As far as RPG a Day 2025 goes, this has been a very musical year for me. So many prompts immediately make me think of music. The prompt for today is Darkness, and immediately, the Simon & Garfunkel song comes to mind, The Sound of Silence. The first line of the song is “Hello darkness, my old friend”.
In D&D, Darkness is such a classic spell that it’s hard not to think of it immediately. When we played AD&D 2e, my friend Pierre used to keep a Continual Darkness spell (the reverse of Continual Light) cast on a pebble, covered up, and he would uncover it for instant darkness, or throw it like a grenade. Why is Darkness such a popular and often abused spell in D&D, and is that why everyone now can see in the dark?
The use of darkness in Shadowdark is one of the great things about that game. Having played the game twice already, both online, I must admit that treating darkness as an ever-present threat, ready to swallow you at every turn, is pure genius. I may not be a huge fan of dungeon crawls in general, and I genuinely believe the Shadowdark rules can handle more than just the classic dungeon crawl, as evidenced by all the flavors available from third-party publishers.
While it is likely that next time I play a fantasy game, I’d likely use the Worlds Without Number rules, I will probably port some Shadowdark rules, specifically the torch counter and how it handles darkness, to my campaign. I will play Shadowdark again!
Curiously, the first time I played Shadowdark was with the very same Pierre I mentioned above. Like a good-old-time player used to his infravision / darkvision, he resisted the idea that darkness is ever-present, that it holds the peril that will destroy you. While I initially explained it as a game mechanic to enhance the experience, I ultimately created an in-game rationale for the darkness being the danger it is. A threat that proved true when, on the first encounter in the game, the torch was snuffed, and fighting an undead in the dark felt truly horrifying.
I must say the Shadowdark is darkness made right!
If you are curious and want to read an overview of the D&D spell across D&D editions, the Dungeons & Dragons Lore Wiki has a Darkness entry that will give you an excellent overview of the Darkness-related spells. wikiHow also has a page all about darkness, how it works, and how to use it in D&D 5e.
How do you use Darkness in your game? Any stories you want to share? I’d love to read your feedback, so please leave a comment or tag me wherever you make them. If you choose to join in the conversation, don’t forget to include the #RPGaDay2025 hashtag so the community can find your contribution.
Before I go, here is another version of The Sound of Silence I like, this one by Disturbed.
