Think I’m over that writer’s block…
Originally published at InverseNotion [Home Site]. Please leave any comments there.
Been reading the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition players handbook and I am dying to run a game. I need to pick up the Dungeon Master’s guide to really carve out the adventure. I really like how they streamlined the game; it’s very easy to understand. They’ve removed many of the redundancies and just made it a very simple simple game.
You can tell they used MMOs as a baseline. It’s definitely come full circle. MUDs and the original MMOs used Dungeons & Dragons as a baseline for their level progression and use of quests. MMOs started off pretty simple: Quest Giver A needs item B located in Dungeon C. Dungeon C is guarded by Monster D. Beat Monster D and return Item B to Quest Giver A. This is the very basic concept of the traditional tabletop roleplaying game. What MMOs have missed are the intricacies of a large scale “quest”, where the results of the quest directly impact the world the characters live in. In tabletop roleplaying, if the character fails, the game still goes on. If the bad guy falls, he falls! If the town isn’t saved, it’s burned down! Game design is now approaching this level of detail, as with the Shattered Sun Offensive quests in World of Warcraft. I look forward to the day that what my character does in the world truly affects the world. If I fail I want to see the consequences, if I succeed I want to see the rewards, and I want the players around me to also share in both failure and success. We’re getting there, just not there yet.
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