Thanks to Elderbrain for sending us a copy of Year of Rogue Dragons so we could write this review. It’s a 100 page adventure for D&D5e for four players who must travel to the Forgotten Realms to take the role of newborn chromatic dragons (therefore evil, in that world). The product, only in digital format, is available for $14,99 (about 12€) on dmsguild.com. For the same price, you can get materials to use on Fantasy Grounds. It is also possible to save money by buying both products at once or by purchasing adventure maps, always on dmsguild.com.
The Authors and a Sponsor of Excellence
On the Elderbrain website you can find their current products. In addition to Year of Rogue Dragons there is another adventure (which we will tell you about someday) and a background music app for RPGs. The Elderbrain team is a group of old friends who grew up together on bread and D&D. Entangled in family and work commitments these days, they try to find the time to meet, play, and carry on their dream of creating products for role-playing games. The subject of our review, Year of Rogue Dragons, which earned Best Platinum Seller recognition on dmsguild.com, is their first project.
But the most welcome recognition the cover boasts is the recommendation of Richard Lee Byers, author of over forty horror and fantasy novels, including many set in the Forgotten Realms. Among these is also the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy, which lends its title to this product.
Review of the Contents of Year of Rogue Dragon
The content of this adventure is divided simply and effectively. First there is an introduction to the setting and a summary of the adventure, followed by details on playing dragons as player characters and other insights and options for creating and advancing the characters.
Then there is the actual adventure, which takes up most of the 100 pages. It is divided into three chapters. In the first, the young dragons learn news of the world around them and how to take their first steps. In the second, a greater interaction begins with the three factions that interact with the protagonists: a black dragon named Iyrauroth, the Cult of the Dragon (a sect that aims to create dracolichs) and the Zhentarim (an evil merchant company that is a front for an underlying network of spies and criminals). The first missions are revealed and the young dragons can decide how to place themselves on the chessboard of power. The third chapter is more of a showdown. By their choices and actions, the dragons reach the third level and shape an ending that opens up more possibilities.
After the adventure, Year of Rogue Dragons provides all the material to play with, therefore NPCs, monsters, spells, magic items, some handouts and a map.
Playing As Dragons
Obviously the chance to play an adventure as a group of dragons doesn’t happen every day. The introduction focuses mainly on two points. The first is how to create a balanced party, the second is the possible origins of the players’ choice for their characters.
It is assumed that dragons of different colors also have different numeric characteristics. Three possibilities for creating the party are described. In practice, either the players accept the idea that different colored dragons have a different “power”, or they decide to create four dragons of the same color. If the first two possibilities end up not being feasible, an idea for how to modify the characters to make them as balanced as possible is given.
There are five backgrounds that offer choices or at least some ideas for contextualizing the characters’ initial situation. Having access to other manuals, perhaps those mentioned on the first page of the adventure, can help you step into the shoes of four dragons even better and experience the adventure with greater intensity.
Review of the Plot of Year of Rogue Dragons
On balance, the players care little about the layout, details or subdivision of the chapters. What matters most is that the story they are going to live is worth experiencing. Obviously, it isn’t my intention to reveal the plot or its secrets in this review, but it is still possible to highlight some elements that might help guide you to choose to play it eventually.
The adventure is a continous crescendo. Each chapter increases the characters’ awareness and involvement, leading to a perhaps classic but certainly not trivial final situation. The initial, more or less random, encounters soon lead to the presentation of more than one faction. This situation opens the doors to the second part, where each faction in the game interacts with the characters who, for their part, receive various tasks that create the basis of the third chapter. There, the plots come to a head and the choices the players make influence the creation of the final part of the story.
The plot is certainly not innovative, but it covers many situations well, gives the players space to make choices, and makes good use of clichés that, although unsurprising, are pleasant to play. Let’s not forget that creating an adventure for four chromatic dragons is already a remarkable work of fiction in itself!
If you want more details, look carefully at the cover …
Art and Layout
Year of Rogue Dragons is a beautiful colored volume with pages enclosed in an elaborate frame with draconic references. The chromatic choice tends towards dark and restful colors. The text is occasionally interrupted by small black and white illustrations; less frequent color images embellish the product and make reading pleasant. The style follows classic fantasy with a hint of comics. Various full-page illustrations increase the value of medium-high quality graphics even more, always visually pleasing. Certainly having such images to show players during play sessions is a significant asset to the description of scenes and immersion in them.
The classic two-column layout is neat and careful, although a few more cues to draw attention to chapters or key concepts, with different text formats or text boxes, would have helped. I think more could also have been done on the layout and graphics of the handouts.
Final Consideration of the Review of Year of Rogue Dragons
Year of Rogue Dragons attractive for the particularity of the protagonists, above all. Being able to play an evil dragon is not an everyday opportunity, not even in fantasy worlds like those found in role-playing games.
From this standpoint, Elderbrain does a great job, because it creates a plot that isn’t simple, but stable and reliable, with which to play this original concept. Perhaps I would recommend this product more to a dungeon master expert in the game and to players who want to try something different, but are committed not to flattening the opportunity with stereotyped behaviors.
Played with the right approach and with due commitment, I believe that The Year of Rogue Dragons is an interesting adventure, capable of giving a different and engaging point of view.