Video Game / Drakensang

Sean Connery is about to chop your head off?

Drakensang is an RPG developed by Radon Labs and released in 2008 in Germany and in 2009 in the USA.

The game itself has an old school approach to RPGs. Gameplay is similar to the Neverwinter Nights series and Baldur's Gate.

The series is set in the universe of the German Tabletop RPG called The Dark Eye, or "Das Schwarze Auge" in the original German.

The first game takes place aroud the city of Ferdok, where you travel after your old friend/mentor Ardo of Boarstock sends you a letter asking for your help. However, after your arrival you are informed that Ardo was seemingly the latest victim of a serial killer.The following events in your search for the identity of the murderer leads you in being The Chosen One in the search for an ancient artifact.

In 2010 a sequel Drakensang 2 — The River of Time (or short: DraSa 2 - TRoT) was released which takes place 23 years before the start of the the first game.

An addon Drakensang 2 — Phileasson's Secret is released and a future Drakensang 3 was semi-confirmed by one of the developers.

An MMO (which may or may not be Drakensang 3) called Drakensang Online was released and launched after several months of beta testing. However, it's Drakensang In Name Only, having no connection to the original games' setting whatsoever (really, it has about as many ties to the original Drakensang series setting-wise as Far Cry 2 has to the first part...) and abandoning the mechanics as well. A MMORPG by a different developer based on both the setting and rules of The Dark Eye has since been developed, but it was called Herokon Online (lacking the rights to the Drakensang name); Herokon's servers were switched off in 2015, a few months after the developing company went bankrupt.

Not to be confused with Drakengard.

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This game provides examples of:

Pungeon Master General Warning: The following examples contain some incredibly lame puns; troper discretion is advised.

