Dragon Dice?

[UltimaGabe]

Hello, Enworld!

Has anyone out there ever heard of a game called Dragon Dice? It was first made back in the mid-90's by TSR (it even won Origins Game of the Year in 1995, if I'm not mistaken), only for TSR to go bankrupt a short few years later. It was eventually bought out by SFR (SFR - Gamers that make games better. Gamers that make better games.™), a company composed entirely of fans of the game that didn't want it to disappear into obscurity. As such, they've revised the rules and have continued making more and more dice over the last few years, and its community (while small) is still going strong, and getting bigger by the day.

Anyway, I began to take an interest in this game just a few months ago (after having bought a ton of the dice back in 1995, when I was too young to even understand the rules), and while I'm loving this game and find myself thinking about it night and day, I only know one other person who has even heard of it (and that's because I told him all about it last month). I've heard of many gamer communities that play this game weekly or monthly, but alas, not even a single store within 30 miles of me carries it (as far as I can tell). And I have yet to meet a single person who's even heard of the game.

So, is there anyone out there who's heard of this game and feels like discussing it? (Preferably someone within driving distance of Nashville, Tennessee?) Or, is there anyone who might be interested at the prospect of a tactical dice-based war game?

 

[Jhaelen]

I remember it quite well. I've just never been interested in the game. Collectible dice? Umm, yeah. This is the first time, though, I'm hearing it's still being supported.

Edit: (un)reason discusses the game a bit in his thread Lets-read-entire-run where he rereads all of the old Dragon issues.

Apparently, Dragon Dice helped to accelerate the end of TSR because of too high sales expectations...

 

[VGmaster9]

I've heard of it, it's a pretty interesting game. We should have more collectible dice games around here.

EDIT: It would also be nice to see more collectible dice games with a certain theme.

 

[chuckpint]

I remember it quite well. I've just never been interested in the game. Collectible dice? Umm, yeah. This is the first time, though, I'm hearing it's still being supported.

Edit: (un)reason discusses the game a bit in his thread Lets-read-entire-run where he rereads all of the old Dragon issues.

Apparently, Dragon Dice helped to accelerate the end of TSR because of too high sales expectations...

Dragon Dice did not kill TSR. Bad management killed TSR. Here's a link that will tell you the details:
TSR, Inc. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As for Dragon Dice still being around, SFR, Inc. was formed for the sole purpose of acquiring and then marketing Dragon Dice. We have rewritten the rules and added to the game. For more information please see our website:
http://www.sfr-inc.com

 

[Thunderfoot]

Yes, I've heard of it and seen the "new" dice last year at GenCon, they look as good or better than the originals. (some of the inking on the original TSR dice were suspect near the end.)

As for the game, I hated the whole "collectable" craze. Cards, Dice, Minis - just give me a product to buy and I'll buy it, not a string of you might get products. If I want that kind of chance, I'll buy cereal with a surprise toy in the box so at least I get something to enjoy while drowning the pain of not getting what I want...

 

[UltimaGabe]

Whoa! It seems my post attracted the interest of Chuck Pint (President of SFR, if anyone was wondering). I guess I'm... honored? In any case, not only are the new rules all-around better (it's about 75% the same, I'd say, with lots of clarifications and a few broken things removed), the way it's presented is a LOT easier to understand than when I first got the game. Like I mentioned before, I owned the game for fifteen years before I played it a single time, because all I had were the old rules which didn't make any sense to a 5th-grader (not to mention the attention span of a 5th grader). Now that I'm actually able to understand the game, I love it, and am growing more and more obsessed with it.

Still on the lookout for other players in my area!

 

[darjr]

Are they in distribution? I want to point my FLGS at them.

 

[UltimaGabe]

They are most definitely in distribution! Simply direct your FLGS to SFR's website (SFR - Gamers that make games better. Gamers that make better games.™) and all of the info they need should be there. Personally, there are no gaming stores within driving distance of me that sell them, so I'm looking into becoming an official rep (the info for which is on that site as well).

 

[Marc_C]

I played the game at the local store. We had a group of 12 players going strong for a while. As a war gamer I liked it. It was a fun abstract system. Sadly my collection got lost during a move. I'm thinking of buying the new starter set by SFR in 2021.

I finished reading Book 1 "Rise & Fall of the Obsidian Grotto". It's a short read, 246 pages on my iPad. These are the new Dragon Dice novels.

The author, Christopher Schmitz, played Dragon Dice when it originally came out and it shows. For those who played the game it is very cool to read about all the factions in action. Dragon Dice is a war-game. The novel is fateful to that.

The book is a bit like the Simarillion*. It starts with a creation of the universe myth. Followed by a short story about an important hero. The novel tells the tale of a long war spread of over 300 years against a very intelligent drow spider. Over the course of the novel we follow the trials and tribulations of various faction leaders. Schmitz also finds ways to introduce factions that were released after the original game came out. I didn't expect that. Bonus points for that. (*I'm not saying that the author is as good as Tolkien.)

The book ends with a regional and continental map. There is also a glossary, which would be very helpful to create a setting document.

Overall I found it entertaining. The writing is competent. A few sentences could have been polished but it did not deter me from finishing the book. If you liked the Battle of the Five Armies section in Bilbo the Hobbit you would probably like this book even if you never played Dragon Dice. Knowledge of the game is not required. Who knows maybe it will tempt you to try it!

I'm starting "Book 2: Ashes of Ailushurai" very soon. My wife has a subscription for the Kindle Unlimited program. This book is free.

 

[Dire Bare]

I was pretty into Dragon Dice back in the day and had a decent collection . . . . but soon got tired of the collectible aspect of the game. It's definitely a fun game, and I think even the original rules were well done (no experience with SFR's revised rules).

I think if you limited yourself to a curated box of dice to play every once in a while, Dragon Dice could be a good addition to your game shelf. But if you want to get into it as a regular hobby, like other collectible games (Magic) . . . you will be hard-pressed to find a local tabletop community. If I ever get back into the game, I'll be treating it like a board game rather than a competitive collectible game.

SFR has run some successful Kickstarters for Dragon Dice, and browsing their webstore gets me a bit nostalgic for the game! They've certainly found a community, online at least, and expanded the game in some interesting looking ways.