Magic Item Monday: Helm of the Vanguard for Dragonbane

 

Helm of the Vanguard for Dragonbane

Amor Rating: +2

Cost: --

Supply: --

When you take damage, as a Free Action, you may reduce your Willpower instead of your Hit Points. You may not do so again until the beginning of your next turn.

Monster Monday: Man-Serpent for Dragonbane

You can download the PDF here.

Man-Serpent for Dragonbane

Ferocity: 2 Size: Large

Movement: 12 Armor: 3

HP: 25

Typical Gear: —

Monster Attacks

D6 Attack

1 Crown of Vipers!  

It darts at its victim and the

tiny serpents atop its brow 

sink their fangs into their foe. 

The attack inflicts 4d4 piecing damage and if any damage 

gets through the victim’s 

armor they gain the 

Sickly condition.

2 Tail Lash!

The monster’s tail lashes 

        out toward a victim to smash 

them. The attack targets a 

creature within 10m 

        and inflicts 2d8 bludgeoning 

damage and if the victim fails 

a Strength check they are 

Toppled.

3 Constrict!

Its coils wrap tight around its 

victim and squeezes. The 

attack inflicts 2d10 

bludgeoning damage and the 

target is Grappled if they fail a 

Strength check with a Bane.

4 Mesmerize!

Its yellow eyes beckon you to 

look at it’s forked tongue’s 

rhythmic pattern. The victim 

must make a Willpower check 

and if they fail they are Dazed 

until the beginning of the 

man-serpent’s next turn.

5 Bite!

The man-serpent bites at it’s 

prey. The victim takes 2d6

piercing damage.

6 Smash!

It uses its size and bulk to 

attack it’s prey. The victim 

takes 2d8 bludgeoning 

damage and rerolls any 1 or 2 

        but must use the next roll 

even if it is another 1 or 2.

Monster Monday: Simian Imperials for Dragonbane

Dragonbane is the kind of RPG I've been looking forward to for a long time. It's based off of Chaosium's RuneQuest/Basic Role Play but uses a d20 like Pendragon. Professions help you pick your skills as a beginning character but after that you improve Skill through play. Also, its spells are closer to DnD than RQ and it has a cool mechanic where you spend Willpower for spells as well as heroic abilities. I really can't recommend it enough.

I've been brainstorming a setting where the enemies are the Simian Empire and I decided to work up some ideas for antagonists.

If you want a PDF you can download it here.

                Gorilla Soldier

Movement: 10 Damage Bonus: Str+d6

Typical Armor: Hide (3) HP: 14

Skills: Acrobatics 12, Awareness 11, Evade 9,

Riding 14

Abilities: Lightning Fast

Typical Weapons: Heavy Crossbow (skill level 12, 

damage 2d8), Scimitar (skill level 11, damage 2d6)

      Orangutan Psyker

Movement: 10 Damage Bonus: Str+d4

Typical Armor: Leather (1)   HP: 10 WP: 12

Skills: Acrobatics 10, Beast Lore 12, Evade 7,

Mentalism, 14, Myths and Legends 13, Riding 12

Spells: Farsight, Power Fist, Scrying, Telepathy

Typical Weapons: Club (skill level 10, damage 1d8)

Hand Crossbow (skill level 11, damage 2d6)

  Chimpanzee Scout

Movement: 12 Damage Bonus: Agl+d4

Typical Armor: Leather (1)   HP: 10 WP: 10

Skills: Acrobatics 13, Evade 10, Riding 12

Abilities: Backstabbing, Catlike

Typical Weapons: Short Sword (skill level 12, 

damage 1d10), Hand Crossbow (skill level 13, 

damage 2d6)

Dragonbane or Drakar och Demoner: Tiefling Kin

  

Appearance: Choose 1d4 + 1 of the following features: small horns; fangs or sharp teeth; a forked tongue; catlike eyes; six fingers on each hand; goat-like legs; cloven hoofs; a forked tail; leathery or scaly skin; red or dark blue skin; cast no shadow or reflection; exude a smell of brimstone.

Ability: Devil's Tongue

• Willpower Points: 3

You gain a Boon on a Bluffing or Persuasion skill roll. This is a free action.

Ability: Infernal Resistance

• Willpower Points: 3

You reduce the number of dice rolled for fire damage by 1. This is a free action.

