Dragon Tavern

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Explore the wilds, beat up monsters, steal their lunch money...

DragonTavern is a browser-based, free-to-play Western RPG from Australian company Rowdy Baron Games and it launched on May 16th 2008. The game is set in a High Fantasy world, divided up into various locations such as The Ashpeak Mountains and The Bravaki Wastelands. Player characters can come from one of three separate factions; The Mountain Kingdoms, The Steel Empire and the Deadlands, and adventure through the locales of the game world via a browser menu. All player characters are based out of the titular Dragon Tavern, located central between each of the three factions' territories. Player activity is curtailed by a set amount of Action Points, which are spent to travel to a location from either the tavern or the location the player is currently in, to adventure within a location and to travel back to the tavern. Each character receives 25 Action Points per day, and these may stockpiled up to 250.

Character creation is based on the selection of one of the three factions and then one of eight classes for each faction. Classes are either ranged or melee specialists or hybrids of the two. All PCs and Monsters have abilities within the game's TOAD system; (Tactics, Organisation, Attack, Defence) and Skills which modify their tactics. Combat functions by comparing a character's TOAD abilities and with their opponent and modifying based on the character's skills, level compared to the opponent and the quality of a character's equipment. Each of the TOAD types; ranged, melee, magic, stealth, solo, armour, etc. has an opposing TOAD style that it's particularly weak against in defence and one for which it's strong in attack; e.g the Group Organisation style receives a bonus versus opponents using Solo, but suffers versus the Monstrosity Organisation style.

The Mountain Kingdoms are a traditional fantasy kingdom with Elves and Dwarves and the most standard RPG class set; Storm Lords (mages), Infiltrators (rogues), Moon Elf Rangers, Moon Elf Cultivators (druids) and Dwarven Berserkers. The three kingdoms (human, elf and dwarf) are bound by the Treaty of Three Lords to put aside their enmity in the face of external threats.

The Steel Empire have a significantly Steampunk flavour with their Sanctioned Alchemists and Steam Crafters with Steam-powered Golems, but also have faint overtones of Warhammer 40,000 with their God-Emperor, Inquisitors, Zealots and zero tolerance attitude to non-humans and mutants. The Empire is xenophobic, technologically advanced and views witchcraft and magic as blasphemous. Were it not for the threats of the various monsters of the lands, they would be aiming to subjugate the other realms.

The Deadlands are a society based around necromancy as a means of survival. The entire country was nearly wiped out by invasion and only mass-necromancy by the ruling Gate Council prevented the Deadlands population being exterminated. Necromancy in various forms has become and entrenched part of life and culture in the Deadlands. Deadlands classes include; Necromancers, Dark Puppeteers and the ever-popular Death Knight.

Dragon Tavern uses a Microtransactions system through which players may purchase varying amounts of in-world credits which can be exchanged via the Shady Dealer in the Tavern for various items, some providing permanent advantages such as trap avoidance and increased loot drops or for single use infusions of extra Action Points.

Tropes used in Dragon Tavern include:
  • Anti-Poopsocking: 25 adventures per day, per character. Adventures can be stockpiled to a maximum of 250. Of course, you can create multiple characters under one account and you can buy additional action points.
  • Booze-Based Buff: The titular tavern sells a variety of drinks which can have positive effects such as increased loot value and additional resistances to various types of attack. The more you drink the greater your chance of ending up vomiting it all back up and losing positive effects.
  • Booby Trap: Many and varied. From drifts of volcanic ash that penalize your action points to classic deadfalls and pits lined with spikes.
  • Boss Battle: During exploration you will encounter random Boss Monsters which are possessed of multiple wounds and more powerful attacks. Concurrently, they also drop more and better loot. Sublocations generally have a higher chance of Boss encounters. Defeating Boss monsters also leads to receiving credits which can be spent on Advantages.
  • Bribing Your Way to Victory: Various advantages can be purchased via the credits system, which costs real money to purchase in bulk but can also be acquired in-game via defeating boss monsters. These range from items granting XP bonuses to Rings of Regeneration.
  • Critical Failure: It's possible to fumble and receive an "Unlucky Wound."
  • Critical Hit: Characters over Level 50 can train additional skills which grant a chance of doing double damage.
  • Death Is Not Permanent: Death inflicts an XP penalty that has to be paid off via adventuring more; you will only receive 50% XP until it's paid off.
  • Dem Bones: Plenty of skeletal enemies and Deadlands character class the Necromancer gets his own band of them to follow him around.
  • The Empire: The Steel Empire gets this one: religious oppression, Inquisition, dislike for non-humans and mutation and would probably be invading everyone else if not for all the monsters.
  • Experience Points: Earned by defeating monsters.
  • Fun with Acronyms: The combat system; Tactics, Organisation, Attack, Defence.
  • Giant Spider: Plenty. Mostly in the Krakesh Rainforest.
  • Holiday Mode: At Easter you may encounter an assortment of Eastern Bunnies including the Crucified Zombie Rabbit, a Fur-suited Freak and a Giant Wooden Siege Rabbit. Due to 2012 being the Year of The Dragon in the Chinese calendar, there were two weeks of special dragon encounters.
  • Hungry Jungle: Krakesh Rainforest; full of angry trolls, carnivorous plants and some things called "agony beetles."
  • I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Blight, The Shattered City, The Dreadmarsh, The Infernal Spire.
  • Inexplicable Treasure Chests: The monsters don't drop them, but every so often you encounter abandoned ones, still full of loot and gold.
  • Money Spider: All monster drop gold and assorted loot items.
  • Mordor: The Ashpeak Mountains
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast: The Pus Factory.
  • Our Dwarves Are All the Same: The Sky Kingdoms dwarves love to drink and fight; get better at the latter when they've done a lot of the former, have a reputation for bad tempers and a mystical connection with stone.
  • Perpetual Motion Machine: The Buttered Toast Cat of Eternal Levitation. As cats always land on their feet and toast always lands buttered side up.
  • Point Build System: Each time you level up you receive either 1 skill point or 1 additional wound capacity. Skill points can be assigned to either skills that improve your TOAD attributes or to skills that improve your loot finding, trap detection, loot value and so on.
  • Punny Name: Fohrumite Trolls.
    • The Calamarick Empire. Composed of the Aboleth (squid-like aliens), Ilithids (tentacle-faced monsters) and Octoprats (octopoid monsters).
  • Random Encounters: Dragon Tavern's entire adventuring system is random encounters. You choose your desired location and click on 'Adventure' to encounter monsters. Or maybe nothing. Or find abandoned treasure chests. Or blunder into traps.
  • Shout-Out: An item of Rare loot is named the Sorely Missed Whedon Firefly, and players can purchase an advantage called the Banner of Exploration, which increases the chance of discovering a sub-location while exploring. The item description:

"Yes, this is a fertile land. We will rule over it... and we shall call it... This Land."

  • Trauma Inn: Yup, travelling back to the Dragon Tavern will heal all of your wounds.
  • Vendor Trash: In essence, every item that the monsters drop. You don't maintain an inventory and whenever you return to the Tavern, you immediately sell all of your treasure.
  • We Buy Anything: Since every item you collect from defeated monsters is immediately sold upon returning to the Dragon Tavern, the vendors really do buy anything. Some items particularly evoke this, though. Such as the Pyrojelly Crusty Bits and the Fake but Interesting Treasure Map.
  • Whatevermancy: Within the Gortunga Vault, a place ruled by misanthropic gnomish accountants, you can encounter Financomancers.
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