Last night I successfully cast 'Summon Gamers', conjuring Matty and Timbo within my inner sanctum. Ok, it's the dining room. We game in the dining room, alright? I don't have an inner sanctum because I'm not actually a Hermetic Magus, much to my chagrin. So, the three of us hooked-up for a hastily arranged fix of gaming as none of us have played since CottageCon. I thought it would be fun to pluck my old Dragon Warriors books from the shelves and run a short adventure for the guys. The DW system takes approximately 4.762 seconds to assimilate and the setting is a very stereotypical, pseudo-medieval fantasy world. This meant that we could leap straight into the action with a minimum of fuss. I had rolled-up three PCs for the chaps to choose from, so Timbo took Kheldor the Sorcerer whilst Matty went with Rogar the Barbarian. Due to the last minute arrangement of this game (I called the guys at 3pm and we were assembled by 7.30pm) I had no time to write an adventure and so I decided to run the scenario in DW Book 1, 'The King Under The Forest'. This scenario is inspired by Arthurian myth and sees the PCs exploring the last resting-place of Vallandar, the once and future king who will return to the land in its greatest hour of need, yadda yadda. The adventure is a cheesy and highly enjoyable dungeon-crawl, complete with cunning traps, fearsome monsters and confounding puzzles designed to test both the PCs abilities and the players' brains. We had animated statues, barriers of mystical energy, warriors stepping out of a tapestry, a web-spinning giant spider and a Gorgon, oh yes! Wry smiles greeted me as Rogar found a helmet with a mirrored visor, whilst the entertainment afforded by two basins of differently coloured liquids cannot accurately be put into words. This game was great fun and we all felt 13 years old again, when Saturday night gaming was not only acceptable, it was absolutely mandatory. Kheldor and Rogar won through to the king's final resting place, defeated the spectre of Vallandar's evil half-brother, retrieved the (allegorical) treasures of the kingdom and helped themselves to a lovely, shiny sword each. Leaving the dungeon, the PCs delivered the treasures of the kingdom to the local Baron who is now in their debt, which could be useful. I gave each PC sufficient xp to advance a level and we agreed to play this game again.

DW is a perfect pick-up game for a quick and dirty RPG session. I understand that the game has been re-released as a shiny new hardback and I imagine the rules have been modified and modernised. I enjoyed the nostagia of using the old books from 1985, which cost the princely sum of £1.75. I vividly recall reading the reviews of DW in White Dwarf back in the day but couldn't afford the game at the time (cue the smallest violin in the world). I snared a full set of all six books on ebay a little while ago and this has been the first opportunity I've had to run it. I anticipate more pick-up games of DW in the future.