Tropes and characters appearing in both games

• Action Girl: Quite a few
  • In the first game: Rhulana the Amazon is the straightest example, but also Gwendala, Gladys, the witches, Angraxa and Malgorra.
  • In the second game: Fayris, Jadira and of course Eilif Thunderfist.
• All There in the Manual: Gamers who also know the Tabletop RPG will get several references to events and characters in the setting. Both games are also part of larger tabletop-campaigns.
• All Trolls Are Different: They are big hairy giants who really like sweet stuff.
• Always Female: Amazons (both PC and NPC) have to be female.
• Always Male: According to TDE source material, Dwarven men outnumber women about 3 to 1. While you meet a few female dwarves (including a warlike priestess) you can only play a male dwarf.
• Amazon Brigade: The setting has literal Amazons, a cultish order of exclusively female warriors who are fanatical followers of Rondra, the goddess of war.
  • You may choose to play each game as one, get some Amazon-specific dialogue and even find Amazon-specific armor.
  • Both games feature Mactaleanatae or Dark Amazons who are fanatical followers of Belhalhar, the archdemon of war.
  • The first game has the Amazon Rhulana as a companion.
  • The first game also mentions the all-female Ferdok Guard, who by the time of Drakensang have moved to another city.
• Apocalyptic Log:
  • In the ancient dwarven halls you find the diary detailing how the tunneling dwarves accidentally stumbled onto an ancient foe, and how the halls were lost. Does This Remind You of Anything??
  • The notes you find in the Bosparanian Ruins in the sequel are similar.
• Armor and Magic Don't Mix: Magic users are able to equip anything; however they are completely blocked from casting spells if they wear only one single piece of metal armor (with exceptions). They usually compensate by casting a magic armor spell.
• The Artifact:
  • Most archetypes begin with ranks in more than one melee weapon class. Also, some mundane objects have weapon stats, albeit lousy ones (e.g. a breadknife is treated like a dagger, a shovel like a two-handed axe). This serves no purpose in Drakensang (unless you really like a challenge), but in the original Dark Eye game, weapons could break or get lost, so you had to use what you could find.
  • Both games allow you to buy an obsidian knife. It's overpriced, but if you were playing a druid (which you can't in Drakensang), this would be the only sharp weapon you could use without violating the forged-metal-taboo.
• The Atoner:
  • Forgrimm in the first game.
  • In the second, (sort of) Brother Emmeran.
• Ax-Crazy: The Amazons, especially Rhulana (who's still a decent lass outside of the battlefield). The Dark Amazons are even worse in that regard, while the "good ones" fits the Blood Knight category.
• Big Bad:
  • In the first game it's Malgorra del Incendio.
  • In the prequel it's Coldstone.
  • And Tharkath in Phileasson's Secret.
• But Thou Must!: The Main Quests in both games.
• Character Level: You can buy skill and attribute raises with XP at any time, so levelling is less important than in most RPG's. However, the maximum value to which you can raise a skill or attribute depends on your archetype's starting value and your current character level.
• Climax Boss:
  • In the first game there's Jafgur, the purple dragon.
  • In the second game, both the Zant demon and the battle inside the pirate's cavern counts.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Archmage Rakorium.
• Constructed World: Aventuria.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Boron is the god of the dead, and his priests dress accordingly, but he is one of the good gods. His church is in charge of burials and they fight the undead.
• Dirty Cop:
  • There's one in the Ferdock city watch. No spoiler hint: It's the one using his badge to try and get free service from a prostitute.
  • The rookie Pagol in Nadoret. However, he's more bumbling and greedy than outright corrupted.
• Druid:
  • Elven spellweavers and rangers (e.g. Laurelin) are nature-based casters, as are dwarven geodes (e.g. Brother Emmeran).
  • Archon Megalon is a druid according to source material, but you would not guess it from the way he behaves.
• Disc-One Final Boss:
  • The Purple Dragon Jafgur in the first game
  • The Zant demon in TRoT.
• The Dragon:
  • Noldrokon in 1 to Malgorra
  • Jasmine in 2 to Coldstone.
• Dub Name Change: Quite few: disregarding localizations (like Blumfold = Bloomfold) and translations (like Kaltenstein = Coldstone), with a few names the English version was a bit more liberal. Like Gladys (Kladdis), Cano (Cuano), Finn (Ferio), Kastan Gamblack (Kastan Wagnitz), and Nimralph (Nirulf) in the sequel. The most extreme example is Avarosh (Girtasch). Of particular note is the obviously joke-named "Prancelott of Scufflewick" who in the original version is named "Parzalon von Streitzig", a somewhat pompous but by Aventurian standards not terribly outlandish name.
• Evil Counterpart: The Dark Amazons are evil counterparts of the regular Amazons and worship the archdemon Belhalhar, the evil counterpart of the goddess Rondra. (Both represent battle, but Rondra favors chivalry and protection of the weak while Belhalhar loves bloodshed.)
• Escort Mission: In a couple of quests you'll have to protect a civilian from harm.
• Fairy Trickster: Kobolds are the embodiment of this trope.
• Fake Ultimate Hero: Knight Prancelot of Scufflewick. He claims to have once defeated an angry viking Thorwalyan wielding two axes, in EACH HAND. Not mentioning TRoT, where he claims to have surrounded a gang of ogres all by himself in order to save a Unicorn.
• Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity: Dwarves are associated with axes and hammers (they count as the same weapon type in-game) but also spears and crossbows. Curiously enough, the Goblins use distinctive axes most of the time.
