by RockyMountainNavy, 10 August 2026
The news from Wizards of the Coast announced at GenCon certainly invigorated the tabletop fantasy roleplaying game (RPG) community. Dark Sun, the long out-of-print post-apocalyptic campaign for Dungeons & Dragons, will return in 2027 and be sold with an 18+ rating and shrink-wrapped books.
That’s nice, but I do not need a retrofitted OD&D setting, even if it has nudity (Oh, the humanity!). That is because I have Dragonbane from Free League Publishing, now with the latest expansion in the form of Arkand: City of Waves and Flames…
…and ducks.
Dragonbane advertises itself as “Mirth & Mayhem roleplaying.” As the ad copy proclaims:
Dragonbane is a classic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game full of magic, mystery, and adventure. It is designed from the ground up to facilitate fast and furious play, with very little prep time and adventures that are a breeze to run. This is a game with room for laughs at the table, while still offering brutal challenges for the adventurers. We call this playstyle “mirth and mayhem roleplaying” – great for long campaigns, but also perfect for a one-shot.
Dragonbane is a translation of Drakar och Demoner, Scandinavia’s first and biggest tabletop RPG, originally launched in 1982. This new and reimagined edition has one foot firmly planted in the heritage of decades of Swedish gaming and the other in the modern and innovative game design for which Free League Publishing is known worldwide.
The core game mechanism in Dragonbane is a simple check using a D20. If your roll is equal to or lower than your Skill the action succeeds. A failed roll can be “pushed” but imposes a Condition on the player-character. Rolling a “Dragon” [1] means you are particularly successful; rolling a “Demon [20] means the action automatically fails and can have other, negative, effects on player-characters.
When creating a character in Dragonbane one first choses their “Kin”, or what most other RPGs would call “Race.” Dragonbane has six different Kin (Human, Halfling, Dwarf, Elf, Mallard, and Wolfkin).
You caught that too? Mallard?
Yes. In the finest tradition of Howard the Duck the player-characters can be a…Mallard.
The origin of the mallards is shrouded in mystery. Some scholars claim that they came from a mighty island realm that was swallowed by the sea thousands of years ago; others believe them to be the result of a failed magical experiment. Whatever the truth may be, these feathered humanoids are a common sight in the world. They have a knack for trade, and their agitated quacking is often an integral part of the soundscape around marketplaces and trade caravans. However, some mallards seek their fortunes as brigands, pirates, or mercenaries. Despite their diminutive size, they are fierce in battle and feared by many for their murderous rage. (Rulebook, p. 12).
All of which is to say that I look forward to playing my Mallard Mariner using the latest Dragonbane setting book: Arkand: City of Waves and Flames.
Arkand: City of Waves and Flames is a full size, 174 page book illustrated in full color. In fact, each page has an aged look which immediately lends a touch of thematic authenticity to the book (oh yes, beware printing the digital version). The interior art by David Brasgalla and Johan Egerkrans has an artistic style that further establishes the setting. The maps by Francesca Baerald and Silas Brandt keep a hand-drawn style that, again, builds the setting atmosphere.
[If there is one thing I have really come to appreciate about the production values of Free League Publishing is that I MUST have their dead tree books. Looking at their books on a tablet or screen does not do credit to their beauty. I also have come to understand that I take in information from a dead tree RPG book in a faster and more complete manner than on a screen. Perhaps it is the ability to look across a spread of pages skimming and let my eyes fall naturally on an interesting passage rather than staring at harshly-lit text and imagery one page at a time.]
From the Citadel of Broken Wings and the Temple of True Fire high atop Dragonrock, to the Witless Unicorn tavern and the Cracked Pearl gambling den deep in the slums of the Dung, the city of Arkand pulses with excitement, conflict, rumors, and the promise of adventure, wealth, power, and glory!
This book features 20 adventure sites spread across five districts, along with a number of campaign seeds. The player characters will [REDACTED], and uncover secrets about Arkand’s storied past that could change the city forever. (Ad copy)
The five core chapters of Arkand describe the city’s major districts:
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- The Harbor – “the tar-scented gateway to the Sea of Dreams.”
- The Dung – “the bustling mean streets of Arkand.”
- The Market – “a center of commerce and entertainment.”
- Dragonrock – “home of the city’s rich and powerful.”
- Underworld – mysterious, “where much of Armand’s intriguing history is hidden.” (Arkand, p. 5).
Arkand—the book—is not a single adventure but a setting for a campaign. Not only is the setting provided, but some hints for the Game Master (GM) are worth noting:
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- “Wrap things up frequently and regularly. Completed adventures give players a sense of accomplishment.”
- “Build long-term relationships.”
- “Make use of the entire city.”
- “Let violent conflicts end in victory or defeat, but be careful about killing off NPCs.” [I really like that the advice here is to protect NPCs…and not the player characters (cue evil GM laugh).]
- “Track how Arkand changes during your adventures.” (Arkand, p. 13)
As Arkand is designed for the GM-only I will try to avoid spoilers in this discussion. Suffice it to say that there are mysterious forces at work in Arkand, with plenty of rumors that may lead to secrets potentially revealed through player-character actions. Each location has information far beyond simply what is there; there are many people Kin, mysteries, rumors, and plot hooks to explore. I also enjoy the fact that not all locations on the map are defined in Arkand; there is plenty of real estate for the GM (with the players’ assistance?) to build their own setting elements for adventure.
How easy is it to adventure in Arkand? Here is what I came up with only a few minutes thought after looking at just two locations in the Dung:
Qwuksome entered The Witless Unicorn, the most popular tavern in the Dung, feigning an air of unconcern. He took note of the halfling Eliza who was holding (some) of the crowd spellbound with her singing and seductive dance. His eyes shifted to her husband and co-proprietor, Mesk, who had the crowd alternating between laughter and gasps as he carried an impossibly high stack of dirty dishes which dangerously swayed as he made exaggerated walking movements like a drunk. Qwuksome’s hand instinctively went to his coin purse, making sure it was still there. Coin purses had a nasty habit of disappearing in The Witless Unicorn and having just come off a winning streak at The Cracked Pearl, the most “famous” gambling den in the Dung, the coin purse was rattling a bit too loudly for Qwuksome’s liking. His eyes made contact with Borgod and Dogrob, the ogre brothers who served as bouncers at The Witless Unicorn. Qwuksome tipped his hat to the two; better to start off the night on their good side—if there even was such a side for an ogre.
As Qwuksome moved through the crowd towards the bar he felt a small tug at his waist and, quick as a flash, grabbed the wrist of a young-ish halfling that had inserted a small knife into the coin purse. Thankfully, Qwuksome caught him before the knife cut open the purse.
Qwuksome looked into the wide eyes of the now very frightened halfling. He spoke in the lowest, most menacing Human-Kin voice his mallard bill could muster; “Qwhat have we here….”
[The Armchair Dragoons wishes to thanks Free League Publishing for providing both physical and digital copies of the Dragonbane Rulebook and Arkand: City of Waves and Flames for our consideration…and much “mirth and mayhem” at the gaming table!}
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