Review of ‘Dragon Heresy Introductory Set’

*EDIT* Fixed something in the skills section

Time to review the ‘Dragon Heresy Introductory Set’ by Douglas Cole!

Now that’s a cover! (Please excuse my phone camera and lack of camera skills)

Full Disclosure: I Kickstarted this product. There is something really amazing about seeing your name listed as “Jarl”.

So what is the ‘Dragon Heresy Introductory Set’? It’s a 5E hack with a strong Viking flavor. Honestly, it feels like a halfway point between 5E and the OSR. Much like B/X, this is the ‘B’ of Dragon Heresy, so it only goes from 1st to 5th level. Hopefully, the ‘X’ will be Kickstarted soon (but not too soon, my wallet needs a moment to recover from some other purchases I have made).

The Good

– Removed the Thief / Rogue class from 5E, which encourages players to think smartly about traps and skills in general. Because of the difference in mindset between 5E and the OSR, I am okay with removing the Thief in 5E, but keeping it an OSR game.

– Builds in the grappling rules from ‘Dungeon Grappling’. [review forthcoming]

– FULL COLOR ART EVERYWHERE.

I am limiting what I show, simply out of respect for Mr. Cole’s intellectual property.

 

– The Viking-ish world is baked into every aspect of the game, from class section to monsters.

– A Vigor and Wounds system that is a little deeper than just hit points. I will admit that it may not be to everyone’s liking, but it is a unique and well thought out system.

– Keeps the ‘pack’ system from 5E to make character creation go a little faster. Just buy a particular pack full of useful knick-knack items for X gp and move on!

The Bad

– It is based on 5E, so if you hate 5E and 5E-based things with a burning passion, this may not be the game for you.

The Ugly

– It has Tieflings. I don’t like Tieflings.

Overall, do I recommend? Yes, particularly to people who are willing to try something a little different than standard 5E fare.

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You can purchase the ‘Dragon Heresy Introductory Set’ here. This is not an affiliate link and I will not financially benefit from this purchase in any way. Just trying to be above board here.