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The Adventurer's Guide to Thievery
[The 4th Edition of the seminal pen & paper RPG Dungeons & Dragons has just debuted - but why should game developers care? THQ veteran Tom Smith explains what video games can learn from D&D's evolution.]
A new
edition of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) came out last Friday -- three books
of great ideas that the video game industry can work with. Taking ideas from pen and
paper games, and D&D in particular, is a proud tradition that has served
video games well over the years.
Hit points? 'Borrowed'. Character classes? Gygax
and Arneson were there first. Gaining power through Experience Points and
levels? Ruthlessly swiped. This article provides suggestions for inspiration game developers can take from the series - or, if you're being cute, 'epic thievery'. Oh, and the term "epic"? D&D used it first.
You Have Your Math,
D&D Has The Math
So what
is the 4th Edition? Basically, it takes the D&D ruleset further down
the road of standardization and simplification that began with 3rd
edition. D&D's first two editions were teeming with different rules and charts
and systems, so that no one part of the game integrated easily with any other. The
3rd tried to turn these micro-systems and exceptions into a true
systems design, with coherent themes and structures. The 4th
continues this trend.
For
example, both player and monster stats are now standardized. Regardless of what
class or creature, its core numbers (HP, attack, damage, etc.) progress in a
regular way as it gains power.
There are plenty of exceptions to these rules,
but for the first time, there is a clear baseline from which all the exceptions
deviate. And that baseline is designed with some thought behind the numbers, to
keep the die rolls interesting at all levels of player power. And all of this
math is exposed to the player, making it easy for D&D's vibrant mod
community (i.e., every Dungeon Master, or DM) to create new monsters or powers
and trust that they'll fit the overall game balance.
All
classes have a simple fixed list of powers that they can use over and over
again, giving each class a similar range of abilities even if the abilities
themselves are diverse and flavorful. Wizards don't memorize spells from a big
list any more, and fighters can do more than "attack with the same weapon
again".
Much of
this standardization is probably familiar to video game designers -- MMOs like World of Warcraft have provided plenty
of examples of this sort of standardized system before, where fighter sword
swings and wizard spells are both treated as a button click followed by an
animation and damage.
The D&D designers did a good job of taking ideas
from video games that help their game work better without overly diluting the
unique feel of their game. Hopefully we can prove as competent at returning those influences as
they were.
The Value of Taking
Deriving ideas is an important skill that game developers need to develop. There are no
new ideas, so all creativity comes down to creative and judicious taking. Often,
it's tempting to just take the outer expression of an idea. But copying a single
interesting enemy or character concept by itself without incorporating the
underlying ideas can wreak havoc on a design.
That enemy may only work in
conjunction with that game's style of player attacks, or spawn strategy, or AI.
To take well, it is necessary to truly understand the thing to be stolen. Once
understood, it's possible to derive the idea
rather than just the implementation. Take the soul, not the shell. Then twist
the soul to subvert it to the game's vision.
As such,
the remainder of this article covers some of the core ideas of 4th
edition D&D that are potentially applicable to video games. Some reinforce known
best practices, while some point to new design space that could prove fertile
for new game ideas.
Either way, borrow carefully. Make sure these ideas fit the
game's vision. Play D&D a bit to see how they actually work in practice
instead of just taking my word for it. Play some other RPGs to see if they have
better ideas to derive form. Don't just grab the outer shell and forsake the rich intellectual
goodness inside.
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Comments
For instance earlier when it mentioned about how the system simplified the use of skills. The point here isn't that you're meant to simply any skill system you have. The point is that a heavily abstract list like what they had in 3ed is counter productive to a smooth running game and it made values that were 0s nearly useless to the player. They took a cumbersome system and made it more streamlined and fitting to the feel they wanted. Which has nothing to do with there being "no new ideas".
As to my feelings on this, I love the article, very informative and I have to say some very good points. I have noticed as a designer I have a tendancy to make systems more complex than they really have to be.
I absolutely hated the random and inappropriate shout out to Miyamoto in the end. He abandoned the core audience to cater to casuals, so he definitely does not belong in an article about D&D 4th edition, a game that proves that you don't have to sacrifice the core to reach out to the casuals. You should’ve mentioned Will Wright or at the very least, Blizzard/Harmonix for creating great games that take creativity from everyday people and everyday life but truly translating them into great games, not half-baked attempts. :p
Extra tidbit on Miyamoto: When asked if Mario Galaxy drew any inspirations from Rachet and Clank with the spherical level designs, he said "Rachet and Clank? I've never heard of that game. Is it a PC game?” I’ve never personally played R&C but how can anyone serious about game design and “innovation” not know R&C? Plus, what kind of response was “Is it a pc game?” Any game he never heard of must be on PC?
Shaun, great point about the D&D blogs and podcasts - lots of good design philosophy there. And many of their core design tips apply to video games as well as RPGs. The Magic the Gathering ones are worth checking out, too.
I'm sorry if the Miyamoto thing didn't work for you. I've always drawn inspiration from his talks on how gardening influenced the design of Pikmin, which I consider to be a great example of seeing game design in the world around you. Which is what I was trying to get to, as plucking design secrets from everyday things is the ultimate expression of thievery. But I may have rushed that point a bit.
The DM Guide, among other things, points out that you can create a game with more moral ambiguity rather than being strictly heroic. While we've seen some video games with ambiguity, heroic definitely wins out in most cases. Maybe video games still have a lot to learn from D&D?
"Published modules can define discrete skill challenges as a way to structure to that annoying time between combats." is also an interesting comment. I haven't played D&D for many years, but I remember when the time between combat was meant to be interesting in its own right without being boiled down to discrete skill challenges. Your comment makes it sound like if you aren't rolling dice, then you can't be having fun. (Which seems at times to be a theme behind 4th edition's design as well.)
And while you call "health packs" a stolen version of D&D's "healing potions," to me "healing surges" seem similar to the "quick recovery when resting" trend that blazed across FPS and even some third-person shooters. They certainly seem grounded in the same logic, of only needing a moment to freely get yourself immediately back into the battle rather than having to squander resources spend precious time being cautious while in search of an external means of healing.
But I was also trying to indicate that the time between combats has historically been a difficult time for designers to deal with. Both electronic and role-playing games have their roots in combat-heavy scenarios, so stretching the design outside of combat space has traditionally been an after-thought for the big releases. Of course, there are plenty of other, smaller games (both digital and paper) that explore those spaces in interesting ways, but I'm honestly happy to see the granddaddy of them all - D&D - explore that space a little more than previous editions.
And on the broader issue of D&D and MMORPG similarities, I tried to address that a touch in the text by pointing out how well D&D has managed to take good ideas from other sources without diluting their own feel. I don't think D&D is just mindlessly copying MMOs - I think they're doing a very clever job of stealing the right ideas and applying them well. But it doesn't mean that D&D is no longer D&D, at least to me.
What developers can learn from D&D:
If you're going to miss your launch date, publicize that fact. Don't send around brochures and flyers screaming praise of your new D&D Insider online features being available and then hide a tiny little article deep in your website pointing out that it'll be MONTHS after launch before they're ready.
At least I only paid $57 for my book set on Amazon. I was hoping to play, since I don't have any local friends who like D&D, but I guess I'll have to shelve them until fall or winter...
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