Wolfpack48
Hero
I'm giving beginning players an extra Heroic Ability to start (their choice, as long as it makes sense for their background), and a choice of one professional skill raised to 15 if all their abilities are less than 15.
Dragonbane general thread
- Thread starter overgeeked
- Start date
Wolfpack48
Hero
Characters can still be pretty great if they use Initiative well, plan judicious use of parry, and remember to use their Heroic Abilities. Strategy also is a huge help.
Sir Brennen
Legend
Re: Lethality - I've started running the Dragon Emperor campaign, and after about a half dozen sessions, there have been a couple of close calls, but no actual deaths.
I think this is mainly due to the Death Saves mechanic (practically identical to D&D 5E), so going down doesn't mean you're automatically dead. In fact, there's an additional mechanic - Rally - that lets a character continue to take actions even when they're at zero HP and making Death Saves. The healer in the party managed to rally themself, which is difficult to do (usually it takes another PC taking an action to say "Get back on your feet, soldier!" or something similar and making a roll.)
Having a character with healing magic is somewhat helpful, but it's only slightly better than someone with a healing skill (and bandages) when it comes to bringing a character back from zero.
BUT.... due to lower HP and higher damage from weapons (compared to D&D), a random critical could take a PC down in one hit. Damage that takes you to negative HP are also instantly lethal, no Death Saves. Some of the bigger monsters could potentially do that much damage even without a crit.
The main thing to avoid death is to play smart. My group convinced a giant to team up with them against another group rather than fight him. (Then they got to see the damage the giant could dish out, confirming they took the right approach.)
In the published Adventure, Secret of the Dragon Emperor, many adventure sites have multiple factions with conflicting goals, and players should take advantage of this, either teaming up with one against another (possibly double crossing them), or get them to fight each other and deal with the weakened survivors. It's definitely not a "combat solves everything" game. (In fact, resolving a conflict without violence is one way to earn the opportunity to advance a skill.) I definitely recommend setting up home-grown adventures with factions in play, at least some of the time.
As far as tweaking the game, I agree with some of the other comments, especially with regard to extra Heroic Abilities (HAs) at the start. There are a couple that allow you to both Defend or Attack (it's usually one or the other without this ability) that can be real game changers. I've seen recommendations of just allowing the HA Fancy Footwork (which lets you Dodge as a defense without using your action) to everyone at the start. (Note HAs usually cost Willpower, which is a limited resource)
Also, you could disregard the Instant Death rule, or make the Death Saves with a Bane (Disadvantage) if they take that much damage. Maybe even just reduce damage die of monsters and even NPCs a step. That'll usually reduce damage by a couple points each hit.
I think this is mainly due to the Death Saves mechanic (practically identical to D&D 5E), so going down doesn't mean you're automatically dead. In fact, there's an additional mechanic - Rally - that lets a character continue to take actions even when they're at zero HP and making Death Saves. The healer in the party managed to rally themself, which is difficult to do (usually it takes another PC taking an action to say "Get back on your feet, soldier!" or something similar and making a roll.)
Having a character with healing magic is somewhat helpful, but it's only slightly better than someone with a healing skill (and bandages) when it comes to bringing a character back from zero.
BUT.... due to lower HP and higher damage from weapons (compared to D&D), a random critical could take a PC down in one hit. Damage that takes you to negative HP are also instantly lethal, no Death Saves. Some of the bigger monsters could potentially do that much damage even without a crit.
The main thing to avoid death is to play smart. My group convinced a giant to team up with them against another group rather than fight him. (Then they got to see the damage the giant could dish out, confirming they took the right approach.)
In the published Adventure, Secret of the Dragon Emperor, many adventure sites have multiple factions with conflicting goals, and players should take advantage of this, either teaming up with one against another (possibly double crossing them), or get them to fight each other and deal with the weakened survivors. It's definitely not a "combat solves everything" game. (In fact, resolving a conflict without violence is one way to earn the opportunity to advance a skill.) I definitely recommend setting up home-grown adventures with factions in play, at least some of the time.
As far as tweaking the game, I agree with some of the other comments, especially with regard to extra Heroic Abilities (HAs) at the start. There are a couple that allow you to both Defend or Attack (it's usually one or the other without this ability) that can be real game changers. I've seen recommendations of just allowing the HA Fancy Footwork (which lets you Dodge as a defense without using your action) to everyone at the start. (Note HAs usually cost Willpower, which is a limited resource)
Also, you could disregard the Instant Death rule, or make the Death Saves with a Bane (Disadvantage) if they take that much damage. Maybe even just reduce damage die of monsters and even NPCs a step. That'll usually reduce damage by a couple points each hit.
Aldarc
Legend
Also, I would add that some starting professions have pretty sucky starting heroic talents, and there is nothing prohibiting players from switching those out if there is one that the player thinks is one a little more appropriate.
EDIT: This thread reminds me that I was working on a homebrew setting for Dragonbane that would be inspired by Classical Iron Age cultures (e.g, Greeks, Phoenician-Carthaginians, etc.), mythology, and seafaring colonization of city-states.
EDIT: This thread reminds me that I was working on a homebrew setting for Dragonbane that would be inspired by Classical Iron Age cultures (e.g, Greeks, Phoenician-Carthaginians, etc.), mythology, and seafaring colonization of city-states.
Wolfpack48
Hero
The base book and bestiary has a good baseline of monsters that are easy to translate. Also found this resource out there that has some pretty good standard creatures:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ptTPSxtsRcCvn08r6FzCk4-0Uk6_W36YOchZJfMavhU/edit?gid=1286686446#gid=1286686446
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
To clarify, that's negative MAX HP for instant death.
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
Oh, if anyone's having trouble with particularly resistant players and the roll low thing, it's dead simple to flip Dragonbane to roll high. It's the same principle as OSE using either descending or ascending AC.
You can use your skill as a bonus to the roll and you're always rolling vs DC21. The math is the same.
Or, here's a handy chart.
You can use your skill as a bonus to the roll and you're always rolling vs DC21. The math is the same.
Or, here's a handy chart.
Wolfpack48
Hero
Right, so at 12 HP, you die instantly if you are driven to -12 HP in one blow.
To clarify Death, once driven to 0 HP or below, each round you make a Death roll against your CON. After 3 successful (cumulative) rolls, you regain d6 HP and stop making Death rolls. After 3 unsuccessful (cumulative) rolls, you die. Rolling a dragon (1), counts as 2 successes. Rolling a demon (20) counts as 2 failures.
Another character can Persuade you to rally and allow you to keep moving but you still must make Death rolls. They can also Heal you, adding HP, which also allows you to stop making Death rolls.
Right, the first edition was a fairly straight translation of Basic Roleplaying + the fantasy part of Worlds of Wonder. Starting with the 2nd edition it got rewritten to be its own thing but still fairly similar. Then... things got out of hand with Drakar och Demoner Expert.
That seems to be a major issue- it can be tough convincing players to try a game where their characters will be less powerful. Power fantasy is a strong drug.
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