Dragon Warriors
House Rules 1:
Warriors and
Combat.
The following pages are a revamp of
my original house rules for warriors
and combat, adapted for the new
edition of Dragon Warriors.
This document is intended to be a
work of non-profit making fan
appreciation and is not meant to
challenge any copyrights and/or
trademarks. These rules additions
are not official and the current
owners of the Dragon Warriors RPG
at the time of writing are Serpent
King Games.
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The Warrior
Professions
Knights
Knights are basically professional
warriors who share the same combat
style and attitude to fighting.
Despite their name, knights can be
of any social class; but despite this,
I believe social class should still play
a part in their concept. With this in
mind, the following rules addendum
presents four distinct versions of the
knight profession, the 'Knight
Errant'; the ‘Knight Patrician’; the
‘Knight Equestrian'; and the 'Knight
Vulgaris'.
All four knight packages use the
same game mechanic, apart from
the knight's starting special abilities.
The special ability ‘package’ detailed
in the rulebook now refers to the
knight ‘Errant’, which represent
knights of any social background
who decide to wander the land in
search of fame and adventure.
A player character wishing to
become a ‘Knight Patrician’ will need
to roll 'Nobility' on the knight's
'Background Table' in the main
rulebook. Player character Patricians
are assumed to be low-ranking
members of the nobility, probably a
cousin or a younger sibling to the
family's true hair. They therefore
has little prospect of inheriting any
real wealth or power, forcing them
out into the world to forge their own
destinies.
A player character wishing to
become a ‘Knight Equestrian’ will
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need to roll 'Gentry' on the
'Background Tables'. The Gentry are
non-commoner households who
provide nobility with their attendant
knights. The heads of such families
are often given stewardship of small
keeps and villages.
Player Character 'Knights Patrician'
and 'Knights Equestrian' can be
assumed to have been 'officially'
knighted, and may use the title 'Sir'.
A player character who becomes a
‘Knight Vulgaris’, is assumed to be a
military trained commoner, used
primarily as an armoured foot
soldier.
The Knight Errant
Errant knights are romantically
thought of as low ranking members
of the Nobility who have chosen to
go questing in search of honour,
fame, and fortune. Knights Errant
are in fact far more likely to be
military trained commoners who; for
one reason or another, find
themselves without employment,
wandering the land in the hope of
providing for themselves.
Most errant knights would therefore
have had some campaign experience
prior to 1st Rank, resulting in a set
of well-rounded abilities, and some
half decent equipment; probably
looted from the battlefield.
A Knight Errant is initially equipped
with plate armour, shield, dagger,
lantern, flint-and-tinder, backpack,
25 florins, and a sword or morning
star.
The starting Special Abilities for
Errant Knights are:
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Armour Expert;
Ride Warhorse; and
Track.
The ‘Track’ ability reflects the Errant
Knight’s experience of living rough
on campaign, and it can therefore be
assumed to also include basic
outdoor survival skills, such as
setting up a camp, finding shelter,
building a fire, and basic campfire
cooking.
The Knight Patrician
Knights Patrician are military trained
nobles who forgo the ‘Track’ ability
in return for 'Wealth and Status. Like
all other knights however, Patricians
still gain the ‘Armour Expert’, and
‘Ride Warhorse’ abilities.
The ability 'Wealth and Status’
affords the knight a high level of
deference and respect from any NPC
of a lower social status, when within
their own kingdom. It can also be
helpful sometimes, when travelling
abroad in similar feudal cultures.
Being of ‘high birth’, Patricians are
expected to follow the knightly code
of chivalry, and to swear an oath of
fealty to another knight or noble of
higher social status. Patricians are
also entitled to carry a personal Coat
of Arms to identify themselves on
the battlefield. The Patrician’s Status
is usually evident from the knight’s
general bearing and behaviour, from
his or her coat of arms, and from the
