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 Dragonfire: a Realms deckbuilding game!
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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USA
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Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  03:33:50  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
So it looks like WotC has teamed up with Catalyst to do a deckbuilding game...

Dragonfire

The Catalyst website says:

quote:
Dragonfire combines the vast lore of the D&D universe with the fast play of a deckbuilding game. Players choose from several classic fantasy races, from dwarf to elf, half-orc to human, and assume one of the quintessential roles of cleric, rogue, fighter, or wizard. Equipped with weapons, spells, and magic items, players begin their adventure along the famed Sword Coast, then journey to other Forgotten Realms locales, such as Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter, and Waterdeep, in future expansions. Along the way, they can level up their characters, find additional equipment, learn new feats, and much more.

Dragonfire is built on the award-winning, critically acclaimed Shadowrun: Crossfire game engine. Crossfire’s roots are in Shadowrun, one of the most enduring roleplaying settings of all time. Adapting that engine to Dungeons & Dragons is an exciting opportunity to build new ways for players to experience both quick adventures and long-term campaigns in this legendary high-fantasy setting. And at every step, Catalyst has worked hard to remain true to D&D lore. When players open a copy at the table, regardless of what they enjoy playing—RPGs, deckbuilder games, or both—they’ll find a complete box of fun.


If you're not familiar with deckbuilding games, here's the definition, courtesy of Wikipedia:

quote:
A deck-building game is a card game that uses building a deck as the main focus of the gameplay. It is similar to collectible card games (CCGs) in that each player has their own deck. However, unlike CCGs, the cards are not sold in randomized packs, and the majority of the deck is built during the game, instead of before the game. Typically, the cards provide a type of game currency which allows players to buy more cards to add to their decks.


I'll admit, when I first saw the blurb, one of the first things that crossed my mind was the old Spellfire CCG, an attempt to cash in on the Magic: The Gathering craze (an attempt that rather drained my wallet, admittedly, and is now a lot of the reason I won't touch any "collectible" game). I did think it was another attempt to cash in on a popular thing.

But then I saw that Catalyst was involved... I like Shadowrun, and I used to play BattleTech, so I've got a lot of Catalyst stuff.

And more, I saw that Dragonfire is based on Crossfire. I've played exactly two deckbuilding games, both at GenCon -- and Crossfire is one I've done both years I've attended. I'll likely try to get into another Crossfire game at this year's GenCon, as well - I enjoy getting to play something Shadowrun, and the gameplay is fun, too. It's not too difficult to pick up the rules, either -- my first year there, the guy running the game said he'd never seen someone clear the game as quickly as we did, and we all got nifty Saeder-Krupp badges as awards. (I'm currently using mine as a bookmark)

Best of all, it's not a CCG -- you buy one box, and you've got all you need for a game with friends.

So, in short, I'm hoping this game will be available for play at GenCon, and just based on the little blurb here, I'm interested in buying it.

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Irennan
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Italy
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Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  13:14:08  Show Profile Send Irennan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
From the description, it's basically D&D with cards.

One thing also quite irked me: : "players begin their adventures along the famed Sword Coast, then expand to other locales across the Forgotten Realms, like Neverwinter, Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate". As if those cities weren't part of the Sword Coast?

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  15:44:56  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Irennan

From the description, it's basically D&D with cards.


Have you ever played Crossfire, or any other deckbuilding games? It's a card game. It will have cards representing D&D elements, but it is by no stretch of the imagination an RPG. Calling it D&D is like saying Magic: The Gathering is D&D.

quote:
Originally posted by Irennan

One thing also quite irked me: : "players begin their adventures along the famed Sword Coast, then expand to other locales across the Forgotten Realms, like Neverwinter, Waterdeep and Baldur's Gate". As if those cities weren't part of the Sword Coast?



It could have been better stated, true... I read it to mean that the first set will be just "generic" Sword Coast -- elements from the entire Sword Coast area, but not focused on any specific area. Later supplements will add elements specific to those named cities.

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Irennan
Great Reader

Italy
3802 Posts

Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  16:41:26  Show Profile Send Irennan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Irennan

From the description, it's basically D&D with cards.


Have you ever played Crossfire, or any other deckbuilding games? It's a card game. It will have cards representing D&D elements, but it is by no stretch of the imagination an RPG. Calling it D&D is like saying Magic: The Gathering is D&D.


No, I haven't. However, from the description, your cards represent a PC and their levels, equipment, etc... and your group has to cooperate to solve quests and stuff along those lines. That's why I said that to me it looks like D&D with cards instead of dices (minus the roleplaying and the freedom to decide where to go or what objective to pursue). So, it's basically a railroaded D&D with cards?


Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.

