The Wizard Viperian's Focus
The Wizard Viperian carries an ability called Focus. Any enemy within near range makes spellcasting checks at disadvantage. In Shadowdark that means rolling 2d20 and taking the lower result against the spell’s target DC, which is 10 plus twice the spell’s tier. A tier 3 spell already sits at DC 16. Roll that twice and keep the worse die, and your cleric’s reliable heal becomes a coin flip that fails on the down side.
The common mistake is positional. Parties treat the Viperian like any other spellcaster to close on and shut down, so they crowd into near range and stay there. That is exactly where Focus applies. Near range in Shadowdark is generous, roughly a spear’s throw indoors, so simply standing in the same room often qualifies. The counter is distance. Push to far range and the effect drops. Force the Viperian to spend movement chasing, and it cannot hold that debuff on the whole line every round.
Melee closes the gap and eats the penalty. Ranged and spellcasters should not.
At the table: As GM, save Focus for the round the players stack up on one tile, then watch a tier 2 spell (DC 14) fail on 2d20 taken low while the Viperian keeps casting freely.
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