Q: I've
heard of Pool of Radiance before, is this a different game?
A: Yes, it's a sequel. The original Pool of Radiance launched in 1987
and was first D&D game on a computer to use the Advanced Dungeons
& Dragons game license. It was followed by 12 titles, often referred
to as the "gold box series". This release of Pool of Radiance
will take up the story 10 years after the old one ended. A new Pool of
Radiance has been discovered and your novice party of heroes will be dispatched
to uncover the source of the new evil. No knowledge of the prior PoR game
is required to enjoy this sequel, but it should be a lot of fun for the
many fans of the original.
Q: Who
is developing/publishing Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (PoR)?
A: POR is being developed at Stormfront Studios and published by Ubi Soft
Entertainment under the SSI brand. Stormfront has been associated with
SSI's classic "gold box" RPG offerings such as: Gateway to the
Savage Frontier, Treasures of the Savage Frontier and the original Neverwinter
Nights on AOL.
Q: What
engine is PoR using?
A: A new engine from Stormfront, using a state-of-the-art character animation
system.
Q: What
rules system is PoR using?
A: PoR will be the first D&D RPG to use the 3rd Edition
D&D Rules. The new rules set has been made available at GenCon in
August of 2000.
Q: Where
is PoR set, exactly?
A: PoR is set in the Moonsea region of the Forgotten Realms, and starts
in the port city of New Phlan, the original site of the first Pool of
Radiance. From there, the characters go to the ancient elven city of Myth
Drannor, located in the forest kingdom of Cormanthor.
Q: How
many areas will we have to explore?
A: Aside from the tutorial section in New Phlan, the section of Myth Drannor
that the characters explore contains several very large sub-dungeons.
Some locations have towers, overhead walkways, mystical teleportation
devices, and more.
Q: What
are they like?
A: Myth Drannor was the first city where many of the races were able to
co-exist peacefully, so there are several different environments in which
to adventure: the once-majestic towers of the elven Castle of Cormanthyr,
mysterious forested glades that were once a part of the city, and a dwarven
stronghold called the "House of Gems," to name a few. Also,
we’ve taken all of the maps of Myth Drannor that we could find and built
a 3D map of the city from the ground up. For all intents and purposes,
we have buildings that are accuracte in every way to the D&D information
we have.
Q: How
many new NPCs can we get?
A: You can create 1-4 characters to begin the game, and can have up to
six characters in your party with NPCs that you meet along the way. Once
an NPC joins your party, he or she is under your control.
Q: Is
there an XP cap?
A: Based on the new 3rd Edition Rules, PoR is designed to allow your characters
to progress from first level all the way up to sixteenth in any one class
(this allows spellcasters to cast up to 8th level spells). Players can
multiclass to a maximum to 16/16 or any combination thereof that does
not exceed level 16 in any one class. For example, a character could become
a 16th level rogue / 16th level sorcerer, or a 10th level barbarian, with
5 levels in cleric, 12 levels in ranger, and 5 levels in monk.
Q: What
are the races and classes?
A: We are supporting the basic Classes and Races per the new 3rd
Edition Rules: Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Ranger, Cleric, Sorcerer,
Monk, and Rogue. Races we’ll support are Half-Orc, Human, Halfling, Dwarf,
Elf, and Half-Elf. This is not to say that these are all of the races
in the game; we’ll have Drow NPCs and other races as well.
Q: Can we
play specialty priests?
A: No. Basic Clerics make more sense for adventuring in Myth Drannor due
to the fact that they're better suited for a variety of roles.
Q: Are
there going to be new magic items?
A: Yes. In fact, Myth Drannor is rumored to be quite a storehouse of magic
items. Many of the magic items that the player can find in PoR are ones
that are familiar from the Forgotten Realms, others are new, unique, items
that may surprise the player.
Q: Are
there going to be new spells & monsters?
A: Yes. There will be over 100 spells, some of them will be new 3rd Edition
spells and others will be the traditional spells. We have a wide variety
of monsters and some are straight from the pages of the new Player Handbook
for D&D. We even invented a new creature called the Arraccat for players
to face, which is sort of a combination of a spider, scorpion, and a lion
with a nasty temper.
Q: When
will Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor be released?
A: The game will hit the shelves of USA in the end of September 2001.
The rest of the world will have to wait till mid-November 2001.
Q
& A with Pool of Radiance Producer Chuck Yager
Q: How
has using the 3rd edition rules changed PoR?
A: Drastically! Originally the game started off as a 2nd Edition product
as the 3rd Edition rules hadn't been announced yet. After we made arrangements
with Wizards of the Coast to get copies of the rules, we immediately started
re-shaping the game to conform as best we could. Naturally, we already
had a significant code structure in place, and while we were able to implement
nearly all of the new rules, certain changes just didn't make sense for
our game or work within the code. However, the bulk of changes earned
the game the title of being the first RPG to show off the new 3E rules.
We have everything from concealment and cover in combat, to delaying and
refocusing your initiative, to brand new magical items, skills, feats,
and special class abilities for players to use at their disposal.
Q: Will
the NPCs ever do their own thing? Do members of your party interact? Why
a mandatory two slots for NPCs?
A: Throughout the course of the game, you run across a total of 8 NPCs
that will join your party and a host of others that won't. It is up to
you whether or not you let them join up; if you changed your mind, they
can usually be found later on in sections of the game. As for doing their
own thing, some NPCs have their own agendas, but if they are in your party,
they are doing your thing. We didn't want to create conflict within the
party nor confusion about which mission was more important. We left two
slots open for NPCs to give the player the chance to try out some different
characters if they wished… After all, you might decide you rather
like the sorcerer/fighter more than your ranger and want to swap them
out.
Q: Is
Pool of Radiance turn-based or real-time?
A: It's turn-based style gaming with a controllable twist. The turn times
are adjustable. You can set them for unlimited time, which is the most
like traditional D&D gaming or for as little as 6 seconds. At fastest
setting each character will have no more than 6 seconds to react, and
if the turn is not taken, the game will move to the next character.
