Bonds Between: A Cozy, Duet TTRPG about the Dragons in your Backyard

My Dear reader,

Draconic history is drowned in tales of treasure gained by the tooth and the talon, of towering draconic lords coiled on hoards of precious things made molten by their mere presence. An age as long-lived as the shadow cast by its gilded glory, our ancestors are known well for the yawning depths of their unchecked avarice, the soaring heights of their hubris, and the terrible workings of their great magics. 

If tales of this age are what you crave, dear reader, I must disappoint you in a manner most severe. These pages instead explore the latent possibility of two draconic lives intertwined.

—Excerpt from “A Treatise on Dragon Etiquette”

What is Bonds Between?

Bonds Between is a cozy, duet tabletop roleplaying game about the sort of problems a dragon who lives around the block would face trying to organize their hoard and clean house. Set in the modern era, far removed from the days of gold and glory, you practice the most fundamental draconic magics: The power of places and the power of objects.

Faced with a run-down lair and armed only with your claws, a modest hoard, and draconic magic, you’ll restore your newfound home to a state befitting your residence. Bonds Between explores a year in the life of two bonded dragons with neighboring lairs as they cast spells to restore their domains, expand their hoards, and learn more about each other in the process. 

But there is an etiquette to be observed when two dragons meet. An exchanging of gifts is customary when you meet another of your kind, and you cannot work any great magic without the aid of those who share your domain. Well, you could, but it would be terribly rude, and that’s what got us the dragon wars. We don’t want to do those again so that's why we have The Pact and The Process.
A dragon keeps what is theirs, their word included. 

Speaking of What’s Yours…

Your hoard is represented by a deck of cards that you’ll use and alter as a part of play. When you and your partner gather to cast a spell, you’ll exchange gifts from your hoards to keep The Pact and build a relationship with your neighbor as you care for your lairs. When you exchange a gift with your neighbor, you’ll alter a card in your deck to represent the new item in your hoard and the magic it carries. 

Mundane and magical items alike play an important role in maintaining your lairs. Each time you meet with your bonded dragon, you’ll choose a problem your domain faces, build a spell from the items at hand, and aid each other in the restoration of your lairs. Combine your cards well to reshape your lair, your hoard, and your relationship with your bonded. 

Everyday Lairs for Everyday Dragons

The dragons of Bonds Between are smaller in scale than their towering, treasure-hoarding ancestors, and their lairs are no different. You and your bonded will keep watch over the kind of lairs we see in our daily life: A vacant lot and an abandoned house, a pair of rest stops on a now-lonely highway, or even neighboring wings of an underused school building divided by an understocked vending machine. 

Part and parcel to the game’s themes of everyday magic are its ritual components. As a part of play, you’ll assess the room you’re in, using the objects around you as a jumping off point for the narrative playing out in front of your dragons. Perhaps a messy pile of papers on the coffee table represents a task your dragon has forgotten about and must tend to, or perhaps the laundry chair in the corner translates to a pile of tools and other detritus home to a family of belligerent gnomes in your yard. 

You’ll play with your bonded in sessions of an hour or two each, expanding your hoard, altering cards, and restoring your lair until the balance in your domain is restored. Like your deck of cards, your dragons, their lairs, and their hoards will be changed forever, leaving you with a storied artifact of play. 

Bonds Between is coming to Kickstarter on Tuesday, February 4th. Follow the campaign to learn more and join us on launch day for an explosive start to Zine Month! 

Bonds Between is by Bright Bard Games (Bri de Danann, Jon Boyle) and Graftbound Press (Emily Entner, Lucas Zellers).