Dragon Warriors RPG, Part 1: An Introduction and Early Impressions

The Dragon Warriors role-playing game was a British publication that came out in 1985 by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson that I was recently turned on to, and that has been rocking my world since I first started reading it. Unlike more modern games that tend to provide players with everything they'll need in three, relatively, well organized books Dragon Warriors spreads its rules out across six books. Now these are relatively short things with beautiful art crammed throughout. Comic strips are even sporadically placed within to help illustrate the rules in a better way. The early impression all of this creates is that it's really brilliant stuff; but is it? 

That's the thing that I want to figure out about this game because so often when you read a review of a game you have some loud mouthed son of a bitch haranguing you with how wonderful it is and the whole time that they're lecturing you they're not actually saying anything but the usual platitudes. The game mechanics are inventive and groundbreaking. The art is inspired. Combat plays quick, and is done in a streamlined format that makes playing a breeze.

It's a fucking bore that tells none of us anything important or meaningful. So instead of just telling you what I've gleaned from it in the first few hours of reading through the books I'm going to learn how to play the damned thing. If I wasn't a role-playing game blogger that would mean that I'd sit back in my room and read the books while I dreamed of convincing my players to try it one day - but that ain't me. Instead I'm going to be working my way through the books, learning the game as I go, and blogging about it along the way. I'll be highlighting things that I think are interesting and discussing the rules like I often do with Dungeons & Dragons. But more than any thing else I'm going to be working towards the goal of running an actual game on roll 20. This isn't me calling out in the void hoping that someone hears me. This is me getting my shit together so that we can play a game. 

You up for this, kids? 'Cause I am.

The Dragon Warriors RPG project will be publishing once each week. My goal is to start off each week with Dragon Warriors because these books really make me excited about role-playing games and I find that writing about them puts me in a good place. You can look forward to Dragon Warriors each Monday as I work my way through. 

Dragon Warriors RPG

Part 1: An Introduction and Early Impressions

Part 2: Building a Character for Play (Barbarian and Knight Only)

Part 3: Combat

Note 1: I began this project using a copy of the first book, Dragon Warriors, that I picked up from Amazon after I had been reading a copy of the game on SCRIBD. Since that time I have purchased a collected volume of the game from Drive Thru RPG. At the time of this writing getting a copy in both print and PDF, which I'm using currently while I wait on my print copy, is only $35.03 that will give you both a PDF of the game and a hardback printout. I receive no money from you clicking on that link and purchasing the game so you don't have to worry about me pushing the game because I'm getting something from it. I just genuinely like the hell out of this game.

Note 2: While it should go without saying I feel like in this modern climate where every Tom, Mary, and Joaquin is attempting to get your cash without disclosing that they're doing so that I should make it clear that I did not receive any compensation for doing this series. I just genuinely want to play it and would love to get some other people excited to play it with me.

Note 3: I contacted Serpent King Games, the current license holder for Dragon Warriors, before I launched this project as I wanted to ensure that I wasn't crossing any lines that would get me in trouble with them. They have given me the go ahead to proceed with this project and I wanted to take a moment to publicly thank them for giving me their blessings.

Enough notes, let's get on with this project!

Monkey Business by Jens D., The Disoriented Ranger

For those of you who haven't yet heard Jens D of the Disoriented Ranger produced an adventure, Monkey Business. He's published it on Drive Thru RPG as a pay what you want venture and this is my not review, review. 

Now what do I mean by that silly sentence?

I cannot divest myself from my feelings for Jens. I think he is a brilliant person and I love reading his blog every time he updates. I think that in each post he often puts together a more passionate and thought provoking piece than many of us do over the course of a dozen posts (myself included). As a result I find myself so predisposed to liking this adventure that I can't tell you that it isn't because I think so highly of him. And that puts me, as a reviewer, in a terrible place: I'm unreliable. 

Let me tell you what I like about this adventure.

From the moment that I began reading the descriptions of the cast I found myself taken with this adventure and I have been actively working to incorporate them into the campaign I'm preparing. I'm a cherry picker of a Dungeon Master and the way Jens has created these characters makes them very easy to throw into my pulp heavy games. I love things like this, and Jens is always a fountain for such things on his blog, so it's good to see that in this adventure there's a lot there for me to use. It's also just zany as all get out and I fucking love that. I love the drug running gorillas, the world's strongest man, the carnival, and the aliens! There's just so many wonderful things here, and they're all strange, and funny, and just hitting right in my sweet spot.  

Also, I've totally added the Mark Van Vlack Monkey Generator to my Dungeon Master's Toolbox. That thing is just a quick, useful way to describe monkeys beyond, "You see a fucking monkey flinging poo at you from the tree."

Should you go out and download Monkey Business? 

I say absolutely. It's fun and zany - but here's the best part about about Jens publishing it as a pay what you want venture: you can try it for free. You can download the adventure, and if I'm right, you'll find that it's more than worth paying for at which point you can purchase it again from Drive Thru RPG and toss Jens some well deserved cash.