Just picked up "Divine Right" anyone ever play this game?

[Sean McCoy]

I was just blown away by how gorgeous the hex map is. I'd probably like to use it for my campaign it's so great. I'm absolutely stoked to have this. I'm curious if anyone's played Divine Right before or has any experience with it and can lend any advice. I skimmed the rules and it doesn't look too hard, but I'm not sure if there's anything that needs to be smoothed out before it hits the table.

[Otto Harkaman]

I think there were a series of articles in the Dragon magazine giving the history of the different kingdoms and races.

There is a Vassal module to play the game online against others. www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Divine_Right


BGG webpage of Divine Right boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/23/divine-right

[owlorbs]

Divine Right is great, one of my favorite games. Besides additional history of the races and kingdoms there were also variants and errata in the Dragon. Here is the relevant info as to the magazine numbers (I have collected all 88 pages worth of Divine Right material from Dragon).

Barbarian North and the Youth of Juulute Wolfheart, 39
Bilge Rat and the Mercenary Fleets of Minaria, 48
Black Hand, 46
Black Knight, 44
Chronology of Minaria, 57
Eaters of Wisdom, 49
Evolution of the Shucassamites, 52
History of Dwarves, 45
History of Elfland, 37
History of Hothior, 35
History of Immer, 36
History of Mivior, 38
History of Muetar, 34
History of Pon, 42
History of Rombune, 54
History of Zorn and the Goblins, 50
Making a Great Game Greater, 34
Minarian Variants, 46
Monsters of Minaria, 56
Monuments of Minaria, 55
Schardenzar's Story, 51
Trolls, 41
DIVINE RIGHT Design Note by Glenn and Kenneth
Rahman, 27

I would also recommend rifling through the files on BGG and in the yahoo group to get more goodies (such as The Junkyard, a 100 page book of variants).

[Sean McCoy]

Oh wow! Thanks for all that content. I'm particularly interested in the design note. I think what really struck me about this game, as opposed to more modern war games, is how unique the world is. And that the lore isn't really shoved down your throat. I want more than "there are dwarves and elves" from a board game, but less than "you need to read this book to really get anything out of this weird world we created." DR seems to strike the perfect balance.

[Malcadon]

I have the classic and 25th Anniversary editions.

As noted by Owlorbs, there are a number of Dragon Magazine articles on the history and kingdoms of Minaria. Also, the 25th Anniversary edition came with a CD full of additional articles about the newer characters and places found in the game, as well as the history of the game's development. They added so many new things into the 25th Anv. game set.

You can find the rules, Minarian Legends and game's development history form the 25th Anniversary edition disk floating round the internet, like Scribd or any of the Yahoo Groups (which was done by yours truly).

Old or new, the setting is rich in history and fascinating details.



I ran them only a few times years ago. The first time was with the classic game some 20 years ago, and another time with the 25th Anv. game a little over 10 years ago. They did not progress too far as I was only able to find gamers accustomed to Risk and Axis & Allied. While we liked the diplomatic rules, the game was bogged-down by hex-based movement and the mathematics used to derive the combat roll adjustment.

Oddly enough, back in 1991, TSR rehashed the Divine Right game for their Greyhawk Wars wargame. They simplified the Divine Right rules and completely removed the hex grid-map system to play more like A&A. Unfortunately, the game suffers form an overly simplified diplomatic rules and the lack of elements to make the characters and places feel unique and interesting. That is, Heroes — who are military leaders, army recruiters and diplomats, with the ability to gain magic items by defeating monsters — are just simple counters with "Hero" printed on them with nothing else to make them stand out. Instead of scenic sites with a name and backstory, they are just an icon called "Magic Area" (in the rulebook) or "Treasure Site" (on map) were Heroes go to bash a monster for a magic item. There are also no personally cards or special mercenary characters and forces. This is shame as Greyhawk his full of history and iconic characters by its own right. Hell, the game set comes with a lengthy history book about the Greyhawk Wars!

If I had play with my old groups, or players like them, then I would mix-and-match both games. I would use the simplify of GW's combat and movement mechanics, but retooled a bit, with the rich diplomatic rules and special characters, forces and locations found in DR. This would ether require me using a reworked GW map, or I would have to draw and color-in a GW-styled map of Minaria from scratch.

