Accessory you’d (I’d) like to see: Dragonbane Monsters and Magic (working title.)
If I were to create an accessory for Dragonbane, I think there are three things I would like to see in it. First, we can’t go wrong with more monsters. Second, we can always use more spells and possibly new caster Professions. Last, there really aren’t enough magic items in the Core rules.
My preferred approach to supplements for almost any game is to create them myself. It’s always wonderful when someone beats me to it and does all the work, but I also like to create my own. I was truly amazed at how many Shadowdark RPG supplements were ready to go shortly after the book came out or shortly before in some cases. I actually backed a couple of them on Kickstarter. Good stuff.
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.
I suspect several supplements exist for Drakar och Demoner which I haven’t uncovered yet. I haven’t been able to dive deep into the Swedish portion of the Internet to come up with them if they do exist. I know in my heart of hearts there has to be more. I’ve seen Monsterboken 2 mentioned, and there’s apparently a magic supplement. Free League has begun hinting at a magic book of some sort.
Monsters, monsters, and more monsters.
There are boundless more creatures to be added to Dragonbane. Other games have volumes of monster books. Swords & Wizardry has a massive single tome full of them called Monstrosities. The 5E and 3E ampersand games have more third party monster books than can easily be counted. The same can be said about official books for Cashfinder… I mean Pathfinder 2E. (*But I’m not bitter…) Basically you can’t lovingly swing a phase cat without hitting a monster book for some fantasy game or another.
As I said yesterday, I love monster books. Right now I’m determined to use many of the Cawood 5E monster supplements and might even merge Dragonbane with World of Myrr when it comes. I think the art styles mesh pretty well and it shouldn’t be too difficult to convert everything unofficially. I might put some of it here on the blog for free if I get a chance.
Spells- Lots and lots of spells.
Monster books are probably the most common supplement/accessory for any given fantasy game. I would have to say magic is probably the second most common. The Advanced ampersand game Second Edition had seven fairly thick books of nothing but spells and four encyclopedias full of magic items. Other games have them scattered all over the place. Many short spell supplements exist as magazine articles and blog posts.
Spells can be a lot of work adjusting effects, damage, range, and casting requirements. There are typically a lot of moving parts for spells even for simpler games such as Shadowdark or Dragonbane. Many game designers tend to lean heavily on playtesting for spells before releasing them into the wild. Personally, I err on the side of caution, and I can always revise the PDF later if I’m wrong. Yes, it’s a rare moment I actually welcome feedback.
Lastly- loot.
I personally feel that one of the goals of any fantasy RPG is to rack up some gold, magic items, and cool stuff. The treasure cards in the Dragonbane core boxed set really don’t go far enough in my opinion. They needed to include something a little more magical than Master crafted items. If I had one criticism of Dragonbane, and I don’t think I mentioned it in the review, is that there’s not enough loot.
I think the Professions in Dragonbane deserve some respect and credit where it is due. Breaking the economy of the game world with adventurers having tons of gold and silver wouldn’t do them any good. The same can be said about magic items. Too much of a good thing in this case is a bad thing.
That’s not to say adventurers don’t deserve some magic loot. If brave Knights and plucky Scholars are out risking life and limb in search of forgotten artifacts, they deserve to bring back a few magic baubles to aid them in their quests. Not every sword needs to be Excalibur, but it’s nice to find a bag that magically holds a little more cargo.
Talking about all of this has me thinking about how such a book would come together and what it would look like. Universe, how I desire an artist who could work with me every day. Maybe after I sell my first hundred copies, I’ll be able to hire one. (*LOL!) Until then I’m going to be putting things together in an old school minimalist fashion.
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 