Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale Preview and Interviews

We have several new Dungeons & Dragons Daggerdale articles to report about this morning, including a brief hands-off preview of Atari and Bedlam Games’ downloadable RPG over at Mana Pool:

From what we can gather so far, the level of class customisation seems a little limited, and rather than customising your character you’ll be able to select from a few pre-made classes: a Human Fighter, an Elven Rogue, a Dwarven Cleric, or a Hafling Wizard. However you are able to select your gear weapons, armour, accessories, helms and pots and these are created by a randomiser. There are apparently over a billion unique combinations of item in the game, so you’re unlikely to see the same thing twice. The game is unsurprisingly based on the newest 4th Edition rule-set which is a bit of a shame for those of us who are happier with some of the older rules, but I’ll concede that it makes sense from the point of view of a new game. This means you’re also able to use the feats system, which allows you to spend points on abilities such as weapon specialisations to deal more damage with certain weapon types, or to give a higher chance to hit, or parry, or resist certain spell types. (I’ve not seen the exact list of feats which is available yet, but you get the idea.) Along with the feats, players will also be able to select new skills and spells for their characters as they level up, as you’d expect, as well as being able to distribute your stats in the STR, INT, DEX, WIS, CON, CHA system we know and love.

Then we jump into some more interviews with Bedlam Games creative director Zendro Chan, with the first appearing at Dealspwn:

MG: How do you hope Daggerdale to set itself apart from what has become an arguably saturated genre particularly with the XBLA release of Torchlight, Hunted, Dungeon Siege III and Diablo III on their way too?

ZC: Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale focuses on delivering white knuckle combat as well as deep character development and customization. All of our core systems are rooted in the D&D 4th Edition rule set. Working closely with Wizards of the Coast, we tune and tweak the game and narrative, polishing it into a perfect action RPG experience.

The second is at PlayStation Universe:

(Players will take quests, make allies, and develop their abilities as they adventure through the world; these actions are all linked together by the moment-to-moment gameplay,) Chan said. (Having strong mechanics makes every moment a blast to play through, making combat fun rather than a means to an end.)

…

(Dungeons and Dragons at its core is all about social interaction and playing together with friends,) Chan said. (Those that party together will face larger and tougher groups of monsters, increased challenges and additional looting opportunities, such as increased chances for more powerful rare items.)

And the third is at The Newb Review:

With the Daggerdale series set to span three titles in a full campaign, how much plot is there, and what kind of characters if any- will the players encounter?

Series? That’s not official. We think that buzz got started since the game focuses on the Heroic Tier of the character growth system outlined in the 4th Edition rules, which is the first third. The (internet) just took that as Daggerdale being the first of three parts. Ultimately, the fan base of Daggerdale will dictate its future releases.

As for Daggerdale, the story revolves around Rezlus, an evil Zhentarim Cleric, bent on bringing the power of the Black Lord Bane onto Daggerdale and the rest of the Dalelands. The players are summoned by a mysterious mage, and given the task of defending their homeland. They face a daunting journey as they scale the Tower of the Void in an effort to stop the evil Cleric.