A 48-hour early bird exclusive mirror-silver sticker featuring a centaur of Druskara. Its reflective finish catches the light like polished silver — available only to backers who join in the first two days.
Druskara is a brutal sandbox campaign setting for Shadowdark, built around rival factions, forbidden magic, and a world that keeps unraveling with or without the heroes.
Druskara is a realm in decline. The sun is obscured by an endless gloom, and the shadowdark no longer waits for nightfall.
With so little light, harvests can’t be trusted, and trade routes have gone quiet. What food remains is guarded, rationed, or taken by force.
Rulers answer scarcity with control. Forbidden magic is blamed for the decline and outlawed. Artifacts capable of toppling kingdoms are seized, hidden, or weaponized.
Some believe these artifacts could change everything. Whether that means restoration or ruin depends on who claims them. Find one, and you decide.
Shortsighted criticism claims that Shadowdark is "just a dungeon crawler." Druskara proves them wrong.
Druskara uses Shadowdark’s speed, lethality, and clarity to drive play far beyond the dungeon—without adding complexity or bloat.
The World Moves Without You
Factions advance their own agendas, cities change hands, and laws shift whether the party intervenes or not. Ignoring events is a decision with consequences.
Dungeons Change the Surface World
What you loot, unleash, or destroy underground directly alters trade, wars, and future threats above ground.
Factions Have Personalities
Factions have distinct goals, strengths, and pressure points. Some expand aggressively. Others manipulate. Each responds differently to threat, opportunity, and loss.
Cities Are Fully Explorable
Cities in Druskara aren’t menus between dungeons, but explorable spaces filled with roleplay, mystery, and consequences. Location-based carousing also helps tell the story of Druskara.
Victory Is Not Happily Ever After
Winning solves problems, but it also creates new ones. Every success changes the shape of the world for better, AND for worse.
Arachnomancer – Web-spinning occultists who command spiders, sculpt silk, and twist minds.
Fabricator – Visionary tinkerers and engineers who forge automatons and living machines.
Rooted – Disciplined martial adepts whose stillness, breath, and spirit form an unshakable foundation in battle.
Skinweaver – Flesh-shaping mystics who graft living tissue, redirect pain, and heal through grotesque craft.
Sword Sage – Arcane duelists who unite masterful swordplay with the volatile art of spellcraft.
Targeteer – Patient sharpshooters and hunters who master an arsenal of impossible trick shots.
Unravelist – Reckless spellcasters who turn magical mishaps into deliberate power -- sometimes.
Plus all the classes from Unnatural Selection: Beast Warrior, Grave Warden, Fiend, Ovate, Plague Doctor, and Shaman
Gorgonstone – A cursed island with petrified remains of lost civilizations. Shining City – A radiant metropolis of wealth and power built upon a terrible secret. Cape Black – An underground city built along an underground ocean. Lirra - A vertical stone city of Reptonian cliff-walkers. Brass Oak - A mile-wide tree containing a clockwork civilization. Duneport – A ruthless desert trade city of caravans, pit fights, and cartel rule. The Sand Sea – A vast desert that looks like sand but flows like water. Chromatica - A lost city rumored to be found at the bottom of the ocean. Burnwater - A cliffside mountain city of dwarves standing against the rising gnoll threat. ...And so much more!
A: Game Master’s Screen – Illustrated by Mark Riddick, featuring the most referenced tables and tools for Druskara.
B: Druskara Standard Edition 4 Book Set – The complete four-volume campaign setting encompassing the realm, its factions, its powers, and its dungeons. Illustrated by Lucas Korte.
C: Slipcase: Illustrated by Mark Riddick, designed to house the four standard volumes.
D: Druskara Collector's Edition 4 Book Set – The four volumes bound in faux leather with gold foil stamping, gilded page edges, raised spine ridges, and metal corner guards, designed as a unified set enclosed a matching illustrated slipcase. Illustrated by Ivan A. (serpentchron).
E: Cloth Map of Druskara – The full map of the realm, crafted by Gavin M Dea and Alex the Mapmaker.
F: Event Logbook – A guided campaign journal designed to capture world and local developments, with structured faction sections that make updates effortless and easy to reference.
G: Player Lore Guide – A concise, player-facing zine outlining what’s known, believed, and whispered across the realm.
H: Gold Collector's Challenge Luck Tokens – An antique gold token marked with a dragon and a pierced eye.
I: Silver Standard Challenge Luck Tokens – An antique silver coin with the Crystal Rose on one side and the Crystal Skull on the other.
