Dragonbane - sort of a 5E lite RPG

[Finarvyn]

I'm really becoming addicted to Dragonbane (Drakar och Demoner) and thought I'd make some comments about the game system. As some have noted in the other thread, there are some similarities to 5E.

DoD has a similar 6 stats to D&D. (Runequest uses Size and Power stats, but DoD doesn't have any of those. The main difference is that Wisdom has been replaced with Willpower.
** Stats are 3-18. Roll 4, keep the best 3.
** CON becomes hit points. Clearly, characters are in danger from the get-go.
** WIL determines activation of powers. Spells have a WP cost. Other kewl powers have a WP cost.

Characters get kewl powerz based on Class and Kin (race). There are no levels, but characters can improve on individual skill numbers a little at a time.

Actions are limited.
** 5E has actions, reactions, bonus actions, and each have special rules.
** DoD has actions. If you haven't used your action you can react instead.

Actions (combat, skill use, etc) is a "roll low" system. It started as a percent chance to succeed (so, for example, 15% would be percentile dice 01-15) and in this version is a d20 roll (so, in the same example, 15% would be d20 roll 01-03). Nat-1 is a critical success, nat-20 a critical failure.

If you fail a dice roll you can "push" to get a re-roll. When you "push" a roll you suffer a condition, which means you check off one of your 6 stats and any skill used with that stat is at disadvantage. You have 6 stats, so you can push 6 times before a rest. Just one more resource to juggle, but a fun one.

There are 3 levels of rest, not so unlike 5E. You can "take a knee" once per short rest as an action to regain a couple of HP. There are also short and long rests, with different names but a lot of the same benefits of restoring WP and such.

Armor does damage reduction instead of changing one's AC. With low HP totals, however, armor becomes even more vital than in 5E.

DoD has "Boon" and "Bane" (advantage and disadvantage) that can occur in certain situations.

Monsters have interesting rules.
** They have an action chart. Roll and see what they do, can't do the same action twice in a row.
** Monsters don't miss. They are deadly. But they can sometimes be dodged or parried.
** Dodging or parrying sometimes works.

Monster info in the Bestiary is pretty minimal, which I like.
** A couple of basic stats. Much simpler than 5E.
** A table of monster actions. (Sort of a "DCC Spell Table" thing, but much shorter.)
** Wonderful artwork done by Johan Egerkrans. (Same guy who did the Vaesen RPG.)

More thoughts later.

[tkdco2]

Free League offers a free Starter Set that can be downloaded on DriveThru RPG. I just got a copy, and I'll try the sample adventure included.

[retrorob]

I've played one session. It seems to me that it's BRP/RuneQuest combined with 5E.

[tdenmark]

At first I thought this thread said Dragonslayer RPG, which I just got my hardcopy of the other day and have been reading through it and enjoying it.

I haven't had a chance to play Dragonbane, or even read it. Is it any good?

[tkdco2]

I haven't tried the adventure yet, but I created a character, a human knight. While thinking of an adventure for him I decided on a joust. I thought of some house rules; this is a work in progress.

Both opponents get a simultaneous attack (one only despite any special abilities). The attack cannot be parried or dodged, but armor rating will apply. The contest can last any number of rounds, but setting a maximum of 3-5 rounds is recommended.

On a regular hit, the player rolls for damage and must make a Riding check or be unhorsed. If a combatant rolls a Dragon, the opponent must make the Riding roll with a Bane. If he remains on his horse, he will take double damage. An unhorsed knight will take 1d6 falling damage.

Nothing happens to the target on a regular miss, but if the attacker rolls a Demon, he has hit his opponent's horse. This is considered dishonorable, and the knight will automatically be judged the loser. Word of his ignoble deed will spread, and he will need to perform great deeds to regain his honor.

The winner of the joust may demand a prize from the loser. The stakes are determined before the contest.

[Finarvyn]

(1) For more ideas about jousts, check out the rules in Chainmail. They are easy to play, and pretty fun.

(2) My son is finally reading the rules to Dragonbane. What is it about this generation that makes them want to read the rules rather than just experience the game? Whatever, his response so far is that it seems a lot like 5E lite, which suggests to me that he probably won't want to play it. Ugh.

[jeffb]

Feb 7, 2024 10:08:13 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

If you fail a dice roll you can "push" to get a re-roll. When you "push" a roll you suffer a condition, which means you check off one of your 6 stats and any skill used with that stat is at disadvantage. You have 6 stats, so you can push 6 times before a rest. Just one more resource to juggle, but a fun one.

How easy is it to just check off a "dump stat"? I.e. pick a stat that has little game use for skills/saves, and thus isn't all that much of a disadvantage between rests.

[Finarvyn]

Well, the key is that you only have 6 stats so can only push a total of 6 rolls before a long rest. I suppose some stats are more important than others, so maybe the first one or two don't mean a lot. Eventually it will matter. When you check off a stat from a push, it invokes disadvantage on all stat checks using that stat.

[stevemitchell]

I just picked up the Bestiary today. There's a nice assortment of foes and monsters to flesh out the rather limited list from the main book, PLUS--several new kin to add to the mix of player characters.

[tkdco2]

If you don't care for 5e or The One Ring game mechanics, Dragonbane would probably work really well for a Middle-earth campaign. Just remove Wolfkin, Mallards and PC Wizards. Even the more unusual (for lack of a better word) classes - artisan, mariner, merchant, scholar - work well for a Middle-earth setting. Wizards would be reserved for NPCs, Istari and certain Elves. But all three types of magic work well in the setting.

As for monsters, perhaps Balrogs would be fire demons. Nazgul would best be written up as wights, with skeletons better representing the Barrow Wights. Perhaps the Witch King can be a type of demon. Most of the other Tolkien monsters need little conversion.

[tkdco2]

I was reading reviews about the game. One reviewer liked the idea of Mallard PCs, but said Halflings should stay in Middle-earth.

Okay, don't use Halflings if you don't like them. But there's no need to ignore the template. Use it to represent these guys who aren't represented in the game.