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DragonStrike (1993) and Mystara

by Håvard

This thread is about exploring possible connections between DragonStrike and Mystara (and possibly Thunder Rift).

WHAT IS DRAGONSTRIKE?

From the Wikipedia

DragonStrike was a 1993 adventure board game from TSR, Inc. based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. DragonStrike was intended to serve as an introduction to the D&D role-playing game, and used greatly simplified versions of the Basic D&D rules. The game came with several fold-out maps for use as the board, a number of plastic miniatures to represent the player characters and monsters, and various other game pieces. Also included were several pre-written quests available for play, including several single-player adventures. Its most distinctive feature, however, was the inclusion of a video tutorial on how to play the game. The method by which the players in the video play the game bears only a moderate resemblance to the actual game as described in the official rulebook. The video primarily used live actors, but was bolstered by then-cutting edge 3D graphics which were used to illustrate various magical effects and monsters, such as the game's titular dragon.

A later board game, also titled DragonStrike, had nothing to do with the original board game or the Dungeons & Dragons game. This later DragonStrike game was released by Hasbro (which had by this point bought out Wizards of the Coast, the company that owned TSR, Inc.), and had the players race each other to escape from a motorized dragon.

This Blog has some more info on the game.

 
DRAGONSTRIKE PRODUCTS

• Go here for the DragonStrike Product List.

DRAGONSTRIKE CHARACTERS
The heroes introduced for the game are:

• Dare(Warrior)
• Arakeela/Keela(Thief)
• Deathmark(Wizard)
• Greenthorne(Elf)

DRAGONSTRIKE AND MYSTARA?

 
The key connection points between this board game and Mystara are the following:

• The rules are based on the Classic D&D rules which is of course where Mystara originated.
• The logo for the board game is based on the D&D logo used for the late era of the Classic D&D line
• Mystara Guru Bruce Heard authored at least one novel linked to DragonStrike; The Elf's Tale.
• Jeff Grubb had plans to make the connection between Mystara and DragonStrike more explicit in his planned AD&D Mystara Boxed set which was cancelled by TSR.

FITTING DRAGONSTRIKE INTO MYSTARA
Although there are several connection points between Mystara and DragonStrike, the world and characters still need some adaptation to fit into our setting. Here are a few threads to get us started:

Adapting King Halvor's Reign to Thunder Rift.

Using Darokin as King Halvor II's Realm (Historical Setting).

Dragonstrike and Thunder Rift