Good D&D Online Article
Posted: Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:26 am
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/dungeons-drago ... 364p1.html
A Tour of Eberron (PC)
We take a detailed look at the world in which D&D Online is set.
By Miguel Lopez | Aug. 5, 2004
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It looks like your average fantasy world; it's replete with dragons, elves, wizards, and the like. It sounds like just a fantasy world, too -- the names of things are lofty and dramatic, and generally overwrought in just the right ways. But its spirit is everything but generic. Eberron -- the recently released campaign setting for the D&D pen and paper RPG -- draws as much inspiration from high-octane pulp narratives as it does from epic fantasy. Think Indiana Jones meets Tolkien. It's a world in which all the D&D archetypes are turned on their noses. You could, for instance, meet a benevolent beholder who's eager to help you free a gang of slaves. Conversely, the kindly high priest who's gainfully employing your party could be in league with nefarious forces. Alignment, in the traditional sense, can mean jack in many cases, and that's probably what makes Eberron most interesting. It's hard to make assumptions, and this inspires players to question motives, investigate seemingly random tangents, and ultimately feel more invested in the world in which they reside. It's in this world that D&D Online is set.
Eberron's origin is just as interesting as its tone. In 2002, Wizards of the Coast held a contest aimed at aspiring game designers, asking them to conceive a new, interesting campaign setting for the venerable RPG. Needless to say, the entries numbered in the thousands. In the end, the creation of a designer named Keith Baker emerged as the strongest concept, in the eyes of the committee. His creation would eventually become Eberron. It's not hard to tell that Wizards of the Coast is pleased with how it turned out. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Eberron is the Forgotten Realms of this generation -- the sort of default, definitive D&D milieu. The number of games set in it, including the upcoming RTS Dragonshard Wars, lend this some weight.
Xen'drik
Turbine has been given a whole lot of creative freedom to carve its own niche of Eberron. The particular region they were given, too, speaks volumes about how much faith Wizards has in the developer. It's called Xen'drik, and it's a harsh jungle continent just off of Khorvaire, the landmass that's as of yet been most significantly developed. In a sense, the jungle continent is the cradle of civilization in Eberron; thousands of years before the setting's commencement it was home to an advanced race of giants who built a civilization much more advanced than what the "lesser races" know today. It was from these giants that the elves and drow -- then their slaves -- learned how to manipulate magic. In any case, after several thousands of years (and a couple of cataclysms) the giant civilization fell. The elves then fled the continent, while the drow burrowed deeper into Xen'drik. As a whole, the secrets of the giants' civilization became lost in time.
At the campaign's outset -- which is the period where D&D Online is set, Xen'drik plays the role of the ultimate of frontiers. Wealthy noble houses, academic institutions -- generally any group interested in uncovering millennia-old, super-powerful arcana -- fund exploratory excursions into Xen'drik, much to the enrichment of adventuring parties brave enough to explore its deadly wilds. As of yet, very little has been officially released by Wizards of the Coast pertaining to the region. The Eberron sourcebook itself, while ripe with references to the history of the continent, makes very little mention of what's going on there now. It seems like the job of fleshing it out is largely in Turbine's hands.
Stormreach
Nestled on the tip of this harsh jungle continent is the city of Stormreach. Basically the focal point of D&D Online, it's a full-service frontier city catering to adventurers, explorers, and their ilk. Given the rich history of the land that it's built on, you can bet that there will be many opportunities for adventure within the city itself. Many of the dungeons that we got to check out in the demo were actually accessible from within the city's walls, one of which used the city's abandoned streets as a backdrop. There's no telling what sort of horrors Stormreach's foundations were built upon, so anything's possible
The city will be made up of various districts, and the demo I saw focused on two: the market, and the docks. The former was largely Middle Eastern in flavor, with lots of tented vendor stands, ornate plazas replete with fountains and plants, and light, blocky buildings modeled in a convincing style. The docks section was far more eclectic in design, with architecture suggestive of various real-world styles. With a fantastical twist, of course. As the name would imply, a bunch of fully rendered boats populated the watery parts of the district, presumably to eventually courier adventure-seekers to the many scattered islands off the coast of Xen'drik's mainland.