J: Bi-Fold City Cards – Compact, fold-out city guides with a city map and notable locations, designed to orient the party.
Spells & Specialties + Player Lore Guide in PDF form
The core 4 books in PDF form
Everything essential in PDF form
Spells & Specialties + Player's Lore Guide + PDFs
Standard Core Set + PDF
Collector's Core Set + PDF
Standard Edition Box set and essential tools for Druskara + Associated PDFs
Collector's Edition Box set and essential tools for Druskara + Associated PDFs
Spell's & Specialties original art piece with every pen stroke and pencil mark. Signed by the original artist Lucas Korte, plus everything from the Ultimate Collection tier! *Includes associated PDFs
Fangs & Fortune original art piece with every pen stroke and pencil mark. Signed by the original artist Lucas Korte, plus everything from the Ultimate Collection tier! *Includes associated PDFs
Realms & Rivals original art piece, with every pen stroke and pencil mark. Signed by the original artist Lucas Korte, plus the everything from the Ultimate Collection tier! *Includes associated PDFs
Tombs & Temples original art piece, with every pen stroke and pencil mark. Signed by the original artist Lucas Korte, plus the everything from the Ultimate Collection tier! *Includes associated PDFs
“Xane and Bunni did a hell of a job. It’s a fascinating, well-built setting full of lovingly crafted details, layers of truth to keep players digging, and enough random tables to make it all feel both uniquely yours and vibrantly alive. Plus, you can play a sasquatch!” – Matt Forbeck, lead writer/designer, Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game
“It’s bloody amazing! As a games master, you don’t need to learn it all. You can start with a little location and build out. And it’s done as a player-safety book. Players can buy this and they can learn the culture themselves without ruining the play experience.” – Adrian, Dungeons and Dyslexia
“Druskara has the potential to be Shadowdark’s Dragonlance.” – Aiden, Flippant Wizard Ink
“Druskara is next level. The kind of setting where you keep stopping mid-read just to mutter, “Okay… wow.” The kind of work that makes you want to run it immediately and steal notes shamelessly (with love).” – Geoff Skinner, creator & publisher of Titanbound
"Druskara is a beautiful new flavor of world building that is just as much fun to play as it is to read. The layout and artwork are a masterpiece, and the details included in these tomes truly inspire me. I really enjoy what Xane, Bunni, and the crew are creating here. It makes me want to roll dice!" – Bill Harvat, Writer/Creative for Crawl Club Publishing
“Dude, there’s just so much here. You can just see that this will be so, so easy to run! Thank you, thank you, and thank you Dungeon Damsel. If you like Shadowdark, you’re going to want this.” – Wingus, RocketPunchPress
"It's everything you're looking for in a world perfectly befitting Shadowdark.” – Brett Pisinski, Wicked North Games
“Dungeon Damsel has crafted something special in Druskara. Its world design provides a flexible, ready-to-run framework that ensures effortless play, deep customization, and endless replayability. Druskara is a must-buy for GMs craving a high-stakes fantasy sandbox that's ready to play and make their own.” – Than Gibson, DarkSpace Co-Creator
“The design is elegant and dangerous, and that sort of economy of design balance isn’t easy to achieve. Bravo! And Druskara is also about the exploration of the very space of what is possible in Shadowdark itself. I for one know that without Druskara’s existence, Shadowdark is left somehow diminished. Three cheers for the Druskarapocalypse! ” – DM Raspberry Bulette, Seven Winds Okinawa Gaming Collective
"BEST. THIRD. PARTY. PRODUCTS. EVER!!" – Thomas Ingle, Thomas Scott Ingle Presents
"Unnatural Selection was such an excellent product that the minute I saw the Dungeon Damsel name associated with Druskara, I knew I would back this latest effort and that it would be awesome." – Mike Lawhorn
“Unnatural Selection is not only a great supplement. It's THE OG Shadowdark supplement. US has been a solid part of my games since I came across Shadowdark. I love what Xane and Bunni are doing.” – OG DM
"I have said it before and I will say it again, Unnatural Selection is what I consider the gold standard for Shadowdark 3rd party content, so I am very excited to see what Druskara will offer!" - Eldritch Dungeon "When I built a slipcase for my ShadowDark book, I made certain it could include Unnatural Selection." - Grand Negus Eli
Dungeon Damsel Publishing was created out of necessity.
Xane had been running a home campaign in a world that would eventually become Druskara. When the group switched their game to Shadowdark, some of the player characters relied on classes that didn’t exist in the new system.
