Dragon Battle: Official Player's Guide

The Player's Manual provides a thorough overview of all game mechanics, character classes, items, skills, spells, races and important dragon spells and abilities.

We hope this information is valuable to would-be Champions!

The World of Dragon Battle

Once, long ago in the mythic past, the world was populated by the myriad beings: tall and graceful elves, short and hairy dwarves, shy and resourceful goblins, along with gnomes and satyrs and centaurs; the birds of the skies and the beasts of the wilds; demons and great serpents and thunderbirds; Gods of heaven and Gods of hell. A world vibrant with magic and mystery that shimmers tantalizingly at the edges of our consciousness.

In those distant times dragons were as dangerous as they were bountiful. A terrible Dragon King emerged and terrorized the world with bloodthirsty cruelty and boundless greed. He taught dragon kind to delight in the taste of the myriad beings. Kingdoms and villages became regularly attacked. Sacred temples and pilgrimage sites destroyed. Everywhere was chaos.

Angered by the cries of sadness across the world, the Sky Father, Lord of All Beings, called out for a Champion to defeat the dreaded Dragon King.

Many have heard the call, and many have become a meal for dragon kind.

Will YOU be the Champion of Legend who will defeat the Dragon King?

Game Mechanics

Dragon Battle presents potential Champions with a loop of increasingly difficult dragons, culminating in the cruel Dragon King himself.

Market

After each battle, Champions are healed and given an opportunity to make a purchase in the marketplace before the next battle begins. See MARKETPLACE for details.

There's only one purchase opportunity, so it's important to be strategic and choose wisely to maximize your time. After choosing any option (or if no option is chosen), the next dragon battle begins!


Combat

The role playing game mechanics are based on years of design philosophy/discussions with my brother as we complained about the limitations of the genre and how the game experience could be improved.

The result is a super-crunchy combat system. All non-magical weapons and armor have their own hit points. Spells and skills gain power as they organically level up. Additionally, the experience point system is based on failure. Experience points are gained whenever the player fails a roll, and skills level up organically during gameplay based on player's actions.

There are multiple combat resolutions as well. In addition to the classic RUN!! option, dragons can be defeated in a riddle contest which also unlocks spells.

The game code battle loop is this:

• assorted game logic to refresh hits bar, check weather, etc
  
• if player not asleep, player combat options
  
• if monster out of hit points, combat ends
  
• if monster not asleep, monster chooses random attack from their list of possible attacks
  
• if player runs out of hit points, game ends

Specific player combat options are broken down in the BATTLE OPTIONS section of the manual. But as an example of the crunchy combat code, the FIGHT option results in the following series of checks and code actions:

• d100 roll
  
• setting base attack level (= attack skill)
  
• focus multiplier modifier (x focus)
  
• bonuses for Karate Skill, XYZ Sword, ABC Weapon (not revealing the names here, find them in the game!)
  
• monster asleep?
  
• if hit, apply damage to monster (+/- half-dozen bonuses and modifiers)
  
• if miss, get experience points
  
• weapon takes damage
  
• skill level up check (attack skill, karate skill)

Throughout the game, whenever the player fails a roll or takes damage from an opponent they gain experience. Isn't that just like real life, though? We only learn the real lessons through failure, so we built the game to try to model that. Likewise, skills & spells organically level up in combat when certain experience point threshold has been reached. As the game progresses and the player fails more and more, they grow stronger and grow into powerful champions.

By the time they reach the Dragon King, players are kicking butt & taking names.

Simple UI

The focus on narrative and simplicity of the game design means that a lot has been stripped away. The graphic style is intentionally very simple. The complexity of the seemingly simple RPG battle loop setup means that inventory checks, etc, had to be built out as menu options, creating a great deal more complexity and code. When you approach the game on its own terms, the gameplay experience is immersive and challenges you to use your memory.

While you can see certain skill levels (spell levels, for example) and watch your Focus Multiplier grow, numbers have otherwise been removed from the game so gameplay is focussed instead on the narrative unfolding and the player's emotional feelings. As an example, the player’s HITS are displayed during combat but no numbers are seen. Decisions are made not based on what percentage roll you think you'll get, but instead based on how you feel in the situation.

The game is very text-heavy and can feel like reading a book. This is intentional. During play testing early on, I noticed the battle was unfolding like a dragon combat description from the epic myth Beowulf. This is exactly how the gameplay experience should feel! The player steps into the world of ancient myth and legend. On your journey to defeat the Dragon King, a narrative will unfold that you will be entwined with.

Like the story of how I defeated the Dragon King with just a knife! It was an epic battle and we were both low on hits. Suddenly my sword shattered, and a sinking feeling in my gut told me that I was not going to survive the battle. In order to win I would have to max out my focus, meaning 4 turns of patiently enduring enemy attacks. Magically I survived, and my final knife thrust ended the Dragon King's reign. My fist shot up in the air in celebration, an epic conclusion to an epic journey.

Battle Options

Fight
An attack against your enemy using whatever weapon you have equipped. If you are bare-handed and don't have any Karate skill, you will take damage from your punch!

Focus
The Focus Multiplier multiplies your chances for a successful action and can increase total damage. If you want to be more effective at attacks and spellcasting, be sure to increase your Focus!

Item
A variety of items can be used during combat, including drinking heal potions and using wands.

Spell
Choose from a list of known spells. If you know more than 9 spells, you can choose from a spell book menu. If you don't know any spells, this option will have you focus instead.

Outwit
Outwitting opponents is a good way to end combat peacefully. Against dragons, if your Riddle Skill is high enough you can engage in a battle of wits. Defeating dragons at riddles is a great way to learn spells!

