D&D 5E Dragon Thrones: D&D Game of Thrones?

[payn]

Thats why, sadly, most RPGs don't even try.
Which RPG even had most of their noble families be all more or less connected through some marriages instead of nobles being small, insular families in their territory/country with no connections to anyone else?

Birthright?

 

[Everything Epic]

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[Everything Epic]

Hmmm - I have to say, that one has my attention.

I'm very curious to see what their "House mechanics" end up looking like.

Hey!
Chris, original creator and publisher from Everything Epic here!

Here's some more about our Kingdom House's and House Rules!

TLDR: The House Mechanics make humans and other races get combined with their house giving them unique special abilities and a ton of unique roleplaying opportunities that come with feuding houses across the 10 Kingdoms of Kambria. This impacts your Class/Subclass, Race, and background choices (if you're using it in our Kambria World) or you can port them into your own game and use what you want of course!

Kambrian House Classes​

The classes, and associated subclasses of Kambria available to you are limited by the House you are in. Furthermore, a wizard trained in the desert palaces of Ash’Bridge is very different from one trained in the halls of the Arcadian Dominion. Thus, while many Houses have the same classes/subclasses available, how these classes feel are often very different. Each House Chapter thus has an accompanying description for class and subclass available, and how they fit within the House as a whole. Some existing classes and subclasses also have modifications to existing features, and in a few cases new features as well. These changes are only applicable to a member of that class/subclass from the House where the changes are described.
SAMPLE HOUSE CHAPTER HERE

House Boon​

In Dragon Thrones, your House is central to your being. The echoes of the Elder Dragons and the Power of the Dragon Thrones who founded each House resonate through time, granting all members of a House one or more special abilities. These House Boons are described in each House Chapter. (See examples in the house chapter above)

(This book assumes you will have access to the Player’s Handbook (PHB), Xanathar’s Guide to Everything (XGE), and Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (TCE), as classes and subclasses from all three books are referenced here.)

Essence​

In Dragon Thrones, as an Optional Rule: Essence replaces Inspiration. Unlike Inspiration, Essence can be stockpiled. Essence represents the magical power of the world of Kambria, and its concentration in an individual. The maximum number of Essence a character can store is equal to half their level (round up). You can use any amount of Essence that you want; however, all Essence being spent on a single action must be declared at once.

An Essence can be spent to provide any one of the benefits below. Generally, each benefit costs 1 Essence and multiple Essence can be spent on the same roll, unless the rules for the specific benefit say otherwise:

• Gain Advantage: Gain Advantage on any roll. This includes attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks.
• Upcast a Spell: Cast a spell at a spell slot of 1 level higher. Multiple Essence can be spent to stack this effect; thus, if you spend 4 Essence, you can cast a level 1 spell using a level 1 spell slot, but it has effects as if it were cast using a 5th level spell slot. This only works for spells that can benefit from using a higher level spell. You can upcast spells to a spell slot level higher than what you have access to, but for each spell slot level past what you have access to that you upcast at, you take 1d8 damage.
• Dragon Thrones 5e Power: Activate a special feature. Many House Boons, racial, and class features require Essence to activate, as described in their specific rules.

Of course, the game is still being finalized and playtested - as well as being playtested in our Blockbuster Larp Weekend Dragon Thrones

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!

Thanks so much!
Chris

 

[Everything Epic]

Hmm. Could be cool. If it doesn't have some subsystems for politicking I'm not sure it's worth it. But if it does! Whoo boy.

We do have politics heavily instilled in our world - we even created a new Base Class called "The Manipulator" which is a Non-Magic using Charisma Based class that is very politically inclined

 

[Everything Epic]

I am not really seeing much GoT in it exept dragons.
GoT, at least in the beginning before Hollywood took over, relied on politics between houses, yet from that kickstarter it sounds more like each house will act as its own faction and the PCs will work for one of them in a battle royale without deeper politics between them.

Each house has many generations of political and excellent roleplaying material worth of drama between them throughout our lore. Each house has Allies and Enemies between each other creating interesting dynamics depending on the season in which the game is played. "WAR OF ASCENSION TIME" or "TRANQUILITY TIME"
Additionally, each Dragon God from the past has their own personality that is also somewhat instilled in their culture and the dragon's spirit lives on in each Kingdom's magical Dragon Throne.

