Today we finish character creation and move onto the rest of the book.
I know I’m taking this review to the extreme, but I’m enjoying just reading through this game. Dragonbane is on another level from a good number of other fantasy TTRPGs. It’s Old School, but yet it’s a fresh take from what I’m used to seeing in most fantasy games.
2023-2025 is seeing new, revised, or adapted (high) fantasy TTRPGs coming out in droves. It’s all because the grandmother of all TTRPGs and its big corporate owner want to bring out their “forever edition.” News Flash: Dragonbane appears to not have changed much since the original in the 1980s. Maybe someone from Sweden can set me straight on that, but from what I’ve seen, this is the edition of the game that has stood the test of time.
[DISCLOSURE: I received a free digital copy of the Dragonbane Core Set from Free League Publishing. I am not an affiliate, nor have I received any compensation for the review itself. ]
We’re making a character or six and we’ve selected our Kin.
The next thing we get to choose, or roll is Profession. First character, first time around I’m picking Fighter. Human Fighter. Why? Because it’s the easiest character archetype to play and gives us some idea of what combat will probably be like.
Fighters get a good amount of Weapon Skills. Strength is their key ability, as one might expect. Their Heroic Ability is Veteran which we’ll talk about later.
Professions are somewhat akin to character classes found in other d20 TTRPGs. Other available Professions include Artisan, Bard, Hunter, Knight, Mage, Mariner, Merchant, Scholar, and Thief. We mentioned the Fighter already. It’s notable that there are no funky subclasses, extra professions, weird Kits, multiclassing, or any way to really cheese a character up.
There are three professions on the list I’m personally not too keen on. I’m not 100% sure why they were included because they are pretty niche. The Artisan Blacksmith kinda makes sense, but why would a cobbler or a carpenter go dungeon delving? Likewise, the Mariner seems like a fish out of water in most campaigns. I know Gygax and Arneson toyed with the idea of a Merchant class in their game over in the States, but why would any merchant venture into a dark hole in the ground full of monsters?
It is what it is. Otherwise I think the professions and skills line up pretty well together. There are skill options outside of any given profession to help catch up anything you might feel a character is lacking. Because Dragonbane doesn’t have character classes or levels of experience, it’s considered a skill based game.
Notice we didn’t mention any kind of clergy? Apparently there are no professional priests to speak of. Magical healing? Hmm… No Druids, Paladins, or Monks to be found. This could be quite interesting.
Age matters.
There are three Age categories in Dragonbane. Young grants some Ability buffs but fewer skills. Adult is null and a few more skills. Old is an Ability penalty and even more skills. I like it!
Gotta have the skills to pay the bills.
Someone on Instagram that Dragonbane was born of Magic World, which of course runs off of the Basic RolePlaying Game engine. From there the game has evolved many times over from its Chaosium roots. I got to play around in the BRP end of things during the BRP Design Challenge. One of the things that fascinated me about Dragonbane was its resemblance to the professions and skills I had picked out for Steamship Nautica.
Dragonbane feels like BRP only one step simpler, which is exactly what I was looking for in a new fantasy game. I definitely think Dragonbane has more streamlined combat, magic and monsters, though. Yes, I read far ahead of the review. I think having a feel for the combat system, magic, and the overall encounter structure of the game helps make for better skill and Heroic Ability choices down the line.
Attributes!
Roll 4d6 drop the lowest down the line. Swap 2 if you wish. My dice both loved and hated me on this. So far all six characters have been okay. No super powerful characters, and no hopeless ones, either. There are other dice mechanics for character creation available as optional rules. Basically you can do it any way you would make a typical d20 style character. (*I’ll probably go over a few styles in a future article.)
I’m not overly fond of them dropping the Attribute rolls after Profession selection. I would prefer to just roll six stats and assign them according to profession or roll and then decide profession. Hey, this might make a great Bard. Oh my, looks like I’m a Fighter until this character dies hideously and I get to mercifully roll up a new character. (Don’t laugh too much. I have one character that barely rolled in the double digits. Highest score was a 13.)
The Attributes for Dragonbane are as follows:
Strength: Lifting, pushing, swinging heavier weapons, etc.
Constitution: Measure of stalwart fortitude. Overall physical health.
