Dragons Ascendant - A fantasy strategy board game

Overview

In Dragons Ascendant, you lead a faction alongside its allied Dragon. Compete through worker placement, resource management, permanent Dragon growth, magic, and combat to become the most renowned faction in the realm.

Gather resources, fulfill your Dragon’s Tributes, acquire equipment, and learn Spells. Then decide when to leave the safety of Base and challenge for control of the Mountain.

Growing stronger takes time. While you prepare, a rival may already be earning Fame.

The first player to reach 10 Fame wins under the current working rules.

Gather → Empower → Ascend

Every round brings competing priorities: provide for your Dragon, secure resources, develop its abilities, and choose your moment to fight.

Here is what you’ll do during the game.

How to Play

1. FULFILL YOUR DRAGON'S NEEDS

Your Dragon’s Tributes create demands you must plan around.

Provide the required resources to earn rewards. Completed Tribute rewards can be claimed while your Dragon is at Base.

Fail a Tribute and you suffer its penalty while your Dragon’s Anger rises. Contributing an extra resource matching your Dragon’s preference can help calm it.

Will you spend your resources satisfying today’s demand or accept the consequences to pursue another goal?

2. PLACE YOUR WORKERS

Send your faction’s Workers across the realm, taking turns with your rivals to claim limited spaces.

Gather Food, Wood, Iron, and Gold, or collect Worship to help your Dragon learn Spells. Visit the Blacksmith and Alchemist to trade resources for cards that expand your options.

Placement order matters. A location you need may fill before your next turn.

3. GATHER YOUR RESOURCES

At resource locations, roll one die for each Worker you committed, then convert the total into resources according to that location’s value.

Use your resources to fulfill Tributes, develop your Dragon, and acquire cards.

Your resources fuel almost everything you do.

4. GROW YOUR DRAGON

Your Dragon’s starting attributes are a foundation you can build upon.

At Base, spend resources to permanently improve:

• Might: Roll more combat dice.
• Body: Increase maximum Health and Fatigue capacity.
• Mind: Increase maximum Mana and the Mana gained each round.

Growth is guaranteed when you pay its cost. Each upgrade increases the price of the next improvement to that same attribute.

But growth requires commitment: your Dragon must have started the round at Base, and a Dragon that grows cannot move that round.

5. HARNESS MAGIC

Collect Worship to learn Spells, then spend Mana to cast them.

Under the current rules, your Dragon can learn up to three Spells. Each time you learn one, draw two cards and choose which to keep.

Mana also lets you improve a die result or exchange one basic resource for another, giving you ways to adjust your plans when resources or rolls fall short.

6. TAKE TO THE BATTLEFIELD

Leave Base and enter the struggle between the Plains and the Mountain.

From the Plains, challenge the Mountain Lord. From the summit, defend your position or launch an assault against the Dragons below.

Might determines how many combat dice you roll, but timing matters too. Health, Fatigue, Mana, and Anger all affect how prepared you are for the next confrontation.

Defeat sends your Dragon back to Base rather than eliminating you from the game. Recover, develop, and prepare another challenge.

7. CLAIM THE MOUNTAIN

The Mountain is the heart of the conflict.

Claiming an empty Mountain earns Fame. Holding it at the end of a round earns more.

But the summit offers no opportunity to Rest. As challengers gather below, you must weigh the Fame you could earn against the strain on your Dragon.

Stay at Base too long and a rival may pull ahead. Advance too early and you may struggle to hold your position.

Meet the Dragons

Four Dragons. Different starting strengths. Your path to power.

Each Dragon begins with a different combination of Might, Body, and Mind. Their starting strengths shape your opening choices, while permanent growth lets you develop them throughout the game.

The Red Dragon

A formidable Dragon with an appetite to match.

Red begins with the highest Body, providing the greatest starting Health and Fatigue capacity. Its lower Mind makes magical development an important investment to consider.

Might 2 · Body 6 · Mind 1
Preferred resource: Food

The Yellow Dragon

Elegant, calculating, and drawn to gold.

Yellow begins with a balanced combination of physical strength and magical capacity, giving you room to develop toward combat, magic, or a mixture of both.

Might 2 · Body 5 · Mind 2
Preferred resource: Gold

The Green Dragon

A cunning Dragon with a connection to nature and magic.

Green begins with the highest Mind, providing the greatest starting Mana capacity and regeneration. Its lower Might makes the choice of when to invest in combat strength especially significant.

Might 1 · Body 5 · Mind 3
Preferred resource: Wood

The Blue Dragon

A muscular Dragon ready to confront its rivals.

Blue begins with the highest Might and rolls the most starting combat dice. Its lower Body means that offensive strength must be weighed against its ability to withstand damage and Fatigue.

Might 3 · Body 4 · Mind 2
Preferred resource: Still in development

We need funds to help with:

·More art! ·Layout and graphic design ·Offset printing ·Your feedback

The alpha version of Dragons Ascendant is already complete and has undergone playtesting and editing. Its core structure is established: compete for resources, develop your Dragon, choose your position, and battle for Mountain Fame.

Development continues on card effects and costs, setup details, combat wording, and balance across player counts.

The Dragon portraits and landscape are commissioned illustrations by Aes Munandi. Artwork and component layouts are still being developed, and prototype visuals are subject to change.

Current targets: 2–4 players · 60–90 minutes

The working victory condition is 10 Fame, with its suitability across player counts still under evaluation.