Dungeons and Drugons Online Interview
Posted Friday, November 28, 2003 - 16:21 CET by chevalier

The Lead Designer Ken Troop has been interviewed on the most expected by hardcore D&D fans Dungeons and Dragons Online MMORPG. Not only does he share the general vision of the new D&D product, but he also answers several more specific questions regarding the setting and technical details.

Q: How close to the pen and paper experience will players have in this new MMORPG? What will be better about this type of experience?

A: We get this question a lot, and it’s a tricky one. An online RPG experience and a tabletop RPG are fundamentally different experiences, each with distinct advantages. The pen and paper game is inherently more social, and has the advantage of a DM to adjudicate special circumstances. The online experience has the advantages of bringing people together from across the globe, keeping things faster paced by keeping track of the numbers behind the scenes, and providing a rich visual world to supplement the player’s imagination. Pen and paper systems approximate actions happening over time – a MMP version is able to actually be real-time.

Q: How close will D&DO be sticking to the mechanics set forth in the rulebooks?

A: Pretty darn close. Wherever possible, we’re using the books verbatim to determine the game mechanics, especially as they relate to character abilities and advancement.

Q: Death is as it should be in D&D, harsh. How do you plan to keep the integrity of the game without trivializing death the mechanics?

A: Our death penalty will be quite harsh, make no mistake. At the same time, the rate of character death in D&D Online will certainly be much higher than the rate of character death in your average pen and paper campaign. We’ve adjusted accordingly, but it’s still pretty painful.

Q: Are we going to see clerics in the more classic D&D sense?

A: Clerics rock, especially in 3.5e. Heavy armor, decent melee, turning undead, good hitpoints, offensive, defensive and utility spells, and of course, their role as a walking hospital… the role of the cleric is one of the most important ones in the game. (See “harsh death penalty,” above!)

Q: How rare will magic items be?

A: Eberron is a fairly “high magic” setting, so basic, low-powered magic items won’t be too hard to come by. Still, there’s a big difference between find a potion of cure moderate wounds for sale, and playing euchre with a deck of many things at the local tavern. The rare stuff will be appropriately rare.

Read the whole at EGCore.