In this demonstration game of Dragon Dice, I have tried to illustrate as many of the game mechanics as possible in a single, small game using the most commonly available dice. I have used small armies of only 24 health points, and deliberately avoided using monsters, as I do not want to muddy the waters with explaining a multitude of Special Action Icons as this early stage.
I have endeavoured to show the basic manoeuvre, save, magic, missile and melee mechanics and how to use them, along with the most common SAIs – Trample, Cantrip, Smite, Counter and Bullseye. I have also tried to show how racial abilities work for the chosen races and how they tie into the terrains used in the game. Spells are also introduced, but I have tried to keep these to the minimum possible.
Special Action Icons (SAIs)
As the use of 4 health monsters has been avoided in this first demonstration game, there are only 6 SAIs that appear on the Coral Elf and Dwarf dice. These all appear on the 3 health (otherwise known as ‘rare’ dice merely as a way of distinguishing them from 1 health ‘common’ dice and 2 health ‘uncommon’ dice – it is not a reflection on either their difficulty to obtain, nor on their monetary value) and are shown below along with their effects. Click on images to enlarge.
Magic Spells used in this demo.
Below is the list of spells and dragon breath effects that are introduced in this demo game. Click on images to enlarge.
Racial Abilities
The thing that makes all 12 different races ‘unique’ is their distinct Racial Abilities. I will be illustrating two of these in this game.
Firstly, Coastal Dodge for Coral Elves
When Coral Elves are at a terrain that contains the colour green, they are able to count all manoeuvre results as save results. This applies in the basic game at Coastland, swampland and feyland, but can apply at other terrains if minor terrains are in use. These will be covered in later demonstrations.
Secondly, Mountain Mastery for Dwarves
When Dwarves are at a terrain that contains the colour yellow, such as the highland used here, they are able to count melee results as if they were manoeuvre results.
Both of these racial abilities are illustrated here. Others will be featured in a future game.