• Fantastic Racism: Both humans and orcs look down on goblins. Dwarves and elves have issues but no real enmity. However, dwarves hate dragons. To the point that they have seven different words in their language referring to the death of a dragon.
• Fantastic Slur: Don't call orcs blackpelts or Zutar make thundercrunch with you. Calling goblins redpelts is fairly safe since they are both small and stupid. Elves occasionally call humans rose ears.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Garethians seem to be Europeans, Thorwalians are Norse while the Novadi and Tulamids are Arabs, Persians and similar. Zohari are Romani. Marascani may or not be a counterpart to Japan. The Elves of Tie'Shianna have a distinct Egyptian look.
  • The Fantasy Counterpart Culture entry from The Dark Eye goes into more detail.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: In 2 (set several years before 1) Bravethorn is just a dishonest, bumbling pirate serving under Hooksong. In 1 he has become the chief of the "Dark Eyes" rogues. The same applies to Malgorra.
• Gentleman Thief: Cano. Dranor claims to be one.
• Giant Enemy Crab: They're blue, and they're crabby!
  • In the first game one is featured as a mini-boss during a side quest.
  • One becomes an Optional Boss in TRoT.
• Giant Spider: Starting with dog-sized ones and ending with beasts larger than bears.
• Glass Cannon: Wizards and spellcasters in general can dish out large amounts of damage but tend to be physically weak.
• Golem: In both titles you meet the dreaded Stone Golems.
  • The first boss in TRoT is a golem made from wooden scraps. This should give you an hint on how deal with it. The animated statue at the end of TRoT sort of counts.
• Grand Theft Me: However, it's a good guy who does it to an evil guy
• Guest-Star Party Member: Both games have characters that can't be controlled nor selected but will fight for you, occupying an extra party slot. In Phileasson's Secret, Phileasson actually join you as a party member for a while.
• Guide Dang It!:
  • In the first game, the Behind the Fire Falls area has five hidden rewards. To find one of those, you need to stop moving at a precise moment (which you will not, because there's no reason to do so).
  • In the second game, the kobold in the Dwarven mine provides you with several very useful bonus items if you do the right thing at precisely the right moment in three instances... which you probably won't because it's not the most obvious course of action.
• Harping on About Harpies: Featured as tough, cruel, winged monsters that live on mountains and are quite dangerous. You can also meet an even more dangerous flock of them in Moorbridge.
• Hero of Another Story: Phileasson. Archeon Megalion, while not on the "good" side of the alignment, is also a character of public domain in the tabletop game.
• Historical Domain Character: Plenty of important NPCs from the Pen And Paper make guest appearances in both games.
  • Rakorium Muntagonus is the most prolific saurologist of his time. Even though he's paranoid and widely considered insane, the game amps up his quirkiness quite a bit.
  • Count Growin is indeed the ruler of Ferdok.
  • Emmeran Stoerrebrandt is (after the disappearance of his father) the most important merchant prince in Aventuria.
  • Phileasson Foggwulf is one of the greatest contemporary heroes of the Thorwalians.
  • Arombolosh son of Agam is the oldest and most important king of the Dwarves. Another mention goes to his son Arom.
  • Archon Megalon is a sinister druid and the former court sorcerer of Havena, the capital of Albernia.
  • Inquisitor Amando Laconya da Vanya.
• Infinity -1 Sword: There are a number of powerful weapons that are readily available late in the games, most of which are only marginally less powerful than the best ones.
• Irony: In both titles there's a corrupted officer named Tashmann, who will eventually end up dead. The Italian dub gains extra points just for giving them the same voice actor to boot!
• I Was Quite a Looker: Ulwina Neisbeck in TRoT is quite a hot lady. The younger Auralia isn't too bad either.
• Jumped at the Call: You and your companions.
• Loads and Loads of Sidequests: The games are full of sidequests of any kind. Given that experience points are really precious there, their presence is tolerated and justified.
• MacGuffin:
  • The Adamantine Heart in the first game.
  • Raul's Crown in the sequel.
• Mad Scientist: Archon Megalon the Druid, who appears in both titles. He may speaks softly, but he's clearly not quite right in the head. However, if you follow his contorted logic, he's willing to reward you or, in the first game, selling you some anti-dragon stuff.
• Magic Knight: The Elven Warrior is intended to be a melee fighter who still has (limited) magical ability. Of course, you can turn any magical archetype into a halfway competent fighter as long as he doesn't wear metal.
• The Man Behind the Man:
  • Noldrokon with Kastan Gamblack in the first game.
  • Dajin is behind the pirate raids and Coldstone is behind Dajin.
• Miles Gloriosus: Prancelott.
• Modest Royalty: Ardo is described as such (although strictly speaking he's only nobility, not royalty). You can see this in the prequel.
• Mook Maker: There are several instances in the games where players have to face waves upon waves of opponents that keep on respawning until an objective is met:
  • During the Grand Finale of the first game the magical portals keep spawning opponents until they are destroyed.
  • In the Bosparanian ruins in TRoT the two demonic statues keep spawning skeletons until they are destroyed.
