Dragonfire is a Dungeons & Dragons co-op deckbuilder with a proper campaign mode

Dungeons & Dragons is once again venturing into the realm of deckbuilding with an upcoming co-op game based on Catalyst Game Labs’ engine for another RPG spin-off: Shadowrun: Crossfire.

The first Dragonfire box set will include five decks of encounter cards, which can be digested on their own as singular scenarios or linked into an ongoing story with player characters gaining experience, items and abilities along the way. There’s also a market deck, adventure book and, curiously, sticker sheets.

As in Crossfire, Dragonfire uses a colour-coded system to resolve combat and other events. Developer Randall Bills said that the team had taken inspiration from fellow Wizards of the Coast title Magic: The Gathering when designing the cards, to make them easy to read and play.

Three to six players can take on the role of dwarves, elves, half-orcs, humans and more races from D&D’s universe. The first set will explore the Forgotten Realms’ Sword Coast, with future expansions confirmed to move locale to Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter and Waterdeep. Other add-ons will introduce extra magic items, character cards with additional classes and races, and encounter decks.

Catalyst is yet to offer a release window for the game, but revealed that the initial box would be ‘coming soon’.