Decline Sword Coast Legends Pre-Release Thread

[LeStryfe79]

Classes: Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, Wizard, Paladin, Ranger
Races: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Half Elf

Wish I could have gone to vegas with that one.

 

[bloodlover]

The rest of the classes will come as DLC.

edit: Also, no orcs? O.o

 

[Havoc]

NO GNOME?!

 

[LeStryfe79]

Hopefully Half Orc, Gnome, Bard and Druid will be in the next wave. Although, I can't foresee them doing Half Orc without Barbarian.

 

[Trodat]

What about sub classes!?

 

[Seari]

An Origins clone wouldn't be the worse thing in the world. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy playing it.

 

[LeStryfe79]

Jury is completely out on this one. Total coin toss. For fuck's sake.

 

[agris]

I wish there was an "unwatch thread until real information becomes available and the game is somewhat-close to release" option.

 

[Jarpie]

What about sub classes!?

DLCs obviously, duh!

 

[LeStryfe79]

No, the core sub classes have to be in the base game. They kind of fit the modern skill branching of CRPGs anyways. New sub classes as DLC will definitely be a thing both for this game and the PnP version.

They've said a lot of good things, but there's been no mention of skills yet. If they fuck that up, then everything goes to shit and it's just a hack n' slash regardless of DM's and Campaign tools. I'm most worried about this caveat.

 

[FuriousGamer87]

I have a hunch that they will just copy Wasteland 2 skill usage model but I am hoping I am wrong and that they aren't stupid enough to believe putting a no-skip lel timer on skill usage is a brilliant idea to pad game time

 

[Telengard]

Little lesson in marketing speak.

SWORD COAST LEGENDS

Tudge: In SCL we have adapted the fifth edition tabletop ruleset to better work in a videogame; however, n-Space and Wizards of the Coast have worked very closely to ensure we deliver an experience that feels "true to D&D."

DND ONLINE
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/15348

Answers by Kate Paiz, Senior Producer of DDO, and Stephen Muray, Lead Designer of DDO

Ten Ton Hammer: Are crafting and housing coming into the game any time soon?

Kate: We’re definitely going to have the beginning elements of a crafting system in place for Module 6….

Ten Ton Hammer: In the customizable weapons?

Kate: Exactly. We call it a prototype, because we want to insure that we’re creating a crafting system in a way that feels true to D&D and also true to DDO, which are two understandably different venues. We want to get this prototype out there, get people familiar with the basic benefits of the system, then grow the crafting process with a bigger release after we’ve taken a lot of player feedback into account.

NEVERWINTER
http://whnt.com/2014/08/20/digital-age-dungeons-dragons-is-more-than-rolling-dice/

Rob Overmeyer, executive producer at Cryptic Studios, said his co-workers constantly talk with the creative teams at Wizards well in advance of any new elements in the online version. Having those discussions not only allows for swapping of ideas, it gives a cohesiveness in the look and feel of the game, he said.

...The player’s actions in the online campaign will be overlaid on those in the game’s more traditional tabletop campaign.

“It’s really about getting in there and having fun and playing D&D,” Overmeyer said of the online game. “If it feels like D&D, it is D&D.”

 

[Shannow]

NO GNOME?!

Those were judged a mistake of nature in 4th ed. IIRC.
Were they re-introduced in 5th ed?

Anyway, dwarf fighter is in so I'm ok.

Well, now it's clear that the rules won't be D&D. Thus everyone suspicious of "inspired by" was right. Don't mean they're gonna suck though. They could come up with good alternatives.

Spoiler

Who am I kidding

Outside of TB game D&D rules are pretty shitty though, so nothing of value was lost?

 

[Alchemist]

NO GNOME?!

Those were judged a mistake of nature in 4th ed. IIRC.
Were they re-introduced in 5th ed?

Gnomes have been in D&D since the very beginning:

 

[Grubba]

NO GNOME?!

Those were judged a mistake of nature in 4th ed. IIRC.
Were they re-introduced in 5th ed?

Gnomes have been in D&D since the very beginning:

Ya, but wasn't it removed as a playable race when 4th ed. came out? I seem to remember there being a little hub-bub over that.

 

[jimmy_pvish]

.

NO GNOME?!

Those were judged a mistake of nature in 4th ed. IIRC.
Were they re-introduced in 5th ed?

Gnomes have been in D&D since the very beginning:

Ya, but wasn't it removed as a playable race when 4th ed. came out? I seem to remember there being a little hub-bub over that.

4th has Gnome as a playable race.
It's in Player's Handbook 2.

 

[getter77]

That....raises more questions than it comfortably answers. Christ, not even one of the more exotic, relatively "new" races to lead off the first 5e game period for a strong showing? To say nothing of the curious mutual attitudes on channeling the actual rules of the thing...

 

[Trodat]

That....raises more questions than it comfortably answers. Christ, not even one of the more exotic, relatively "new" races to lead off the first 5e game period for a strong showing? To say nothing of the curious mutual attitudes on channeling the actual rules of the thing...

Building hype is one answer, or that they are actually in the middle of developing those rules and are not ready to show or tell us peasants anything.

