Catalyst Game Labs has teamed up with Wizards of the Coast to produce Dragonfire, a cooperative deck building game based on the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game.

Dragonfire is based on Catalyst’s Shadowrun:  Crossfire game engine (see “‘Shadowrun:  Crossfire’ This Fall”), reworked for the fantasy setting of Dungeons & Dragons and the races and character classes familiar to fans of that game.  In the first set, players will adventure in the Sword Coast region of the Forgotten Realms.

The game is designed so it can be played as quick one-off adventures, or multiple plays can be linked together into a longer campaign, with characters developing from game to game as they “level up,” acquire new equipment, and learn new abilities.  To support the campaign feature, Catalyst plans to release a series of expansions, including Wondrous Cache, featuring new magic items, Heroes of the Sword Coast, with new character races and classes, and Encounters:  Dragonspear Castle, which will offer new adventures, encounters, and treasures.  Catalyst will be developing a “meta plot” with future expansions, extending the game’s storyline from set to set.

The first Dragonfire boxed set will include five different Encounter decks, a Market deck, and a deck of magic items, as well as character cards and adventure cards.  A booklet will provide a variety of adventures, while tokens, plastic clips, and sticker sheets are provided to record character progress.  The game is intended for 3 to 6 players.  MSRP is $59.99. Release date was not announced.

Catalyst recently announced another deck building game based on the classic Master of Orion computer game (see “‘Master of Orion:  Conquest’”).