The Gaming Outpost

Dragon Fist is a new game from TSR along the lines of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, but the game is instead set in a place much like imperial China. Dragon Fist attempts to emulate the type of action in Chinese wuxia films- these are the type of films that you used to see on Kung Fu Theater. If any of you have ever seen the movie Prince of the Sun (starring Cynthia Rothrock), this is the genre of film that it’s based on. I could probably come up with better examples if I’d seen some . The Appendix lists some films that are representative of wuxia.

Dragon Fist is actually based on the AD&D game engine (including, in some form, each basic class), though it does give some modifications. First, it adds Stunts to the mix. There’s a type of Stunt relative to each ability score. You could use a Might Stunt to add to your hit and damage rolls or you could use an Acrobatics Stunt to improve your Armor Class for the round. However, you have to choose wisely- you can only use one type of Stunt per round, and it’s chosen at the beginning of the round. They also included something like the Feats that are in D&D 3rd Edition, in that you can use a Feat to do something like break through a door or run up a wall. When you use a Feat, you’re given a Target Number (TN) and you roll 1d20 and add any appropriate Stunt Bonus. If you roll equal to or higher than the number, you execute that Feat.

Another thing I liked was how the book contained illustrations of the various types of weapons. Due to the fact that these weapons are entirely foreign to American culture, most people would need illustrations like this to show us what these weapons look like. Of course, I’d also like to see illustrations of each weapon in D&D3, but those aren’t quite as necessary. Still, I’m reminded of a story I heard about the dwarf who wielded a pole arm of some kind because his player didn’t know that it had a six-foot shaft.

Dragon Fist also provides an interesting campaign setting, involving an emperor who was corrupted in his search for immortality. Major cities are detailed in the game, so you don’t have to make everything up yourself. This is always handy in an RPG. The beauty of the setting is conveyed well in the artwork in the Dragon Fist download. Yes, that’s right- download. The entire game is available for free from WotC’s site at http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DF_Welcome.asp . An adventure is also available on the site. The entire game is available in separate downloads or as a single ZIP file. There’s also a bit of a guide to conversion into AD&D so you can have kung fu fighting in your traditional campaign world. For those of you who’ve wanted to either try to put Kung Fu Theater into your AD&D game or play something like it, Dragon Fist is a good way to get the kind of action you’re looking for.