Drakar och Demoner
Encyclopedia
Drakar och Demoner is a Swedish
fantasy
role-playing game
first published in 1982 by the game publishing company Äventyrsspel ("Adventure Games", later renamed Target Games
).
First edition was basically a translation of Steve Perrin
's Basic Role-Playing
(which in turn is based on RuneQuest
) combined with the Magic World booklet.
Second Edition was published in 1984, rewriting the text from scratch, fixing many translation
errors and glitches in the rules although no other major changes were made. One of the available player races, the anthropomorphic
ducks, was incorporated from Glorantha
.
The transition to a new system of rules began in 1985, not with Third Edition which mostly corrected spelling errors, but with the publication of an "Expert" rule expansion: Drakar och Demoner Expert. This among other things introduced hit locations and the use of a 20-sided
die
instead of the percentile die for skill rolls.
Fourth Edition in 1991 was a major revision of the rules, superseding Drakar och Demoner Expert by incorporating it into the basic rules and then expanding them.
In 1994, Target Games released Fifth Edition. This version was notable mainly because it came with an integrated world description. Changes to rules was minor, mostly reflecting the new campaign setting
.
In the late 1990s, Target Games found itself in financial difficulties and discontinued their line of role-playing games. The rights to Drakar och Demoner were transferred to Paradox Entertainment
, who in turn licensed them to Riotminds. Riotminds publiashed a new version of the game in 2000. This Sixth Edition was a complete overhaul of the game rules, supporting a much less generic game world. The idea of "Expert" rules was re-used, and many rules expansions followed.
When Riotminds released their first take on the venerable Drakar och Demoner ruleset, it featured a concept very close to levels
("yrkesnivåer"). It didn't take long before an official addendum appeared on their website, "allowing" players to play without this feature. And in the subsequent reprints (as well as later editions) little or no traces of "yrkesnivåer" remain.
In 2006, Riotminds consolidated the line with Seventh Edition, which again meant many rule changes to better support its campaign world. Among the changes was the removal of the basic character stats (grundegenskaper) which were replaced with 'exceptional abilities' (exceptionella karaktärsdrag) and the introduction of specializations of skills. This edition is called Drakar och Demoner Trudvang and is the first boxed one in many years.
The first campaign setting of Drakar och Demoner was called Ereb Altor (Ereb being the name of the continent
where most - if not all - official adventures take place, Altor being the name of the planet on which Ereb is located). It was created bit by bit by different writers through adventures and source books creating a somewhat haphazard world; medieval feudal states
exist side-by-side with comparably advanced Renaissance
-styled nations.
With the fifth version Target Games decided to introduce a new, darker, campaign setting named Chronopia, thereby ceasing publication of new material for Ereb. After an outcry among fans of Ereb ensued, Target Games decided that Ereb and Chronopia both existed on Altor but on different hemisphere
s. At this time, a table top miniatures game line was also started, see Chronopia below.
Riotminds created a brand new campaign setting called Trudvang which utilized cultures, creatures and monsters based on Scandinavian folklore
instead of the standard fantasy
creatures.
Second Edition: Chronopia: War in the Eternal Realm was a table top miniature game published by Excelsior Entertainment.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
first published in 1982 by the game publishing company Äventyrsspel ("Adventure Games", later renamed Target Games
Target Games
Target Games was a Swedish publisher of role-playing games active from 1980 until the year 1999 when they went into bankruptcy proceedings.-Publications:...
).
First edition was basically a translation of Steve Perrin
Steve Perrin
Stephen Herbert Perrin, born January 22 1946 and simply known as Steve Perrin, is a game designer and technical writer/editor.Perrin is probably best known for creating the role-playing game RuneQuest for Chaosium...
's Basic Role-Playing
Basic Role-Playing
Basic Role-Playing is a role-playing game system which originated in the fantasy-oriented RuneQuest role-playing game rules...
(which in turn is based on RuneQuest
RuneQuest
RuneQuest is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1978 by Chaosium, created by Steve Perrin and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. RuneQuest was notable for its original gaming system and for its verisimilitude in adhering to an original fantasy world...
