Drakar Och Demoner

Drakar och Demoner (Swedish for Dragons and Demons, in Sweden commonly referred to by the abbreviation "DoD") is a Swedish fantasy role-playing game first published in 1982 by the game publishing company Äventyrsspel ("Adventure Games", later renamed Target Games).

First edition was basically a translation of Steve Perrin's Basic Role-Playing (which in turn is based on RuneQuest) combined with the Magic World booklet.

Second Edition was published in 1984, rewriting the text from scratch, fixing many translation errors and glitches in the rules although no other major changes were made. One of the available player races, the anthropomorphic ducks, was incorporated from Glorantha.

The transition to a new system of rules began in 1985, not with Third Edition which mostly corrected spelling errors, but with the publication of an "Expert" rule expansion: Drakar och Demoner Expert. This among other things introduced hit locations and the use of a 20-sided die instead of the percentile die for skill rolls.

Fourth Edition in 1991 was a major revision of the rules, superseding Drakar och Demoner Expert by incorporating it into the basic rules and then expanding them.

In 1994, Target Games released Fifth Edition. This version was notable mainly because it came with an integrated world description. Changes to rules was minor, mostly reflecting the new campaign setting.

In the late 1990s, Target Games found itself in financial difficulties and discontinued their line of role-playing games. The rights to Drakar och Demoner were transferred to Paradox Entertainment, who in turn licensed them to Riotminds. Riotminds publiashed a new version of the game in 2000. This Sixth Edition was a complete overhaul of the game rules, supporting a much less generic game world. The idea of "Expert" rules was re-used, and many rules expansions followed.

When Riotminds released their first take on the venerable Drakar och Demoner ruleset, it featured a concept very close to levels ("yrkesnivåer"). It didn't take long before an official addendum appeared on their website, "allowing" players to play without this feature. And in the subsequent reprints (as well as later editions) little or no traces of "yrkesnivåer" remain.

In 2006, Riotminds consolidated the line with Seventh Edition, which again meant many rule changes to better support its campaign world. Among the changes was the removal of the basic character stats (grundegenskaper) which were replaced with 'exceptional abilities' (exceptionella karaktärsdrag) and the introduction of specializations of skills. This edition is called Drakar och Demoner Trudvang and is the first boxed one in many years.