Product– Drakonym: Core Rulebook
System– Drakonym
Producer– Crossed Paths Press
Price– $27-here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/539841/drakonym-core-rulebook?affiliate_id=658618
TL; DR– The game is interesting, but ensure you acquire all the supplementary books for full understanding! Rating: 78%
Basics- Let’s ride dragons! Drakonym is a long-awaited release from Crossed Paths Press. The core rules are relatively deep, so let’s break them down.
Base Mechanic– This game uses a d6-based mechanic. When you attempt a test, you gather dice equal to your relevant attributes, roll, and count the fives and sixes. A five counts as one success, while a six counts as two. You can have boons, where each boon allows a four to count as a success, and banes, which subtract a five for each bane. Boons and banes cancel each other out.
Shadow Dice and Hero Points- Both heroes and the GM (referred to as the Herald) can influence the rolls. Heroes accumulate hero points, which can be spent to add to a roll, reroll, or even change the narrative. The shadow die is a d12 that the Herald may ask a player to roll. This die can have various effects, such as doing nothing, ensuring a complete failure, or making success inevitable.
Combat– Combat in this game is straightforward. Heroes act first, followed by monsters, unless the heroes are surprised. Each hero has three action points per turn, with different actions costing varying amounts of action points. For example, a quick attack costs none, but subsequent quick attacks will cost more. Any unused action points accumulate. When you attack, you roll the appropriate dice based on the action and count successes as described above. Your level of success determines damage according to a tier system, where each tier has three points. Defense points can be spent to reduce damage to a lower tier or avoid an attack entirely.
Magic and Might– This system features two subsystems to facilitate player actions. Players can cast spells, each with varying mana costs, and can supercharge a spell with additional mana for extra effects. Players regain 2 mana each turn. Additionally, some classes use grit, which functions similarly to mana for physical actions. Both allow players to perform impressive feats of arcane skill or mighty deeds of strength.
Dragons- The game is called Drakonym because players get to command a dragon! You can direct your dragon to perform various actions, sharing both actions and hit points. You also have the opportunity to customize your dragon as you grow within the system.
Ok, now onto my thoughts.
Mechanics or Crunch: This system is simple but adds complexity that can be cumbersome. I enjoy d6 systems, and this game offers a fun approach to using six-sided dice for both combat and tests. However, I find that even the most common monsters have high hit points, such as 9 HP, which can drag out initial combat encounters. I appreciate the unified roll system, where all rolls—whether for skills or combat—use the same mechanic. However, having to reference different charts for damage calculations is somewhat inconvenient. Overall, it’s solid but raises some concerns regarding larger monsters. Rating: 4.25/5
Theme or Fluff– While I like the concepts presented, I think there’s a need for more depth. The world-building is limited to a few pages, and much of the context is provided in other books. If this is the only book you acquire, you may feel somewhat lost. Questions arise, like why you get a dragon and when you access some of the cool subclasses. The world story is present but covered too quickly, making the mechanics the primary focus and undermining the overall world-building. Rating: 4/5
Execution: This book performs well technically, but I feel some pieces are missing. While actions are listed, they aren’t described thoroughly enough for clarity. I lack details on how character leveling works and why I receive a dragon. It feels reminiscent of many games where the character is presented as “the chosen one” with a flashy reward from the start. I would appreciate a bit more guidance on the rationale behind the game mechanics. There are additional books that may clarify these points, but on its own, I feel a bit muddled. Rating: 3.5/5
Summary– The core book for Drakonym serves as a decent player handbook, but relying solely on it may lead to confusion. You need more context to understand how to run and play the game effectively. The supplementary books provide important information, so it’s advisable to obtain those as well. While what is included is decent, it requires further development to offer a complete game experience. Overall Rating: 78%
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