• Munchkin: Though the game designers tried to avoid this by not giving you complete freedom to allocate stats, perks and flaws yourself (at least not in the first game) nor pick all possible races, you can still create an incredibly skilled spellcasting fighter by picking the Elven warrior, equipping him with the golden armor, specializing in two-hand swords, movement and combat spells and dishing all your experience points into combat-relevant stats.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Your attempt to get the Cosmic Keystone kinda lets the Big Bad get it.
  • A minor one happens in a sidequest in the sequel. Your party get rid of the carcass of a Linnworm (whose stench was troubling the elves) using amoeba spores. When you get back for your reward you're informed that the problem is far from solved... cue to giant amoebas slithering around the site of the Linnworm's corpse.
• No Export for You: There are two browser games, one prequel-novel, two pen-and-paper adventures and one source book for the entire series. All in GERMAN.
• Non-Player Companion:
  • In the first game, you basically get almost the entire array of character archetype options as your companion roster: Four pure warriors (a tanky dwarf, an Amazon, a twohander-wielding knight, an oriental archer), two elves (a warrior and a ranger, both gifted with magical abilities), two rogues (one with and one without magic abilities) and a wizard. However, since there's no alignment mechanism in the game, few instances of NPC participation and also no true class restriction mechanics apart from the ability to pick certain spells, the mundane characters are mostly interchangeable with one another.
  • In the second game, your companion roster is reduced to four characters: two warriors, a rogue (who moonlights as a priest of the God of Rogues), and either an elven archer (with magic abilities) or a human mage.
• Old Retainer: Forgrimm the dwarf.
• One Stat to Rule Them All: Intuition is important for social skills and many spells but also increases your basic attack and defense ability. Constitution gives everyone more Hit Points and less susceptibility to wounds.
• One-Winged Angel:
  • Noldrokon (who reverts to his true form)
  • Yandrick, who turns into a fire elemental.
  • Malgorra, who turns into a giant hydra.
  • In Phileasson's Secret, Tharkath turns into his undead self after his second defeat.
• Optional Stealth: There are a couple of missions where you're encouraged to adopt a stealthy approach:
  • In the first one in the Blood Mountains castle, you'll have to navigate the whole dungeons without being seen or activating traps. If you fail, the mission changes and you'll have to fight a lot and the boss fight will be harder.
  • If you're discovered while trying to recover the Duke's hammer in the Dark Eyes hideout, you'll have to fight your way out and will receive less reward from Cano.
  • Later in Grimtooth castle you'll have to avoid orcish patrol, or you'll have to face a whole garrison of them.
  • The sequel too has one, but is completely optional and much more easier.
• Our Dragons Are Different: They have a "soul gem" or carbuncle embedded in their skulls, and some of them are pretty much deities.
• Our Dwarves Are All the Same:
  • Strangely (thankfully) averted. Among others, there are female dwarves and a triplet of dwarven tricksters. Many dwarves are merchants, rather than warriors or crafters. The most prominent dwarf in the game has no beard (though this is a Mark of Shame).
  • Greatly averted by Brother Emmeran in TRoT, who is a kind, gentle druid, and lives close to a river. He even has shells in his beard! Note, though, that in-universe he is considered to be quite a weirdo by dwarven standards.
• Our Elves Are Different: The ones in Drakensang are fairly standard Wood Elves: longlived, androgynously beautiful Baddass Pacifists in tune with nature.
  • In both games you meet Laurelin, an elf who lives near Nadoret and is the master for the "Ranger" Type classes in TRoT, and he's quite likeable. Two of his possible pupils are even Dwarves! Hilarity Ensues...
• Our Goblins Are Different: Furry little bastard scavengers, hmm... mark it as a no.
• Our Ogres Are Hungrier: The Tabletop RPG follows the trope, but the video game averts it by using ogres a generic big enemies.
• Our Orcs Are Different: They're not. To be specific: in the Tabletop RPG they are an amalgam of Tolkien's (black) and the ones of Warcraft (shamanistic culture, not really evil) and something different (furry, smaller than humans, possible dominant race in the future). The game casts them as generic enemies.
  • TRoT features also two Orc NPC: Thurazz, one of the arena fighters and Soorman's second in command Zutar.
• Overrated and Underleveled: See Shrug of God below.
• The Pig-Pen: Ardo, who considers bathing more than once per week heresy. In the first game, it is mentioned in a diary that he once scolded and fired a servant because he washed his shirt, and in the second game, if you happen to walk in the river he'll say something to the effect of: "Are you going to have a bath? Then proceed without me. Too much water is noxious to your health".
• Real-Time with Pause: Yes. The Simultaneous Turn-Based With Pause-version.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: There are a number of officials who go out of their way to help the heroes, most notably Ardo himself.
• Rodents of Unusual Size: Wolf Rats (which are, in fact, as large as a grown wolf) can be found in numerous cellars and caves.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something:
  • Only a noble: Ardo was killed will investigating the dispute of two trading houses. He also plays a big role in the sequel as one of your companions.
  • Traldar is also a noble who makes his hands dirty.
  • There is also prince Arom who you help to kill a dragon.
  • King Arombolosch himself fights in the first line at the beginning of the Grand Finale of the first game.
• Save Scumming: Since this game allows you to save during combats, you can exploit this for everything it's worth: Just save after every particularly lucky round (where you did lots of damage while your opponent did next to none), and you can whittle down every fight where you have at least some chance.
