districts, each with its own keyed locations, themes and dedicated map. From the wealthy quarters of Gedgarrin, High Harbor, Montmar Castle and Ninestones to the working districts of Silvertop and The Rooks, as well as the rougher areas of Gutterwash and Rilken Row. The scroll also includes a random NPC table that allows GMs to quickly populate the city with colorful locals.

The location information is further fleshed out by the inclusion of four major factions (the Duke, the Bardic College, House of Seren and the masked conspiracy known as The Shroud) alongside six minor factions (including the Rowers, Charnel-Men, Beggars and the Plague Mother cult). It also contains lore on the city’s legal system, seasonal festivals, carousing interactions and district-specific encounter tables. It’s incredible just how much information is included in such a short amount of space, and it puts to shame some of the setting guides released by bigger publishers like Wizards of the Coast.

When will Cursed Scroll 6: City of Masks be available to the general public?

At the moment, City of Masks is only available as a PDF to backers of the Shadowdark: Western Reaches Kickstarter, where it was delivered as part of the campaign’s digital rewards. There is currently no public release date for non-backers, and the zine is not yet available on The Arcane Library’s website or retail storefronts.

However, based on the release pattern of previous Cursed Scrolls (which typically arrive on the open market several months after fulfillment) it’s likely that City of Masks will be made available to the general public in both print and PDF formats sometime within the middle of 2026.

Final Thoughts

City of Masks is another absoutely stellar Shadowdark Cursed Scroll, adding some major new mechanical features while also introducing a sprawling urban setting packed with enough content to fuel a campaign for years. In short, it’s yet another major step forward for one of the best modern TTRGPs ever made.

You can learn more about past and upcoming Shadowdark Cursed Scrolls on the Arcane Library website.