German publisher of D&D 4E won't renew contract

[Roman]

What game is this?

jdrakeh is correct, it's a game called Draci Doupe, which translates as Dragon's Lair. The game actually has two supported sets of rules. The first set, based on the original rules from right after the collapse of Socialism is version 1.6 and is the most popular. It is essentially the same game as the original, but with tweaks. The second set of rules is called Draci Doupe Plus (Dragon's Lair Plus), but it is actually an entirely new ruleset.

Draci Doupe 1.6 version of the rules is based on an exploding d6 die. For example, when a character attacks, the player rolls a d6 die and adds the number to any bonuses the character and the weapon has to hit. Every weapon has some bonus to hit, that depends on weapon-type. Of course, magic can increase this bonus. When a character hits, the damage caused is equal to the amount by which he exceeded the defense rating of the targed plus the damag bonus (which is also unique to each weapon and affected by things like strength...).

Draci Doupe Plus is a completely new system that is, in my opinion at least, highly innovative and has little to do with the original Draci Doupe. It also relies on d6 dice, but it nonetheless works very differently. Most rolls are 2d6 to achieve some normal distribution approximation, but what is really unique about the system is that it provides a conversion between the bonuses/rolls and in-game measurements. I don't have the rules in front of me right now, so I won't give you the real numbers, but basically, there is a conversion between bonuses and meters, bonuses and hit points, bonuses and weight and so on. When character decides to jump, he will use his jump bonus (modified by appropriate modifiers) conversion and a 2d6 roll to see how far or how high (different modifiers) he can jump, he will use his strength bonus and the conversion to see how much he can lift and so on and so on. There are some general rules to this, such as every +6 bonus doubling the effect and every +20 bonus multiplying the conversion by 10 (there are pre-calculated conversion tables included). It is actually very elegant system, at least in theory. I have not, however, tested the system in practice - my players are not keen on testing new systems - so I don't know how well it actually works in practice. I have played quite a lot of the original Draci Doupe and its revisions in the past, and it worked fine, but I have not done so for many, many years now - having switched pretty much fully to D&D.

 

[Thanee]

This. I know more than a few RPGers in Germany, and they all tell me that DSA and Shadowrun seem to get played more than D&D does.

I really doubt, that DSA beats D&D even in germany.

It might rival it somewhat (which is quite a feat already), but surely D&D is the most played RPG here as well.

I would say the ranking is like this:

1) D&D
2) DSA
3) Shadowrun / World of Darkness

Bye
Thanee

 

[TerraDave]

the american devil-lolipop, D&D.

Wow. D&D is still cool.

 

[Obergnom]

Wow. D&D is still cool.

No. At least not in Germany. I'm pretty sure of that

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

jdrakeh is correct, it's a game called Draci Doupe, which translates as Dragon's Lair. The game actually has two supported sets of rules. The first set, based on the original rules from right after the collapse of Socialism is version 1.6 and is the most popular. It is essentially the same game as the original, but with tweaks. The second set of rules is called Draci Doupe Plus (Dragon's Lair Plus), but it is actually an entirely new ruleset.

Draci Doupe 1.6 version of the rules is based on an exploding d6 die. For example, when a character attacks, the player rolls a d6 die and adds the number to any bonuses the character and the weapon has to hit. Every weapon has some bonus to hit, that depends on weapon-type. Of course, magic can increase this bonus. When a character hits, the damage caused is equal to the amount by which he exceeded the defense rating of the targed plus the damag bonus (which is also unique to each weapon and affected by things like strength...).

Draci Doupe Plus is a completely new system that is, in my opinion at least, highly innovative and has little to do with the original Draci Doupe. It also relies on d6 dice, but it nonetheless works very differently. Most rolls are 2d6 to achieve some normal distribution approximation, but what is really unique about the system is that it provides a conversion between the bonuses/rolls and in-game measurements. I don't have the rules in front of me right now, so I won't give you the real numbers, but basically, there is a conversion between bonuses and meters, bonuses and hit points, bonuses and weight and so on. When character decides to jump, he will use his jump bonus (modified by appropriate modifiers) conversion and a 2d6 roll to see how far or how high (different modifiers) he can jump, he will use his strength bonus and the conversion to see how much he can lift and so on and so on. There are some general rules to this, such as every +6 bonus doubling the effect and every +20 bonus multiplying the conversion by 10 (there are pre-calculated conversion tables included). It is actually very elegant system, at least in theory. I have not, however, tested the system in practice - my players are not keen on testing new systems - so I don't know how well it actually works in practice. I have played quite a lot of the original Draci Doupe and its revisions in the past, and it worked fine, but I have not done so for many, many years now - having switched pretty much fully to D&D.

Hey, that bonus chart idea looks very much like Torg - how old is the game? (If it plays anything like Torg, you should really try it )

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

No. At least not in Germany. I'm pretty sure of that

Yeah, you're right. D&D isn't cool. It's awesome.

 

[Obergnom]

Just tried to get some data on the subject:

out of 2000 RPG players registered for NRW at Spielerzentrale (biggest german county, total database search is not possible) 45% are willing to play DSA, 40% are willing to play D&D or Shadowrun. The WoD Systems are not easy to compare, because of the huge amount of overlap between those systems and the "not so great" search engine.

So, I guess it is fairly balanced over here...

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I really doubt, that DSA beats D&D even in germany.

It might rival it somewhat (which is quite a feat already), but surely D&D is the most played RPG here as well.

I would say the ranking is like this:

1) D&D
2) DSA
3) Shadowrun / World of Darkness

Bye
Thanee

I would like the sources for this. While i don´t talk to people in the industry all the time, those i´ve spoken to clearly suggested that TDE is the 500 lb ape over here.
If you have differing information, i´m really interested, though.

 

[Thanee]

Right now it's just gut feeling, pretty much, or an educated guess.

I'd definitely say that there are more german DSA products sold than german D&D products, but D&D as a whole would really surprise me, if it was only 2nd rank.

But I can ask some guys from one of the bigger distributors here, what they say about it, when I see them tomorrow.

EDIT: Looks like your information is correct. Wouldn't have thought that DSA sales are stronger than D&D sales here.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Alnag]

Hey, that bonus chart idea looks very much like Torg - how old is the game? (If it plays anything like Torg, you should really try it )

It's 1990 or 1991 and it is clone of basic D&D which was published the first time it was possible - after the fall of Iron curtain.

What game is this?

The honor or Draci doupe be the nr. 1 system is solely based on the fact it is the only game anyone who doesn't speak english (which is most of the younger population) can buy and play. Several attemps to obtain licence for other RPG were fruitless except for Shadowrun but its licence was so expensive it make the game unsalable.

I am from Slovakia and even when attending my Austrian university in Vienna, for a substantial portion of the time I lived in Bratislava and commuted. Perhaps the situation is different in the Czech Republic, but in Slovakia there does seem to be a decline in D&D's popularity (OK, so there were never a huge number of people anyway, but still), which, needless to say, is very unfortunate from my perspective, given that I am a D&D fan.

Fair enough, but the problem is actually in the fact, Slovakia has no D&D network. Most of attempts to build one were derailed (usually via indie gamers) and the rest of the people visits our site. I have friends in Slovakia who desperately want to play D&D but the lack of community prevent them from find each other...