Fauna
It wouldn't be D&D without monsters, and there's no arguing that. But judging from what was present in the demo Turbine conducted, it looks like it's on the right track as far as selecting the right kinds of creatures to eventually pit you against. In terms of low-level creatures, there are kobolds. Scads of them. Some rushed in with melee weapons, and others stood back and shot arrows from a distance. Slimes, too, and they moved about in convincingly viscous ways. Many varieties of skeletons were present as well -- in sword-wielding, arrow-shooting, and spell-weaving flavors. I also saw wights, ghouls, and spiders, which lead me to one disturbing conclusion: the guys at Turbine are quite fond of creatures that drain the life out of you, paralyze you, poison you, or otherwise turn your otherwise-hardy avatar into a shriveled, debilitated mess. Glad to know the team is planning on making things easy on us.
On the higher end of the spectrum were minotaurs, some of which were content to gore adventurers with their mighty horns, and others who wore armor and had axes in each hand. They think they're people, apparently. One of the most interesting creatures was one that Turbine actually created for the game. It's called an Ice Flencer, and it's basically a lean, sinewy, menacing thing with cloven feet, and a propensity to freeze, and disembowel. Apparently, the heads at Wizards of the Coast liked it so much that they asked Turbine to draw up some stats for it so it can be included in future Eberron campaign supplements. Other varieties of the creature exist, including one that's fire-based, and another that doesn't seem to favor any particular element, so it'll be interesting to see what, exactly, their deal is. I also have it under good authority that there will be beholders in the game, but I can't say anything more on that subject.
To speak anymore on the matter would to be blindly speculate, and this isn't that article. As you can see, though, Turbine is well at work at carving out a significant niche of D&D's newest -- and one of its most exciting -- campaign worlds, and it seems to be doing it a good bit of justice.
That does it for today's update, but check back tomorrow -- we'll be talking shop with the guys at Wizards and Turbine. You're not going to want to miss it.
A Tour of Eberron (PC)
We take a detailed look at the world in which D&D Online is set.
By Miguel Lopez | Aug. 5, 2004
Advertisement
It looks like your average fantasy world; it's replete with dragons, elves, wizards, and the like. It sounds like just a fantasy world, too -- the names of things are lofty and dramatic, and generally overwrought in just the right ways. But its spirit is everything but generic. Eberron -- the recently released campaign setting for the D&D pen and paper RPG -- draws as much inspiration from high-octane pulp narratives as it does from epic fantasy. Think Indiana Jones meets Tolkien. It's a world in which all the D&D archetypes are turned on their noses. You could, for instance, meet a benevolent beholder who's eager to help you free a gang of slaves. Conversely, the kindly high priest who's gainfully employing your party could be in league with nefarious forces. Alignment, in the traditional sense, can mean jack in many cases, and that's probably what makes Eberron most interesting. It's hard to make assumptions, and this inspires players to question motives, investigate seemingly random tangents, and ultimately feel more invested in the world in which they reside. It's in this world that D&D Online is set.
Eberron's origin is just as interesting as its tone. In 2002, Wizards of the Coast held a contest aimed at aspiring game designers, asking them to conceive a new, interesting campaign setting for the venerable RPG. Needless to say, the entries numbered in the thousands. In the end, the creation of a designer named Keith Baker emerged as the strongest concept, in the eyes of the committee. His creation would eventually become Eberron. It's not hard to tell that Wizards of the Coast is pleased with how it turned out. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Eberron is the Forgotten Realms of this generation -- the sort of default, definitive D&D milieu. The number of games set in it, including the upcoming RTS Dragonshard Wars, lend this some weight.
