Turbine designers reveal some of the foundations of Dungeons & Dragons Online
By Michael Lafferty

“…just the fact that it’s Dungeons & Dragons is a geek dream come true”

The very name conjures up concepts that have been around for decades. Dungeons & Dragons, originally a pen-and-paper (PnP, also referred to as pencil-and-paper) game, based on a hard-and-fast ruleset that consumed hours of time with players acting out roles and tracing through worlds created vibrantly within their own minds and yet controlled by the DM (or Dungeon Master).

It was those very same games and campaigns that spawned much of the worlds the videogame industry likes to call role-playing games (RPGs), and the rulesets also have formed the foundation – with modifications – for a wide number of MMOs (massively multiplayer online titles). When it was announced that a new MMO would be coming out that would actually be called Dungeons & Dragons, the ears of generations of PnP gamers perked up. Just what would this new MMO entail? How closely would it follow the imaginary realms and rulesets of the PnP games?

Turbine Entertainment is the holder of the valued D&D license and come late fall, it will unleash Dungeons & Dragons Online upon the MMO genre. Stunning to look at, the game will feature adventure, challenge, dungeon crawls, and class systems certain to capture and captivate the imagination.

The game takes place on the continent of Xen’drik in the world of Eberron, and the campaign for this online game was created by Keith Baker and Wizards of the Coast, and uses the 3.5 ruleset.

But if one wishes to hear about this title, it’s best to go right to the source and that means Turbine’s Ken Troop, DDO Lead Designer, and Dave Eckelberry, Senior Game Systems Designer. 

GameZone had the chance to interview them about D&D Online.

Question: In creating a game called Dungeons & Dragons, there must be expectations, both from the fans of the pencil-and-paper game as well as MMO fans in general. How much of the D&D ruleset is being incorporated into this game and what elements have you had to modify for MMO gamers who may not be familiar with the actually rulesets as long-time fans?

Eckelberry: How much of the D&D ruleset was incorporated? Oh, as much as we possibly could. The core of our game system, from d20 rolls to races, classes, and everything else, was accomplished with a direct translation of 3.5 D&D rules from pen-and-paper. Every kind of spell, feat, skill, et cetera; the first thing that we did was to take the D&D rules and drop them into our game just as they’re written.

As the second half of your question notes, of course, we’re not a pen-and-paper game, and we’re going to have to make some interpretation and adaptation as we bring DDO into being as both a videogame and an MMOG. Really, though, we’re not making rule changes for MMOG gamers who may not be familiar with the D&D rulesets. Our job for those players new to D&D is to provide clear and obvious feedback and intelligent choices for them to make. The real modifications to D&D rules come where either it’s strictly necessary, or where it’s for the good of the game.

As an example of the first case (necessary rule changes), D&D Online doesn’t have a turn-based structure. It’s basically real-time. Players are simultaneously taking actions: attacking, casting spells, and the like. Let me give you an example of how this makes a difference. In pen-and-paper D&D, the haste spell allows a character to make an extra attack in a combat round. Well, we don’t have rounds. So instead the haste spell just makes your character attack faster — your attack animations speed up, and as a result you make more attacks per minute.  

I think everyone can expect and appreciate those sorts of changes. The other sort of changes come when we, as DDO’s designers, do our best to make not just a faithful D&D MMO, but also a MMO that stands on its own fun and quality.  

Q: When you set about creating this D&D world, what were the primary ingredients that you knew you had to have right at the onset of the project?  

Eckelberry: Hmm, sounds like a good time for a top 10 list:

1. A good understanding of not just how the D&D rules work, but why they work the way they do: so when we had to make changes, we follow not just the letter of the D&D rules, but also the philosophy behind its design.

2. Commitment to make a faithful D&D MMOG, taking the time to do things right, and to make a game we wanted to play.

3. A combat engine that we could begin experimenting with as soon as possible.

4. A collection of SCA fans willing to cut themselves to ribbons as we made D&D real-time.

5. Patience. D&D has oodles of complicated little ad-hoc rules, and we needed to embrace as many of them as we could.

6. Support and guidance from our friends at Wizards of the Coast, makers of Dungeons & Dragons

7. Bottomless supplies of caffeine for sleepless nights like this one.

8. Art assets fast. At first for just design, but we needed a plan for a huge list of not just monsters, characters, and items, but spells, dungeons, decorations, et cetera.

9. 50 Player’s Handbooks for designers and artists to reference, and a few million d20s to stick into computers to roll endlessly.

10. And finally, a love of the D&D experience and a passion to bring it to life in an online game.

Q: Tell us a little about the skills and professions players will have the option of pursuing. Will skills carry racial bonuses? In most MMOs, mages seem to be the most deadly (in terms of dps) of the classes, though the tradeoff is that they are rather squishy. It has been stated that rogues will get a bit of loving in DDO, but what have you done to balance the classes and make disparate classes more dynamic in a group setting?

Eckelberry: Lots of good questions here. Okay, for the easiest answer: The professions that player will have to choose from are classes out of the Player’s Handbook — and whatever combination of them they want to multi-class together.

