The Many Books of Fifth Age

The Dragonlance Fifth Age saga set will have players immersed in a well thought out and adventurous story created by the Narrator. Just in case people are wondering, in this game the Narrator is the one in charge of the game setup and the non player characters. If you relate it to actual Dungeons and Dragons, he would be called the Dungeon Master.

There are several books in the game (especially if you include the expansions), character cards, and the actual playing cards. If you are looking for the character sheets, They are either at the back of the book or near the end of one of the books. So, the real question is, “How does one play the game?”

Character Creation

The player uses his deck of cards to create his character (the first step). Pages 14 and 15 in Book One pretty much explain what all the numbers and codes mean. Could a player get by with a low code and a high ability score? Yes, he can. The codes just limit the maximum potential of a player (such as access to certain weapons and armor and possibly certain spell spheres), but does not keep him from using some of the abilities. Just remember, that to have an X (from the suit of Dragons) is risky business. If you are still not sure how to create a character, you can pick one of the premade characters on the character cards.

As a note, choose your cards carefully when trying to use the roles in the Saga Companion in Appendix One near the back of the book otherwise you will either be unable to choose one or be limited on roles to select from. I had that happen with my son.

Now, there are many races to choose from as well as for encountering. I am a half-elf type of guy myself. The reason is because they are pretty easy to meet the prerequisites for ability codes and they have some of the advantages of an elf.

I have noticed in a lot of online games out there, building seems to be the new thing. For those build-crazy players out there, a good race to pick would be the tinker gnome. They can construct just about anything and get a trump for it too.

Ok, so remember how I stated I like the half-elf. Well, that is true, but another race I may consider trying out someday would be the Kender. They are similar to the halfling race in Dungeons and Dragons, since they are good at picking locks and disarming traps.

If you go to the back of your book on page 106, you will notice some hidden races. The Draconians were probably meant to be used as non player characters, but I had my dad play them as actual player characters instead. If you want to add this to your list of player races, go to page 34 of your Saga Companion and it will show you how to do it. You will use the race design sheet in Apendix four of the Saga Companion to pull this off.

Converting DnD Monsters to Fifth Age

I also wanted to point out that it is possible to convert Dungeons and Dragons races to the Dragonlance Saga system. Some races they have in the game as well as in the expansions are just not enough. What if a player would like to have a beholder popup in dragonlance for once? Well, that is indeed possible.

You are asking yourself, “Why do it?” I mean not just for the sake of pulling a monster to the game, but maybe someone just does not like rolling dice any more and would like to use the playing cards system instead. Just because it says dragonlance, does not mean it has to be played as a dragonlance campaign.

Using Magic Spells

So moving on to magic spells. Now, when I looked at the magic spheres in the book, I was totally confused due to it not being that specific. In Book One of Fifth Age they leave it to the reader’s imagination to create spells. It is not like in Dungeons and Dragons where all the spells are laid out for you.

There are two areas of magic, the Schools of Sorcery and the Mystic Spheres. Some people out there prefer magic, but my preference is Mysticism. The reason is because there is a healing sphere (good for those who love to play the cleric types). The difficulty level of the healing sphere is based on the endurance of the person being healed. Also remember this sphere can not be used to cause harm to others.

I could probably go on and on about the game, but that may take awhile. I will leave the rest up to you to explore. I do wish to point out that I do not mind questions being asked in the comments below if you do wish for me to explain something in further detail.

Here are the products below divided up into three areas:

 

Dragonlance Fifth Age: SAGA System [BOX SET]

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Price: Lowest Price $34.00
Description: Initial box set required to play the game. It comes with three books, a fate deck of 82 cards, a map, and 18 character cards.
Buy Dragonlance Fifth Age: SAGA System

 

Heroes of Defiance (Dragonlance, 5th Age) [BOX SET]

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: Lowest Price $6.50
Description: This is an expansion for Fifth Age. My kids tore up the box, so I will tell you what I have based on what is in front of me. It comes with two books (one for the game itself and one for an adventure) and extra playing cards for the game.
Buy Heroes of Defiance

 

Saga Companion (Dragonlance, 5th Age)

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Price: Lowest Price $9.97
Description: It is a book that add more to a narrator’s story. It also contains optional rules for those who dislike the current rules of Fifth Age. It explains actions in more detail and points out new roles for the game. It also lists new weapons for the game. It contains a monster creation section.
Buy The Saga Companion

 

Again, if you need assistance, please post a comment below. I would greatly appreciate it.

Your Fellow Gamer

Jakob