Dračí doupě is a popular Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

, very loosely based on Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

. It was created by the publishing company ALTAR.

Rules

Each player plays typically one character (warrior, ranger, wizard etc.), except for one player - the gamemaster

Gamemaster

A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...

 (called Pán jeskyně in Czech, which can be translated literally as Lord of the cavern or more freely as dungeon master). He/she prepares a map and then describes to the players what their characters see and hear. The players say what the characters do and the gamemaster says what was the result of their actions.

There are rules for most actions (fighting with monsters, spellcasting, buying equipment, opening a chest with an arrow trap, speed of a movement, point of tiredness, trying to frighten an enemy to run away etc.), but the characters can try to do anything, even if it is not described in the rules. The Lord of the cavern uses his fantasy to determine what happens.

Races

Each player chooses one of seven playable races. Some of races or creatures in DRD are different than in DnD and its from several reasons (translating process, folk tales already present and another base of literature aviable in past).

• Hobbit
  Hobbit
  Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
  
  - smaller than human, you could see it in the movie Lord of the Rings
• Kudůk – special humanoid race. Name „kudůk“ (in original as Holbytla), written correctly „kudúk“, can be found in J.R.R.Tolkiena, where its used in their own language as label for Hobbit
  Hobbit
  Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
  
  s. "Kudůk"s in DrD were created as interspecies between dwarves and hobbits.
• Dwarf
• Elf
  Elf
  An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
  
  
• Human
• Barbar – humans living in wild far away from civilization. Separation changed them: they are stronger and more resistant, but less agile and charismatic then other humans.
• Kroll – basic traits are strong musles, high growth (over 2 m), fierce and warlike character and low intelligence. They have a rough tough grayish skin and its appearance reminiscent of prehistoric man
  Prehistoric man
  Prehistoric man may refer to:*Human evolution*the Homo *archaic Homo sapiens*any perceivedly primitive culture-See also:*Caveman*Primitive man*Prehistory*Paleolithic*Cradle of Humankind...
  
  . Striking are the big ears that used in ultrasound
  Ultrasound
  Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
  
  s echolocation
  Echolocation
  Echolocation may refer to:* Acoustic location, the general use of sound to locate objects* Animal echolocation, non-human animals emitting sound waves and listening to the echo in order to locate objects or navigate...
  
   like bats
  Bats
  A bat is a flying mammal in the Chiroptera order.Bats may also refer to:-Films:*Bats , starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Bob Gunton*Bats: Human Harvest -Groups:...
  
  . Their low intelligence brings to a variety of jokes (some Dungeon Masters determine the number of words, which Kroll knows, etc.)

Profession

Each player chooses one of five professions. On a higher level every character has to choose one of two possible specializations for his profession. The professions and specializations are:.

• Warrior
  Warrior
  A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
  
   - a strong person with fighting abilities
  • Fighter - a powerful hero, strong especially against giant animals
  • Fencer - strong against humanoids

• Ranger
  Ranger (Middle-earth)
  In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Rangers were two secretive, independent groups organized by the Dúnedain of the North and South in the Third Age. Like their Númenórean ancestors, they appeared to possess qualities closely attributed to the Eldar, with their keen senses and ability to...
  
   - also strong in battles, but with abilities like healing, speaking to animals, tracing other beings etc.
  • Strider - strong in fighting and finding information (inspired by Aragorn
    Aragorn
    Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
    
    )
  • Druid
    Druid
    A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
    
     - a forest spellcaster

• Wizard - weakest in fight, but able to cast spells
  • Sorcerer
    Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)
    The sorcerer is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. A sorcerer is weak in melee combat, but a master of arcane magic, the most generally powerful form of D&D magic. Sorcerers' magical ability is innate rather than studied...
    
     - practical magic of all kinds, inventing new spells
  • Mage
    Magi in fantasy and role-playing games
    A "Mage" is a character archetype commonly found in fantasy settings that entail the use of magic. Mage, rather than magus, is the spelling generally used to describe magic-wielding characters in role-playing games and fiction...
    
     - mental magic, understanding the "fundamental conflict" of the world (between good and evil etc.)

• Alchemist
  Alchemy
  Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
  
   - able to prepare magical potions, explosives, poisons, enchated weapons etc.
  • Theurg - contact with astral spheres, casting elementals, enchanted weapons etc.
  • Pyrofor - magical potions, flying torpedoes, rockets, poisons

• Thief - able to move unseen, convince people, climb walls etc.
  • Robber - noteless in a crowd, good at knife throwing and martial arts, estimating a value of a jewel etc.
  • Sicco - estimating intentions of people, building a "net" (organized band)

External links

• Official site of ALTAR (in Czech)