Vittorio Ballerio Castoldi
I’d like to start this review by thanking the Little Lab Design collective for providing us with a digital copy of Dragons & Dungeons. It’s a one-page roleplaying game designed and developed by Guido “Maicol” Campanini together with the Little Lab Design team.
The game is available with a Pay What You Want formula on the collective’s itch.io page.
Graphics and Layout of Dragons & Dungeons
The care put into the layout by Luigi “Grecor” Aversa stands out, even though this is a free product.
Despite the minimalist visual elements, they enhance the game beautifully. The graphic choices intentionally reference a much more famous game that shares the same initials. The classic font on a parchment background makes for excellent readability.
Dragons & Dungeons comes in a pamphlet format, as Little Lab Design usually does with its one-page titles, with the particular feature of being cuttable into an envelope shape.
A Fantasy Made of Adventurers
The premise of Dragons & Dungeons is simple. The implied setting offers a classic fantasy world.
You are a group of adventurers returning from a long journey, sitting in the tavern where you first met. You’re celebrating, enjoying your treasure during a local festival. Suddenly, a messenger arrives with a letter from an old ally asking for your help. What do you do?
Creating an Adventurer in Just Four Steps
Creating a character in Dragons & Dungeons is extremely easy.
The first step is to choose an archetype from the options provided.
The second step is to pick a predominant trait for your character from those listed.
For the third step, choose a number between 2 and 5 that represents your adventurer’s affinity with the concept of DRAGONS (grand actions, magic, and bravado) or DUNGEONS (knowledge, planning, and stealth). A higher number indicates affinity with DRAGONS, while a lower number indicates affinity with DUNGEONS.
The fourth step is to determine your character’s appearance, beliefs, equipment, and finally, one personal goal and one goal for the player.
To create the group — Dragon Master included — each player, in turn, introduces one element from the group’s shared past. After creating both the characters and the party, decide together with the Dragon Master what reputation your adventurers have.
Dragons & Dungeons Mechanics Review
Dragons & Dungeons is a hack of Lasers & Feelings. Its mechanics are simple yet effective.
The story is created by the Dragon Master together with the players, determining the content of the letter, the threat, who wrote it, and any other necessary detail.
Threats can be rolled randomly using the table included in the rule sheet. The game suggests using minor threats — those that can be overcome with a single success — to keep the action moving quickly toward the main challenge.
Dragons & Dungeons uses only six-sided dice (d6). Normally, a check requires rolling 2d6. The Dragon Master, depending on the situation and the character involved, can ask to add or remove dice from the roll, up to a maximum of 5d6 and a minimum of 1d6.
If you are using your DRAGONS, you want results below your chosen number. If you are using your DUNGEONS, you want results above it.
You can also spend Inspiration dice to stage unique and wonderful powers, following the dedicated table provided in the game.
Conclusions of the Dragons & Dungeons Review
Dragons & Dungeons is a very interesting game, featuring light yet engaging and well-thought-out mechanics. A simple but effective graphic design makes it a must-have for lovers of the genre. The Little Lab Design collective has accustomed us to high-quality one-page titles.
Especially noteworthy is the short section dedicated to the Dragon Master. Even though it’s brief, I think it’s a great help for first-time narrators, making the game highly accessible. It provides concise and effective advice that can be applied to almost any roleplaying game.
