Engine Oil and Dragon Warriors

One of my favourite RPGs from the mid 80s is Dragon Warriors; that most stout British stalwart available in regular bookstores for very little money. I had friends just around the corner from us who played it often and somehow, rolling up characters in their outside garage, filled with the smell of engine oil and paint stripper, lent the whole experience an air of earthen griminess, so that it sticks in my memory as a fantastically gritty game (interesting to note that another Brit developed RPG from the same period was similarly gritty: Warhammer FRP)

I recently acquired the very shiny Mongoose edition of DW. Flipping through it brings back those Saturday afternoon garage memories and I am pleased to say that it seems Mongoose have changed very little of the content.

I am all for nostalgia these days, and my RPG buying habits lately have reflected this. Dragon Warriors sits on my bookshelf alongside Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, Runequest II and Tunnels & Trolls (yes, I still have my old Corgi paperback edition from 1986 - more on that in another post). Now, if only I could find some players !!