Xen'drik
Turbine has been given a whole lot of creative freedom to carve its own niche of Eberron. The particular region they were given, too, speaks volumes about how much faith Wizards has in the developer. It's called Xen'drik, and it's a harsh jungle continent just off of Khorvaire, the landmass that's as of yet been most significantly developed. In a sense, the jungle continent is the cradle of civilization in Eberron; thousands of years before the setting's commencement it was home to an advanced race of giants who built a civilization much more advanced than what the "lesser races" know today. It was from these giants that the elves and drow -- then their slaves -- learned how to manipulate magic. In any case, after several thousands of years (and a couple of cataclysms) the giant civilization fell. The elves then fled the continent, while the drow burrowed deeper into Xen'drik. As a whole, the secrets of the giants' civilization became lost in time.
At the campaign's outset -- which is the period where D&D Online is set, Xen'drik plays the role of the ultimate of frontiers. Wealthy noble houses, academic institutions -- generally any group interested in uncovering millennia-old, super-powerful arcana -- fund exploratory excursions into Xen'drik, much to the enrichment of adventuring parties brave enough to explore its deadly wilds. As of yet, very little has been officially released by Wizards of the Coast pertaining to the region. The Eberron sourcebook itself, while ripe with references to the history of the continent, makes very little mention of what's going on there now. It seems like the job of fleshing it out is largely in Turbine's hands.
Stormreach
Nestled on the tip of this harsh jungle continent is the city of Stormreach. Basically the focal point of D&D Online, it's a full-service frontier city catering to adventurers, explorers, and their ilk. Given the rich history of the land that it's built on, you can bet that there will be many opportunities for adventure within the city itself. Many of the dungeons that we got to check out in the demo were actually accessible from within the city's walls, one of which used the city's abandoned streets as a backdrop. There's no telling what sort of horrors Stormreach's foundations were built upon, so anything's possible
The city will be made up of various districts, and the demo I saw focused on two: the market, and the docks. The former was largely Middle Eastern in flavor, with lots of tented vendor stands, ornate plazas replete with fountains and plants, and light, blocky buildings modeled in a convincing style. The docks section was far more eclectic in design, with architecture suggestive of various real-world styles. With a fantastical twist, of course. As the name would imply, a bunch of fully rendered boats populated the watery parts of the district, presumably to eventually courier adventure-seekers to the many scattered islands off the coast of Xen'drik's mainland.
Fauna
It wouldn't be D&D without monsters, and there's no arguing that. But judging from what was present in the demo Turbine conducted, it looks like it's on the right track as far as selecting the right kinds of creatures to eventually pit you against. In terms of low-level creatures, there are kobolds. Scads of them. Some rushed in with melee weapons, and others stood back and shot arrows from a distance. Slimes, too, and they moved about in convincingly viscous ways. Many varieties of skeletons were present as well -- in sword-wielding, arrow-shooting, and spell-weaving flavors. I also saw wights, ghouls, and spiders, which lead me to one disturbing conclusion: the guys at Turbine are quite fond of creatures that drain the life out of you, paralyze you, poison you, or otherwise turn your otherwise-hardy avatar into a shriveled, debilitated mess. Glad to know the team is planning on making things easy on us.
On the higher end of the spectrum were minotaurs, some of which were content to gore adventurers with their mighty horns, and others who wore armor and had axes in each hand. They think they're people, apparently. One of the most interesting creatures was one that Turbine actually created for the game. It's called an Ice Flencer, and it's basically a lean, sinewy, menacing thing with cloven feet, and a propensity to freeze, and disembowel. Apparently, the heads at Wizards of the Coast liked it so much that they asked Turbine to draw up some stats for it so it can be included in future Eberron campaign supplements. Other varieties of the creature exist, including one that's fire-based, and another that doesn't seem to favor any particular element, so it'll be interesting to see what, exactly, their deal is. I also have it under good authority that there will be beholders in the game, but I can't say anything more on that subject.
To speak anymore on the matter would to be blindly speculate, and this isn't that article. As you can see, though, Turbine is well at work at carving out a significant niche of D&D's newest -- and one of its most exciting -- campaign worlds, and it seems to be doing it a good bit of justice.
That does it for today's update, but check back tomorrow -- we'll be talking shop with the guys at Wizards and Turbine. You're not going to want to miss it.