Dragon Warriors

Episode 3 - A Long Drop to Corpses

Having clambered out of the well the party rested briefly in the cool sunlight and discussed their options. Having explored the rest of the ruin they were confidant that to find the votive pool they would have to risk the well and its vile occupants again. Owen observed that the rat-things hadn't come back for the corpse of their kin and suggested that if the rat-creatures ate decaying carrion exclusively they might be distracted by such, but the idea was rejected as nasty.

The party decided fire was their friend, and as it was autumn the hay ricks were stacked high and very flammable. Owen and Aodda returned to the village to purchase hay from the farmers, who for a generous Florin's worth of coppers transported an ox-drawn cart's worth up to the fort, forked it out by the mouth of the well and fled back to the safety of the church as the sun dipped behind the ruined walls.

Dragon Warriors Introduction

Dragon Warriors, originally published in the 80's as a series of paperbacks, is an old-school RPG set in an alternate medieval Europe. The original setting as published was more 'fantastical', but I've rewritten it to give it a more distinctly 'historical' feel (see the 'Background' section) and set it in the 11th rather than 13th century. Yes, I did watch a lot of Robin of Sherwood as a child, and have subsequently read a lot of Bernard Cornwell novels.

I like my RPG's rich in background, earthy and believable, and light on rules: Dragon Warriors is all of those. We enjoy playing the game, and I hope if you're an RPGer who missed out on DW the first time around you might be tempted to have a look and try it out yourself.

Dragon Warriors - A Primer

Geography and Background

Dragon Warriors is set in a world which is comparable to Europe and the Near-East of 12th century CE. The continents are much the same shape, with the same ethnic and cultural distribution. The nations/races are recognisable, if a little fudged, and comparable with Normans, Danes, Franks, Saxons, Welsh, Gaels, Picts, and so on.

Episode 2

The party spent a restless evening at Merrimuth Abbey discussing their foe, the wight, hoping that the consecrated ground would keep the undead from attacking. Abbot Anthony’s grimoire listed the wight’s weaknesses – silver, sunlight and holy relics – and its powers – the Black Breath, the summoning of freezing fog to hide the sun, practical invulnerability to mundane weapons. Superstitious Aodda ground a silver florin against his whetstone and then sharpened his spearhead, hoping that the flecks of silver would protect it. Anthony had confirmed that there was no weapon or relic at Merrimuth Abbey that could stop the wight, but Merriot Cathedral certainly did, which brought up the next concern: Bishop Thomas.

The party were suspicious of Thomas, some to the point of fearing that he was somehow responsible for the wight’s attacks. Aodda suspected Thomas of being highly political but not actively malevolent but the others were not so sure. The lack of evidence made everyone’s suspicions moot, but after some discussion they all agreed to be cautious about approaching him with what they knew about the wight situation.