Dragon Warriors

Let me start by saying that one of the things I like about Dragon Warriors is that you don't really need miniatures, unlike some recent forms of D&D where even if they are not actually required, the rule set is very much geared towards their use. But I like miniatures and I like to use them sometimes, and I've developed some protocols, I've found useful in my DW games that I thought others might get some ideas from.

I use a square grid system with squares, 1.5m tall and wide. I chose this because it's close to the 5 foot standard used in D&D and that makes a lot of products very useful. Now because DW is metric based, and tends to use measures that are nicely rounded in metric terms, this as meant modifying a few distances used in DW slightly. 5 metres is assumed to be three squares (which would actually be 4.5 metres) 10 metres is assumed to be 7 squares (10.5m). 25m is 17 squares (25.5m). I justify this by saying that real life isn't square, and what you represent on a battleboard isn't real anyway, its just a representation of reality. I also don't think a Dragonbreath really has a range of 10.00m - that's just its approximate range to the nearest convenient measure. We also use the diagonal movement rule from D&D 3rd edition, where when moving diagonally, every second square moved uses double the distance. It's close enough for game purposes.

The rulebook has this to say in its brief discussion of battle order and miniatures on page 61.

A character with a sword, mace, or other common mêlée weapon requires a space of about 1½m in which to fight, so two characters could normally fight side-by-side in a 3m-wide passage. A character wielding a battleaxe, halberd or two-handed sword needs more space — at least 2m—and must usually stand alone in his row of the battle order. Those fighting with shortswords and spears do not need so much room to manoeuvre, for these are thrusting weapons; three such characters are able to fight abreast in a 3m corridor. This also holds true for archers, crossbowmen and spell-casters.

and I have tried to take this into account in my own games when using miniatures. Most miniatures occupy one 1.5 metre square, allowing two characters to fight side by side in a 3 metre wide passage as the book states. Miniatures for characters using weapons like a two-handed sword, are mounted on a piece of 5cm x 5cm card (or 2 inch by 2 inch) and occupy four squares - this goes a little further than the rulebook says but I think it more accurately depicts their stance. I also use a piece of 5cm x 2cm (or 2 inch by 1 inch) card for those wielding spears. as I think this most accurately reflects the space they should occupy. To handle the idea that three characters wielding thinner weapons can fight abreast in a 3m wide corridor, such characters are allowed to stand on a line rather occupy a square.

I also use small dice - a different colour for each combatant - placed on the bases of miniatures in order to show how DEFENCE has been split in battle (as per the rules on page 68 of the rulebook). When dividing defence, you place a dice of your colour on the base of the miniatures you are splitting defence against. I got this idea from another Dragon Warriors GM here in Melbourne, who I don't think is on this forum, just to be clear - it wasn't my idea, but I like it.



This image illustrates the features showing a party fighting three skeletons. Assuming north at the top of the map, on the west we have an archer, a crossbow wielder, and a casting sorcerer, all of whom can stand abreast in the 3m wide corridor, while on the south we have two sword wielding Knights each occupying their own square. Another Knight with a two handed sword is on his cardboard off to the east, with a spear wielder to the north. The Knight with the two handed sword has split his DEFENCE against two of the skeletons using purple dice, while one of the Knights to the south has done the same using orange dice.

I don't always use all of this even when using miniatures. In a simple battle, the dice to show DEFENCE splits may be more trouble than they are worth. But in a more complex battle, it can help.

We don't use miniatures all the time. In fact, I've been running my current campaign since late last year and the miniatures came out for the first time only last week. But sometimes I do find them useful, and maybe some other people may like some of these ideas. Or have some of their own to suggest.

_________________
Life and Death Are Only a Dice Roll Away!

Shaun Hately
co-author A Weak Pleasure
co-author Friends or Foes
co-author Dragon Warriors Players Guide

A lot of things I suppose are down to GM's discretion. I suppose certain circumstances and the GM will have to think of something, hopefully something consistent.

With my limited experience of rpgs from the early 90's, I don't think there has been much in the way of terrain rules. One big lack I see in dragwars is the lack of cover rules. Even star wars d6 does this better.

I suppose, getting bogged down in rules can be a pain. But there are elements in dragwars which I think could be expanded upon given time. We have guidelines for falling and the Assassin seems to be designed to interact more with the environment. I can see a dedicated archer profession being a master of open spaces. Imagine how he could use terrain to his advantage. Ultimately the sapper will be there to shape his environment. Other professions can do it, just not as well as the Sapper.

One problem is how all the games are in 2D. Its convenient to create a small enclosed space to contain combat. Imagine large caverns or open forest? Hard to recreate in the same detail, and the possibility of the party being split up can make combat awkward.

_________________
Speech!





And so the show begins!!!
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/dwp ... ssages/640

I used miniatures a fair bit when I played a lot. At one point I used hex sheets but that was a hassle. Eventually I just used lead figurines (anybody remember Prince August? They had good historical figures that I preferred to all the high fantasy stuff in the gaming shops. I used to cast my own too!), various props placed on the table, and a tape measure (like the one tailors use). I can't remember the scale; I think the tape measure was in inches which worked out well for some reason for metric measurements on 25mm figurines but I forget the details.

Terrain rules were largely done on the fly. If a character said they were hiding behind an overturned table I'd just apply a penalty to the attacker's rolls, and for hills give a few points bonus to the person with the higher ground etc. I reckon it could be codified with a bit of work, but alas I don't have any of my original materials any longer. Later still I just came up with a generic "handicap" system that could cover all sorts of scenarios.

Cheers,

-Kyle

If a person is using a battle mat, Dungeon Tiles, or the like with miniatures, I think there's a good case to be made for making squares 1 meter to a side rather than 1.5 meters. It's much easier to fit three minis into three spaces than into two spaces!