dragonage.jpgIt wasn’t a big surprise when we found out that Green Ronin (the go-to people lately for media property to RPG conversions) had been tasked with bringing the Dragon Age game setting to pen & paper. The colossally popular RPG from Bioware for the XBox 360 and Playstation3 has introduced a new generation to the wonders of fantasy-based sword and sorcery-style role playing and delivers a deep, well-developed dark fantasy setting that easily rivals the richness of more senior settings. However, GR has taken things up a notch, releasing the new Dragon Age RPG as a boxed set – and not just any boxed set. This high-production, glossy box contains three dice, a game master’s guide with a ton of advice for the new GM and a player’s guide that covers the first five levels. Sound familiar at all? This is the biggest homage to the original Dungeons & Dragons “red box” that I think I’ve ever seen. GR has already indicated that there will be future expansions (boxed sets???), covering higher-level characters. Older role players might find this format a bit stifling, but newer players (and this product is clearly aimed at new role players) are going to love this old-school treatment (even if they don’t realize it’s old school). This is the first major product release from one of the mid-tier publishers that we’ve seen in a while that is clearly trying to grow the hobby rather than cater to those of us already in the hobby.