quality of his or her equipment.
Knights Patrician are initially
equipped with plate armour, shield,
dagger, lantern, flint-and-tinder,
backpack, 25 florins, a Warhorse
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with saddle, tack and harness, and
a sword or morning star.
This starting equipment can be
assumed to be of the highest
quality, and worth 50% more than
their normal counterparts.
In addition to the knight's usual
starting equipment, the ‘Wealth and
Status’ ability also gives the
Patrician a surcoate and banner;
displaying his or her personal coat of
arms, as well as items of fine
clothing, various pieces of jewelry,
and other small trinkets (all together
worth an additional 5d6 Florins).
This 'wealth' represents the knight’s
status in society, and should not be
bartered away lightly.
The Patrician's starting abilities
are:
Armour Expert;
Ride Warhorse; and
Wealth and Status.
The Knight Equestrian
Knights Equestrian are military
trained Gentry who are primarily
used as cavalry during times of war.
Because of this, they forgo the
‘Track’ ability in return for 'Mounted
Combat', which gives a +1 bonus to
armour bypass rolls when fighting
from horseback with any hand to
hand weapon. Like all other knights,
Equestrians still gain the ‘Armour
Expert’, and ‘Ride Warhorse’
abilities.
Like Nobles, Equestrians are
awarded a certain level of deference
from those below them in station.
They are also expected to follow the
knightly code of chivalry, and swear
allegiance to another knight or noble
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of higher social status. Unlike
Patricians however, Equestrians do
not start with any extra wealth or
possessions.
Equestrians may be entitled to carry
a personal Coat of Arms with the
referee's permission, and depending
on the character's background story.
Knights Equestrian are initially
equipped with plate armour, shield,
dagger, lantern, flint-and-tinder,
backpack, 25 florins, a Warhorse
with saddle, tack and harness, and
a sword or morning star.
The Equestrian's starting abilities
are:
Armour Expert;
Mounted Combat; and
Ride Warhorse.
The Knight Vulgaris
Knights Vulgaris are commoners
who have been trained in the
knightly arts, and as they are used
primarily as armoured foot soldiers,
they forgo the 'Ride Warhorse'
ability in return for 'Forage' (as per
the new Hunter's Ability in the
'Player's Book Preview').
'Ride Warhorse' now joins the other
abilities that become available from
8th rank.
Knights Vulgaris are soldiers and
mercenaries, and are rarely
expected to swear a lifelong oath of
fealty or abide by the knightly code
of Chivalry. In times of peace, they
are usually released from service,
and often become Errant Knights.
Knights Vulgaris are initially
equipped with plate armour, shield,
dagger, lantern, flint-and-tinder,
 Dragon Warriors
backpack, 25 florins, a 'standard'
horse with saddle, tack and
harness, and a sword or morning
star.
The Vulgaris' starting abilities are:
Armour Expert;
Forage; and
Track.
New Ability: Forage
A skilled forager is an expert at
finding sustenance in the wilderness.
He must make a Perception roll, and
beat a difficulty number assigned by
the GM. The GM then rolls an
appropriate die to determine how
long the forager takes in finding the
food and water. The three basic
levels of foraging ability by any
terrain are:
Type TN Time
Fecund 8 1d3
Fertile 12 1d3+3
Desolate 18 1d3+6
The result of the die roll indicates
how many hours it takes for the
forager to find a day’s food and
water for a number of people equal
to half the forager’s Rank.
The Knightly Code of Chivalry
The knightly code of chivalry
determines the behaviour expected
from noble born knights, and
includes: performing noble quests;
defending to the death any item or
person placed in their charge;
showing courage and enterprise;
obeying their rulers and liege lords;
showing respect for their peers;
honouring those who are above their
station; demanding respect and
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obedience from those who are
below; scorning those who are lowly,
ignoble, ill-mannered, coarse, or
crude; performing military service
for their liege lord when called upon;
and showing courtesy to ladies.
Characters may not necessarily
choose to follow the knightly code of
chivalry, but unless they pay it at