So Xane built the first one. The class became the Grave Warden, and when Bunni saw it she proclaimed, “We should make a book!” That book became Unnatural Selection, the first Dungeon Damsel release, and the beginning of a much larger world. The ideas, monsters, factions, and secrets of that original campaign have grown into Druskara, a living sandbox where player choices shape the fate of the realm.
Bunni
Xane
Xane and Bunni Daniel are the founders of Dungeon Damsel Publishing.
Xane spent more than two decades working in the video game industry as a producer and executive producer on over 30 titles before turning his focus to tabletop game design and worldbuilding.
Bunni is a lifelong artist who began her professional career in 2017 and now helps shape the visual identity and creative direction of Dungeon Damsel’s projects.
Dungeon Damsel started with a simple approach: build the kinds of worlds we wanted to play in. Dangerous worlds. Living worlds. Worlds where the players decide what happens next. Druskara is the result of that journey, and we’re thrilled to share it with you.
Stretch goals are additional rewards that unlock as the campaign reaches new funding milestones. Some of these goals are already revealed below, while others will be created and unveiled as the campaign progresses. Be sure to check back throughout the campaign to see what new stretch goals may appear.
A character sheet that is in the style of Druskara and made for the Shadowdark RPG
A set of tools that allows Druskara to be played without a game master. Includes Oracles, random tables and rules for running the realm evolution system for Solo-Play.
If you’ve used Kickstarter before, you’ll feel right at home. BackerKit works in a very similar way: you pledge during the campaign to support the project, and if the campaign successfully funds, your pledge is collected when the campaign ends. Pledge now, pay later.
The difference? BackerKit gives us a few extra tools behind the scenes for managing rewards, add-ons, upgrades, and communication with backers. So think of it like Kickstarter’s close cousin—same idea, same process… just with a few extra magical conveniences under the carriage.
Here’s how it works:
Choose your pledge level during the campaign.
If the campaign successfully funds, your payment is collected when the campaign ends.
After the campaign, you’ll receive access to the Pledge Manager, where you’ll confirm your shipping address, choose add-ons, and finalize your rewards.
BackerKit also lets us offer things like add-ons, upgrades, and Pay Over Time, giving you a little more flexibility when choosing your loot.
In short: Back it now, lock in your rewards, and after the campaign you’ll finalize everything in the Pledge Manager. Simple as that… though we may sneak in a few extra goodies along the way.
Pay Over Time BackerKit offers a Pay Over Time option for pledges over $150, letting you split your pledge into four monthly payments instead of paying everything upfront.
Payments begin after the campaign ends and are automatically charged each month. You can also pay off the remaining balance early at any time.
In other words: claim the ultimate hoard now… and let Future You deal with it later.
Note: If you choose Pay Over Time, your pledge manager survey will be delayed until your final payment is completed. This is completely normal—your survey will unlock automatically once the full balance has been paid.
We’ve teamed up with the creators of Titanbound for a special Cross-Collab on BackerKit.
Druskara and Titanbound are two separate campaigns with their own rewards and funding goals, and have launched at different times. But we’re working together to offer a special crossover bonus for backers who support both projects.
If you back Druskara and Titanbound, you’ll unlock an exclusive cross-collab reward created just for supporters of both campaigns.
In short: back both adventures… and claim the crossover loot.
Druskara Luck Token Collaboration FREEBIE
This exclusive token is perfect for Titanbound! One side bears the hunter’s helm, symbol of the brave few who take on titans. The reverse depicts a Titan in chains, its strength about to snap the links. Cast in antique copper, with a black patina, and raised sculpted details with deep relief, the coin measures 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) across. EXCLUSIVE when backing both Druskara & Titanbound.
Titanbound Zine Collaboration FREEBIE
This will be a ~24–32 page zine designed to drop a Titan threat directly into Druskara. Inside you’ll find tools, encounters, and guidance for bringing the scale, chaos, and sheer terror of a Titan attack into the world of Druskara; turning cities into battlegrounds, rooftops into warpaths, and desperate heroes into the last line standing between civilization and catastrophe. EXCLUSIVE when backing both Titanbound & Druskara.
