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I was looking for a single book RPG to take with me on a trip on the off chance I found some people to run a game for. I hunted through my collection and found stuffed at the back of a cupboard 3rd edition Dragonquest (TSR).
What a great RPG I was thinking while rereading it, a really nice blend of a system integrating both skill and class into almost one thing. "Hit points" are silly and I found players thinking twice about going in combat and the magic system seemed very usable.
Using d100 gives a bell curve rather than the "flat" d20 of D&D and makes the extremes less probable. The character generation was just plain good old school fun and you ended up with interesting playable characters no matter what you rolled to start with. Needless to say you can tell I was very impressed and the players and I had a fantastic time.
Anyone else currently playing any Dragonquest, I would be interested to hear of your experiences?
Just being nosey,
S.
Hey old man, Mark here over in Hamilton. I've lost your email address so drop us a line on yarlekthun at g male .com. Didn't back up our old computer dang it!
Cheers
M
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After I read this thread I did some research on DragonQuest and it looked very interesting. I found a copy at Nobleknight to purchase and received it in the mail yesterday. This is an intriguing game. Not sure I like how the rules are organized, but it is very well written. I am still trying to wrap my head around resolving various actions in the game, but I just started reading.
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It is for sure written in "game geek-ese" but once you get the feel for the game it is very entertaining. The system of character advancement allows for a wonderful range of characters, and the need to get skills in weapons also adds to the options. The magic system does rely on the DM using a little artist license, but they actually state that quite clearly. We have had (no current group) some excellent RP sessions using this system. Really goes to show that newer doesn't mean better!
It's a very good game, even more so considering it is a single book that gives you pretty much all you need to pick up and go. When I was heavily into MUD design DQ and The Arcanum were invaluable references. I enjoyed mixing those two with some of GURPs Magic for some really fun campaigns.
A friend of mine was a big fan of Dragonquest. Sell me on the system.
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Grrr stupid board just ate my post.
So again (but shorter).
One book, seriously NO supplements of PHB2 required!
Skill package based progression - in someways like the 3.x D&D multiclassing system;
Choices are;
Alchemist
Assassin
Astrologer
Beast Master
Courtier
Healer
Mechanician
Merchant
Military Scientist
Navigator
Ranger
Spy & Thief
Troubador
Mix and match as you want, each has a set of skills under it. For example under Assassin you learn to cause "Grievous Injuries" more often, interrogate someone, train your memory (?), know where to get the nasty poisons, 'backstab', knock out people and be sneaky. The rest have equally interesting things also. Astrologer/Assassin someone? "I would love to kill X, but the stars are just all wrong. However for slightly more money..."
Races; Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf, Giant, Orc, Shape Changer.
Magic; 13 types of magic split into 3 schools (mind, elemental, and making stuff really).
Weapons hurt. No more, you take 98 hp of damage and playing tells you "that was lucky 30 more and I would have been bloodied..." You can as DM say thing s like "3 guards point crossbows at you" and perhaps the PC's "may" decide to surrender? But not too deadly however rushing head long into overwhelming odds may end up in a new character required.
Character generation is inspired, you get lower starting stat maximums the more points you have to spend to balance things out. No useless characters can possibly occurs.
Monster list is small but covers most fantasy type things and it's easy to make your own.
ALL things are sort of skill based - you buy what you are (i.e. Ranger), how well you fight with weapon X, which skills you have all with XP. It doesn't get much more flexible than this.
More?
Interesting!
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Hitting things...
Base weapon chance (set for a weapon) + Manual Dex (a stat) + 4x Rank* (level in that weapon)
Example.;
Rank 2 2-H sword, Rank 6 rapier
MD 13 (middle of the road)
2-H sword = 55 + 13 + 8 = 76%
Rapier = 45 + 13 + 24 = 82%
Armour effects the damage not the chance to hit - which of sort makes sense. However a shield deducts from the to hit chance of the person whacking you. Shield blocking can be improved like any skill up to Rank 4, meaning a Buckler would reduce the chance you were hit by up to 8%.
Note ranks in all thing run from 1-10, however some skills have lower maximum's. e.g. 2-H sword skill has a max of Rank 5.
Grrr stupid board just ate my post.
So again (but shorter).
One book, seriously NO supplements of PHB2 required!
Skill package based progression - in someways like the 3.x D&D multiclassing system;
Choices are;
Alchemist
Assassin
Astrologer
Beast Master
Courtier
Healer
Mechanician
Merchant
Military Scientist
Navigator
Ranger
Spy & Thief
Troubador
My book is packed in storage, but you are missing all the DUal classes, like Paladin (Warrior/Priest), Monk (Martial artist/Mystic) Wizard, Sorceror, Witch and many many more.
You must be either thinking of a different game or not 3rd edition or some supplement that I'm unaware of.
I am only talking about the "core" single book 3rd edition Dragonquest.
Heh, no I was talking about The Arcanum hehe, sorry. My DQ is in storage too. I mixed up threads sorry. theres another I was following here.
A great online resource for DQ fans, including the rulebooks can be found at http://www.dragonquestfrontiers.com/