Off the Shelf: Dragonbane

Dragonbane has always been a hard game for me to start playing. It is a fantastic game with a lot of options and flair, and even a solo-play mode. Most all of the Free League games these days have excellent solo play rules these days, which is a huge attraction for me, a mostly solo player.

Shadowdark is killing this for me since it is easier to play with others, being a 5E Lite game. I can play Shadowdark with people, they assume it is homebrew 5E Lite, and then they are surprised that it is a real game, easy to play, and well-supported. A game I can play with others will win over a solo experience every time.

Dragonbane is also close to some other excellent games I own, such as Runequest and Basic Roleplaying. It isn't the same game, but it shares a few similarities. Dragonbane leans more towards token and card-based play, with initiative cards, treasure cards, and all sorts of extras - including bosses that are random tables of special attacks.

Still, Dragonbane feels like a simplified d20 version of Runequest, meant for fast combat and dungeon play with a skill-based flavor. The classes and races are very compelling. The art is amazing, all the books are top-quality, yet I never seem to have time for this one. I guess I am not hearing the call to adventure, or something just feels "off" to me.

Fair or not, I feel the game is tightly linked to its setting, in the same way Forbidden Lands and Runequest are. With Shadowdark I feel this can be "any world" and fit in with any setting I can imagine. Same with Basic Roleplaying. I loved the original Nerrath setting for D&D 4, and Dragonbane feels similar, but I am not feeling it.

Perhaps I need to play this some more to understand.

All of my Free League games have a home in my living room, since these are more social, sort of "bookcase" games that appeal to everyone. The Walking Dead, Alien, Blade Runner - many of these people "know" and they are better suited to being in a more social space. Even Forbidden Lands, Tales from the Loop, and Twilight: 2000 are living room games.

I have never boxed up a Free League game into storage.

Dragonbane is a game many move to after Shadowdark, and it is a more heroic, kick down the doors, roll for skills, and go in, spells blazing sort of game than the careful playstyle Shadowdark can tend towards. The game also uses words carefully, I have a few "supposedly simple" games go on and on for long-winded paragraphs on how a rule works, when all they need is one sentence and to move on.

The game uses different systems than my OSR, B/X, and Shadowdark core games. I suppose it is different enough my nice library of OSR games doesn't play well with it. When in doubt, I play OSR, and I can switch games if I get bored with one, and everything still works the same. This is another reason why I don't find enough time for the equally excellent, but also different, Forbidden Lands.

Dragonbane is going back on the living room shelf, for a while. I have too many other things out, needing to be played. This one is still a gem in the rough, though, and worthy of keeping out of the garage.