[owlorbs]

Anyone interested in the classic DR rules can check them out: file:///Volumes/Great%20Master/!BOARDGAMES%20(MASTER)/D/DIVINE%20RIGHT%20FILES%20YAHOO%20AND%20BGG/dr_2nd_ed_rules/dr_2nd_ed_rules.html#modify_combat_roll
Complexity wise, they are easier than other old school "easy" wargames such as PanzerBlitz or Kingmaker, for example.

Edit: could not get the link to embed.

[welleran]

It's a fun game. I've played I several times of late and have enjoyed every one. The rules give it a pretty good replayability factor and it begs to be have expansions (new magic and the like).

[owlorbs]

The world map by Trampier is fantastic and would indeed make a great setting. Michael Gemmel (don't know if he's a user here) had a site you can still find via the wayback machine about gaming in Minaria (Third Edition D&D I think).

web.archive.org/web/20160805170130/http://michaelgemmell.ca/index.html

[baggs]

In 1980 when I was a kid I bought Divine Right from a store called Mr. Gameways' Ark, based on how cool the cover of the box looked - depicting an attack by the Ghost Riders of Khos. When I got home I realized it was not a RPG and brought it back to try and return it but was denied. So, back home it went and sat for a while until one hot summer day me and my friend were so bored that we gave the game a try. Holy S%$# we loved it. Played many many game. I lost my box set but will be getting another shortly and look forward to seeing the Ghost Riders once again.

[mccrackan]

Jun 8, 2017 0:37:30 GMT -6 Malcadon said:

I have the classic and 25th Anniversary editions [of Divine Right]....

I ran them only a few times years ago. The first time was with the classic game some 20 years ago, and another time with the 25th Anv. game a little over 10 years ago. They did not progress too far as I was only able to find gamers accustomed to Risk and Axis & Allied. While we liked the diplomatic rules, the game was bogged-down by hex-based movement and the mathematics used to derive the combat roll adjustment.

Oddly enough, back in 1991, TSR rehashed the Divine Right game for their Greyhawk Wars wargame. They simplified the Divine Right rules and completely removed the hex grid-map system to play more like A&A. Unfortunately, the game suffers form an overly simplified diplomatic rules and the lack of elements to make the characters and places feel unique and interesting. That is, Heroes — who are military leaders, army recruiters and diplomats, with the ability to gain magic items by defeating monsters — are just simple counters with "Hero" printed on them with nothing else to make them stand out. Instead of scenic sites with a name and backstory, they are just an icon called "Magic Area" (in the rulebook) or "Treasure Site" (on map) were Heroes go to bash a monster for a magic item. There are also no personally cards or special mercenary characters and forces. This is shame as Greyhawk his full of history and iconic characters by its own right. Hell, the game set comes with a lengthy history book about the Greyhawk Wars!

If I had play with my old groups, or players like them, then I would mix-and-match both games. I would use the simplify of GW's combat and movement mechanics, but retooled a bit, with the rich diplomatic rules and special characters, forces and locations found in DR. This would ether require me using a reworked GW map, or I would have to draw and color-in a GW-styled map of Minaria from scratch.

I'm collaborating with the designer of Divine Right on a new edition of the game. I too believe that DR's combat system is a bit clunky and would very much to discuss with you your ideas for borrowing elements from Greyhawk Wars. So as not to hijack the premise of this forum, please contact me directly via email at my jmccrackan account on Gmail. Looking forward to hearing from you!

[Finarvyn]

Feel free to hijack away. I haven't played DR in decades but I think I still have my original copy in my closet (never got around to getting the 25th Anniversary version) and am interested in any developments that might be underway.

Oh, and mccrackan welcome to the boards!

[Deleted]

Jun 10, 2019 11:23:16 GMT -6 mccrackan said:

I'm collaborating with the designer of Divine Right on a new edition of the game. I too believe that DR's combat system is a bit clunky and would very much to discuss with you your ideas for borrowing elements from Greyhawk Wars. So as not to hijack the premise of this forum, please contact me directly via email at my jmccrackan account on Gmail. Looking forward to hearing from you!

You still owe the forum a confirmation PM, by the way. Now, while I think in this particular case we can waive that rule, please understand that using any sort of cloaking device (like a VPN) will instantly get you on our radar. Nothing personal, and good luck on your project - but if you get one of those "golden" PMs, answer them.

[mccrackan]

"Confirmation PM"? I'd gladly comply if I understood your request.

[mccrackan]

Jun 10, 2019 16:04:15 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Feel free to hijack away. I haven't played DR in decades but I think I still have my original copy in my closet (never got around to getting the 25th Anniversary version) and am interested in any developments that might be underway.

