What is Superlative Dragon Warriors?
Superlative Dragon Warriors is an expansion and modification for the RPG “Dragon Warriors” by Dave Morris, plus an introduction to the epic world at war - Shangoria. Superlative DW RPG is carefully thought out and specifically designed for simplicity, variety, balance, NPC-interaction and recreating fantasy stories in entirety. It is undoubtedly more rules-heavy than the original system, but the game mechanics still remain simple and fast to execute.
The Dragon Warriors core rules were used as a basis for modularization, because I believe the system is simple, intuitive, sufficiently detailed in its basic form and expandable. DW covers all the bases for an excellent basic system. I believe in a system that should be basic at the base level, but have the ability to "switch on" great detail if necessary - and this is what Superlative rules achieves.
The emphasis of Superlative DW is to complete the fantasy story – to integrate the rich world of NPC’s and the stories that come with that inclusion – epic love stories, broken hearts, tales of revenge and betrayal. All of this was largely sacrificed by most RPGs in favour of hack and slash dungeon bashing. Creating a system that can encourage the detailed dialog and character development and interaction in epic novels is the goal of Superlative rules. Not only should the action aspects of the story be mapped out excitingly, but if one were to script out a Superlative DW game session, it should read like a novel containing rich dialog and character interaction as the main body and emphasis of the story.
Superlative DW rules have these benefits:
1) Rely on DW’s key strength – non-reliance on table referencing during game-play, and simplicity!
2) Expand player’s options so they can duplicate what they read in the fantasy novels.
3) Balance! Every pro has a con – no over-powering!!
4) Expand how NPCs are defined, to make interactions with them more real and meaningful
5) Guidance on how to immerse players completely into the world and create a character relations focused game.
Every time I added a rule, I thought long and hard about what to take out. Everything was viewed from a perspective of streamlining and efficiency. Nothing was added unless it added a great measure to the game. I went for quality way over quantity. A rule should be made in such a way that it can fulfill a player’s imagination, but as simply as possible. If I saw or read it happen in a fantasy movie or novel – then a player should be able to perform the same task in the game. At the same time, rules were made as general as possible to allow as many logical possibilities within the confines of the game mechanic. Finally the system should encourage players to delve into the non-action elements of good fantasy stories, which are the character interactions that forms the body and plot of good literature.
One last note: the intent of the original creators was to create a lightweight system with a spooky atmosphere. DW has achieved this goal famously. Superlative DW has a different feel altogether. Although it is largely based on our own ancient history, Shangoria is also a world of spectacular beauty, deftly illustrated by Christophe Vacher. The purpose of Superlative DW is to allow the great fantasy stories to be able to come to life in a game session – including all the complex plot elements and character interactions. To do so requires a markedly heavier rules system, which may not be to everyone’s tastes. However, the merit of Superlative DW RPG is that although it is rules-heavy, the actual game mechanics are kept simple, intuitive and fairly easy to remember. Gameplay is still fast and reasonably simple unlike other complicated RPGs that were rules-heavy.
Superlative DW contains artwork by Christophe Vacher (Disney Artist), Daniel Wikart and Sng Sy Shyng! Artwork used with permission. Artwork Copyright by Christophe Vacher, Daniel Wikart and Sng Sy Shyng.
So without more ado, please enjoy Superlative Dragon Warriors. It is a labour of love. Comments welcome!
Alex Yeoh Sep
2004 
Download Superlative Dragon Warriors v 3 Updated May 7 2005 (this is the final version)
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