We’d love to have you join the Dungeon Damsel community on Discord. It’s a place where backers, players, and fellow creators can talk tabletop games, share ideas, ask questions, and follow along as our projects continue to grow. If you enjoy discussing games, worldbuilding, want to be in the know for new Dungeon Damsel gear and projects or just want to be part of the conversation, you’re always welcome there! You can also follow along on the Dungeon Damsel YouTube channel, where we share informational videos about Shadowdark, tips for running the game, and updates on our projects. There are also occasional cat breaks and a hidden tradition of “secret singing." They are parody songs that relate to the topic of each video. You can also follow Dungeon Damsel on Facebook, where we share updates, posts about our projects, sneak peeks at upcoming work, and occasional behind-the-scenes looks at art, conventions, and other happenings.
Digital rewards will be delivered as soon as they are completed. At the time of this writing, 100% of all rewards have been written and tested, but a little less than 60% have been adapted to final layout.
After a horrible experience with delay, and communication with our last manufacturer, Dungeon Damsel has found a new one, ensuring quality, communication and speed is top priority.
Shipping
Shipping will be charged at a later date
Shipping is not included in the pledge tiers. Estimates are as follows for ONLY the book and could be more depending on month shipped, VATS, packaging, weight and other factors.
Shipping for one to the four book box set include:
USA: $15-$27+ Canada: $27-$42+ International: $25.00-$50+ depending on country.
Additional add-ons, fuel prices, tariffs, and other factors may influence your final shipping costs. They may be less or more than the estimate. Trust that we do our best to find the cheapest, fairest price, while also maintaining the quality of packing and shipping services so that your items arrive undamaged and well packed.
These are estimates, and will not reflect actual shipping costs per individual basis. Shipping costs are always shifting on a yearly basis and prices may raise, or lower depending on postal service, shipping providers and otherwise. VATS are unpredictable per country. Consider other physical RPG books and campaigns you have supported in the past, or any other item you may have received through customs. Addresses must be changed prior to lock-in. Any parcels returned to sender are subject to re-shipping fees. Remember that everything is subject to change depending on unforeseen circumstances which may include item amounts, weight, packaging, customs and more. We have done our best to be optimistically accurate.
Druskara Timeline About 400 pages of Druskara are already written, laid out, and illustrated. The rest of the realm exists in working form from four years of play and now needs to be edited down into final manuscript, layout and illustration.
The next 10–14 months will be dedicated to finishing that process, commissioning and integrating artwork, refining layout, and preparing the books for print.
We have already received physical samples of both the Standard and Special Edition versions of Realms & Rivals, along with the DM Screen and gold luck tokens. Production specifications are established, and materials have been tested. Built on Experience Unnatural Selection was our first major campaign. We learned every part of the process by doing it—editing, layout, manufacturing, logistics, fulfillment.
That experience changed how we approach Druskara.
We have our fulfillment company and manufacturer. We understand shipping, printing processes, and how long it takes for all of it. We now know how to communicate clearly to YOU during this development time and fulfillment. And we’ve refined our workflow from manuscript to print -- and we have amazing, prolific artists!
We’ve also partnered with a new manufacturer whose responsiveness and attention to detail have exceeded our expectations. The materials, finishes, and print samples we’ve received so far reflect a significant step forward, so we're overjoyed!
Druskara benefits directly from everything we learned the first time.
Time and tariffs are always the enemies of any physical product project. Global shipping costs, manufacturing timelines, and unpredictable events (including economic changes or international conflict) can impact production and delivery schedules. These are realities that every crowdfunding project must navigate.
That said, we take our commitments seriously. Dungeon Damsel Publishing has a reputation and a name to uphold, and we will do everything in our power to deliver the rewards we promise. This work isn’t just a hobby for us—it’s our passion and our livelihood—so fulfillment matters to us just as much as it does to you.
Like all crowdfunding platforms, BackerKit Crowdfunding supports projects that are still in development. By backing this campaign, you are helping bring Druskara to life before it exists as a finished product. While we have done extensive planning, delays or changes can occasionally occur in the creative, manufacturing, or fulfillment process.
In rare circumstances, serious personal emergencies or unforeseen life events affecting the creators could impact the project timeline. While these situations are extremely unlikely, they are part of the inherent risks of crowdfunding.
If challenges arise, we commit to clear and transparent communication and will work in good faith to resolve issues and deliver rewards whenever possible.
We commit to transparent communication throughout the campaign and production process. If challenges arise, we will keep backers informed and work toward solutions to ensure rewards are delivered.
This information is a formality, and we are already planning our next crowdfunding release! Have faith in us as we have in you!
Thank you for trusting us to build this world with you.
We’ve teamed up with these incredible partners to grow the community, share advice, and support one another. Our goal is simple: help each other connect with new audiences, make new friends, and keep creating amazing worlds and mind-bending stories for gamers everywhere.