 

[Morblot]

Man, I really want this to be good - after all, I'm one of those fools who enjoyed NWN2, including the OC, despite all its flaws - but I just can't muster any optimism for this. Everything I've read so far seems very... underwhelming.

And what's this stupid trend of not even trying to adapt the tabletop rules in modern-day D&D games? I just don't get it.

 

[Shannow]

Baldur's Gate was also an "adaptation". I share your criticism, but I don't think it's a "modern" issue.
The reason seems to be suits. The most common explanation for stupid decisions.

 

[AbounI]

quoting from the interview:

As Wizards of the Coast was developing the latest edition we very specifically wanted to take emphasis off the rules and focus on the feel of the game. As part of the playtest and creation of the new edition we looked back at all previous editions and made sure we had clear ideas and descriptions for the most important elements. An example is magic, more specifically let's focus on the fireball spell. It isn't important that the Fireball spell does 8d6 damage or has 150 range in all our games, but is instead important that in each instance it is a mid-level spell that explodes and causes a wider range of damage. In other words, for our partners it's critical they capture the feel of the latest edition of rules, but not necessarily the specific mechanics.

Not knowing the efficiencies of skills or spells, and just knowing their range of level, is not what I call tactical friendly.I really hope there will be an access to those specific mechanics.I don't want the rules to be simplified like that

 

[Morblot]

Yeah, just the game being RTWP makes some sort of adaptation necessary, I get that and can live with it, even if I would prefer TB. But BG at least had THAC0, 5d6 fireballs etc, whereas this game apparently doesn't bother with that stuff. Now I admit I haven't played D&D 5e, but isn't that pretty streamlined rules-wise already? So what gives? Is the idea of rolling dice too complex and difficult for today's old-school RPG audience or what?

(Rambling Replying to Shannow, can't into quoting on crappy phone)

 

[Dorateen]

I think the problem is that Baldur's Gate's "adaptation" is one that can be considered faithful, or as close as one can reasonably expect for in a virtual environment. The spell book, for example, is copious. It's safe to say, SCL's "adaptation" of the rules won't be as thorough as Baldur's Gate (or the Gold Box games, or ToEEE, etc.)

More like a bastardization.

 

[Shannow]

Well, ToEE is what I'd call a faithful adaption. But I'm not a huge fan of the D&D rule-systems themself, especially the old THAC0 stuff. To me the meat of D&D lies in the TB combat. As ToEE showed. (And the 2nd ed spells in IE games are quite cool). The rest of 3rd ed is only interesting for char building. (I have no idea how involved that is in 5th ed. But from what I gather, it's overall less involved than 3rd.)
Since TB is out (boo!), I'm willing to at least look at what adaption they come up with. So if their fireball does 8-48 instead of 8d6 and is restricted by line of sight and fog of war, I can live with that ...
Which is to say: I don't expect the adaption to be good, but I'll wait until I have more information before any kind of judgement. And D&D rules are not great to begin with *inserthereticemoticon*
In regards to the spellbook selection: "Ray of Frost MK2" does not bode well, but I'd play a dwarven fighter so

 

[Trodat]

http://www.pcgamer.com/sword-coast-legends-dev-on-adapting-5th-edition-dd/

Where Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale used AD&D 2nd edition, and Icewind Dale 2 and Neverwinter used 3rd edition, the upcoming Sword Coasts Legends is based on Dungeon & Dragons' latest 5th edition ruleset. What does that mean for (c)RPG players planning a return to the Forgotten Realms?

Dan Tudge, president of Sword Coast Legends developer N-Space, explains. "I played the first AD&D, the first edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons," Tudge tells PC Gamer's Dan Griliopoulos. "For me I think fifth is the first time that they've really captured that original set of rules. Ease of use is the wrong word, because it is very, very deep, but it is accessible and it swings the focus back to adventuring rather than being all about the rules. It's about having fun and having a great adventure, which is why I got into D&D."

While there are specific things that need changing for Sword Coast Legends, Tudge thinks the new ruleset lends itself well to adaptation. "There's things that just don't translate from a six second round on the table top to a real time practical RPG, he says. "We've had to make some adaptations, but I think that's one thing that's really great about the fifth edition rules. They are almost more about the spirit of D&D, and the spirit of playing a great adventure with your friends. So it's actually been a very good rule set to adapt."

According to Tudge, the benefit of fifth edition is that players have more to do in combat. "It's been balanced in a way where you do a lot more hitting ... The fights don't end any quicker or any worse, but it's balanced in such a way that everybody still gets to have a lot more fun, because they're hitting more and wizards and casters are doing a lot more hitting. They're not limited to one or two things per encounter. And I think that's made it way more enjoyable for groups to play."

In addition, Tudge says, racial specialisations now offer more variety. "You get some really interesting variations of other classes now based on race," he says. "That, to me, is pretty cool. So now you can also have a cleric that can do some range damage and keep out of the fight and doesn't have to go in and tank. I think there's a lot more freedom now to really create the kind of character you want and it's very well-balanced within each other."

Sword Coast Legends will offer a full single-player campaign, as well as a Dungeon Master mode that will let players create dungeons on the fly, or pre-prepare full campaigns. For more from this interview, check out the next issue of PC Gamer, out 12 March in the UK.