Close Topic Options

Ruler Of Kings II vs Dungeons & Dragons

Sometimes, new Players gingerly state in their Introduction that they want to try ROK II because they love Dungeons & Dragons. Other Introductions may indicate that the prospective Player thinks Ruler of Kings II is somehow connected to Dungeons & Dragons or created based on the Dungeons & Dragons rules set -- in other words ROK II is a Dungeons & Dragons Scenario. Despite there being no indication anywhere in the Rules or home pages that this is the case some Dungeons & Dragons players think that every role-playing game is some how the ' Dungeons & Dragons brand'. Therefore, I am using this Thread to explain what ROK II is all about and how it may seem similar to Dungeons & Dragons and yet it is not.

First of all, ROK II is a medieval fantasy Text Role-playing Game that is played through your browser using an internet connection. You read a short story about the beginnings of your Character as a prompt and then detail the evolution of your Character through your choices and writings. You can understand more of this concept if you want to read: CYOA vs ROK II. However, let's us examine the similarities between ROK II and Dungeons & Dragons for now.

As the creator of ROK II, I do have an understanding of both old school Dungeons & Dragons and the more modern version: Dungeons & Dragons 5e. We actually used to have regular Play By Post Dungeons & Dragons games in this Community before we closed them in 2018. Dungeons & Dragons enables imaginative people who love Medieval Fantasy games to come around a table in a home or club to role-play a character. ROK II does that as well, but you use your browser and the internet to connect with the game so there is no need to schedule anything or go anywhere. This makes ROK II ideal especially in a situation where there is a pandemic, lock down, travelling, etc.

Dungeons & Dragons places a lot of emphasis on a Dungeon Master, the person who runs the game, in order to play. That is a big weakness in Dungeons & Dragons because without the one person, as the Dungeon Master, being fully committed it does not matter how many Players there are - the game has to stop if there is no Dungeon Master.

To illustrate how this can be a real downer… imagine 6 people playing a board game like let's say Monopoly. Usually, if one player has to leave, even if they are the banker, the game goes on with the remaining 5 players. Now, let's say another player leaves later on then the remaining 4 can still continue on and on until there are only 2 players left. However, in Dungeons & Dragons it is not like that… if that one special individual, the Dungeon Master, has to leave then the rest of Players have to stop the game because none of them can take over being the Dungeon Master.

This is one of the reasons we ended Dungeons & Dragons on this site, there was too much emphasis on one person being committed to entertain everyone else while staying within the limits set by the Community. Therefore, we came up with ROK II where Players could enter a Medieval Fantasy world and not have to depend on any Dungeon Master! They could also communicate and play with other Players without a Dungeon Master. Now, this isn't to say there isn't a Dungeon Master in ROK II, in fact, there are many Dungeon Masters to make sure things smoothly move along. However, the focus in ROK II is on the Player's Character and what they want to do rather than what the Dungeon Master wants or says. This is one of the golden things about ROK II, the emphasis is on your Character and you rather than the person running the game. You are essentially the center of the medieval fantasy universe when you play - not other players, not the Dungeon Master or NPCs. No, it is all about you, you are the game.

Now, another aspect that is similar to Dungeons & Dragons is the detail. ROK II Characters have a full Character Sheet that in many ways may resemble a Dungeons & Dragons' Character Sheet except that ROK II's Character Sheet is way more involved because it tracks your Character's Relationships, Assignments, communications and so forth. Dungeons & Dragons puts a heavy emphasis on charts, matrices, and descriptions in order to create a character, however ROK II takes away the need for you to calculate stats, bonuses, modifiers and so forth which often makes Dungeons & Dragons seem like a math quiz. Do not think ROK II is basic because of that, it is far from it, but we figured that Players would appreciate more time actually role-playing their Character rather than worrying about which dice to use or some stat in a rule book. ROK II does all the calculations for you but you can still have these on your Character Sheet so you know all the modifiers and bonuses your Character has.

Now, with all that said, do not misinterpret my message as though I am saying that ROK II should replace or is better than Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeons & Dragons is in a league and level of their own and ROK II is no where near that. This writing is mainly to dispel the erroneous illusion that ROK II is somehow connected to Dungeons & Dragons or is a Dungeons & Dragons game. In doing so I hope that new Players can appreciate ROK II on its own merit and adjust themselves to the reading and writing format that facilitates game play.

More reading:

* Multi-Dimensional Dungeon - MUD vs Ruler of Kings II
* To see a list of all features in ROK II start here: View Features
* Create your Character: Play ROK II Text Adventure
* See some other relevant information: ROK II FAQ
* Pathfinder vs ROK II

Dragons and Dungeons II Kings Ruler

If someone has done a speed read to the intro of ROK II then they might think its Dungeons & Dragons only because its mentioned that JB has experience in it or that its similar to how table top Role-playing Games are played. Other than that there is no mention about Dungeons & Dragons in the game so I don't get how people could mix it up.