Co-op Neverwinter RPG Announced For 2011

Atari and Cryptic Studios are teaming up to make a new Dungeons & Dragons-based RPG called Neverwinter, planned for Q4 2011. Gameplay will center on five-person groups that can include other players and/or AI allies, and there will be an extensive content generation system. Gamespot spoke with Cryptic CEO Jack Emmert, who explained parts of the game in more depth: "I think there are two very unique gameplay elements in 4th Edition that we've done something interesting with: action points and healing surges. In the tabletop game, an action point lets a player perform a reroll or add an additional die to a roll. In our game, action points are earned through combat and spent to power special abilities called 'boons.' These boons give players special boosts, but only in certain circumstances. Healing surges represent the amount of times a player can heal himself before resting. In D&D and Neverwinter, various abilities let players use a surge immediately or perhaps replenish the number of surges available. It's a precious resource that players will need to husband as they adventure in the brave new world. Positioning, flanking, tactics, and using powers with your teammates are also all things that come from the 4th Edition that are interesting. Of course, we're using power names and trying to keep power behavior consistent with the pen-and-paper counterparts. Neverwinter will definitely feel familiar to anyone who has played the 4th Edition."

pdf problems?

[nten]

Are your gripes related to the PDF of a d20? I liked rolling three d6 etc. The combination was decently close to a normal distribution which seems more realistic. And realism in simulating my attacks on gazebos is important to me.

Re:Healing surges

[Abstrackt]

I meant to do something with the idea of the pit being illusionary. Or the spikes. I'm not saying the players wouldn't die, just that it wouldn't be straightforward :)

We had a DM that loved fake traps. His best was a room where the ceiling was coming down towards the party, the door slammed shut behind us and wouldn't open, and there was a button next to it on the wall. Every time the button was pushed the ceiling would reset and start coming down again. It took about an hour and a half for everyone to figure out the solution. Turns out there was an invisible ledge with a pressure-sensitive switch that opened the door; the ceiling came to rest on it just outside everyone's reach. Every time someone hit the button they delayed getting out of the room.

Re:4th Edition?

[woopate]

Most of the time my party defined insanity in finding solutions. I recall one "boss" that we tried to avoid peacefully, and the resulting situation involved his horde of minions singing him Happy Birthday as he chased us out of his palace with a rather large hammer.