Mad Gnome Gaming

06/04/2026

Hey folks! We just finished an update of our website with a little mini-game demo of the game and a functional initiative tracker. We're also working hard and getting close on the release of our full demo and quickstart start guide.

Check out the website and sign up for updates, thanks y'all!

No magic. No superpowers. Just ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. An indie tabletop RPG coming to Kickstarter in 2026.

05/12/2026

Its a beautiful day in the Shadowdark, my wife gifted me an early birthday present, a Shadowdark GM & player manual from Todd Pickens / Death Finger Press , and then I got to take my long time D&D group through their first foray into Shadowdark.

They managed to barely eek out a win, half the party died in the final battle, they lost their torch and were one hit away from a TPK when they pulled a win.

The best part of the night though, the wizard (used to D&D superheroism) ran into a group of goblins, cast burning hands, failed, and got clubbed to death in response. (He got better 😂)

Absolutely fantastic. The group loved it and can’t wait to play more.

Have you tried Shadowdark yet? It’s simple to learn, brutal, and ridiculously fun.

04/14/2026

I love Shadowdark so, so much.

The party thought they were hot stuff after defeating some moldy rats in a swampy dungeon, until the priest holding the torch fell through rotten floorboards and doused the torch just as a skeleton emerged from a side room and went after the wizard.

They went from smug to panic real quick 😂

04/02/2026

From rough sketch to legible digital map, I’d have been stuck at step one if not for the tutorials and choice digital brushes from

This inhospitable valley will be the home of my upcoming Shadowdark games from and I can’t wait for my players to step into this world!

03/31/2026

After an epilogue for our 3 year D&D campaign, the group is diving right into rolling new characters for their first foray into

02/25/2026

The website is live.

Shadows & Sixes is a tabletop RPG about one question: what would you actually do? No magic. No chosen heroes. Just ordinary people thrown into situations they didn’t ask for, making decisions they can’t take back.

Head to shadowsandsixes.com to see what we’ve been building, try the interactive “Push” demo, and sign up to be first in line when the free quickstart adventure drops.

Link in bio.

02/21/2026

Y’all, I am absolutely blown away.

I ran the first official Shadows & Sixes game tonight and it was everything I hoped for. The players were engaged from the intro to the mind-blowing ending. First time players were up and running in minutes, decisions were impactful, with no magic or powers to fall back on, they had to rely on their wits and eachother to survive the episode. (Spoiler, most of them didn’t)

Our free Quickstart Guide and Game Demo will be available soon, follow us and stay tuned to find out how you’ll fare in “The Last Stop Diner”!

02/20/2026

A cook scraping the grill at the end of a long night. A biker nursing black coffee and watching nothing. A trucker in the far booth, road-weary, elbows on the table. A waitress wiping down the counter for the third time.

The Last Stop Diner glows against the empty highway like a lantern at the edge of the world. The night is quiet.

But not for long.

The Last Stop Diner is a free demo adventure and QuickStart guide for Shadows & Sixes, dropping soon. Four characters. One desperate night. A diner that becomes a fortress. A siege that doesn’t stop until dawn.

Stay tuned.

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Shadows & Sixes is a tabletop RPG about ordinary people in impossible situations. No heroes, no magic, no superpowers. Just the people in the room, the resources they can find, and the question you must ask yourself: how far are you willing to push yourself to survive?

02/19/2026

The character dossiers are printed. The dice are bagged. There’s a creature called ZOMBARF whose entire special ability description starts with “WHATS UP CHUCK?” Shenanigans approach.

This weekend I’m running the first full demo of The Last Diner — a scenario I’ve been building for the upcoming Shadows & Sixes QuickStart guide. It’s going to be free. It’s going to be gross. Big Mike the Cook, Dave the Biker, Chuck the Trucker, and Mary the Waitress are all about to have a very bad night.
These character sheets have gone through more iterations than I can count. They’re finally feeling right. Clean. Functional. The kind of thing you actually want to fill out at the table.
The QuickStart is coming soon — a free demo adventure you can pick up and run with nothing else. Stay tuned.
Shadows & Sixes

11/20/2025

2:47 AM - Highway 101

The old Ford’s engine screams through the darkness. Headlights barely cut the oppressive black.
In the rearview: something that isn’t fog. Consuming. Erasing. Unmaking.
Movement in the ditches. Low. Fast. Keeping pace. That wet, cartilage-popping sound of limbs bending wrong.
The radio crackles. Static. Then voices—panicked, pleading, cut short.
“...they’re in the streets...”
“...the sky is wrong...”
“...please, anyone...”
Half a mile to town.
The clicking sounds are getting closer.
You should never have stopped at the Driftwood.

THE CASCADIA INCIDENT
A Shadows & Sixes demo adventure - Coming Soon

Shadows & Sixes is a narrative-driven tabletop RPG where ordinary people face extraordinary horrors. No magic. No superpowers. Just you, your wits, and the question: How far would you go?
Stay tuned.