Dragonbane Tabletop RPG Review – – Gamereactor

In many ways, role-playing feels like a bygone era to me personally. An echo of something I did throughout most of middle school and high school. We either sat in my parents’ garage, or met up at someone’s house who had already moved out, and at some point rented a room in the middle of the woods for a few days and nights of great gaming. Role playing was a way to socialize and escape from teenage thoughts about school and everything else life was about in the 90s. It was so much fun and nerdy as hell in so many ways.

Mutant, Neotech, Western, Chuck, Eon, Star Wars…? The list of role-playing games that I have tested and played hundreds of hours is long. Everyone has a lot of memories associated with them. But nothing more than Drakar och Demoner, or Dragonbane in English.

The version I brought home is the 11th edition. The first edition came out in 1982, and with the fourth edition published in 1987, I immersed myself in this world a few years after publication. The green box is synonymous with a huge amount of memories. Orcs, elves, dwarves, and most importantly: assuming the important role of game master became a big part of my interest, along with all the fantasy books I devoured. This was a role that I really embraced as a game director and took very seriously. So it was great that, after high school, I met a new group of players who already had one and could instead create a character and join the adventure from across the table. Also, primarily in the role of game master, you are usually given a rule book and familiarized yourself with it, and it usually takes several days of reading to learn all the information.

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Despite all this curiosity, it’s now 2023 and the Free League pack, which has had Dragonbane since 2021, is a solid pack. The focus is of course on the heavy, beautiful and well-filled basic box, but we have some extra goodies that you can purchase separately. A cardboard Gamemaster screen, quick rules for those who don’t bother going through the more detailed rulebook (or just want an easy way to look up something specific) and there were a few extra dice as well.

Free League decided to use Kickstarter to rework the project. They set a goal of 100,000 SEK and in the end they came up with a total of 7.6 million and we can thank the huge amount and over 11,000 SEK that helped keep the fund full and well produced.

Before we dive into all the content, it might be a good idea to have a quick summary of what role-playing games are. In short, it is a story presented by the game master to a group of players. You have a role-playing character who makes decisions in the story. Skills and attributes are written on their cards and dice rolls are made (preferably hidden for immersion) to see if you will be able to use one of your skills or if a fight will ensue. If you want (but it’s not necessary) there’s also a game board and little pieces to represent the environment, making it look more like a classic board game. This has advantages and disadvantages – it may be easier to get an overview and show what a maze or cave looks like, for example. But we always played without visual aids and let the story take center stage. It is important to have a game master who is familiar with the role-playing game and its rules, but it is even more important to have a stable story for role-players to experience. Having a group of dedicated players is also key, but how seriously you get involved in playing your character can vary, and the group often thrives on dynamics and different types of role players. Usually friends get together and you soon realize what kind of players everyone is. However, if you can create a compelling story, either on your own or as part of a larger campaign, you have something good to build on.

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Because at its core, story is everything I associate with role-playing games. As a stable foundation there is a thick set of rules, which is of course a very good thing if you become familiar with them, especially as a pro at the game, so we’ll go over that first. Many role-playing games have completely abandoned the format in which everything comes in a box, but Free Leauge provides us with a format in which all the content is neatly collected. The rulebook is a stapled book of 122 pages, detailed with many beautiful illustrations. It is an enjoyable read for those interested, and everything is described clearly and concisely. The box also contains a campaign booklet of 116 pages. A complete campaign including eleven different adventures that you can tackle as a group until the final adventure in the book. It is also possible to choose an adventure here and play it as a standalone game.

The box also contains a card, a role-playing model, a cardboard cutout with small plastic parts to attach it to, and two decks of cards. Maps are a visual aid that I appreciate. Among other things, there are treasure objects, and it is much more pleasant to have one than to write on a piece of paper that you found gold coins, for example. In order to browse the rulebook and get some of its contents, many beautiful illustrations are provided, and you can learn about the technical functions and at the same time learn about the type of system used by dragons and demons.

It goes through everything from character creation. You choose your race, which refers to human, halfling, elf, elf, etc. You then come to your chapter, where everything from a bard, a hunter, a wizard, and a thief can be found. A long section dealing with combat and magic also contains several pages. At the end of the book there is a chapter called “Beastarium” that deals with the monsters that inhabit the world. In addition to those in the RPG title, there are ogres, griffins, harpies, giants, and more. All with descriptions and tables of their properties. There are a lot of tables and it is nice to be able to quickly look them up and use them as a resource. The book is divided into sections, making it easy to quickly search for a specific rule.

The content is good, but if I had anything minor to complain about, it would be the game’s home screen and quick start rulebook. At least the latest or simpler version of the screen. I’d probably get a home-made screen for the gamer here, although the one you can buy has a lot of tools on the inside and a very nice illustration on the front.

The fact that the basic package comes in a box seems luxurious in an age where many RPGs are a book that you have to buy and then buy everything extra. The only downside I can see is that you can’t customize the contents yourself like you can when buying loose items, but at the same time it’s an insanely affordable package. Everything also breathes quality, is deep in the right way, and is accompanied by dice and pre-made characters in case someone doesn’t want to create their own. The fact that it also comes with a massive campaign in a booklet that is a few pages thicker than the rulebook is also great and after reading the adventures it offers, there’s no doubt that it’s quite a lot as well. There is room for the game master to develop his own imagination. But at the same time you have something bigger to depend on.

Whether you already have experience and knowledge of this role-playing game or you’re just starting out, Fria Ligan has created a release that feels like an echo of the previous releases in every way, but also feels beautifully updated and polished. Dragonbane is a true classic in every way for those of us who have dabbled in this type of entertainment before, but it also acts as a portal into an absolutely wonderful world. As a role-playing game, it draws from many of the best fantasy genres and packs all the content into a truly beautiful and rich treasure chest.

Score: 9