Some races do have some advantages with certain skill directly granted to them because of their race. These tend to be fairly minor bonuses, a small advantage, but not an overwhelming one. Think 5-10% better.

Arcane spellcasters (wizards and sorcerers), especially those with a level or two under their belt, are the best sources of damage. They’re really good at “burst” damage (lots of damage really fast) and area-of-effect damage. It’s no surprise that mages from most MMOGs are of similar bent to the wizards of D&D and D&D Online, since fantasy muds and fantasy MMOGs have borrowed liberally (to put it delicately) from D&D.

Q: Will mages have to carry reagents for spellcasting? Will armor and weapons deteriorate with use?

Eckelberry: Yes, spellcasters carry components. Those same spells in pen-and-paper D&D that require a material component require a component in D&D Online. For most spells, these components will be relatively easy to find, keep track of, and replenish. The character can restock only a few inventory slots without having to pay a great deal of attention to the process. A few spells, iconic to D&D, have harder-to-find, or at least more expensive, components.

Armor and weapons can suffer damage in combat; characters who suffer damage may also suffer some item deterioration depending on the quality and durability of their equipment, and the strength of the blow involved.

A primary goal of this system is to preserve the economic balance in the world of Dungeons & Dragons Online. Spellcasting characters mostly suffer from needing to reload through components, melee-focused characters must deal with item wear, and ranged-combat characters must replenish their ammunition.

Q: Does the game mostly rely on missions and campaigns, or is the gameplay somewhat open-ended for player discovery and the ability to set their own course through the game? What impact will players be able to make on the persistent game world and will you allow players ownership in any form (dwelling or such)?

Troop: The heart of the D&D experience is adventuring together with a group of your friends – sometimes on short quests, and other times on long campaigns full of intrigue and danger. D&D Online offers those same experiences – many quests that can be accomplished in a half-hour either by you or with a group, but also long and complicated adventures that require the full resources of a dedicated and heroic party. D&D Online is focused on bringing the D&D adventuring experience to life instead of trying to create a “simulated world.” We believe strongly that online gamers want a fun gaming experience with their friends above all else.

Q: Will there be clan support?  What can players gain from being in a clan and will the game have clan-oriented content?

Troop: There will be guilds in D&D Online. One of the great things about Eberron, the new WOTC world setting in which D&D Online is based, is that it is rich in intrigue amongst very powerful organizations – think of them as high-magic fantasy corporations. These organizations want to form alliances with guilds of players to serve their own ends, so not only do guilds in D&D Online serve the essential purpose of allowing a large group of people to form bonds and coordinate adventures, they also are the main path through which players can interact with and gain benefits from the various organizations of Eberron.

Q: Tell us a bit about the economic system of the game. Although crafting will not be part of the initial release of the game, are there plans to make it a viable aspect of the game down the road? Will the game have mob drops, unique items, and will the economy have player input or be completely NPC-driven?

Troop: Eventually we want to do crafting – it’s a part of the D&D system and it’s something we want to bring to D&D Online. But right from the beginning, players will have access to rare and powerful items to be found in the labyrinthine dungeons and jungles of Xen’drik. While there will be NPC vendors in D&D Online, the high-level and most powerful items will only be found through adventuring and exploration.

Q: Turbine has brought a lot of innovation to the MMO genre. In 2002, Asheron's Call 2 significantly elevated the genre and the perception of what players saw when they launched an MMO. What will DDO do to carry forth that tradition?

Troop: One of the things that are so exciting about working on D&D Online is that you can resist the temptation to throw bells and whistles on the project just to try to “flash” it up. When you’re making the seminal RPG, without which there wouldn’t be MMOGs, you really need to just let the game and the setting speak for itself. To that end, we haven’t had to concern ourselves with “How do we make a strong economic simulation? How do we create community? How do we make an online world?” Rather, it’s been – “Let’s make a fun D&D online RPG that you can play with your friends. If we do that, the rest will take care of itself.”

That and working with the Turbine Engine that allows us to create the most beautiful and detailed MMOG setting around – DDO has enjoyed a privileged life. 

Q: When you think of DDO, what elements get you the most excited about the title?

Troop: First and foremost, just the fact that it’s Dungeons & Dragons is a geek dream come true. The reason I’m in this industry, the reason why there’s an MMOG industry in the first place, owes its existence to D&D. Being able to make D&D characters and take them on D&D dungeon crawls, just you and your friends on the adventure while still being able to interact with a cast of hundreds of other players in the game – this doesn’t get any better. The Eberron setting itself is also really cool – a high-magic setting with many pulp and noir elements – for those of you haven’t tried playing Eberron yet, you should – it has a richness and depth lacking in most fantasy settings today. Finally, it’s very refreshing to work on a MMOG that knows its focus – fun combat and adventures with D&D characters. We haven’t tried to be the “be everything” world – just focusing on trying to be as true as possible to the D&D source and having a good time with your friends … it’s working pretty well so far.

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