Dragonbane is a 2023 release from Swedish studio Free League Publishing. It’s the latest edition of a game first published in 1982, and the first edition published in English. Players can create a fun variety of characters from six kin and 10 professions, such as a halfling artisan, an elven knight, a mallard merchant or a wolfkin mage.
Pros
- Incredible artwork brings the world to life and draws players into the game
- Simple but meaningful character powers
- Fast combat with just enough depth
- Clear and concise rules
- Box set is incredible value
Cons
- Players who prefer some of the extreme corners of RPG design – the tactical Pathfinder, the hyper-narrative Powered By The Apocalypse family of games – might not embrace Dragonbane for a full campaign.
Unlike most RPGs, Dragonbane uses a roll-under system. In most games, a player attempting a task rolls a d20, adds modifiers and compares the result to a target number determined by an opponent’s statistics or the game master’s judgement. In Dragonbane, a player simply rolls a natural d20 and hopes to roll lower than or equal to their skill level.
This one rule makes such a huge difference in speeding up gameplay. A players knows immediately whether they succeeded or failed, and the GM can get straight into describing what happens next … unless the player wants to push their roll.
For example, lets say I was looking for clues at the scene of a monster attack and I failed my Spot Hidden roll. I could choose to mark a condition on any of my attributes, as long as I can explain to the GM how it makes sense. For instance, I might say that my character has become Angry (Intelligence) or Disheartened (Charisma). That means until I can remove that condition, I’ll roll with a bane – roll two d20s and take the highest – on every Intelligence or Charisma -related roll. In exchange, I can try again to find a clue.
Though the exact mechanics are different, this rule has the same magic as it does in Forbidden Lands, one of Free League’s earlier hits. How important is it to succeed at this task, right now? Even if you succeed, is it worth the cost of being behind the eight ball on every other roll of that attribute for the foreseeable future? It’s a meaningful and fun choice only that player can make.
This is what I thought Dungeons and Dragons would feel like.
My wife
The trend of simple but meaningful decisions extend to combat. Players get one action per round, which they can spend outside their turn to try to avoid an enemy attack. If that manticore is about to deal d12 damage and potentially paralyze you, is it worth it to give up your own action for the round for just a chance to block it or roll out of the way? Maybe!
This review is based on a thorough reading of the rulebook and playing the “Dead Eyes Cave” adventure in a one-shot session. I found it to be well-designed – tough, but with lots of room for shenanigans, in this case involving the clever use of chickens. My positive experience with Forbidden Lands makes me confident in the quality of the other scenarios.
And just like the Forbidden Lands starter set, the Dragonbane box provides everything you need to run a campaign, including the rules, a book of adventure sites, a world map, battle maps, tokens, a deck of treasure cards, and starter characters printed on full colour sheets. (The physical box set sells for $48 while the pdf is just $25.)
It’s a no-brainer purchase for just about every RPG fan.
Into the Fray 