First Impressions - Dragonbane RPG - Rulebook

Dragonbane core rulebook.

I backed the original Dragonbane Kickstarter and really liked the boxed set that arrived, but was loathe to read the softback books (because I reckoned I’d trash them), so I was delighted when Fría Ligan announced that they were producing a hardcover of the core rules and a bestiary. Here’s my first impressions of the core rules, only tempered by the fact that I read the QuickStart at the time of the initial release and also the influence of First Age, whose boundless enthusiasm for the game is somewhat catching.

TL;DR: Overall, I’m impressed with Dragonbane. It’s mechanically light enough to fade away but provide lots of fun. The boxed set promised mayhem and mirth, and this polished, well written, simple and beautifully illustrated rulebook gives you the tools for a lot of fun time adventuring. It reminds me of the old-school, but it takes the BRP-heritage and hones it to a sharp and effective modern point.

Dragonbane is a 124-page full colour hardback book which presents a full game system with introductory adventure. The interior art is gorgeous, produced by Johan Egerkrans and Niklas Brandt. It’s printed on matte pages rather than gloss, and feels nice. Layout is very clear and the text is easy to read. This is the second printing of the rules, so there is a list of errata changes at the front, something that reminds me of reading RuneQuest 2 back in the 1980s.

You can see the BRP (Chaosium’s Basic Role Playing percentile engine) lineage in the game engine. But, Dragonbane uses D20, you say… BRP does step into the D20 space; it was only after the first two editions of RuneQuest that the game moved away from 5% skill steps, and Pendragon was always a D20 version of the engine. However, Dragonbane is a fast and slick version of the game engine, married with some modern design concepts.

Characters are described with six attributes (Strength, Constitution, Agility, Intelligence, Willpower and Charisma) rolled on 4D6 with the worst die dropped. You can swap a pair around at the end of the rolls. They may be modified by the Kin that you select at the start. This are pretty traditional (Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf) until you get to the Mallard and Wolfkin. Mallards are very much a nod to the RQ heritage of Ducks. Each Kin is described, and has at least one heroic ability activated by spending Willpower points. You then choose (or roll) a profession for your adventurer, and there are ten on offer. They cover most of the fantasy tropes, and at least half of your skills must come from those in the profession. You also gain an additional heroic ability and a selection of starting gear builds. You can generate a name by using the name table for kin and the nickname table for profession. The number of skills depends on the age of your characters (with bonus attributes and less skills for the young and lowered physical attributes and more trained skills for the old). 

Derived attributes give movement (based on Kin and Agility), Hit Points, Willpower points (which fuel magic and abilities) and a damage bonus. Skills either start at a base derived from the governing attribute or are doubled if you are trained in them. An average character would have a skill of 5 for untrained skills and 10 for trained skills. Favoured attributes could push this as high as 6/12 or 7/14.  Characters can also chose to have a weakness; playing to it will give you a bonus on experience checks at the end of a session, and resisting it can gain you more in the short term, and end up causing a change. As well as the starting gear, you’ll have a memento that’s important to you that you can use once per session to recover an additional condition. 

Character generation rounds out with simple encumbrance rules and some ideas for appearance. Experience comes from rolling a Dragon (1) or a Demon (20) when making a skill roll. You also get it for answering certain questions at the end of a session. Each question answered or dragon/demon rolled gives you an attainment mark which can be placed against skill. You roll a D20 for each, looking to get more than the existing skill. If you do this, you can raise it by 1, up to a maximum of 18. Any skill raised to 18 gives an additional heroic ability. 

The game engine is a D20 roll equal-to or under, usually against skill but attributes can be an option in some limited cases. Rolling a Dragon is a critical, with extra damage, higher achievement etc. Rolling a Demon can’t be pushed and a fumble of some sort happens. Generally, you get a single chance to roll. Rather than having modifiers to the roll, you can have boon or bane.Unlike D&D, these can stack, so you can roll more than two D20s for task. Generally, one person can help, giving a boon. 

