Dragon Warriors
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| Dragon Warriors | |
 Dragon Warriors Book 1 cover |
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| Designer | Dave Morris Oliver Johnson |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Corgi Books |
| Publication date | 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| System | Custom |
Dragon Warriors is a fantasy role playing game system written by Dave Morris and Oliver Johnson and published by Corgi Books between the years 1985 and 1986. It is now out of print. Unlike most RPGs which were (and are) primarily presented as box sets or large hardback or softback books, Dragon Warriors consisted of six paperback books of ordinary size. This innovation may have contributed to its demise as the books superficially appeared to be some sort of gamebook rather than a fully-fledged role playing system.
Aside from its publishing format Dragon Warriors was chiefly notable for having a game system which was quick to use and easy to learn whilst retaining enough flexibility and realism to satisfy role playing aficionados.
Dragon Warriors is set in the world of Legend, the same as that of the Blood Sword gamebooks.
Contents |
[edit] Books
Books 1-3 were published together and established a coherent and fully-featured, if lightweight game system. The latter three books were released one at a time and added considerable interest and depth to the game. Presented below is the back cover text from each of the books.
[edit] Dragon Warriors Book 1: Dragon Warriors
Dragon Warriors is the key to a magic world. A land of cobwebbed forests and haunted castles. A land where dire monsters lurk in the shadows of night, where hobgoblins shriek across the bleak and misty moors, where wizards and armoured warriors roam dank dungeons in their quest for gold and glory. The realm of your imagination.
This is the world of Dragon Warriors: a unique role-playing game in which you and your friends become the mighty heroes of fantasy.
This first book gives you the essentials for combat, a complete armoury and a bestiary of bloodthirsty opponents. You choose the type of warrior you want to be: an armour-clad Knight, a muscle-bound Barbarian, a tough Dwarf or a crafty Elf. Take up your sword, your war-axe or your bow. Within ten minutes you will be battling with your first deadly foe in a perilous adventure.
Published 1985, 208 pages, ISBN 0-552-52287-2
[edit] Dragon Warriors Book 2: The Way of Wizardry
Invoke the occult powers of another world . . . scatter your foes with searing Deathlight bolts, rend monsters limb from limb with the psionic Steel Claw or Banish them to a timeless limbo, pass though dungeon walls like a bodiless spectre, conjure the razor-sharp Vorpal Blade, hurl deadly Firestorm blasts . . .
The Way of Wizardry expands the DRAGON WARRIORS role-playing game to include the magical arts. Take on the mantle of a Mystic or spell-casting Sorcerer: more than a hundred spells, potions and arcane magical devices await you and your friends.
Published 1985, pages 176, ISBN 0-552-52288-0
[edit] Dragon Warriors Book 3: The Elven Crystals
Battle through a monster-filled forest to a lonely well. Scale the ice-covered towers of a mountain fortress. Fight with hideous bat-winged foes. Struggle in the raging surf of a wreck bound reef. Grapple with horrors from the depths of the sea: Finally you will reach your goal, deep in a cavern beneath a haunted island: there an evil priest holds the final fragment of a thousand year old secret.
What is the mystery behind the Elven Crystals?
This third book of the DRAGON WARRIORS role-playing game presents three adventure scenarios along with new monsters, magic and treasure which extend the basic rules of the series. These adventures will take you and your friends to the limits of your skill and endurance.
Published 1985, 192 pages, ISBN 0-552-52289-9
[edit] Dragon Warriors Book 4: Out Of The Shadows
Out of the shadows stalk night's black agents: the Assassins. Armed with the secret lore of this new adventuring profession, players become the shadow warriors, the silent killers of the dark, who pass unseen and bring death by poison, knife of lethal throwing spike.
Out of the Shadows presents the full rules for Assassins - techniques of stealth and the martial arts as well as arcane alchemy, mysterious trance-magic and the unstoppable power of the DEATH VOW. Also included in this book are more than fifty new terrifying monsters, special combat expertise and magic for high-ranking characters, and three enthralling adventure scenarios.
Published 1986, 256 pages, ISBN 0-552-52333-X
[edit] Dragon Warriors Book 5: The Power Of Darkness
All around you lie the elemental forces ready to bend to your sorcerous skill: summon lightning from the sky, split the earth so it swallows up your foes, or spin them into the air with a typhoon. The spirits of the Air will serve you, the Earth gives up its dead to protect you, Water freezes at your touch, Fire-dwelling demons dart from your hands.
You are an Elementalist with power over the Earth, the Air, Fire and Water. But you have not the power of Darkness that hold the world in thrall and which you quest to banish forever.
This fifth book in the DRAGON WARRIORS series explains how you may become an Elementalist, drawing on the powers of nature. There are fifty new spells and a full-length epic adventure in search of the lost city of Fengil, Prince Of Darkness.
Published 1986, 192 pages, ISBN 0-552-52334-8
[edit] Dragon Warriors Book 6: The Lands Of Legend
The Lands of Legend are glittering kingdoms full of adventure. Voyage from the haunted ruins of Spyte in the cold wasteland of Krarth to the mysterious pyramids of the blistering Kaikuhuru Desert. Sup with fierce warriors in their mead-halls, stroll through the luxurious gardens of Ferromaine, trade in exotic ports along the shores of the Coradian Sea. You can venture into the steaming swamps of Cosh Goyope or thee icy brine of the Rymchaeld Ocean, seek glory in the dwarven strongholds of Harogarn or in the sorcery-laden forests of Algandy. Risk untold peril for undreamed-of treasure, in a world fit for epic heroes!
This sixth book in the bestselling Dragon Warriors series presents a complete fantasy world for your adventures. Also included are full rules for Warlocks, the masters of swords and sorcery, and a series of challenging adventure scenarios that will plunge you and your friends into the realms of utmost danger.
Published 1986, 272 pages, ISBN 0-552-52335-6
[edit] Game System
Dragon Warriors typically uses a roll of one twenty sided die (1d20) under a characteristic score or derived statistic (such as ATTACK to see if an attack succeeds). Characters also have defensive attributes (Defense, Evasion, Magical Defense) which penalize the attacker's rolls. Dragon Warriors has a number of unique game mechanics including armour bypass rolls (where after a successful hit, a die is rolled to see if armour is effective in stopping the blow), Spell Expiry rolls (made each round instead of counting spell durations), and Psychic Fatigue rolls (made by Mystics after using a power, instead of tracking magic points). Being contemporary with 1st edition Dungeons and Dragons, it does have the problem that different tasks use different game mechanics instead of having an integrated universal mechanic.