Edited by - Irennan on 26 Apr 2017 16:44:17
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore

Canada
1265 Posts

Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  19:02:32  Show Profile Send Seravin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Yeah when I read that bit about "they'll start in the Sword Coast, then future expansions will take them to <Sword Coast City 1>, <Sword Coast City 2>, and <Sword Coast City 3>!" I was bummed out. Ugh. There's more to the Realms than the Sword Coast!! Would love them to go to the Moonsea, the Dales, Sembia or Cormyr?
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  19:22:17  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
No, it's a card game. You get cards to represent spells, magic items, weapons, etc, and use those to defeat foes. Defeated foes drop money, allowing you to buy other cards to add to your personal deck, adding to your capabilities. Your character is a pre-gen character; and since you'll not get the same cards coming up in the same sequence every time, your character will be different, every game.

There is no railroading, because it's not an RPG where you're choosing which way to go and what to do. The quest is defeating a series of foes, with various limitations and complications factoring in. And it's a cooperative thing; you can work on an enemy that's fighting you, or attack someone else's enemy and hope they can aid you before your enemy hits you too badly. In fact, a lot of enemies will require cooperation, because each character has a set of cards that will be their specialty, and most enemies need a combination of attacks to defeat them.

Again, this is a card game with D&D elements. There is no roleplaying; your character is more of an archetype than anything else; and everything you need for a group of players is in one box.

If it helps, think of it as a D&D boardgame, with cards instead of a board.


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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  19:25:24  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin

Yeah when I read that bit about "they'll start in the Sword Coast, then future expansions will take them to <Sword Coast City 1>, <Sword Coast City 2>, and <Sword Coast City 3>!" I was bummed out. Ugh. There's more to the Realms than the Sword Coast!! Would love them to go to the Moonsea, the Dales, Sembia or Cormyr?



Even if they get there, it's a card game, so it's not going to offer any lore or plot developments.

As a deckbuilding game, it's going to lift from Realmslore, but it's not going to add to it.

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Seravin
Master of Realmslore

Canada
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Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  20:31:10  Show Profile Send Seravin a Private Message  Reply with Quote
That's a jump to say it wouldn't add to any lore or plot developments. Baldur's Gate was just a video game but became canon. I'd argue that any game that is set in those areas would add to the lore if not plot developments---but even if not, it would just be more interesting and diverse to me to see more of the Realms showcased in the new game than just the Sword Coast and 3 cities (Neverwinter, Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep) that are over exposed relative to the other parts of the Realms.
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 26 Apr 2017 :  21:27:36  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin

That's a jump to say it wouldn't add to any lore or plot developments. Baldur's Gate was just a video game but became canon. I'd argue that any game that is set in those areas would add to the lore if not plot developments---but even if not, it would just be more interesting and diverse to me to see more of the Realms showcased in the new game than just the Sword Coast and 3 cities (Neverwinter, Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep) that are over exposed relative to the other parts of the Realms.



It's not a jump. Deckbuilding games adapt existing material. They don't add material to the setting because they're not furthering grand plots or anything like that.

They're kinda like adventures designed specifically for conventions and tournaments: pre-gens running through a specially-designed gauntlet with a limited objective.

If this is like Crossfire, your characters will be just the race and the role that you select for them. For example, you'll grab the human character and the fighter role, and that's your character. You're not looking at Cormyrean nobleman fighter Bahb Nounsilver and his backstory, you're looking at the specific skills that the Fighter role comes with, and how that works with Human.

Again, this is a card game, designed for a few people to play, start to finish, in a couple hours. That's it. It will add just as much lore to the setting as the CCG Spellfire did: none at all.

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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 26 Apr 2017 21:31:21
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe

Australia
763 Posts

Posted - 27 Apr 2017 :  00:18:06  Show Profile Send KanzenAU a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Depends - there's lore in the Tyrants of the Underdark boardgame that doesn't appear elsewhere else, for instance.

Looks like a fun enough game anyway. Anything that builds FR love is good by me, even though I'm not into card games.

Regional maps for Waterdeep, Triboar, Ardeep Forest, and Cormyr on DM's Guild, plus a campaign sized map for the North
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Irennan
Great Reader

Italy
3802 Posts

Posted - 27 Apr 2017 :  21:08:33  Show Profile Send Irennan a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

No, it's a card game. You get cards to represent spells, magic items, weapons, etc, and use those to defeat foes. Defeated foes drop money, allowing you to buy other cards to add to your personal deck, adding to your capabilities. Your character is a pre-gen character; and since you'll not get the same cards coming up in the same sequence every time, your character will be different, every game.

There is no railroading, because it's not an RPG where you're choosing which way to go and what to do. The quest is defeating a series of foes, with various limitations and complications factoring in. And it's a cooperative thing; you can work on an enemy that's fighting you, or attack someone else's enemy and hope they can aid you before your enemy hits you too badly. In fact, a lot of enemies will require cooperation, because each character has a set of cards that will be their specialty, and most enemies need a combination of attacks to defeat them.

Again, this is a card game with D&D elements. There is no roleplaying; your character is more of an archetype than anything else; and everything you need for a group of players is in one box.

If it helps, think of it as a D&D boardgame, with cards instead of a board.





Got it, thanks for the explanation

Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.
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