Dragon Strike

Dragon Strike is a hybrid between a board game and a table-top role playing game. It was designed to be a gateway into Dungeons & Dragons for new and young players. The game used a ruleset that was simpler than the basic Dungeons & Dragons rules to make it easier to play. The designers hoped to attract players as young as eight years old.

The game came with several fold-out maps, cards, dice, an instructional VHS video, and a number of plastic miniatures. They represent the player characters, monsters, traps, treasure and status effects. The game included several pre-created quests available for play, one of which could be played solo.

VHS video

A video titled Dragon Strike came with the game on a VHS tape, intended to make the game more accessible to young players. It tells a story of the quest of a band of heroes, while demonstrating how to play the game. The "host" is playing the Dragon Master, trying to kindle the imagination and giving instructions on gameplay. The video also shows a live action story, featuring real-life actors. The video bears only a moderate resemblance to the actual board game. At the end of the tape is a section for the Dragon Master, which includes tips and tricks to help the players have fun, as well as making the game challenging.

The tape was prepared by Flint Dille and his Hollywood contacts, albeit on a low budget. The production was filmed with extensive use of blue screen, with actors acting against a blue screen, and a fantasy background replaced in post-production. The shooting and script were based on an early draft of the rulebook before the game was finalized, and so does not match the actual game perfectly. Monsters such as minotaurs and owlbears, plus the cleric class, make an appearance in the video but not the game itself.

Gameplay

The Dragon Strike game presents the basics of role-playing games in an innovative board-game format. The rules cast players in the roles of dwarves, thieves, and other fantasy archetypes. Each player receives a card representing his character, which shows ratings for Armor Class, Speed, Attack Strength, and special abilities. A clip attached to the side of the card keeps track of the character's Hit Points. The Dragon Master—the Dragon Strike equivalent of a Dungeon Master—prepares a session by selecting a mission from the Adventure Book, locates the indicated markers and cards, then responds with monsters, traps, and treasures as the characters wander around the colorful map board. A mission must be completed within a fixed number of turns.

The Dragon Master controls the actions of the monsters and non-player characters. To resolve combat, the Dragon Master compares the Attack Strength to the target's Armor Class; if the Attack Roll is higher, the target loses one Hit Point. Equally simple rules cover spell casting, feats of strength, and flying.

Characters:

Royals:

King Halvor II

Queen Lust

Heroes:

Thief Arikella

Warrior

Owlbear / Cleric

Villains:

Deathmark / Man Scorpion

Dead Defyer

Death knight

Lord Fear