• The Scottish Trope: The Nameless One, the god of evil.
• Shout-Out:
  • The "For a Handful of Ducats" quest.
  • Robber Humbert of the Blood Mountains is based on The Robber Hotzenplotz.
  • In the second game, talking to a certain person in the Thief's Guild of Nadoret reveals that a group of eleven rogues, led by a guy named Danio Efferdian, are preparing a huge heist. Among them there are guys named Linus, Saul and Reuben. And Efferd is the god of the Ocean...
  • Bloomfold is a villain straight out of a James Bond story. Even his name is strangely familiar.
  • The expansion has Asleif Foggwulf Phileasson who travels the world.
• Shrug of God: When asked why Forgrimm has such a low level in Drakensang while he is a companion in the prequel and known as an experienced mercenary the devs simply said that he got motherless drunk.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Definitely idealism (you even don't get the choice to not be heroic).
  • However, for some reason, stealing without commiting violence isn't considered bad. But seeing as the God of thievery and trickery is a good guy (tip: every true god besides The Nameless One is good, but not the demons that are sometimes worshiped)...
• Spikes of Villainy: Dark Amazons. Rhulana specifically mentions that they all have spikes on their armors and shields.
• Spiritual Successor: To the Realms of Arkania series.
• Squishy Wizard: Spellcasters in general tend to have lower physical stats (strength, agility, constitution), fewer Hit Points and less refined combat abilities. They are also limited to light armor types like cloth and leather (they can wear metal armor, but they cannot cast spells while doing so), however they have powerful defensive spells at their disposal to compensate for this.
  • Subverted with some types of magic users like elven fighters, who with the right allocation of stats can become some of the most powerful, resilient and versatile fighters in the game.
• Stealth-Based Mission: Several:
  • In the first game, first in Bloody Mountains Castle: you have to sneak past the cultists and reach the dungeons. If you activate a trap you fail the mission and must fight your way out. Second in Grimtooth castle where you must avoid the orcish patrols in the corridors. The mandatory part is shorter compared to the above event. Also a sidequest in Ferdok where you have to recover a precious hammer from the Dark Eyes guild. Finally another optional sidequest which involves scouting a dangerous area filled with enemies.
  • In the second game, if you follow Cano in the Thursagan fortress you must lead one avoiding a huge ratcatcher and his dog, and later a cook and the sentinels on the walls.
• Stripperific:
  • A noblewoman in TRoT (alias Malgorra) wears a purple dress that combines Impossibly-Low Neckline, Navel-Deep Neckline and Sexy Backless Outfit. One of the NPC points out how tastless such a dress is.
  • Amazonian armor tend to look like a metal corset with a leather legionnaire skirt and maybe an armlet or two. Mactaleanate armor tend to be even skimpier.
  • The Zahori innkeeper from the prequel is ridiculously well-endowed and has more cleavage than shirt.
• Take Your Time: Prevalent in all the games: it doesn't matter how long it takes to reach the fleeing cultists, you'll always reach them just in time to save their last victim.
• 20 Bear Asses: Sometimes certains NPC will give you money (or other items in case of elves) in exchange for monster's spare parts. Including a cook who will reward you for giving him old bread loaves, wolf rat's tails and crypt lice's eyes.
• Unusual Euphemism: If a deed is Phex-pleasing, it is criminal. If a woman follows a Raja-pleasing line of work, she is a prostitute. (Phex and Raja being the gods of thieves and love.)
• Useless Useful Spell: The Petrification spell. Turning your enemies to stone blocks sounds cool, right? Well, first, it takes ages for the spell to work, has good chances of missing entirely and isn't permanent at all. Plus, you can only cast it on a single enemy. Also the Geode spell Sumu's Body will make an enemy weaker for a while, but will also severely wound the caster as well.
• Villainous Breakdown: Ulwina Neisbeck loses her cool, and Baron Dajin quickly go from a cold, calculating noble to a whimpering, insane fool.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Forgrimm the honest dwarf and Cano the Gentleman Thief, especially in TRoT.
• Weapon Specialization: The game mechanics strongly favor those who specialize, so every one of your characters is likely to have a weapon. When you meet the Cyclop swordsmith he will forge you an Infinity +1 Sword depending on what kind of weapon you're using (e.g.: if you're specialized with the saber, you'll get a super-powerful saber and so on). Weapon types include:
  • Spears and/or polearms.
  • Carry a Big Stick/Hammers/Axes: One handed / two-handed maces and axes, including hammers too.
  • Cool Sword/Big Fancy Sword/Royal Rapier/Sinister Scimitar: One-Handed Swords, Two-Handed Swords, Fencing Weapons and Sabres.
  • Devious Daggers: Daggers.
  • Staves.
• What the Hell, Hero?: If you go Blood Knight / Axe-Crazy in some places, you'll get called on it.
  • Particularly if you side with the witches, they will call you out if you use violence for fullfiling their quests.
  • Also in TRoT: if you decide to kill all the pirates instead of using diplomacy, the elves will refuse to even speak with you.
  • Again in TRoT: When the corrupted officer Tashman accidentally reveals that he's working for the pirates.
  Tashman:" You... you didn't knew that? By all the demons and Gods!! You storm my fortress, kill almost all my men, and you didn't even knew about the pirates!!?"
• World of Buxom: In both games most of the female cast is endowed.

