Before starting this review of Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game, I would like to thank the authors Luca Marini and Giacomo Bellucci for providing us with a physical copy so we can analyze it together.

If after reading these lines you want to buy it, you can find it on the publisher Acchiappasogni’s website for 35 euros with the whole line which also includes a dedicated soundtrack.

A Watershed Product

Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game is part of that category of products that we can define as dungeon crawling, of which perhaps the most famous example is HeroQuest. If the basis of dungeon crawling includes the possibility of transforming a purely strategic type of game into a game that provides interpretation, Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game offers within its editorial line real adventures making it, in fact, a watershed product.

However, since the basic Dungeon 6 box is required to play Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game, let’s look at what the board game box contains.

• 2 small game manuals: the Adventure Manual and the Adventurer’s Compendium
• More than 50 tiles divided by room type
• Over 120 tokens, depicting player characters, enemies and treasures
• 4 six-sided dice
• 6 Dungeon Sheets
• 12 Character Sheets, of which 6 are neutral

Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game Setting

In its board game version, Dungeon 6 offers the experience of exploring a dungeon that changes from game to game thanks to the tiles, which can be easily placed side by side. The aim is to explore the dungeon, defeat enemies who possess magic keys and face the Lord of the Enigma.

The peculiarity of the labyrinth is that it is not a classic place underground, but rather an infinite tower, the Dark Pillar. It has torn the sky, opening the Blackbreccia towards an infernal dimension from which the creatures that the characters will face have emerged.

The Character Sheet

The character sheet of Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game is very similar to the classic one of traditional fantasy role-playing games. What I find particularly interesting is a tree diagram that summarizes the combat, useful for not checking the game manual.

Inside the game box, as we said, there are already 6 pre-filled character sheets and 6 blank sheets to create your hero. The PCs grow with experience and obtain new skills with a tree system.

If you want to create your character from scratch, you can choose between 6 Classes: Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard and Shaman. The character’s class defines the set of his talents, skills and special abilities. The Class also sets the value of the characteristics: Vigor, Wits, Talent, Damage and Movement.

Next, you need to decide on the character’s Path from those presented in the description of his Class. Then we move on to the basic equipment, and the amount of money to buy what is necessary to face the Tower.

To complete the character creation, we will need to structure his background. The creation is divided into parts, each of which is for an aspect of the character’s past life. These aspects are associated with questions that the individual player must answer. Each answer must be given that it tells something important for the character.

Creating and Exploring the Dungeon

The structure of Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game is simple and linear. Rules system includes three phases: the Movement phase, the Acquisition phase and the Combat phase. The first allows you to move the characters on the tiles visible, while the Acquisition phase grants you to place a new tile in the dungeon.

Every time a character makes a movement that takes him outside of a tile, he draws a new one and places it on the table adjacent to the previous one. In this way, the corridor continues and a room can eventually be created. The set includes some special tiles that can hide unexpected events: traps, enemies, treasures or NPCs that can introduce secondary quests.

Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game Combat Review

During the game, it will be highly likely to encounter the creatures of the dungeon. In these cases, there is a good chance of starting a fight. I specify that in the game the fight takes place in turns and that the opponents act after the players.

On each turn, heroes and creatures can perform up to two actions, even the same ones: move and attack. Characters can move horizontally or vertically several squares equal to the Movement value specified on the sheet. To attack, instead, it is necessary to roll 1d6 to which the value of Vigor plus any bonuses or penalties must be added. When the result is higher than the opponent’s Readiness value, the attack hits. In this case, the enemy loses some Hit Points equal to the attacker’s Damage minus his Protection value.

I Reami dell’Enigma: A Shared Creation

Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game involves shared world creation. The process is guided and composed of questions that allow you to create a place full of stories and mysteries. Each answer given to a setting question is called an Anchor. This process involves not only the group of players but also the master. The latter also has a personal group of questions to answer to generate the Secret Anchors. The manual offers some answers to help the group structure the game world.

Those questions are very varied and concern not only the origin of the game world but also the geography, religion, and political forces at play, the people who populate it and the genesis of the Hexagonal Tower.

The manual offers an example of a game world: Erasya, written by Giacomo Bellucci and Bryan Ceccanti. In addition, there is adventure-ready; it is called Fuoco Libero, but we will not give any spoilers to leave you the pleasure of trying it.

Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game Aesthetics Review

Browsing the volume of I Reami dell’Enigma is a pleasant and interesting experience. In about a hundred pages you can find everything you need to transform Dungeon 6 into a real role-playing game. The illustrations, by Giorgia Lanza and Tiger Lynn Art, are perfect for transmitting a dreamy and slightly comic-like atmosphere. The hardcover gives solidity to the volume and the two-column layout fits it perfectly into the gaming genre panorama.

Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game Review Conclusions

From my point of view, Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game is a hybrid experience that offers a good modularity of options. Undoubtedly it also requires a good narrative ability on the part of the game master to transform the peculiarities of the board game into those of the role-playing game. The variability of the possible situations and the replayability, given by the randomness of the positioning of the tiles, is an interesting element that certainly plays in favour of this product.

If you like hybrid games and want a high possibility of varying game situations, Dungeon 6 – The Roleplaying Game is definitely for you.

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