This might be the start of a new series.

Why do I think Dragonbane has the potential to be one of the great 5E D&D killers? I see three key differences that set this game from Free League Publishing apart from the pack of d20 systems. First, the roll under system is so simple once you really start to get into it. Second, characters are not superheroic. Third, this edition of Drakar och Demoner has the best Game Master support I think I’ve ever seen in a game.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

Let’s talk about the Dragonbane system.

Dragonbane has no character classes. So far I’ve had zero problems with the Professions and skill system. It sets itself far and away apart from other d20 classic fantasy games with the roll under mechanics. There are no fiddly modifiers, mental gymnastics, or crazy math.

You have a 14 in the Axes skill. You attack the beastie with your axe. Roll a 14 or under and you hit. Roll over 14 and you miss. Nat 1 is a Dragon (Critical Hit!) Nat 20 is a Demon (Crit Fail.) That’s the whole thing.

The only modifiers a player has to ever be concerned with are Boons (Advantage in that other game.) Roll a second die and take the lowest number. Or you might have to roll with a Bane (Disadvantage in that other game.) Roll a second 20 and take the highest number. That’s all the harder it gets.

The casting system takes a little getting used to, but once you get accustomed to it, pure joy. Willpower is your resource. Spend Willpower to charge the spell. Roll your skill associated with your school of magic. Still roll under. If it succeeds, you hit. If not, hope it’s not a Demon on the roll. Magical Mishaps are brutal. Minus the nuances, that’s casting.

Dragonbane adventuring life can be nasty, brutal, and short.

You have starting Hit Points equal to your CON score. That 3-18 HP will be with you during your whole adventuring career with very few additional bonuses. There’s no heroic HP creep.

For example, my Hunter has 15 HP. Some attacks do 2d10 damage. If the bad guys roll high enough damage, he’s gone. When you can lose half or all of your HP in one attack, suddenly the philosophy of combat looks a lot different.

Armor in this system doesn’t make you harder to hit. It makes you harder to damage. Most armor types come with some Banes to Skill Rolls because of bulk, lack of visibility, etc. Armor values are no laughing matter, though. Even 2 points of armor can be a character’s life preserver.

Monster HP is another subject to consider. Orcs and Skeletons have 10 or 12 HP just like a player character. That’s not too bad. But creatures like Trolls? 38 HP and can regenerate every round. But that doesn’t matter because Trolls have Ferocity 2. We’ll talk more about initiative later.

Let’s discuss the action economy.

The actions in Dragonbane are easy to remember. You get one movement and one action. It’s about a hundred times easier to remember than other d20 systems. Oh, and that one single action really has to count. Don’t forget monsters hit automatically.

If a character uses their one action on Evade or Parry, they’re done for the round other than a move. That single Evade or Parry might be the difference between life and, um, whatever threatens to eat them. The action economy is a lot less swingy than other systems. Tactics are the order of the day if your character wants to survive.

Initiative is dealt out in 10 cards. Ferocity grants some monsters more than one action. Lowest number 1-10 goes first. Going early on can backfire, however. Once a character’s action is gone, they can’t Evade or Parry. If a character uses their only action on a missed attack early in the round, they could suddenly be surrounded by 4 goblins doing the surround and pound. Beware the Ides of March.

That might be too grim for some players.

Hopefully the GM won’t be so merciless as to ROFL stomp a single character down in one round. I probably wouldn’t unless the monster was provoked. But overall, smart gameplay saves characters. Running away is nothing to be ashamed of. Negotiating is definitely an option. Sneaking is never out of the question unless you’re in plate armor.

I prefer it to games where characters are super powerful at Level 3 and overpowered by Level 7. Most campaigns die before Level 10. Characters in Dragonbane can survive to raise their skills. They can reach heroic milestones or perform heroic deeds and gain new abilities. Magic is worth far more than gold in this game. Treasure in general is a huge deal. Big risk, huge rewards.

With the lethality in Dragonbane being what it is, there are Death rolls. Just because a character goes down a 0 HP doesn’t mean they’re dead automatically. Much like that 5E game, there are Death Rolls. Make 3 CON rolls and your character gets 1d6 HP and gets up (with a caveat.) Fail three and, uh… return to character generation.

I don’t want to discourage anyone based on combat, though. Roleplaying opportunities abound in Dragonbane knowing that combat can get ugly. I firmly believe the mirth and mayhem portion of Dragonbane make it stand out. Not everything in this game has to be a super serious slog into a dank, dark necropolis that spans kilometers underground.

However, questing for a Ring of Invisibility or a Staff of Fireball might be totally worth it. Magic is extra rare and powerful in Dragonbane. There’s no 128 page book of nothing but magic items for the game. There isn’t even a page. It’s on the GM to create treasure for the group to find.

The Game Master gets a lot of love in Dragonbane.

Where to even start about the Game Master love in this game. I’ve seen games where the Core rules barely said anything before throwing the players to the wolves, err players rather. Dragonbane gives so much guidance, random tables, adventure building advice, examples, and then some just in the core rules.

To Dragonbane’s credit, it spawned from Chaosium’s Basic RolePlaying Game ala Runequest. It’s been tried, tested, and proven for 40+ years now. As TTRPGs go, it’s very difficult to ask for more in terms of playtesting and revisions. The system is about as awesome as it can be.

Yes, there’s still plenty of room for homebrewing things. That was my first concern, actually. Turns out the Free League forums are super kind, welcoming and helpful to new players/GMs. I don’t expect to see that kind of love on another game’s forums, community, etc. It even makes most of the TTRPG Community on social media and YouTube look pale. (Part of me wants to freakin move to Europe. Note to self: learn Swedish.) Yeah, turns out there’s lots of homebrew for Dragonbane.

Speaking of the awesomeness of the forums, there’s a really great compiled FAQ here. Mattias did a fantastic job with this document, and it covers oh so many rules dilemmas. The forums in general cover a lot of good questions, too.

The core box sets the GM up for success immediately. There’s a combat grid and a dozen standees. The cardstock is impressive. (Similar to most European boardgames.) The rulebook itself is well written. There is also a solo adventure and a mini campaign worth of adventures.

I personally think the monster attack tables are amazeballs. It takes a lot of extra work off the GM to decide what attack to use, whether it will hit (it always does,) and all that pesky game balance. (There’s really no such thing. Just what the party can handle.) Monsters included in the game are pretty amazing. You can tell years of playtesting have gone into them.

I think the Initiative, Improvised weapons, treasure and adventure cards are a nice touch with the boxed set, too. Yes, I could pull 10 cards out of a standard deck of playing cards, but having the actual Dragonbane cards on hand is pretty sweet. I don’t think Free League has strayed into the too-much category of games yet.

Conclusion.

The Dragonbane core box set is a must for GMs starting out a campaign in Dragonbane. It’s super convenient and designed to get new and emerging GMs a great set of props and maps to really get going. The game itself is very good for beginners. It’s a quaint, basic, high quality game for beginners and us old timers alike. Every journey is an adventure in and of itself. The character professions all have fascinating abilities that come together in and out of the dungeon.

There have been countless reviews as well  as Actual Plays of both solo and group play. I never get tired of hearing people talking about Dragonbane. I am often reminded of that certain red box when I was a kid. The major difference is Fria Ligan (aka Free League Publishing) has a beautiful reputation and seems to really care about their customers. The support for this game has been nothing short of incredible so far.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.