If it goes badly, there is an option rule to push rolls (like in the YZE engine); however, this gives you a condition which imposes bane on skill groups derived from the same attribute. If you get all six conditions you can no longer re-roll. You have to re-roll all the dice. 

Combat initiative is derived by drawing cards (much as used in most YZE games). When it gets to your turn, you can chose to wait, and swap your card with someone who hasn’t been. Monsters will often have multiple initiative cards. The action economy is simple. You get one action and can move. If you are forced to react to defend yourself (for example by parrying or dodging) then it uses your action if you still have one or cannot be done. There are a limited number of free actions like swapping weapons, shouting, getting off the ground or getting down to the ground. 

Melee combat is by a skill roll, and success means you deal damage (less armour). A Dragon means that you can roll double base damage, do a second attack against another enemy or bypass armour with a piercing weapon. When facing a non-monster, if your damage bonus is higher than theirs and you hit then you can shove them away from you. Demon rolls have a simple fumble table ranging from dropped weapons through to hitting yourself. If you use a reaction and parry an attack, your weapon can be damaged if the damage exceed the durability of your equipment. Mostly, you can’t parry monster attacks. However, you can dodge monster attacks. Ranged combat works similarly, but has a more limited set of options for rolling a dragon. You can parry a ranged attack with a shield (and with a weapon if you have the right ability) or you can dodge it. 

When your hit points reach 0, you fall to the ground and start to make death rolls versus your CON attribute. These work a bit like D&D5e and 3 successes see you recover D6 hit points and return to combat. Three failed rolls mean you are dead and gone. Demons and Dragons count double. Additional damage is treated as a failed death roll. If you ever take damage in a single attack that takes you to the negative score with the same magnitude as your hit points, you die instantly.

Other characters can help you: you can be rallied back to your feet to fight on at zero hit points (but you still make death rolls), or someone else can try to save your life with a healing roll. If you survive death rolls, you need to make a CON roll or suffer a long term injury. 

Magic is presented as resting in three schools; animism (deals with nature and the world), elementalism (deals with the elements) and mentalism (control of mind and body). There are lists of spells and magic tricks for each school. There is also a group of core spells and tricks. Mages have prepare a spell to use, with limits set by INT. Spells are also recorded in the mages’ grimoire, and at a push can be cast from there. Metal interferes with casting and enough can stop spells being used. Spells have power levels, needing Willpower points to activate. At a push, you can take damage to your hit points to gain Willpower to cast a spell, except for healing magic. Rolling Dragon boosts your spell, rolling a Demon causes a mishap. 

This section is followed by a decent equipment list, and then the bestiary which gives a small but interesting selection of monsters that cover the basics for most fantasy games. Some creatures are treated as NPCs; they follow the same basic rules as player characters. Goblins, Orcs and Skeletons are examples of these. More scarily, some creatures are Monsters. Monsters typically have multiple attacks and always hit, with the GM rolling or choosing from a table of nastiness (shades of Forbidden Lands and Alien). As Monsters will typically have more than one attack, they are to be feared. Monsters can also cause Fear, which needs a Willpower roll to resist, and a failure can cause conditions to be inflicted or a character to flee or freeze.

The book draws towards its close by covering Journeys, GM advice and Treasure. Characters take roles on when travelling; pathfinders will lead the party through, with others taking the action to make camp or hunt and forage for food. The GM section focuses heavily on using NPCs and creating adventures with some light guidance and random tables for adventures, treasures and NPCs. The book rounds out with a short introductory scenario (The Castle of the Robber Knight) which will reward thinking around the problems faced rather than a straight line combat solution.

The book concludes with a short selection of tables, the character sheet and a functional index.

Overall, I’m impressed with Dragonbane. It’s mechanically light enough to fade away but provide lots of fun. The boxed set promised mayhem and mirth, and this polished, well written, simple and beautifully illustrated rulebook gives you the tools for a lot of fun time adventuring. It reminds me of old school, but it takes the BRP-heritage and hones it to a sharp and effective point. Recommended. 

12 February 2024