Review of DnDoggos TTRPG, a TTRPG where you play as awesome doggos!
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Target audience for the DnDoggos TTRPG
The DnDoggos TTRPG is definitely geared at accessibility for young and new players (and GMs) in the best ways. The mechanics use a d20 and have some skills but are much easier to understand and play with than mechanics in, say, D&D or Pathfinder. The character sheet uses pictures/symbols along with short explanations for tracking, and the story can have some cartoony fight scenes… but also gives some alternatives as well (like dancing, sneaking, etc), just like in the DnDoggos graphic novel.
From the GM’ing standpoint, the adventure is well laid out and provides the GM with clear explanations and options for each scene with most of the language being at around maybe a mid-4th grade (9yo) reading level in terms of complexity. This makes the adventure GREAT for adults to run the game with low pressure and to get used to running with kids and for kids to try out GM’ing for the first time.
Setting for the DnDoggos TTRPG
The DnDoggos TTRPG is set in the same universe as the graphic novel of the same name, but you don’t have to read one before the other to understand what’s going on (they work as standalone pieces). They’re set in a medieval fantasy world inhabited by anthropomorphic dogs who are out to adventure, explore, have fun, and find snacks!
In the premade adventure for the DnDoggos TTRPG, characters will be tracking down a missing shipment that’s been nabbed by a group of forest critters! As they track down the pilfered goods, they’ll be searching for clues, finding hidden treasures, encountering new creatures, and solving a fun puzzle or two! While we played, kiddo in particular liked the mischievous plant creatures (twiggies and leafies) that we found along the way and got very excited about a color coding puzzle that, as stated by kiddo, “was just like Legend of Zelda!!” (Legend of Zelda is kiddo’s current obsession, so this was high praise).
Your character in the DnDoggos TTRPG
In the DnDoggos TTRPG, each player will choose from six premade characters to play as, and each has their own unique stats. Some are stronger in action while others excel at making skill checks, and all have some awesome personality. Amongst the six characters are the three main player characters from the DnDoggos graphic novel and then three additional new characters.
The character sheet was very easy to understand and included symbols for each number (so it was very easy to find health, defense, performance, etc) along with a short explanation of each skill so we didn’t have to look anything up. Each character also has a special ability to help them once per session that highlights their particular skill (and that helped us a lot during the final encounter).
In our game, kiddo chose Pickles, a spunky action-oriented warrior that kiddo loved from the book, and I chose Aero, a rogue-like husky who is always on the lookout for snacks and who was a new character. We were able to jump right in with both after about a minute of explaining the character sheet, and they were both a delight to play.
Mechanics in the DnDoggos TTRPG
The DnDoggos TTRPG is rules-lite and designed to have a low entry barrier while still having the feel of what a lot of people think of when they imagine some of the historically popular TTRPGs.
You use a d20 to roll for all your skills, attacks, etc and are trying to meet the number that’s on your character sheet (or on the enemy’s if you’re attacking something). There’s no modifiers to add; the probability variation comes in when you try to meet the number on your sheet. For something that’s in your wheelhouse, like Aero making a sneak check, you might have a 6 on your sheet, meaning you have great odds at making the check. However, for something that’s not one of your strong suits, like Pickles making a sneak check, you might have a 12 on your sheet, meaning there’s pretty good odds of you snapping a branch and waking up a gaggle of sleeping creatures.
I also really liked how health and downed characters were handled since it made strategizing with your health impactful without having to track consequences from players taking a rest between every combat sequence (which is something kiddo has a tendency to want to do). Instead of healing with a rest, you need to heal with a potion. All players start with a potion, so they basically each get one health reset in the game, and it can be taken differently from the other players (i.e. my character got down to 1 health in a sequence but kiddo’s character didn’t, so we didn’t have to take a rest just for me, I just used my potion). Downed characters also don’t die, they make rolls on their turn until they hit a target number, and the target number decreases with each roll, meaning it becomes easier for them to rejoin the scene (so no one is totally out of play).
We also liked the special abilities that each character had, since this encouraged strategizing and also really highlighted what each character was special at without requiring the player to track a whole bunch of different moves.
Overall thoughts on the DnDoggos TTRPG
We had a lot of fun with this! Kiddo was excited to play after we had finished reading the DnDoggos graphic novel, and it was fun getting to just kind of explore. Kiddo (6yo) had no problem with understanding the rules or tracking the character sheet, so we were able to flow directly into enjoying the story without having to pause for any mechanics explanations part way through. The adventure was just the right amount of time (1 hr) to keep interest while still feeling like it was a full story, and the premade sheets, maps, tokens, etc made prep quick. This was a great game for starting a weekend morning!
Find a copy of the DnDoggos TTRPG
You can get a copy of the DnDoggos TTRPG for free through the creator’s website.
And, check out my review of the DnDoggos graphic novel if you want to explore the book too!
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