Drakensang

• Ancient Conspiracy: The Dragonmen.
• The Artful Dodger: Gladys.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Crossbows in the first game. They deals tons of damage, but they also need 4 turns to reload. If you have the "Trained Crossbowman" feat you need 2 turns, like a longbow.
• Beard of Sorrow: Somewhat averted by Forgrimm. Male Dwarves are very proud of their beards, so he shaves it to show his sorrow about Ardo's death. His unkempt Perma-Stubble shows he is really upset.
• Big Good: Umbracor.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation: In the English version, the temple of Rondra has a note on the door saying "In the name of the most divine and almighty Leuin ", which is most likely an oversight by a translator who presumed that "Leuin" was supposed to be a name. However, its just an outdated and rather poetic version of the word "Löwin", which means "lioness" (the sacred animal of Rondra).
• Bolt of Divine Retribution:
  • Ulwine Neisbeck declares that she is even more powerful than the gods. Guess what happens next?
  • "May Rondra's lightning strike you" is a common curse in the setting (Rondra is also the goddess of thunderstorms).
• Brainwashed and Crazy: King Arombolosch, thanks to a dragon gem which you helped to get.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Salina and also Rakorium.
• Church Militant: The Inquisition around Grand Inquisitor da Vanya.
• Clear Their Name: When Dranor is arrested for a theft that he did not actually commit, he insists on you clearing his name, even though he is widely known to be a thief (and usually proud of it) and you could easily break him out of prison.
• Clown-Car Grave: The necromancer in Moorbridge swamps did this to some crypts, allowing them to endlessly spawn zombies.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Ulwine Neisbeck. Is extremely clear from your first job for her company that she has no standard and is quite ruthless.
• Cult Defector: Berndrik in the Blood Mountains realizes that the inquisitor's motives are not pure. If you treat him honorably you can convince him to stand down.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Boron's cleric in Moorbridge is a perfect example. Like all worshippers of the God of Death she is sombre, but she is a major force of good in the area, especially since most problems there have to do with necromancy (which Boron hates).
• Dead Man Writing: The adventure starts with a letter from Ardo. By the time you reach Ferdok, he is no more.
• Does Not Like Magic: The church of Praios, god of justice and the sun, distrusts magic in general, especially when it is practiced outside of guilds. The Rays of Light are an inoffical to semi-official (depending on the time period) Church Militant who hate hedge mages. The false inquisitor uses them to try and get rid of a group of witches who might interfere with his plans.
• Expy: The dungeons under Murolosh are pretty much Moria, only with undead Grolms instead of orcs.
• Fake Nationality: Dranor likes to pretend he's from the Horasian Empire to play into the Latin Lover stereotype.
• Forging Scene: The introduction movie shows the narrator, a cyclops, starting work on a weapon to defeat the ancient evil. You get to pick it up from him shortly before the final battle.
• Gratuitous Spanish: Due to hailing from a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of 15th-century Spain, the dialogue between Thalya and Ghost Farfara is partly in spanish, at least in the Italian dub. It does, however make her hotter. In the German original the accent sounds more vaguely Italian, however.
• Handsome Lech: Dranor... the Handsome.
• Hero with Bad Publicity:
  • The witches of the Blood Mountains play mean pranks if you annoy them, yet they do much more good than harm. The inquisitor uses the general predjudices against witches to try and kill them. You can help him or defy him.
  • There is a price on Humbert's head, but the locals consider him more of an inoffical highway patrol than a proper highwayman.
• Incurable Cough of Death: Thalya has a bad case of this. She gets better, though.
• Infinity +1 Sword: You get to choose one out of a nice selection of these before heading off to the last level. You start getting the infinity plus one armor pieces much sooner though.
• Killer Rabbit: A Zombi Mule. Which is also horrifically rotten.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Sir Traldar.
• Knight Templar: The Rays of Light.
• Lady Not-Appearing-in-This-Game: You see that buxom, fanservicey mage in red over there in the picture? Well, she's nowhere to be found in the game (though one companion is a black-haired male mage). You can play as a female mage, but the character models are different.
• Lovable Rogue: Dranor. At least Salina thinks so. At least most of the time.
• Mark of Shame: Forgrimm wears a Perma-Stubble since he could not save Ardo. Ancoron has shaved his head because he could not save his family.
• The Matchmaker: You can be this for a Dwarven lady.
• Mistaken for Thief: Dranor really is a thief. Yet in Ferdok he is arrested for a theft he did not actually commit.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Umbracor the Destroyer is a name that'd certainly qualify even if it wasn't attached to a near-divine dragon of world-ending destructive power. Actually a subversion, as Umbracor's role in the game is that of Sealed Good in a Can...he is a force of balance and only steps in to destroy threats to the continued existence of the world itself.
• No One Could Survive That!: When Thalya and Farfara were ambushed by undead in a crypt, she gave him up for lost and sealed the entrance. He survived the attack only to find that he couldn't get out. He turned into an undead himself and curses Thalya until she makes amends.
• Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Dranor makes off with Salina's diadem. Because he heard that a really evil character would kill Salina for it, so he gets it for him to save her.
• Private Military Contractors: Other people join you for duty, to express gratitude, or just because they have nothing better to do. But Nasreddin just wants a big pile of cash.
• Properly Paranoid: Archmage Rakorium sees Dragonish conspiracies everywhere. In Drakensang he happens to be right.
• Red Herring: Ardo's death is completely unrelated to the serial killings, but it does lead to its own questline.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Dragons and Linnorms. Also, Noldrokon's scaly face counts as a Red Right Hand. Archmage Rakorium hates reptiles of any kind and size. Considering that the main villains are dragon-people, his paranoia is justified.
• Sadistic Choice: Traldar's son is captured by the Big Bad. You are given the choice of handing over the Plot Coupon you're after or the boy dies. Fortunately, Traldar seems to have taken some lessons from Batman.
• Shmuck Bait: One of the possibles random encounters while travelling in the first game has you pass nearby a small hill with a corpse and a couple of suspicious crates on the top. In case you didn't guessed, going near the crates triggers the orcish ambush.
• Swamps Are Evil: Moorbridge is a sad, gloomy place with brown waters, hostile natives and truckloads of undeads, not counting the harpies and the gigantic crabs.
• Thieves' Guild: Ferdok has one. Since its leader is a blessed one (e.g. priest) of Phex, it doubles as a secret temple.
• Talking the Monster to Death: You can do this to an undead necromancer in the catacombs of Tallon. However, you'll have to choose your words carefully, and read all the diary entries in the catacomb.
• Underground City: the dwarven city of Murolosh.
• Video Game Cruelty Potential: In the chain of quests where you have to side with one of the two rivalling traders in Ferdok, the bad option (where you'll start out as a bully and eventually commit multiple murders for your boss) actually nets more XP and money overall. And while you might easily start the bad option unknowingly, because you're not given much information on the traders beforehand or could easily overlook the clues, the highest XP route involves switching sides half-way through the quest chain, when you know full well that you're betraying the more moral side for the more ruthless one. By far the lowest amount of XP and money rewards is given to players who pick the right side from the start and stick with it. But you'll have a clean conscience to keep you warm at night, I suppose.
• Warrior Monk: Angraxa, a priestess of Angrosh, does not stand idly by while Mount Drakensang is overrun by cultists.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Twice in the game you can choose to do questlines for rivalling factions: Neisbeck versus Stoerrebrandt and inquisition versus witches. In both cases it is pretty clear that one side is evil. Help them and you'll eventually find that you have been helping Ardo's murderer respectively the dragon cult. You are forced to change sides and look real stupid.
• You All Meet in an Inn: Guess where you will find your first and third party member? Also, the fourth joins you after you asked for her in yet another inn, then are followed by a shady character from said inn who is a friend of party member #4. Said member #4 then shows up shortly after you left the inn and started being followed.