Agility: aka Dexterity. Eye-hand coordination, physical prowess, deftness, fine motor control.
Intelligence: Smarts. Cunning, wits, knowledge, etc.
Willpower: An attribute and a points pool for Heroic abilities and spells. Force of will
Charisma: Charm, force of personality, overall persuasiveness.
There are also secondary stats such as Movement, Age, Hit Points, Encumbrance, Willpower Points, and Damage Bonus. These should all look pretty familiar to anyone who has enjoyed a TTRPG before. It’s all basic math. No funky fractions or decimals to move around. Dragonbane rolls usually round up when called for.
All the other little details.
There are still some fiddly things on the Dragonbane character sheet to fill in. I won’t go into every single thing, but Trained Skills still have to be selected. Gear and armor need to be recorded. Please bear Encumbrance in mind before taking extra gear. Those slots are valuable. Reminds me a great deal of Shadowdark RPG.
Dragonbane uses a different Experience Point system than a lot of other d20 games. It’s more akin to the one found in Call of Cthulhu or BRP. If you roll a Dragon (Nat 1 = Good.) or a Demon (Nat 20 = Bad) on a Skill check, you get to mark the cute little check box next to the skill. At the end of the session, a conversation is had where the GM asks a set of questions related to the player’s participation. This is the only roll in the game so far where a player must roll OVER the skill in order for it to advance.
It’s important to note that a player can perform in character actions counter to the Weakness listed on their character and buy it off. Heroic Abilities are normally awarded for completing character goals or whenever the GM deems appropriate. Spells are mostly in game rewards as far as I can tell.
Chapter 6: Gear.
We’re going to jump ahead a little and talk about gear. I was pleasantly surprised to find lots of neat items from clothing to trade goods. I think every game should have a services page like the one in this rulebook. Retainers are a very good thing.
My first impression of many fantasy games comes from the weapons page. Now, I was spoiled on Dungeons & Dragons 3/3.5E with so many various weapons from tons of different cultures. The same goes for armor. I love having tons of choices. When the game doesn’t give me cause to smile, it’s time to homebrew like the gamer fiend that I am. Dragonbane has a nice weapons and armor section, but I think we can do better. I might actually put out something similar to the Shadowdark RPG Crawler’s Armory. (Formerly on Itch.io. Due to DriveThruRPG’s Exclusivity rule, it’s currently hanging in limbo.)
I’m especially interested in the various Japanese and Chinese martial weapons. Then again, I could write a whole supplement for this game based on those concepts complete with professions, weapons, etc. Let’s face it, mostly I just want my beloved katana in every game along with nunchaku.
BUT, I will say Dragonbane has a robust selection of weapons, armor, equipment, goods, and services to keep any party of adventurers going indefinitely. For a starter set, the gear section packs a pretty good punch. I keep wondering how many supplements were made for Drakar och Demoner that had more loot, etc. I’ll look into that further in another article.
Where the Heck are the Magic Item?
The other kinda strange thing I’ve noticed about this game is a serious lack of potions, magic staves, magic weapons, enchanted armor, and so on. What happens when the Artisan and the Mage get together and do the knight a favor? (Ever see A Knight’s Tale? Great movie.)
This is another moment where I wonder if Drakar och Demoner had a supplement or expansion for magic. We’ll talk more about magic in the next part of the review. I just keep wondering what kind of magical loot, if any, can be found in a dungeon for this game.
Yes, I know it’s “low magic” fantasy, which is great for testing the players’ abilities to avoid combat and roleplay more. Yes, I’m one of those “violent” Americans who thinks everything can be solved with a sword duel. (Where the heck are the rapiers, sabres, cutlasses, etc in this game?) I get that practically any non-metal-wearing character can throw a spell technically. But…but… Where is my +3 Flaming Sword of Head Lopping?
The Treasure cards in the boxed set had a few scant almost magical items. At least there was a potion of sorts and a Poison Dagger. That’s kinda cool, I guess. No Cloak of Invisibility, though. I sense another supplement quest or some serious homebrew in my future on that one.
Overall, I’m still loving going over Dragonbane. I think it’s a terrific game. I can’t wait to get rolling now that my characters are all finished up. I’ll be sharing more about them in coming days, too. I mean, who doesn’t like talking about their characters? Am I right?
Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.
Jeff's Game Box 