some lip service, they will lose
respect from their peers, and this
situation will remain in place until
the Patrician can make amends.
Barbarians
In the original Dragon Warriors
game, Barbarians did not
automatically gain the 'Track' ability
and in my original house rules, I
differentiated between the different
barbarian cultures by deciding
whether they got Berserk or Track
as a starting ability. To maintain
game balance, I am not changing
the new rules for barbarians, so they
continue to get both abilities.
Barbarian characters however do
need to identify the culture from
which they have come. As many
early campaigns are likely start in
Albion, an ideal homeland would be
Thuland (and possibly some of the
more isolated regions of
Cornumbria).
 Dragon Warriors
Barbarians are initially equipped with
full mail armour, dagger, lantern,
flint-and-tinder, backpack, 6d6
florins, and a battle-axe or a two-
handed sword.
Special Abilities for Barbarians are:
Berserk;
Ride warhorse; and
Track.
Barbarians do not get the 'Armour
Expert' ability, but can wear any
armour up to a suit of full mail
without suffering any combat
penalties. They are unused to
fighting in plate armour however,
and must suffer a -2 penalty from
ATTACK and DEFENCE if they ever
wear it.
As an alternative, the Games Master
might decide that certain barbarian
cultures will have different starting
abilities, for example ‘Forage’. If this
is the case, I would advise that if
Berserk is replaced, it should be with
an 8th Rank Knight’s ability and that
‘Bloodrage’ be also replaced when
the character reaches 8th Rank. This
rule change suggestion should not
really affect Barbarians from
Ellesland.
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Thanes and Hunters
Details of the 'Thane' Profession can
be found in 'Ordo Draconis' 2. It
offers an alternative version of the
‘Forage’ ability and the new ability of
Carouse. Knights Vulgaris may select
Carouse instead of Forage if they
wish, and Barbarians may select it
instead of track.
Forage (by Stephen Dove and Lance Melville):
A skilled forager can always find food
for himself and 1d4 other people (player
rolls each day), provided he is in a
terrain that is similar to that of his
home area (grassland, mountains or
swamp: to be chosen at character
creation). He moves only at half-speed
whilst foraging, and in winter, a forager
can feed only himself.
Carouse (by Stephen Dove and Lance Melville):
A skilled carouser spends much of their
lives in taverns, inns, and mead-halls,
and have earned a well-deserved
reputation for drinking vast quantities of
mead, ale, cider and whatever else they
can find, buy, loot, or steal. A skilled
carouser can drink everyone else under
the table as a favourite game to see
who will be the last man standing.
Strong drink is a mild poison that
causes unconsciousness if a character
fails a Strength check. After three
drinks, each character makes a
Strength Check on 2d6. For each drink
thereafter, add a 1d6 to the dice roll.
Skilled carousers gain a +4 to Strength
Checks for the purpose of resisting
strong drink.
The Hunter Profession can be found in
the ‘Player’s Book Preview’ document
from Serpent King Games.com
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Barbarian Backgrounds tall, fair-skinned, and often red
haired. Cornumbrian Barbarians are
assumed to be fluent in their
adopted language of 'Elleslandic',
Thuland and in my early adventures; should
The people of Thuland are not either take 'Vasic' as a second
completely uncivilized, in fact they language at intermediate level, or
have a highly developed ‘early the lost Cornumbrian language of
feudal’ society. The warriors of this Lughwyd' at basic level (please note
land are represented as Barbarians that spoken Lughwyd is a dead
rather than Knights, because this language, and Cornumbrian
reflects their temperament and barbarians will not be able to
fighting style better. improve their fluency in this
language beyond the few words and
Thulanders are very similar in
phrases that have been passed down
culture to the Norse, and are tall and
by their elders).
fair-skinned, often with red or blond
hair. Thulander characters are
assumed fluent in their native
language of 'Vasic'; and in my early
campaigns, should take 'Elleslandic'
as a second language at
intermediate level (near fluent, with
a strong accent).