Oh, and mccrackan welcome to the boards!

"Developments that might be underway"? Yeah, I have some.

DR2 (i.e. the 25th-anni edition) was brilliantly conceived but horribly executed. Designer Glenn Rahman added many refinements to the basic rules and many additional characters, creatures, magic items, and haunted hexes, all of which added even more depth to the game. Unfortunately, the publisher had *zero* experience with publishing board games, so many critical errors were made to the map and rulebook. The most grievous error was in recreating the map from scratch, resulting in a seriously ugly map with text that is often illegible, such as Zorn's black text on a dark-purple background.

The DR design team has been working on a third edition (DR3) for a long time--since 1997, in fact, five years before DR2 was even published. In all those years of creating, testing, and refining, we’ve made DR3 a real work of art, a game that we believe you will enjoy for years to come. Some of the changes were improvements to existing rules, such as ending the elimination of players from the game when their player monarchs are killed or captured; some were additions, such as adding riverine fleets that are capable of sailing far inland--Aws Noir has a navy now! But the most spectacular change is Barry Beadman’s restoration of the magnificent map from the TSR editions. So, so good.



Excalibre Games (EG) recently announced that they intend to publish a game called Divine Right. The gaming community has a right to know, however, that the DR that Excalibre Games intends to publish (DREG) is to be a reprinting of DR2. Some edits might be made to it, but the materials that were delivered to Excalibre Games were from DR2, not the version of DR that its design team has been working on this entire century. Because of the possibility that DREG might be marketed as DR3, the confusion that would inevitably result from that decision made it imperative that DR’s fanbase be informed.



So if you have been trying to get your hands on a copy of DR2 (but why would you?), you will soon have the opportunity. As for the “real” DR3, which we are now calling DRX in a further attempt to avoid confusion, I regrettably cannot yet announce anything more promising other than that playtesting and refinements will continue…



…and that, no matter what, Ogsbogg will one day be thundering across Minaria once more!

[Deleted]

Jun 22, 2019 22:33:32 GMT -6 mccrackan said:

"Confirmation PM"? I'd gladly comply if I understood your request.

Check your PMs - personal messages. Now, that, in the words of the immortal Joey Tribbiani, is a "moo" point now. Welcome to the boards.

[Red Baron]

Here's my thoughts on how to use the DR map:

Anyone recognize which body of water this is a corner of, and from which map ? 

I think they line up nicely.

Attachments:

[Falconer]

Sea of Rhûn from the Unfinished Tales map!

Iiiiiinteresting…

[mccrackan]

Jun 10, 2019 16:04:15 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Feel free to hijack away. I haven't played DR in decades but I think I still have my original copy in my closet (never got around to getting the 25th Anniversary version) and am interested in any developments that might be underway.

Oh, and mccrackan welcome to the boards!

"Interested in any developments that might be underway," you say?

Well, here's one:

[mccrackan]

Mar 29, 2024 15:47:11 GMT -6 mccrackan said:

Jun 10, 2019 16:04:15 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Feel free to hijack away. I haven't played DR in decades but I think I still have my original copy in my closet (never got around to getting the 25th Anniversary version) and am interested in any developments that might be underway.

Oh, and mccrackan welcome to the boards!

"Interested in any developments that might be underway," you say?

Well, here's one:


Huh...dunno why that link isn't working. Try going to kickstarter.com and then going to /projects/2141043266/divine-right-2024

[Parzival]

Interesting. I’ll be interested, but the words “update” concern me. That usually means rules changes. If minor, okay. If a radical change in a process, I’ll need to be sold on it.

[stevemitchell]

And. . .this just went live on Kickstarter. The publisher is Pungo, an imprint of Worthington Publishing, a (mostly) wargames company. A good one, in my opinion. Of interest is the news that an expansion called Scarlet Empire is planned, with a new map to join along the south edge of the main map.

[stevemitchell]

Just funded after 5 hours from going live. I guess there were a lot of folks waiting for this one.

[rhialto]

Apr 1, 2024 14:28:44 GMT -6 Parzival said:

Interesting. I’ll be interested, but the words “update” concern me. That usually means rules changes. If minor, okay. If a radical change in a process, I’ll need to be sold on it.

You can download the basic rules from the KS site, and one of the responses to the "update" question was "We want to implement the new graphics into the rules. Some minor rule adjustments and cleanups and we should be good." Not being familiar with DR I have no idea if there are then (official) Intermediate and Advanced rules (the BGG link has such files, but they may be unofficial).