) combined with the Magic World booklet.
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
errors and glitches in the rules although no other major changes were made. One of the available player races, the anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
ducks, was incorporated from Glorantha
Glorantha
Glorantha is the Fantasy world created by Greg Stafford and since used as the background for several role-playing games, including RuneQuest , Hero Wars and HeroQuest , as well as several works of fiction and the computer strategy game King of Dragon Pass...
.
The transition to a new system of rules began in 1985, not with Third Edition which mostly corrected spelling errors, but with the publication of an "Expert" rule expansion: Drakar och Demoner Expert. This among other things introduced hit locations and the use of a 20-sided
Icosahedron
In geometry, an icosahedron is a regular polyhedron with 20 identical equilateral triangular faces, 30 edges and 12 vertices. It is one of the five Platonic solids....
die
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
instead of the percentile die for skill rolls.
Fourth Edition in 1991 was a major revision of the rules, superseding Drakar och Demoner Expert by incorporating it into the basic rules and then expanding them.
In 1994, Target Games released Fifth Edition. This version was notable mainly because it came with an integrated world description. Changes to rules was minor, mostly reflecting the new campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
.
In the late 1990s, Target Games found itself in financial difficulties and discontinued their line of role-playing games. The rights to Drakar och Demoner were transferred to Paradox Entertainment
Paradox Entertainment
Paradox Entertainment owns rights to many intellectual properties, the most famous of which is Conan the Barbarian as created by pulp author Robert E. Howard and expanded upon by many other authors over the years. Other properties include Bran Mak Morn, Kull, Solomon Kane, Mutant, Mutant...
, who in turn licensed them to Riotminds. Riotminds publiashed a new version of the game in 2000. This Sixth Edition was a complete overhaul of the game rules, supporting a much less generic game world. The idea of "Expert" rules was re-used, and many rules expansions followed.
When Riotminds released their first take on the venerable Drakar och Demoner ruleset, it featured a concept very close to levels
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
("yrkesnivåer"). It didn't take long before an official addendum appeared on their website, "allowing" players to play without this feature. And in the subsequent reprints (as well as later editions) little or no traces of "yrkesnivåer" remain.
In 2006, Riotminds consolidated the line with Seventh Edition, which again meant many rule changes to better support its campaign world. Among the changes was the removal of the basic character stats (grundegenskaper) which were replaced with 'exceptional abilities' (exceptionella karaktärsdrag) and the introduction of specializations of skills. This edition is called Drakar och Demoner Trudvang and is the first boxed one in many years.
Campaign settings
Just like many other early role-playing games, Drakar och Demoner started out without a fully developed campaign setting.The first campaign setting of Drakar och Demoner was called Ereb Altor (Ereb being the name of the continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
where most - if not all - official adventures take place, Altor being the name of the planet on which Ereb is located). It was created bit by bit by different writers through adventures and source books creating a somewhat haphazard world; medieval feudal states
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
exist side-by-side with comparably advanced Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
-styled nations.
With the fifth version Target Games decided to introduce a new, darker, campaign setting named Chronopia, thereby ceasing publication of new material for Ereb. After an outcry among fans of Ereb ensued, Target Games decided that Ereb and Chronopia both existed on Altor but on different hemisphere
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
s. At this time, a table top miniatures game line was also started, see Chronopia below.
Riotminds created a brand new campaign setting called Trudvang which utilized cultures, creatures and monsters based on Scandinavian folklore
Scandinavian folklore
Scandinavian folklore is the folklore of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Swedish speaking parts of Finland.Collecting folklore began when Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden sent out instructions to all of the priests in all of the parishes to collect the folklore of their area...
instead of the standard fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
creatures.
Chronopia table top miniature games
First Edition: Chronopia: Dark Fantasy Battles was a table top miniature game published by Target Games. Players would field an army composed of 25 mm miniatures which were composed of pewter, resin, or a composite of both. The game featured eight different armies for players to choose from.Second Edition: Chronopia: War in the Eternal Realm was a table top miniature game published by Excelsior Entertainment.