Pray
Prayer is used for a variety of reasons. You can pray for mercy from your opponent, which seldom works against dragons (but sometimes does). You can pray for strength and protection from a higher power, which gives a Prayer bonus (up to a max of +10) that protects you in combat. If you are blessed by a fan in the marketplace, their blessing is the equivalent of a Max Prayer Bonus. Sometimes a higher power will respond to your prayer and cast a protective barrier around you.

Run!!
If all else fails and you are determined not to be the next meal of your dragon opponent, you can always attempt to Run. Focus Multipliers will help here. Though cowardly, sometimes it is better to run and try again another day.

Player Classes

Serf
A basic fighter who specializes in attack. Starts with a powerful weapon from either the Elves, Dwarves or Goblins.

Knight
A fighter with strong defense. Starts with a piece of magic armor.

Mage
A decently-powerful mage. Starts with either FIRE or ICE spell, along with MIND spell and strong Riddle Skill.

Ryukyu
A fighter specially trained in Karate. Does not use weapons. Starts with INVIS spell and moderate Riddle Skill.

Marketplace

There's only one purchase opportunity at the marketplace, so it's important to be strategic and choose wisely to maximize your time. The game code order of operations is this:

• Elves (if in town)
  
• Dwarves (if in town)
  
• Goblins (if in town)
  
• if player is Wizard or Ryukyu, prompt for Magic Shoppe
  
• Weapons shop
  
• If no shield, shield?
  
• if no armor, armor?
  
• if no helm, helm?

After choosing any option (or if no option is chosen), the next dragon battle begins!

Here are the goods available for purchase:

Weapons

• - knife - 5 gold
  
• - spear - 10 gold
  
• - sword - 25 gold
  
• - battle axe - 45 gold

Armor

• - tunic - 2 gold
  
• - chain mail - 25 gold
  
• - plate armor - 50 gold

Shields

• - wood - 2 gold
  
• - iron - 15 gold

Helms

• - leather - 2 gold
  
• - iron - 10 gold

Magic Shoppe
RIDDLE SKILL, ANIMAL, MIND, CTRL, INVIS, SLEEP Level up

• - gems - 5 for 10 gold
  
• - scroll - random spell - 10 gold
  
• - wand - LIT - 75 gold
  
• - feather - 5 for 3 gold

Elves
CURE MIND HEAL ANIMAL CTRL LIT spells level up

• - sword - 50 gold
  
• - chain - 75 gold
  
• - lit wand - 50 gold

Dwarves
INVIS MIND ICE spells level up.

• - helm - 50 gold
  
• - shield - 75 gold
  
• - plate - 150 gold
  
• - ice wand - 50 gold

Goblins
SLEEP HEAL CURE FIRE SERPENT spells level up.

• - spear - 50 gold
  
• - tonic - 50 gold
  
• - fire wand - 50 gold

Wands / Spells / Riddles

Wands

Wands always cast a spell. The strength of the wand depends on the number of charges. With each use, the wand loses a charge and spell power decreases. There are three wand types (FIRE, ICE, LIT).

Spells

• - FIRE - shoots a ball of fire at your opponent.
  
• - ICE - shoots shards of ice spears at your opponent.
  
• - LIT - calls down a bolt of lightning from the skies.
  
• - CTRL - adjusts the weather, either increasing or decreasing severity.
  
• - SERPENT - using a gem, this spell summons a dragon to fight alongside you!
  
• - ANIMAL - using a feather, this spell summons a mighty cave bear to fight alongside you!
  
• - SLEEP - puts your opponent to sleep.
  
• - INVIS - makes you invisible.
  
• - MIND - during combat, this creates a magic barrier that shields you from harm.
  
• - CURE - cures poison, especially the dreaded dragon bite.
  
• - HEAL - heals your body from injuries. the more powerful the spell level, the more health that is restored.

Riddles

As everyone knows, the only thing dragons enjoy more than pillaging villages and feasting on helpless victims is playing riddle games. Powerful wizards have been known to seek out dragons and defeat them at riddles to learn new spells and skills.

Dragons will only play riddles with players with high enough Riddle Skill, so keep leveling up! Don’t give up!

Magic Items

The game world is full of magic weapons and armor that the player can unlock.

The KNIGHT class inherits a random piece of magic armor, for example. Some semi-magic weapons and armor can be purchased from Elves, Dwarves and Goblins.

Other magic items are dropped by higher-level dragons.

Which items will you discover in your quest to defeat the Dragon King?

The Dragons

YOUNG DRAGON
Spells: SLEEP, ICE
Teaches: SLEEP, ICE, FIRE

EARTH DRAGON
Spells: Sleep, Ice Blast, Lightning, CTRL Weather
Teaches: Summon Animal, Summon Serpent

FIRE DRAGON
Spells: NONE
Teaches: FIRE

ICE DRAGON
Spells: NONE
Teaches: ICE

SEA DRAGON
Spells: Lightning, CTRL Weather, Heal
Teaches: Lightning, CTRL Weather

UNDEAD BONE DRAGON
Spells: Zombie Sleep
Teaches: NOTHING

IRON DRAGON
Spells: NONE
Teaches: MIND

DEMON SPAWN
Spells: Sleep, Heal
Teaches: Sleep, Invisibility

FEATHERED SERPENT
Spells: Sleep, Heal, Lightning, CTRL Weather
Teaches: ????

DRAGON KING
Spells: Sleep, Heal, Lightning, CTRL Weather
Teaches: ????