The universe is original, but inspired by Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games and Dragon Prince. We started the universe in a Larp Weekend event we've been running for quite a few years now and it has evolved over the years

 

[Everything Epic]

The mention a new class -- Manipulator. I guess that has a lot of social features?

Yes indeed! It's a fully social based class - some of them gain Minions to help them, others use their Cunning and Tactical Acumen to help their party in combat by simply using their wit and ability to "manipulate" the battlefield/

The Manipulator:
The human walks into battle surrounded by an elite team. With the slightest gesture, they deploy their henchmen with deadly precision. They utter a few choice words and alter the enemy’s course, allowing the team to easily dispatch them.
In a crowded tavern, it is clear everyone is spoiling for a fight. A smile and a conversation causes the mood to shift. A negotiation turns south, but some smooth talking from the party face, and now they are ready to spill their secrets.
The merchant stands up and shakes his head, sweat dripping from his brow. He thought that he would be able to negotiate the deal from a position of perceived strength. He does not understand how his debts were uncovered when he hid them so well.
A charming smile captivates its audience, and information for their investigation spills out like water from a river. When the flow runs dry, a distraction of a more physical nature provides the opportunity to prevent those secrets from getting to other ears.
A bolt flies out of the darkness, piercing the target through the eye. The distracted Citadel guards scramble to find the culprit long after a Ghost Ship has left harbor unseen.
Whatever their House or methods, Manipulators are always one step ahead. They control the battlefield and the people around them like puppets on a string, maximizing every situation to the benefit of themselves and their party. Needing little or no magic, the Manipulator thrives on intellect and charm in equal measure, and is often admired by even those she defeats--for if one has to lose, they might as well lose to a master Manipulator.

 

[Everything Epic]

Agreed. What we don't know is whether said war is intended-as-written to be sorted out by combat, by poiltics, by spy-type intrigue, or by what combination of these. That they're specifically making it for 5e tells me combat's likely to play a big role...but who knows?

That said, if combat does play a big role and a GoT atmospehre really is what they're after then I hope they'll include some army-vs-army rules, as that's how the GoT houses tended to settle disputes.

Indeed!
It's heavily political and intrigue based, however, the war and combat are just as large of a role in our universe. In our larp we use a MEGAGAME as the simulation of army to army combat as players are controlling the entire house. In Dragon Thrones 5e, players can go either way, play as house rulers, nobles or leaders (perhaps a high level game) or play lower level individuals in these situations - perhaps traveling through the countryside carrying an important message, or resource, or magical item that is needed to turn the tide of a battle. Perhaps during the tranquility players would be going on quests to help their house excel and gain in power before the next War of Ascension.

 

[Everything Epic]

I am not really seeing much GoT in it exept dragons.
GoT, at least in the beginning before Hollywood took over, relied on politics between houses, yet from that kickstarter it sounds more like each house will act as its own faction and the PCs will work for one of them in a battle royale without deeper politics between them.

It's a combination of Major House politics as well as the War of Ascension every generation - there are deep roots of love and hate between each of the houses - for a major variety of reasons - additionally the dragon spirits from the Dragon Thrones themselves are a major factor as well. Each Dragon Throne is a very powerful magical artifact created from the remains of the fallen Dragon Gods.

 

[Everything Epic]

interesting does it have a subsystem for politics by any class?

yes indeed! We're playtesting all of that

 

[Everything Epic]

A bit more than that--you had the Lannisters and two flavors of Baratheons in a three-way brawl for the crown, plus the Starks trying to break away and form their own kingdom, the Tyrells trying to attach themselves to whoever looked like winning at any given moment, the other Houses joining the fray on one side or another, and House Targaryen rolling toward the whole mess like a boulder gathering speed.

Still, your point is well taken: GoT was not a simple clash of all against all, it was a tangled web of alliances both personal and political, where each House had its own goals and only a few of them were actually trying to seize the Iron Throne for themselves. "Dragon Thrones" clearly draws inspiration from GoT, but the setting appears much less complex (which is probably a good thing for an RPG setting, imagine trying to bring new players up to speed on the politics of Westeros!). It also looks like a substantially higher-magic world than Westeros.

Indeed! Our game is the setup for major political intrigue and war every generation. We give you major motivations and thousands of years of backstory - but as you create your own campaign you'll find tons of lore that you will use and some you'll create to entangle the houses.

Additionally, we have a full 11 chapter campaign book as well that will bring you into the world and introduce you to everything as well