Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
All the love for Dragonbane has a similar tone to what people say about Shadowdark.
Dragonbane general thread
- Thread starter overgeeked
- Start date
Wolfpack48
Hero
Interesting. Why do you think your group resisted OSE and were ok with Dragonbane?
Sir Brennen
Legend
I can’t speak for Ringtail and her group, but when I started looking around for simpler, faster systems outside of 5e ( and Savage Worlds, which i played a lot of as well in recent years) I looked at several OSR type games, and one of the things I really wanted to get away from level based games.
I finally got on the Mork Borg (and then Pirate Borg) wagon, and while not completely non-level based, the Borg games rule lightness (and random generation tables) were a breath of fresh air for me as a GM. I also picked up Death in Space, which shares similar philosophies.
And because these were all Free League games (or at least distributed by them) I kept an eye on Dragonbane and finally decided to give it a shot. It plays different than those other games, but I definitely haven’t regretted picking it up.
Aldarc
Legend
This is also one reason why I have been drawn more towards NuSR games, such as the Odd-like games (e.g., Into the Odd, Cairn, Mausritter) or even ICRPG. This is not say that I dislike levels. I enjoy them for other TTRPGs (e.g., Fabula Ultima, FAGE, SotDL, etc.). But for some reason when it comes to my more OSR-esque itch, I would almost prefer not having levels since that flattens that power curve.
I've been running the Secret of the Dragon Emperor-campaign and it's been going quite well. It's got a pulpy tone to the action; The shuffling of initiative each turn, random monster attacks, improvised weapons and high weapons damage keep things dynamic.
There's been a good few deaths so far, all quite memorable.
In a forest encounter with some demon-cultists, our cowardly merchant decided to find a good hiding spot instead of joining the battle. After a few rounds, he tired of waiting and started looking for a weapon. He found an adder, hoping to throw it at the enemy. The adder, however, had not agreed to this plan and bit him. The merchant had hidden himself well and by the time the others found him, rigor mortis had set in.
The other incident was a near TPK. During some spelunking our selfless and valiant knight fell down a hole, hit her head and lost her memories and sense of self. Later on, the group hatched the ingenious idea of attempting to deceive a giant psychic spider. This ended in blood. In the usual case, the knight would have fought until the end and sacrificed herself for her comrades. However, at this point she could barely remember who these people were. She ended up abandoning the others to be eaten when it was clear that the battle was lost.
She regained her memories and personality a few days later, fun.
There's been a good few deaths so far, all quite memorable.
In a forest encounter with some demon-cultists, our cowardly merchant decided to find a good hiding spot instead of joining the battle. After a few rounds, he tired of waiting and started looking for a weapon. He found an adder, hoping to throw it at the enemy. The adder, however, had not agreed to this plan and bit him. The merchant had hidden himself well and by the time the others found him, rigor mortis had set in.
The other incident was a near TPK. During some spelunking our selfless and valiant knight fell down a hole, hit her head and lost her memories and sense of self. Later on, the group hatched the ingenious idea of attempting to deceive a giant psychic spider. This ended in blood. In the usual case, the knight would have fought until the end and sacrificed herself for her comrades. However, at this point she could barely remember who these people were. She ended up abandoning the others to be eaten when it was clear that the battle was lost.
She regained her memories and personality a few days later, fun.
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Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
I don't have experience with the breadth of games as a lot of people here (including you), but I did used to play The One Ring and lack of levels was one of the things I really appreciated about it.
In particular, I really like games in which:
- The types of monsters you fought early on are still a threat at later levels, just not quite as much.
- New(ish) characters can adventure with more experienced characters. Whether it's because one dies, somebody wants to retire a character, or new people join the game.
Wolfpack48
Hero
A big reason I switched over to RQ, COC and BRP in my later gaming years was keeping the threat level alive at all points of the game. Our most fun D&D games were levels 1-7 when we felt like we could buy it at any point but gradually felt more capable as we went. We figured out HP and AC increases were the big reasons we never felt in danger at higher levels.
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Ringtail
World Traveller (She/Her)
Mostly branding/perspective I think.
One group of players wasn't really interested in an old version of D&D when there are more modern experiences that are smoother. Another was open to the idea of a more dangerous RPG, but were more interested in trying something different like Warhammer Fantasy RP rather than more D&D. (This was ultimately the group I got on board with Dragonbane.)
Dragonbane was an easier sell because it had smoother gameplay and quality of life improvements of modern RPG rulesets. Its also not D&D, but something else. As fans of Call of Cthulhu and the BRP DNA in Dragonbane definitely appealed to us.
Wolfpack48
Hero
It’s interesting to see the paths of replicating the old school feel with a true duplication of the old rules vs simulating the feel using modern rules. As players of AD&D, we were even then looking for ways to smooth the play. That said, D&D played pretty well once you learned the rules. I’m guessing modern gamers have either a historical interest in replicating what it was like back then or just want to experience the feel of “old school” without all the quirkiness.
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For us, many in my group balked at the power level in OSR games. In Dragonbane, you can be expected to defeat a troll or giant at a starting power level. In many OSR games, you can die to a pair of goblins.
Also, DB doesn't just have 0 HP and you're dead. We played through the boxed set campaign and had few permanent deaths - some lingering injuries, yes.
Also, DB doesn't just have 0 HP and you're dead. We played through the boxed set campaign and had few permanent deaths - some lingering injuries, yes.
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