WayneLigon
Adventurer
The 'red box' idea has me a little worried. How fast do characters advance, and how easily can they be killed? Those have a huge impact on how long that basic set remains useful.
Green Ronin's Dragon Age
- Thread starter Mouseferatu
- Start date
YourSwordIsMine
First Post
The first box set covers levels 1-5. I believe someone on the Green Ronin boards figured out that if a group were to play once a week it would be about 6 months before they were to reach 5th level. Roughly the time of the release of the next box set. This is of course using the recommended xp alotments per session.
Other than making a few characters I've not tried playing with the combat rules so I dont know how deadly things can be but I expect it'll be quick deadly fights. A completely average Warrior will have 34 Health at L1. Weapon damages range from 1d6 to 3d6 plus any Strength bonuses. There are a lot of other factors that can either lessen or increase lethality.
Mouseferatu
Hero
I've heard mention of "stunts." How do those work (in very vague terms)? How simple is the system?
And what's the overal feel of the game? How dark, how gritty, how high fantasy? What pieces of fantasy literature (if any) would you compare it to, in terms of overall mood?
And what's the overal feel of the game? How dark, how gritty, how high fantasy? What pieces of fantasy literature (if any) would you compare it to, in terms of overall mood?
YourSwordIsMine
First Post
The stunt system is cool and fairly simple and straight foreward. Whenever you hit and roll doubles on an attack roll you get an amount of stunt points equal to the number on your Dragon Die. These points can be used to buy neat things you do with that attack. You could spend points to buy an increase of +1d6 in extra damage and or knock the target prone and then get a few extra yards of movement to reposition next to another foe. Spells also have stunts they can do different from Melee/Ranged stunts. Its a pretty cool system.
DARPG isnt as dark as Warhammer thats for sure. I really dont know what else to compare it too though that comparison doesnt really fit... The world of Thedas is more morally grey than anything. One of my favorite aspects is how Elves are treated in the game. The once great Elven kingdom was wiped out and enslaved many hundreds of years ago. They at one point gained their freedom and were given a new homeland only to have it wiped out again for not giving up thier old religions. The majority of Elves live within human society in sectioned off areas of towns and cities called Alienages (Ghettos). These City Elves live in near abject squalor eeking out an existance as servants and laborers. They arent outright slaves but their lives arent much better... They are definitely second class citizens. Those elves that didnt submit to human authority are called the Dalish Elves (The Dales was their second homeland) and live as gypsies traveling from place to place in large wagon caravans trying to retain what little elven culture that hasnt been forgotten and subsisting off the land and trying to avoid humans as best they can. Its not easy being an Elf...
ExploderWizard
Hero
Umm. OK. I understand the concept of everyone wanting an 18, its perfectly natural.
As a DM I am not out to kill the PC's as fairly as I can nor do the PC's have any guarantee of survival. As a friend I want to see the PC's succeed, and as a DM I run the game neutrally. The survival of the party is dependent upon a combination of the players making intelligent choices and the luck of the dice.
My players know that thier characters can die but that isn't the same as knowing that I will kill them. What is important is that they know that they can indeed perish without any attempt by me to specifically do so.
ExploderWizard
Hero
As long as the next release does not invalidate the information in the first set it will remain useful. The D&D red box only covered levels 1-3 and dying was frequent and very easy. If the expert set had come out and included everything that was in the basic plus more it would have been a bit irrritating. That red box contained all the basic playing rules and remained useful at higher levels too.
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Dragon Age thrives on difficult moral choices. There are seldom any simple answers that don't involve consequences, and your decisions should be meaningful. Some times the nice people are ineffective rulers, and some times bad people have the country's best interests at heart.
If you write an adventure where you can kill the bad guy and expect to solve all your problems, you're probably not playing to the setting.
JoeGKushner
Adventurer
In that aspect, would you compare it to say Burning Wheel?
WayneLigon
Adventurer
Interesting; OK, that's pretty much what I'd need to know. 6 months is a pretty darn good period to cover levels 1-5. With 3.5, that's roughly 6-7 play sessions.
Not what I was referring to; I meant the time required to run out of the stuff the game provides. If the basic game covers levels 1-5 and that means 5-6 sessions, then I'd consider it a very poor investment particularly since as far as I know the release date for the next set is unknown. The Basic D&D red box was a pretty good investment since it took you quite some time to get through levels 1-3, plus there was a very good chance you'd die or get a TPK, so you'd reset probably at least once before you got someone ready for level 4.
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YourSwordIsMine
First Post
The plan is 1 box set every 6 months for a total of 4 sets. There will also be other products in the line released between sets as well. The GM's Kit and Blood in Ferelden (3 adventures in one book) is planned to launch about the same time as Set 1.
hope that helps.
