Describing Shadowfell

Yesterday, I was looking over some of the discord servers I frequent and stumbled upon a message on the discord server run by a YouTuber called Holstic Dungeon Master. He wanted some inspiration for the descriptions, atmosphere, monsters, and challenges of this realm. I started writing and didn't stop for a while, because it seemed the inspiration was just flowing out of me. In the end, his group ended up going to the ocean's depths instead. That's why I decided to compile what I wrote here and share it with anyone interested. I should add that these are all things I came up with on the spot, they don't necessarily fit the D&D canon.

More game design articles coming soon. For now, indulge me in the brooding moods of Shadowfell by reading on, and have a great day!

Unchanging, eternal.
A screenshot from Death Note.

Colors

All colors are less saturated in this world, including the colors of those not native to the plane, and the magic they use. Think of it like someone applying a sepia or grayscale filter partially to everything everyone sees. Grays, beiges, and other muted colors dominate the realm, though you can still distinguish the shades of formerly highly saturated colors.

Weather

It's almost always overcast. Rains are common, snow only in cold regions. Sometimes, the rain could be toxic. In some extreme areas, the rain could age anything it touches, just like in Death Stranding.

Slopes

Most of the time, you are encouraged to move downhill in the realm of Shadowfell. Going uphill without equipment is almost impossible, even if in the Material Plane it'd be easy to walk up that kind of hill. Meanwhile, Shadowfell feels deep, like one could go lower and lower indefinitely. Its depths feel just as gloomy as the surface, so it's hard to tell how high up or how low you are unless you keep track of it.

Buildings

Since it's an echo of the Material Plane, the buildings and cities could exist in this realm, but they'd be warped by the plane's influence. In this case, the buildings are a bit bigger and therefore emptier. They are big enough for their walls to be in contact. If there are doorways on the inside, or one uses the spell passwall, you could traverse an entire city without ever going outside.

Emotions

The native creatures mostly express low-energy moods here. Boredom, sadness, and hopelessness are way more common than anger, fear, or joy. Non-native creatures will have a harder time expressing high-energy emotions too.

Exit

This one is quite dark, so read at your own risk. In some places, it's possible to leave Shadowfell by taking your own life. Once you pass such a place, though, you never know if you left it for sure.

Nameless

It's normal for the native denizens of Shadowfell to not have a name. It's hard to care about such unnecessary things in a realm like that and makes passing away easier.

Hunger

Anyone in Shadowfell feels less hungry than they otherwise would, but this doesn't mean they are less hungry. One would starve themselves to death without knowing it if they were to only eat in Shadowfell like they normally would when they begin to feel genuine hunger. The natives are used to eating less, and their biology allows them to survive longer with lesser sustenance.

Plantlife and Mushrooms

The plants of Shadowfell generally either don't have leaves, or all the leaves are dead and shriveled. One could in theory grow mushrooms or even fruits in some rare places. The taste is reduced significantly though - a fantastic meal would taste okay, an okay meal would taste rather bad, and a rather bad meal would taste outright awful here. Like sand and sawdust.

Shinigami apple from Death Note.

Water

Nobody is quite sure what's wrong with the water, but non-natives should not drink it without purifying it first. Natives are unaffected, assuming they need to drink water.

Passage of Time

The time passes as normal, but psychologically it feels like the time is not passing at all. Unless one would enter and leave Shadowfell within an hour or keep track of time while inside, you could spend any amount of time there and exit feeling like you've been there only for an hour. You will always be surprised about how much time passed when you leave Shadowfell.

Sleep

The denizens of Shadowfell need to sleep more than an average creature would. It's not unheard of for them to sleep for 10-16 hours a day, unless magic powers them they need some energy source afterall.

Physical Manifestation

A non-native will reshape their surroundings subconsciously if they reside in one spot for too long. The surroundings will take shape that will remind them the most of their own past failures, guilt, and trauma.

Memories

Recalling memories uncharacteristic of this realm (joy, anger, etc.) requires actual concentration if you spend too much time in Shadowfell. After a while, it would literally break your concentration on spells and effects like that.

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Most influences are from the Shinigami Realm featured in Death Note, with lesser inspiration from Spec Ops: The Line, Junji Ito's Uzumaki, and Death Stranding.

Anyway, yeah, that's all for now. Have a great day, and thank you for reading!