Drakensang — The River of Time (and Phileasson's Secret)

• 12 Coins Puzzle: In order to open a chest, you're given several iron and lead weights and you must put the right number of them in the four boxes around the altar. If you can't find the solution, you can ask the druid Megalesios to solve it for you, but you won't gain any experience.
• Argument of Contradictions: You can have a long argument with the kobold about whether or not he is your worst nightmare. Eventually, you'll be given the option to say "Are too", whereupon the kobold will first declare that he is NOT your worst nightmare, then reward you for tricking him.
• Attack of the Monster Appendage: The Newt Kraken is a type 2.
• BFS: While many two handed swords may fit this category, the Marus' Sabre in The River Of Time takes the cake. However it's listed in game as a two-handed Axe type weapon.
• Bilingual Bonus: If you play as a dwarf, the snippets of Dwarvish will be subtitled. If you play as an elf, you automatically get the Elvish incantations right.
• "Blind Idiot" Translation:
  • The uncanonical goblin deity Kaysetoost was not translated, probably because the translator did not realize it was supposed to sound like Käsetoast (cheese toast).
  • Bosnickel (a jerkass subspecies of kobolds) is a German dialect word meaning roughly "mean bastard". It was not translated. Confusingly, the creature is also referred to as a leprechaun.
• Boss Rush: Near the end of TRoT: You must face a wave of guards lead by Jasmine's apprentice (who make clones of herself), then a long, tiring battle againts Jasmine and her clones, then a battle against the clones of your party and finally Coldstone himself... coupled with a giant animated statue.
• Call-Forward: Forgrimm swears that he'll shave off his beard if anything happens to Ardo.
• Calling Your Attacks: Spellcasters in the second game.
• Continuity Nod: In the prequel there are several references to the Realms of Arkania games which take place during the same timeframe. Not mentioning that basically the 75% of the cast from the first game appears again here, including Gerling, Rakorium, Prancelott, Auralia and even Ulwine Neisbeck and Malgorra.
• Commonplace Rare: You can't get through the dark forest close to Nadoret without torches... which you'll only get towards the end of the game.
• Dirty Coward: Captain Soorman, Avarosh Goldtooth, Sir Prancelott...
• Divine Conflict: The optional sunken temple questline is the result of a conflict between the Twelvegod Efferd and the Riverfather.
• Dual Wielding: Tharkath carries two large swords on his back, but he only uses one in battle. After turning into an undead high elf, he draws the second blade.
• Eldritch Abomination:
  • The Zant demon in the Bosparanian Ruins, though this particular version has very little in common with its namesake from the tabletop - the normal Zant is a rather modest demon that would only be a challenge to a low level-group, the one met in the game is so ridiculously overpowered that it could almost give a Karmoth (the most powerful being in the retinue of the Archdemon of War) a run for its money.
  • The expansion adds Kazak. While they don't actually appear in the games, the Nameless God and various arch-demons are mentioned.
• Elemental Powers: Plot relevant in the expansion of the second game, where you have to activate the elemental circle, using the (metaphorical) powers of the six elven elements: Fire (to improve your attacks), Ice (to freeze your opponents's hearts), Earth (to heal you), Water (to bypass the enemy defence), Air (to storm your opponents with allies) and Stone (to block your foes). You can also invoke three of these powers in the boss battle against Kazak.
• Elves Versus Dwarves: If you play as a dwarf, you get some special dialogue options in the elf village about dwarves always having to do the elves' dirty work.
• "Everybody Laughs" Ending: The ending in The River of Time.
• Failed Attempt at Scaring: Forgrimm tries to scare Fayris in the crypt of Nadoret. She calmly reminds him that (half-)elves can see just as well in the dark as dwarves can.
• Fan Film: A film for Eilif Thunderfist in TRoT.
• Fat Bastard: Baron Dajin of Nadoret and Stitus Bloomfold.
• Fate Worse than Death: The apparent fate of Tharkath, who sold his soul to the Nameless One, after his last defeat.
• Framing Device: The opening scene of The River of Time establishes that, in story, its a tale Forgrimm is telling Gladys sometime after the events of the first game.
• Funny Background Event: In Nadoret, occasionally there's a "fleeing man" running through the streets. While something like this is usually a trigger for some sort of quest, this time it's just a guy being chased by a woman with a rolling pin.
• Ground Punch: The Stone Guardian in Drakensang 2: Phileasson's Secret notably performs ground-punching whenever he has to open a closed door. Lampshaded by the other guardian, a cheerful djinn who reminds him that "he doesn't need to punch the ground to open doors".
• Hulk Speak: Zutar, Soorman's right-hand orc, is smart for an orc but has not quite mastered Garethian. Goblins are even worse.
• Hard Mode Perks:
  • The Zant demon encountered in TRoT can be weakened by employing up to five magical seals the player finds. This fight is nearly impossible to win for the average player without using any seals. However these seals can also be turned in for additional rewards, if they are not used in the fight.
  • Similarly, the expansion's Disc-One Final Boss Kazak, which can be made easier by employing up to three of six elemental crystals. The reward for using less/no crystals is not very significant, though.
• Hellish Horse: The leader of the demonic horde Kazak in Phileasson's Secret is a giant horse demon wielding a scythe.
• Hidden Elf Village:
  • A literal one.
