Enter the Fire Dragons!
A few weeks have gone by since there have been any dragons on Dice Hate Me, so here is a quick update on Princes of the Dragon Throne from Clever Mojo Games!
First off, artist Don Aguillo has been working furiously on new concept sketches for dragons of Clan Vu’ur (the Fire Dragons), as well as finished art of a very familar-looking Dwarf Lord (patterned after designer W. David MacKenzie), and some preliminary mock-ups of a very gruff troll and some kobold workers. According to W. David MacKenzie, the “The Trolls are a rough and aggressive race but civilized and with just as much diversity as the humans, elves, and dwarves. The Kobolds are our engineers and blacksmiths, building armor and weapons and maybe even some mechanifantasy machines for our game universe.” Sounds cool, to me.
In addition to the sketches, I’ve been privy to some in-house correspondence between Clever Mojo and Don Aguillo about the remaining Fire Dragons of Clan Vu’ur. Here are the design notes:
“The fire dragons all have some element of flame about them, though the ember dragon’s flame is nearly extinguished due to his age. This flame is the result of a body chemistry that causes combustible gases to seep from between their joints and scales. Because of their combustible nature they spend most of their time in flight, since standing in any one place for long almost guarantees the flaming destruction of anything nearby.
Oslok’vu’ur – Wildfire
The largest member and chief of Clan Vu’ur. He is almost elemental in that he appears to actually be made of fire and his ferocious temper is just as scalding. Draw the wildfire dragon in flight and trailing a path of flame like a comet’s tail in his wake. Below him, tree tops are burning from his heat.
Argita’vu’ur – Blaze
The blaze dragon looks like a classical Chinese dragon except that it has wings. His mane and dorsal frill are the blue-white flame of burning natural gas and the rest of his body is a glassy cobalt color. Draw him in flight with his long serpentine body coiling like a corkscrew.
Kanche’vu’ur – Spark
The spark dragon is a youngling and full of energy and mischief. He is brightly colored in reds and yellows and the tip of his tail is a sparking fiery whip that he uses to ignite fires and annoy those below him. Show him in flight with his tail setting fire to a cornfield as he flies by.
Ensandi’vu’ur – Ember
The ember dragon is immensely old. He is a dusty charred black with red light oozing out between his scales. His inner fire is nearly extinguished and smoke drifts from his nostrils and the joints of his legs. Show him in flight over a post-eruption Mount St. Helens style terrain.”
From the back and forth between designers W. David MacKenzie and Fred MacKenzie that I’ve seen, it’s clear that the two are dedicated to detail with Princes of the Dragon Throne, both in terms of art and in gameplay. The two MacKenzies are not 100% happy with some of the playtest aspects of the game and are taking a fresh look at some mechanics to avoid this being just another deck-building game. Hopefully we’ll get a closer look at those changes soon. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled on Dice Hate Me for more updates!
Related posts:
- Dragons of Clan Ma’Ji Get a Makeover
- There Be Dragons at Clever Mojo Games
- Here There Be More Dragons
- First Look at Dragon Clan Vu’ur
- Cats! Fire! Living in a shack without heat for a week! Or, How Mi Gato se Incendia (My Cat is on Fire!) became a board game
Ok, I’m sold. This along with the previous posts about the system make put this one high on the list.