Cornumbria
The inhabitants of Cornumbria (as
well as Ereworn and Glissom) are
the original native peoples of
Ellesland, who dominated the whole
island in ancient times, before being
forced into the fringes by the
invading Selentium Empire.
Nowadays Cornumbria is an
independent and ‘civilised’ feudal
kingdom, whose warriors are usually
best represented by using the
Knight's profession. However, in the
more remote and inaccessible
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highlands of Cornumbria, the ‘old
ways’ still predominate, and it is
here that Cornumbrian Barbarians
still call home.
Cornumbrian Barbarians are very
similar to highland warriors, and are

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 Dragon Warriors
House Rules for
Combat
Aimed Attacks
In my campaigns, attackers may target
specific locations such as the head,
arms or legs by applying a +4 penalty
to the attack roll. If the roll fails, then
the attack misses, if the roll succeeds,
then that specific body part is hit.
If a successfully hit body part is un-
armoured, then no armour bypass role
is made, making helmets suddenly
useful in Dragon Warrior campaigns.
Critical hits still automatically bypass
armour as usual, and in the case of
head hits, will effectively destroy the
helmet in the process.
Helmets
In my campaign there are three distinct
types of helmet, Great Helm, Helmet
and Coif.
Great Helms
Great Helms are large heavy metal
helmets with a visor giving face
protection. They are bulky and offer
limited vision though small eye slits and
ventilation holes.
Great Helms offer an AF of 5 with the
visor down, but only AF: 4 with the
visor up or missing.
Great Hems incur a -3 (-2 for knights)
penalty to the character’s Attack and a
–6 (-2 for knights) penalty to Defence
when the visor is worn down due to
restricted vision.
Great Helms also incur a –3 penalty to
perception in regards to sight and sound
when a visor is down, but only to sound
when the visor is worn up.
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Helmets
Helmets are usually open faced, and do
not impede the wearers movements and
awareness. Helms can be made of
boiled leather or metal, and they offer
an AF: 3 for Leather, and an AF: 4 for
metal.
Coifs
Coifs are hoods made of chain or
leather, and like helmets; they are less
restrictive then Great Helms. Coifs are
thin and flexible and do not offer good
protection. They are however discrete,
and can be hidden under hooded robes.
Coifs offer an AF: 1 for Leather, and an
AF: 2 for chain.
Health Points
In my campaigns, characters become
unconscious on reaching 0 health points
and die on reaching –6 (rather then –3
in the rules.
I will however be using the ‘Permanent
Damage Table’ for characters when they
reach –3 health points or less, making
combat dangerous, but less lethal.
Permanent Injuries Table
2d6 Injury
2 Severed arm or hand. Roll
1d6:
1. Left hand
2. Right hand
3. Left arm just below
elbow
4. Right arm just below
elbow
5. Entire left arm
6. Entire right arm
 Dragon Warriors
3 Loss of eye. Roll any die, If the head wound was caused by a
even number = right eye, odd normal hit, and head armour is worn,
number = left eye. no permanent damage is incurred, but
Character’s attack and the character is unconscious for the
defence have a –1 penalty remainder of the battle.
when in mêlée combat
(ranged combat is
unaffected); reduce Variable Damage
perception score is by 2. In Dragon Warriors, each weapon does
4 Injured joint; Reflexes score a set amount of damage. Depending on
is reduced by 1. the preference of the players, I may use
the optional variable damage system
5 Injured muscle; Strength
presented in the rulebook.
score is reduced by 1.
Regular Damage Variable Damage Die
6-8 Scar; reduce Looks score is d
by 1. 2 1d3
9 Lame; character can no 3 1d4
longer run (if rolled again, 4 1d6
treat as Severely Lame).
5 1d8
10 Head injury. Roll 1d6:
6 1d10
1–4 Reduce Intelligence
score by 1
5–6 reduced Psychic Languages
Talent score by 1
In many initial campaigns, Knights are
11 Severely lame; character can likely to be from Albion, and will be
no longer run; walking fluent in their native language of
movement is reduced by 'Elleslandic'. Both Knights and
1d3m; evasion and stealth Barbarians from Cornumbria will also be
are reduced by 1. fluent in Elleslandic, whereas Barbarians
12 Severed leg or foot. Roll 1d6: from Thuland will be fluent in their
native language of 'Vasic'.
1. Left foot
Unless you have access to the main
2. Right foot rulebook, assume for now that
3. Left leg just below Barbarians will have a second language
knee at intermediate level (almost fluent,
with a strong accent).
4. Right leg just below
knee For those whose first language is not
Elleslandic, their second language
5. Entire left leg should be.
6. Entire right leg

If critical hit results in -3 health points

or less, and the subsequent permanent
damage roll results in a head wound,
any head armour is bypassed and the
character is instantly killed.

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 Dragon Warriors
Living in the Lands of Igham
A village in Baron Aldred’s Fief.
Villagers do not travel far into
Legend Igham wood (which is south of
the village). It is believed that
Many initial adventures are likely to if you are caught in the wood
begin in the westernmost lands of after nightfall, you die before
Baron Aldred's fief: morning.
Hesard’s Ford
Ashmore A Small Village.
A town near the border of
Cornumbria. Norham
A small village.
Axbridge It is believed that the 'evil' fog
The most Westerly township of that surrounds 'Hobb’s Dell
Baron Aldred’s fief. shrouds the lair of 'Gardener
Jack'.
Coronach Marsh
The marsh appears to be a Pillaton
wilderness home to charcoal A large village.
burners, peat farmers, and
outcasts. Trefell
The Marsh is plagued by snakes. A small village.

Scardic Saxton
A large town in Baron Aldred’s A large village.
Fief.
Karickbridge
A small market
town.

Gully’s Inn
An Inn and
way station for
travelers.

Osterun Abby
A Large
Monastery for
the ‘True faith’.

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Dragon Warriors

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