#DragonRoar

[vintagerpg]

War hedgehogs! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we check out Dragonroar, the first major fantasy RPG out of the UK, and boy is it British. Beware, for man-eating penguins lie in wait. And war hedgehogs! 

[lost-carcosa]

Yeah, definitely not a Games Workshop game.

As to whether it was the first UK RPG, also no. Golden Heroes was self published in 1982, and then released professionally by Games Workshop in 1984, the year before Dragonroar; and then there was the very obscure Victorian Adventure published in 1983.

The first UK fantasy RPG that I'm aware of, but not the first UK RPG.

Old UK RPG Dragonroar of Standard Games... any info about that... ? Thank You

The single biggest point of divergence between the tabletop game culture of the UK and the US is that, in the US, tabletop gaming and military wargaming split apart from each other in the 1980s into two completely different animals, and in the UK, the two remained attached together much more closely. Games are still made that appeal to that audience of nerdy ex-military dads (as opposed to college age youth, the default assumption of a game audience). The ultimate example of this is Warhammer, put out by Games Workshop, but GW also made Dragonroar, the first British fantasy game ever made, which was essentially a box, map, and miniatures.

To modern eyes, Dragonroar is a strange animal, and not just because of the (alright, we all see it, so let’s just say it) giant “War Hedgehogs.” It’s because it’s not clear if it’s a miniatures game with rpg elements, or an rpg that leans hard on the miniatures.

Dragonroar was Games Workshop’s first game (in fact, the first British RPG of any kind, a unique historical status), and it’s interesting to consider an alternate timeline where the thing with the War Hedgehogs was the huge hit that GW is known for, maybe the same timeline where Sega's mascot is Alex Kidd instead of Sonic, and Matt Groening is an underground cartoonist mainly known for Life in Hell. Because “overshadowed” doesn’t begin to cover it, does it?

Remember, Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, started off as an avid military wargamer and ex-military guy, as were members of his original Lake Geneva group, including all those who’s PC names are immortalized forever (Mordekainen, Bigby, etc). The place of “original contagion” where D&D started to be popular wasn’t college campuses (that came later) but military bases, where it was seen as an extension of war gaming.

It’s interesting: I’ve long suspected that Birthright, the AD&D massive wargame and miniature setting, was created so there would be an AD&D setting just for the UK audience, since my friends who are UK gamers seem to love Birthright and view it as foundational, whereas Americans barely remember it, even when they have crystal clear memories of Spelljammer and Al-Qadim.

[flamingskia]

More charm designs, focusing on getting the next batch of lobotomy corporation ones done :D Feel free to hang out Twitch Youtube

[chaosmax]

I kept forgetting to post this OTL but an epic commission I got from @zakurarain for my take on older Mokuba and his ace monster Thunder Dragonroar!

[burntpaws]

warriors fandom ESPECIALLY THE WCUE PART stop bullying others about oc names challenge (not directed at anyone in particular)

like you guys are out here bullying likely KIDS for having ocs named Sparklepelt or Dragonroar or Plushiefluff like guys.

canon warriors cats should have no concept of silver, gold, copper, specific species of trees and grasses and birds, big cats like lions and tigers and leopards, and the MFING SUN AND MOON but no yeah Sparklepelt is too outlandish for your warrior cats roleplay

[teratocrat]

witchmaiden has summoned the wyrm 𝕮𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖞𝖝, the Dragonroar, Trumpet of the Dawn, her coraline radiance blinding the assembled armies and searing the world into pink-orange chairoscuro, her triumph-blast deafening nations and flattening forests. while her clarion command echoes over dragongirl troops admirably, conveying orders as gold and silver flocks of birds, it seems witchmaiden has neglected to extend some protection over her own soldiers. mushhushshugirl ℭ𝔞𝔯𝔫𝔶𝔵 curiously swishes her tail back and forth, her copper scales gleaming like the sunlight, waiting to see whether her summoner has anything left to ask of her

[conlangery]

You've got half an hour to figure out what that distant dragonroar meansǃ

A dragon roaring at you is terrifying, but what if that roar meant something? A command to their minions? A call to another dragon? A threat?

To close out the year, Logan Kearsley of Theory Neutral will help us build a "roaring" register for Ndăkaga, my take on D&D's "Draconic" language, using the same principles as human whistle registers.

Join us at 3:30 pm Central Time.

