Drakar och Demoner 2016 - what did it do well? Poorly?

runequester

Swordsman
Joined
29 Apr 2018
Messages
474
Greetings.

As an old fan of DoD, I was curious to hear what the perception was in general. I've been fairly pleasantly surprised at the 2016 rules, but there are areas I feel were poor decisions.

Now, to clarify, I was not expecting a straight reprint of the 87 book. I know some people were wanting that, but that doesn't specifically bother me. Instead, let's talk about the actual rules.

Things I think they improved:

*Streamlining spell casting to a single skill and spending magic points to increase the success rate / offset penalties.

*Size for monsters.

* Shields being automatic defense and how two-weapon-fighting is handled. (The former reminds me of WFRP).

* Damage bonus being a fixed number is faster. Healing rates being affected by CON and faster in general is good.

* The skill list in general seems quite good.

* Not fiddling with weapons suffering damage (BV) is probably fine.

* I /think/ I like having to attack OR parry instead of being able to do both with two weapons, but I havent played yet.

* Exploding damage dice I like.

* Spells having more guidelines for how EL's are assigned is cool.

* Perfect roll table for spells is cool.

* The game is ultimately still a nice beginner game and I think it'd hold up well for a longer campaign.

* I also really dig the art style.

Things I think aren't as good:

* Starting skills feel low and the old system (pick 3 expert and 5 normal skills) felt like it gave more control. I guess there's an option for more experienced characters, but I feel like the suggested starter level is too gimp.

* Stat penalties for weapons, encumbrance etc. are fiddly and a -3% chance isn't going to make a difference ever.

* Unconscious at 0 HP and dead at -1? What? No!

* Having only a strict list of player species instead of being able to play any critter in the book is not BRP but I suppose that's a personal taste. I do like the selected species though.

* The "stance" in combat, Im not sure about. I think I like the concept a lot but a + / - 20 to attack or parry is a lot.

* I dont mind that skill advancement is low, but combined with the low start chances, it feels like it'll be a long time before a character is talented outside of fighting.



Thoughts? Especially from people who have played the game and especially-especially from those who played the original.


As always, apologies for typing in English. Feel free to respond in Swedish or English as you find easiest.
 
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