By John Grigsby, Staff Reviewer

While at GenCon, I had the chance to sit down with David Eckelberry, whose name will no doubt be familiar to any fan of the Alternity game and the Star*Drive setting in particular. David, along with Richard Baker, designed the Star*Drive setting and also designed the Lighthouse supplement for the Alternity game. His other works include Masters of the Wild, Savage Species, One Last Riddle, and Diablo II: To Hell and Back, and he has served on the development team for numerous other D&D and Alternity products. These days, David is a Senior Game Designer for Atari, working on the new Dungeons and Dragons Online, which will be unveiled sometime in the first quarter of next year. David was kind enough to sit down with me and answer a few questions about the game, as well as demonstrate some of the nuances.

The game takes place in the Eberron setting, on the continent of Xen'drick, a wild continent of danger and mystery that lies to the south of Khorvaire, the continent that serves as the primary focus of the campaign. Eberron was chosen because of the focus on the actions of the PCs and how those actions change the scope of the world around them. It is a very active environment, not a static one forged from hundreds of years of history. David calls the game "very different" from many on-line games, citing elements of more action-oriented games.

As an example, he took me through a sample combat in the game. First, I was delighted to see a small d20 sitting down in the corner of the screen that actually rolled each time a combatant took a swing. In this way, you get some of the thrill of the table-top game, enhanced by stunning visuals that let you see the action. Combat is real-time, and includes blocking, tumbling, and evasion. In fact, David demonstrated how a skilled fighter can watch his opponent's movement to actually avoid attacks. As the ogre raised its club to strike, he deftly stepped back, allowing the swing to strike only empty air.

In stealth mode, it is actually possible (assuming you make the appropriate skill checks, of course) to sneak right by a monster completely unnoticed. This is an essential game element, since the game is entirely quest-driven. What that means is, you don't necessarily have to defeat monsters to gain experience. It is also possible to avoid them entirely, lead them into traps, or even trap them in a room. Don't linger in stealth mode, though. The longer you stand there, the better the chance you'll be detected.

At the time of release, support is planned for humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and warforged, as well as barbarians, bards, clerics, fighters, paladins, rangers, rogues, sorcerers, and wizards. Obviously, to preserve playability and the multi-player experience, a few concessions had to be made. Warforged, for example, are not necessarily immune to critical hits and things like energy drain (as they are in the actual campaign). Instead, these abilities will become available as feats that can be chosen as the character progresses. Though shifters and artificers (and other unique races and classes) do not appear in the initial release, support for them in the future is planned. Artificers present a particularly unique problem, because it doesn't seem right to allow a character that can create magical items on a whim to overpower the treasure system inherent in the game. The solution to this has yet to be announced, but they are working on an equitable balance to permit the class in a future release. In the initial release, characters will be limited to 10th level. David said that he hopes to see support up to 20th level by the end of 2006, with the possibility of support for epic levels beyond that. Characters are created through a point-buy system to insure balance. Dragonmarks are not implemented in the first release, but may be supported in future releases. Prestige classes will also be added later.

One very interesting element that David spoke of was the death of a character. Death isn't necessarily the end in D&D, as many players of the pencil and paper version are well aware. So it is here, as well. When a character dies, they drop a soulstone in the spot where they met their unfortunate demise. The player is then given a choice; return to the city or the nearest shrine to be resurrected (with appropriate loss of experience) or hang about as a ghost. As a ghost, a character has limited movement (they must remain near their soulstone) and can't do much, but it is possible for an ally to pick up the soulstone and carry it to a place where resurrection is possible. Dungeon adventures are strictly private excursions; only the members of a given party will experience the dungeon, but some outdoor areas are shared, which means that a kindly stranger may also pick up your soulstone and carry it to a shrine or the city.

Dungeons and Dragons Online features a highly interactive environment. Doors can be broken down, certain props destroyed, perhaps even walls collapsed, etc. Moreover, the environment does not regenerate itself. If you batter down a door to gain access to a room, that door will still be battered down the next time you pass. Obviously, this can change the way you play somewhat. Almost all of the skills in the D&D game have made the transition (if you enter deep water, for example, your movement and chances of drowning are determined by your Swim skill), as have many of the feats (along with a few new ones). Along the same lines, there is no "autosearch" function. If you intend to locate a trap to disarm, you'll have to search for it. Oh yes, and the monsters will learn from experience, as well. Don't expect a trick that worked the first time to work again unless the creature is particularly stupid.

Unlike some other MMORPGs, hit points and mana do not regenerate automatically by simply standing around. You'll have to rest to recover them, and that means finding a rest camp or a tavern. Wait a minute! Mana? Yes, Dungeons and Draqons Online uses a modified version of the spellpoint system presented in Unearthed Arcana. Wizards and clerics must prepare a limited selection from their known spells, but can cast a prepared spell as often as desired until their spellpoints run dry. Sorcerers and bards can, of course, select from any spell they know. Of course, you can't cast certain spells without reagents. Some will be readily available in the city of Stormreach, but others may require some questing to find.

On the mechanical side of things, David has assured me that the system will be well-defended against hacking, and that certain features exist to recognize and prevent cheats or characters that have not earned their accolades. There is no PVP support at first, since the focus of the game is supposed to be on cooperation, but support for such may be added in at a later date. He stated that the level of character customization is somewhere between World of Warcraft and City of Heroes, but that much of it is based on rewards and character development. Group size will be limited, probably to six players, but guild support is offered. The focus here is on action and adventure, so don't expect to be able to set up a shop and relax, as in Star Wars Galaxies, for example.

Finally, David had this advice to offer, for those seeking to get a job in the industry. First, get a programming degree. Then, make sure that you play games of the type you want to write. Finally, become a decent writer, not just of code, but also narrative. Then, try to get in with a company as an intern or quality assurance associate. Once your foot is in the door, you can work up the ladder to your eventual goal.

You can follow the progress of Dungeons and Dragons Online, and sign up to be an alpha tester, at http://www.ddo.com.
A big thank you to David Eckelberry, who took time out of his busy schedule to show me the system and answer all my inane questions, as well as put up with my fanboy presence.