[appreciateisaac-blog]

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[vintagerpg]

This is Fighting Fantasy (1984). It is Steve Jackson’s attempt to create, as the subtitle says, an “introductory role-playing game” out of the very light rules that power the Fighting Fantasy series of gamebooks. This is emphatically not a construction project, but rather an exercise in re-arrangement. The system is exactly the same, Jackson just basically shows you how to use it to run D&D-like games with a group instead of as solo adventure books. The section on resolving common situations, like opening chests or picking pockets, seems like a place you might find new mechanics, but nope. Jackson puts all the decision making for these things ultimately in the hands of the GM, though he does outline ways to give penalties and bonuses to the die rolls. This is remarkably light for 1984. Too light, maybe? Dragonroar (1985) is credited as being the first major fantasy RPG produced in Britain and I wonder why this gets passed over for the honor. Perhaps because it is encased in a paperback novel format?

I think, though, that Fighting Fantasy is more built for group gamebook play. Maybe that seems like a silly distinction, but the two scenarios included in the book do not feel like RPGs. They feel like slightly more open-ended gamebooks. The same is true of the scenarios in the Riddling Reaver, the lone FFRPG supplement. And because of that open-endedness, they distinctly lack some of the magic that makes the regular Fighting Fantasy gamebooks so compelling. There’s more art (lovely stuff by Duncan Smith, though his cover art is…curious), but the dungeons seem spartan and the plots thin.

It doesn’t feel sustainable as a game system. And, looking at history, I guess it wasn’t!

[lukewarmskia]

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🐉Skia | Nonbinary | Any pronouns | Italian | Gay as hell🐉 This is my personal blog where I mostly look at cool art and scream into the void. If you wanna check out my art, you can do so here

[flamingskia]

Last stream before the shop opening! Working on monster hunter pride charms Twitch Link

[tohruhonda102]

Dragons Roar. #dragonroar #dragon #torch #firetorch #Ireland #celicadragon #photography #photoelements #art #whatdoyousee #tomanyhashtags https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw5J78CB77g/?igshid=i84mznmqrttq

[yugiohcardsdaily]

Thunder Dragonroar

“You can discard this card; add to your hand, 1 of your ‘Thunder Dragon’ cards that is banished or in your GY, except ‘Thunder Dragonroar’. If this card is banished, or sent from the field to the GY: You can Special Summon 1 ‘Thunder Dragon’ monster from your Deck in Defense Position, but return it to the hand during the End Phase. You can only use 1 ‘Thunder Dragonroar’ effect per turn, and only once that turn.”

[vintagegeekculture]

Old UK RPG Dragonroar of Standard Games... any info about that... ? Thank You

The single biggest point of divergence between the tabletop game culture of the UK and the US is that, in the US, tabletop gaming and military wargaming split apart from each other in the 1980s into two completely different animals, and in the UK, the two remained attached together much more closely. Games are still made that appeal to that audience of nerdy ex-military dads (as opposed to college age youth, the default assumption of a game audience). The ultimate example of this is Warhammer, put out by Games Workshop, but GW also made Dragonroar, the first British fantasy game ever made, which was essentially a box, map, and miniatures.

To modern eyes, Dragonroar is a strange animal, and not just because of the (alright, we all see it, so let’s just say it) giant “War Hedgehogs.” It’s because it’s not clear if it’s a miniatures game with rpg elements, or an rpg that leans hard on the miniatures.

Dragonroar was Games Workshop’s first game (in fact, the first British RPG of any kind, a unique historical status), and it’s interesting to consider an alternate timeline where the thing with the War Hedgehogs was the huge hit that GW is known for, maybe the same timeline where Sega's mascot is Alex Kidd instead of Sonic, and Matt Groening is an underground cartoonist mainly known for Life in Hell. Because “overshadowed” doesn’t begin to cover it, does it?

Remember, Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, started off as an avid military wargamer and ex-military guy, as were members of his original Lake Geneva group, including all those who’s PC names are immortalized forever (Mordekainen, Bigby, etc). The place of “original contagion” where D&D started to be popular wasn’t college campuses (that came later) but military bases, where it was seen as an extension of war gaming.

It’s interesting: I’ve long suspected that Birthright, the AD&D massive wargame and miniature setting, was created so there would be an AD&D setting just for the UK audience, since my friends who are UK gamers seem to love Birthright and view it as foundational, whereas Americans barely remember it, even when they have crystal clear memories of Spelljammer and Al-Qadim.

[fyeahygocardart]

Thunder Dragonroar

[rpgcovers]

Dragonroar (boxed set) ~ Standard Games (1985)