This past Saturday, I ran a Monster Rules demo called Dragon’s Forge, a fantasy-setting game for two or more players.

The scenario was a 2-part adventure that lasted about 2 hours and came right down to the wire to see who would win.

Player 1 played the group of adventurers: a Champion Wizard and two Heroes, a Barbarian and a Rogue.

Player 2 played all the encounters, including bandits, ghouls, locked doors, traps, an imp and Dram the Black (a fierce dragon).

Game 1 of the scenario allowed each player to select 600 points worth of characters. Player 1 selected the Barbarian and Rogue; Player 2 selected 2 Bandits.
Player 2 objective: to sneak into the Barbarian’s and Rogue’s room, find the map and steal it.
Player 1 objective: to prevent the bandits from stealing the map.
Game Outcome: If player 2 stole the map, he could add two additional game marker decoys to the game board, effectively slowing down player 1; on the other hand, if player 1 kept the map, he could flip 1 game marker at the beginning of play to reveal what it was hiding.

Game 2 of the scenario allowed Player 1 to use 1200 points (his Wizard, Barbarian and Rogue). Player 2 used tactical waves, 600 points + an additional 600 points every 3 Rounds.
Player 1 objective: to retrieve the Dragon-Forge sword.
Player 2 objective: To eliminate 2 of Player 1’s characters.
Victory Condition: If Player eliminates 2 or more of Player 1’s characters, he wins; if he only eliminates 1 character and Player 1 retrieves the sword, it is a tie; and if Player 1 retrieves the sword with all players in alive, he wins.

The game played out smoothly over a 2 hour period with momentum changing hands several times.

One of the highlights was when the Wizard was encircled by a group of Minion Ghouls—who were weak but surprisingly effective in mass. The Wizard had dominated the dragon in the next room and commanded it to blast at him—and all the ghouls—with his fiery breath.

The attack damaged the Wizard slightly, but also killed more than half of the Ghouls.

Another great moment was when the imp possessed the barbarian who turned and started attacking the Rogue. The wizard attempted to dispel the imp, but failed at his first attempted allowing the imp to have a second round of attacks.

The Barbarian was a real brute. In Game 1, he took the map and ran-over one of the bandit blocking his escape (using a Charge). It was funny to watch him run-over the guy.

The other non-combative obstacles—Dwarven Lock-Stone Doors and Fire-Rune Traps—effectively slowed the party down as anticipated. These allowed player 2 to build-up his forces in the crypt.

The game came down right to the wire. Player 1 allowed his party to get separated. The Barbarian ran ahead and encountered another group of Ghouls. The Wizard and Rogue were battling two Bandits. The wizard was able to use the dominated dragon once more to eat the bandits—but while distracted, the Ghouls were able to take down the mighty barbarian.

The game resulted in a tie, with the Wizard and Rogue escaping with the sword, but the barbarian remaining behind, dead within the crypt.

The game has great possiblities for storytelling in a tabletop/miniatures setting.

MrAtomek