  • Also a Hidden (and deserted) Elf Capital, namely Tie'Shianna in Phileasson's Secret.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: it happens a lot during TRoT in a very karmic way. The corrupt commander of the Thurstein Garrison, for example, gets eaten by his own pet Kraken after he tried to feed your party to him.
• I Know Your True Name: The bosnickel kobold makes you play a riddle game to find out his true name.
• Improbable Weapon User: You can use scruffy fishes to escape from a cell in the sequel. Other weapons include a fishhook, a broomstick, a pick and the jaw of a stag beetle.
• Just Desserts: Commander Stitus Bloomfold get eaten by his own pet Kraken
• Karma Houdini: In TRoT, Jasmine gets away in the middle of the final fight, never to be heard off again.
• Kraken and Leviathan: Kraken are mentioned as creatures inhabiting the Great River, as well as the fierce Water Dragons. You fight both a Newt Kraken and a Water Dragon (the latter as an Optional Boss) in The River Of Time.
• Legions of Hell: The horde sieging the elven capital in Phileasson's Secret.
• Lethal Chef: Efferdian's heist requires one of his henchmen to pose as a cook. So far he has not mastered the art (which is why Efferdian is permanently on the loo).
• Liquid Courage: How do you make an ox follow you? Buy Forgrimm a few beers and he'll speak oxish.
• Literal Metaphor: A carter asks you to find his companion who is a "stupid ox". He turns out to be a literal ox.
• Love Makes You Evil: Tharkath.
• Mutually Exclusive Party Members: Early in the game, your party will be you, Fayris and Jaakon. Then you have your first brush with the Big Bad and you can only save one of the two, the other will die.
• Never Trust a Title: Kinda like with the Realms Of Arkania series, the second installment has a title that is highly misleading at best —there is no "river of time" to speak of in the game (apart from a Title Drop by Emmeran). Sure, your party is based on a boat and travels up and down a river, and the game takes place in a time before the first installment, but that's about the extent to which both issues are affected.
• Never Smile at a Crocodile: The Marus. Not only they're gigantic but they also carry weapons and armor.
• Nice Guy:
  • Captain Hooksong/Hakensang in the sequel. Despite being a pirate captain and first met while attacking the elves, he's a really nice person, open to the dialogue and is even grateful to the player if he makes a deal with the elves for him. When met later, he's willing to help the party in their mission.
  • Also Commander Nimralph.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Turning dwarven workers, who were ignorant of Avarosh's plans, into stone was not nice, but the kobold was right to keep the dwarves away from the hell iron. Once you evict him, the situation in the mine gets a lot more dangerous.
• Nobody Poops:
  • Averted with Efferdian who cannot get off the can after foolishly trying his henchman's cooking. You can use the console to open the outhouse door (he sits there with his pants up).
  • Bloomfold's pug will pee on the pier before joining your crew.
• Obliviously Evil: Bloomfold's half-ogre ratcatcher and basement guard is a simple soul but will do his best to kill you unless you distract him.
• Our Ghouls Are Creepier: You have to deal with some ghouls who are dwelling in a cursed crypt. However, they aren't undead - in the pen-and-paper RPG itself, they are not classified as an undead creature, being "normal" monsters instead who merely have corpses as their main diet (compare to the "necrophages" of The Witcher). They still attack almost everything on sight, though, and their bite is infectious (due to the corpse-eating), so there are cosmetic similarities to undead.
• Really Gets Around: Leti, the Inn maid in the sequel is apparently the "Village Bicicle" of the whole Hammerberg village. Her lovers include Captain Soorman, Captain Hooksong, Captain Rumpo, Avarosh Goldtooth and has even a tiny Ship Tease moment with Eilif Thunderfist.
• Right-Hand Cat: Blofeld had a cat, Bloomfold has a pug (which you later adopt). It completely averts the Right-Hand Attack Dog trope.
• Rookie Red Ranger: In TRoT the more experienced adventurer group appoints you to be their leader. Justified, as the usual leader is out cold, the other two members never agree on anything, and you have just proven yourself worthy by taking (with strength or stealth) a fortress and killed a frigging Kraken.
• Sdrawkcab Speech: Efferdian's two henchdwarves talk like this.
• Sinister Scythe: In TRoT, the Marus War Scythe is the most realistically pictured one, as it looks more like a large glaive with a long, slightly curved blade. In the expansion, the demon lord Kazak The Blood Covered One wields a gargantuan scythe, complete with curved shaft and handle on the side, though he usually use the blade to hit his enemies as if he's using a pickax.
• The Name Is Bond, James Bond: The bosnickel kobold claims, among other things, that his name is "Nickel. Bos Nickel".
• This Is My Name on Foreign: In the original, the bosnickel kobold also claims that his name is "Klint Ostwald", a germanization of Clint Eastwood.
• Tragic Monster: Torlosh the demon/dwarf and the Crab Beast, who's possessed by the restless soul of Brother Emmeran's deceased brother.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife / Odd Couple: Captain "Latin Lover" Rumpo is a ass-ugly midget who needs a magic ring in order to speak fluently, but his partner is the beautiful, buxom innkeeper Jhadira.
• Underground Monkey: The "Horde Monsters" in Phileasson's Secret are nothing more than previously seen enemies with a different outer skin, who otherwise behave like them. Specifically, Horde Archers are Goblins, Horde Warriors are Orcs, Horde Ogres are Ogres, Horde Mutants are Werewolves and Horde Chieftains are the previously seen Dragonmen.
• Unusual Pets for Unusual People: Bloomfold has a soft spot for giant beasts. The stars in his collection are a kraken and a half-ogre ratcatcher.
• When It All Began: The intro of TRoT.

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