Names 

1d6

1 Lucien

2 Lilith

3 Malice

4 Fortunato

5 Erebus 

6  DyTyllio

Kzin for Dragonbane or Drakar och Demoner

 

Kzinti are bipedal digitigrade felines with orange fur, yellow eyes, pronounced fangs, ears resembling bat wings, four-fingered hands, and long tails. Males stood over two meters tall, with broad hunching shoulders and comparatively slender waists and limbs. Their internal anatomy included ribs with vertical bracing and multiple hearts. They breathed atmosphere similar to that of Humans. As carnivores, they were acutely averse to the consumption of plants. Their physical attributes made them powerful combatants.

Ability: Forceful

• Willpower Points: 3

You can use this ability to roll your melee weapon damage twice and take the best result (not an action).

Ability: Claws

• Willpower Points: -

Your unarmed attacks deal 1d8 damage.

Names 

1d6

1 Ayow

2 Liram

3 Raf

4 Vilo

5 Lyw 

6 Ferfi

Spotlight On Dragonbane or Drakar och Demoner Beta

First, I've always been a fan of ADnD's D20 roll equal to or under an Ability score and have brainstormed about expanding it into a full blown game for decades. Second, I love how easy it is to teach someone Basic Role Play/Call of Cthulhu/RuneQuest' percentile system. Third, I think DnD can be a bit daunting for new players with some of its concepts.

Dragonsbane (here in the States) or Drakar och Demoner's newest edition addresses all three of those things for me. I think it is an excellent RPG to teach to new players and yet rich enough to hold the interest of veterans. It has the roll under mechanic that older editions of DnD and ADnD utilize and while it doesn't use a percentage system I like how it sets base Skill chances and Trained Skill ratings.

DB or DoD for short, has six Attiributes: Strength, Constitution, Agility, Intelligence, Will, and Charisma. They are rated on a scale of 3 to 18 and are rolled using the classic 4d6 drop the lowest die. Your Ability score sets your base chance to perform a Skill, which range from 3 to 7 and if you are Trained in a Skill you double that amount. 

The game features six Kin: Humans, Halflings, Elves, Dwarves, Mallards (apparently DoD borrowed from Chaosium's RuneQuest and therefore uses that game's Ducks) and Wolfkin or wolf-like humanoids, Dog Men, if you will. Each kin has a Heroic Ability which requires Willpower, a pool of points equal to your Will Attribute, to be used. They are a lot like Feats from DnD and can have a broad spectrum of effects.

After choosing your Kin you choose a Profession, which is not a Class, but a group of Skills, Heroic Ability, Gear, and some form of Personalization such as an object from your past or a series of scars. You must choose to be trained in four of your Profession Skills during character creation and there are currently 16 which range from Swords and Marksmanship to Spot Hidden and Survival. The number of starting Skills is dependent on your age with younger characters being Trained in 5 Skills but a +1 to Agility and Constitution, adult characters being Trained in 6 Skills and old characters being Trained in 7 Skills but taking a -1 to Strength, Agility, and Constitution and a +1 to Will. The developers are planning to add more Skills, going to 25 of them, in the next Beta update and instead of each Profession have a specific Heroic Ability you will be able to choose the one you want.

Character creation yesterday took me about 15 minutes which is ideal, in my opinion and I really enjoy that this is a Skill based game so that while I might not start out with one of the three Magic Schools (Animism, Elementalism, and Mentalism) I can choose to study them at a latter point in the game. Experience is similar to BRP's you put a check next to any Skill you used that session that rolled a 1, called a Dragon and a Critical Success, or a 20, called a Demon and a Critical Failure. Additionally, you also answer the following six questions and put a check by a Skill of your choice at the end of each session. 
   Did you participate in the game session? 

   Did you explore a new location?

   Did you defeat one or more dangerous adversaries?

   Did you overcome an obstacle without using force? 

   Did you roleplay according to your motivation?

For each Skill checked you roll a D20 and need to exceed the Skill Rank with a success adding +1 Rank to it.

If you want to learn certain Skills you will have to seek training for a period of time. Additionally, you gain a new Heroic Ability every 5 sessions.

Armor subtracts from damage unless its from a spell and weapons range from 1d6 to 2d10 with a damage bonus (a D4 or a D6) from exceptional Strength and Agility Attribute scores.

To cast spells you make your Magic School's Skill check and spend the appropriate amount of Willpower Points even if you fail your Skill roll. You can decide to inflict damage upon yourself to gain WPs ranging from D4 to a D20 but you also take damage of the same amount.

I really, really like this game. I'm hoping to run some newer gamers through it and I am really glad I backed it. I even upped my pledge after reading the Beta.

I think it has a lot of charm and really flows into the background during play. 

Late Pledges are currently available on the KS page.