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The Dragon Master

By: echidna64

"Feeling brave tonight? How brave? Brave enough to do battle with hideous monsters?"

-the Dragon Master begs the question.

For those of you unfamiliar, this was the introduction to the board game Dragonstrike-

This mystical box was discovered at our local thrift shop, "The Eagle Eye." As with most thrift shops, it was run by old ladies and this venerable tome of card decks, multiple gameboards, plastic figurines, and a VHS tape was selling for a mere $5! Had it been priced any higher, I might not have had enough gold to buy it.

The big box rested on my little lap on the car ride home. I could feel all of the pieces shuffle from side to side. Once we got home, I ran to my room eager to get the game going!

My brothers sat around me as we opened the box. It was wondrous to behold! All the colors, characters, and possibilities! We were immediately transported into a world of dragons and wizards, a land of imagination!

There was a curious object inside of the game box-

It was a VHS tape for Dragonstrike which touted all-new "Hypervision." I had no idea what hypervision was, nor was there any description. I think that they just made it up! I popped the VHS into my VCR with no idea of what I was in for-

For a kid's game, the video is actually fairly violent. My brothers and I loved every minute of it! The video also does a pretty good job as a tutorial for the board game.

There was even a review by the dragon giving it "two claws up!" I knew at this time that the game wasn't taking itself too seriously. I think some moments in the video might have been intentionally cheesy for comedic effect.

Then began the true test of a hero, learning how to play the game-

It actually didn't take me too long to get the game up and running. My brothers and I had our pieces ready and had enough courage to take on the evil wizard Teraptus and his vicious fire-breathing dragon. As the video demonstrates one player is the Dragon Master (not unlike a Dungeon master) who tell tales, moves monsters, and guides heroes along their journey.

Each hero has different attacks, abilities, and equipment. Also, their are treasure cards to pick up in during the course of the game. If you were a dwarf or a warrior, Gauntlets of Ogre strength was the holy grail of treasure cards.

My favorite hero to play as was the Thief because of all the roleplaying options. She could use a powerful sneak attack to stab a troll or bugbear in the back. I would use her bullwhip to swing across chasms like the legendary Indiana Jones. Also, being well versed in an Ocarina of Time, I was a huge fan of the grappling hook!

Players move their characters along the various tile boards facing obstacles, challenges, and monsters along the way. What I LOVE about Dragonstrike, is that with a bit of imagination, the possibilities are endless. You could essentially create your own quests, playing the game over and over again.

The game comes with 4 beautiful gameboards. Here is a close up of the castle level, the amount of detail really sparked my imagination. If you wanted to hide a body in a rug or push a monster into the fireplace, I would allow it! Maybe your character could find a "soft" spot in the wall to breakthrough, roll the dice and take a chance at it!

After many heroic victories, the gears in my mind kept turning. I wanted to explore more of the Dragonstrike universe. I wanted to add more to the game- more levels, monsters, and special items. I was going through a huge fantasy kick at that age- reading Greek mythology and playing video games like King's Quest and So You Want to Be a Hero?

I started to scavenge for the materials available to me. Cardboard, index cards, and markers became my best friends. I got to work putting together a new game board, which eventually morphed into a whole new game altogether!

I found a piece of cardboard with three sides so that it could be folded together. First I got a ruler and created a grid for the characters to move on. For a kid this was a major undertaking, measuring the lines and creating even spaces. Then I started to draw in the map. Adding in obstacles, plant life, and objects that would create roleplaying possibilities.

In my mad scientist lab I started to invent the mechanics of the game. I needed to create various cards for heroes, monsters, and equipment. This was by far the most challenging and time consuming process. Based on the Dragonstrike model, I needed hero cards. So I began to create my own heroes and universe for this game. We had Tsunami the apprentice of water magic and his fellow champions.

For a couple years, I continued my world building intermittently, eventually crossing over into fantasy writing. Using my dad's computer, I began to compose the epic story of Tsunami and his journey from a child slave in the mines to an almighty wizard. The novel and the board game became companions to each other.

Writing has always been a huge passion of mine. I would always leap at the chance for creative writing in school. I would fill up those little blank books with wondrous stories, colors, and imagery.

One summer, my mom heard about a children's writing workshop being offered in town. It was being put on by one of my favorite authors of the time, Gail Carson Levine who wrote Ella Enchanted. She came to our school one year and she autographed my copy with "Don't be too obedient!" haha

I attended her writing workshop that summer and looking back, I think it was a life-changing experience. Doing fun writing exercises and getting feedback from a published author was a wonderful learning process.

During one of the writing activities, Mrs. Levine asked us to imagine having dinner with one of our characters. In my story, I described meeting Tsunami. I remember she raised her eyebrow and asked, "Who is Tsunami?"

I told her about my "novel" and the board game that I was creating. The next time we met, I showed everyone my game and she read my story. I remember she wrote me a comment that said- "You created a fantastic world!" She encouraged me to keep writing and to keep traveling to different worlds!

According to her wikipedia page, it appears that she still does the workshops-

"I love the kids. I love doing it. It's great. It's the best thing I do I think."

I also learned that she wrote a book based on her writing workshops.

Dragonstrike was more than just a game to me. It was the golden ticket, the chance to journey into imagination land and to create a world that could be enjoyed by everyone.

My brothers and I still reminisce about our times playing Dragonstrike. The game has stayed with us through all these years as a memento of our kinship. The game took many forms but it always brought us closer together and expanded our imaginations.

Now as I have reached the middle of my journey, I realize the profound effect that this game had upon my childhood and my life. As a high school teacher now, I think that my first teaching experience started back when I was the Dragon Master, creating new worlds and teaching my younger siblings how to read and how to play.

We can spend our whole lives searching for meaning and happiness; my gateway to another world cost $5 and a cardboard box.

Never stop believing in your imagination and you will always be on an adventure!

Looking for more from echidna64?

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MissM Posted on Apr 08, 2015 at 07:15 AM

I've always wanted to play games like this. It has so many elements of things I like. I've ever really had anyone to get into it with though, but I might be bugging my friends to give a game like this a shot for one of our game nights. Really fun and informative article!

echidna64 Posted on Mar 30, 2015 at 02:34 PM

Yeah the good thing about being in a large family is that there is always someone to play with!

@vkimo I looked up Weather Slam! Man that really encourages me to make my own game, hand drawings and all ;)

massreality Posted on Mar 29, 2015 at 01:58 AM

That is so cool. Like vkimo, I wish I had some friends to play something like that with. I'm so jealous

vkimo Posted on Mar 28, 2015 at 11:06 PM

Man, I wish I had some friends to play a game like that with. What I find most amazing is the game had all the pieces! I recently came across a card game from 1981 called "Weather Slam" that I had to have. It was sealed and only cost a few dollars. I brought it back home and cracked it open to play with my wife. The cards looked like some kid was given a crayon and paid in marbles to illustrate the cards. Nice find though, that VHS video is awesome too.

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