#dragonroar

By Peter O'Toole

Generic dungeon fantasy with warriors and wizards. Notable for being the first published rpg from the UK, and for the boxed set containing an audio cassette with a solo adventure on it.

By the mid-80s, most wargame publishers were experimenting with RPGs.  In the UK, Standard Games got in on the action with Dragonroar (1985), which somehow beat Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay to market to became the first British-created fantasy RPG (the first Brit RPG in general was the small press superhero RPG Golden Heroes, 1982).

Dragonroar is absurd, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth celebrating. The system is simple, more of a stripped down tactics game; there are no mechanics for anything outside of combat. That combat is clearly intended for play with miniatures (the back cover features a photograph of the miniature line in a diorama mimicking the action of the cover). It’s firmly for beginners and provides a solid, if martially inclined, introduction. The tone is light and cheerful, the explanations clear. There is an audio cassette; the first half walks you through the book’s contents, the second half narrates the solo adventure that seems both mortifying and helpful in equal part. The book contains a more traditional GM-led adventure. There are character chits and environment floor plans. All this is fine: you could do a lot worse for an introductory RPG box in 1985.