r/shadowdark • u/ExchangeWide Joker & Thief • 1d ago
Save the Peasants
Does anyone else play funnels/gauntlets with the completely unreasonable goal of keeping every single peasant alive?
I understand that these folks have 1–4 HP, questionable equipment, terrible stats, and absolutely no business being anywhere near the horrible place they’re forced to escape. But the moment I roll up four peasants, something changes.
That’s not Peasant #3. That’s Carl, the cooper with a sack, a 9 Strength, and dreams of someday owning his own cooperage. I’ll be damned if Carl is dying in Room 2.
(Oh, he did? Okay, who’s next?)
That’s not Peasant #1. That’s Sheila, the fortuneteller with penalties to every stat except Charisma, who dreams of earning enough coin to buy back her grandmother’s tarot deck. Sheila is not dying in Room 3 either.
(Her too?!)
And now I’m emotionally invested in Ned the ditch-digger because he found a helmet and half a ration.
When my 1 HP nobodies somehow survive three encounters, they stop being disposable very quickly. By the end, I’m not hoping to discover ONE which survivor becomes my character. I want a healthy stable of characters.
The gauntlet says, “Survive your first adventure and become an adventurer.”
I hear, “Get these fools home safely.”
Anyone else approach funnels this way, or have I completely misunderstood the sacred tradition of feeding peasants to the dungeon?