Dungeons and Dragons has joined classic tabletop gaming as a video game adventure and both the hard copy and the digital version continue to evolve.
Over the years countless video games and online casino games with Grande Vegas Casino promo codes have been inspired by the iconic Dungeons and Dragons fantasy game that made geekdom “cool”. Now, in tandem with the release of the fifth version of rules for the tabletop version of D&D, Wizards of the Coast publishers is updating the digital version with a new campaign called Tyranny of Dragons.
Dungeons and Dragons
Dungeons and Dragons has captivated millions of players since it was first published in the 1970s. Today the game that was once focused on rolling of the dice includes computer games, online comings, books, miniature figurines and more. It is one of a select few classic games that has managed to stay relevant in the digital age.
D&D became a phenomenon almost as soon as it was first published in 1974. Today the game is recognized as the first modern role-playing game and the game that launched the role-playing game industry. In D&D each player creates his or her own character.
The characters then embark on adventures within fantasy settings. The dungeon-master serves as the game’s storyteller and referee. S/he is in charge of maintaining the setting where the adventures occur. The characters interact with each other and with the setting’s inhabitants -- solving dilemmas, engaging in battles, gathering treasures and knowledge, exploring and doing other activities that earn them experience points that allow them to gain power by rising in the levels.
Over the last 50 years D&D has remained the market leader in the role-playing game industry. Gamers can choose to play the relatively rules-light basic D&D game system or the more structured, rules-heavy Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game system (AD&D) which was introduced in 1989 and three additional systems have been introduced to date. The game has been translated into multiple languages and has won many awards.
New Version Launches
For the first time since 2014 there’s now a new version of D&D along with the Tyranny of Dragons campaign. Many observers are curious to see how Wizards of the Coast, the current publisher, will transcend platforms with such overreaching ideas. Wizards says that they will simply use the sharing concept to expand ways that players can join in the new storyline and create a community of shared experiences.
“The big part of a role-playing game is, you can do whatever you want. But we want you to end up at the same place at the end of the adventure,” Mike Mearls, senior manager for Dungeons & Dragons research and development, told CNN. “There are many ways to get there, but having a big event that brings everybody back together is part of the fun, because once you’ve gone up against Tiamat, you’ve got something you can talk to any fellow player about, even if you’ve never met that person before.”
To maximize different media to create that shared story experience meant that Mearls would be thinking differently about the narrative. He needed to abandon the focus on plotting out each monster’s specific actions in favor of coming up with a story bible that spelled out how the various creatures could behave in different circumstances.
Different Actions, Different Goals
According to Mearls, “Each one has a different way they act, a different goal they have. So when you encounter it in a (massively multiplayer online game), you can understand this creature, you can understand what it’s doing, because when I’m fighting in a 3-D action environment as opposed to a board game as opposed to a role-playing game, it has a trait that can shine through.”
This new concept is employed in the new multiplayer Neverwinter online multipliayer version which features the Tyranny of Dragons story. Much of the credit for this new vision lies in the collaboration between the creative teams at Wizards and the team at Cryptic Studios, the game developers.
This, says Rob Overmeyer, executive producer at Cryptic Studios, ensures that the look and the feel of the game is cohesive. Overmeyer explained that sharing creative elements opens up new possibilities for drawing players deeper into adventures.
For example, creatures that have been created at Wizards for the new release will also appear in the new “Monster Manual.” Those creatures have been rendered in a variety of resolutions and, as imaged by Wizard artists, can be integrated in a book, in a digital game or as templates for miniature figures. “It’s really about getting in there and having fun and playing D&D,” Overmeyer said of the online game. “If it feels like D&D, it is D&D.”
Sharing
Scott Kurtz, who developed the Table Titans online comic, which has storyline connections to D&D, is also a fan of sharing. Table Titans has the blessings of Wizards and, says Kurtz, the collaboration is beneficial to everyone.
“They are very good in guiding us away from what other authors are doing so we don’t step on toes, and they always are wonderful with suggestions, bibles, artwork, etc, But for the most part, they just sit back and watch us go. They really don’t do more than say ‘Here are some amazing toys; go play!’ “
Kurtz said that he’s thrilled to work hand-in-hand with the people now creating the game that he played as a child. “We promote D&D by nature of our comic being about that game, and they promote Table Titans in social media and at personal events because they love the strip The business team calls that synergy, and the creatives call it ‘mutual admiration.’ “
For Mearls, sharing among different media organizations ensures that the focus stays on the story -- the element that’s always been at the heart of D&D “It does create that community sense of shared experience, shared story, even though everyone’s story experience was unique,” Mearls says. “You can be whoever you want. You can do whatever you want.”
