Dungeons & Dragons Next Interview

The folks at the RPG Codex have taken some time to send a bevy of questions to Mike Mearls, head of the Dungeons & Dragons Research and Design team as well as lead developer of the 4th edition of the most famous tabletop role-playing game and the upcoming D&D Next. Luckily for us Mike also answered the questions, which means there’s plenty to quote for pen and paper aficionados:

On the subject of exact rules, did Wizards take inspiration from computer or board games for the rules in the previous editions? If so, could you name some that were especially important? Do you see these more exact rules as something that could help the game make the transition to video-games and board games and other environments where there is no GM to make a ruling? If so, does the new edition’s focus on modularity make it harder to make a boardgame or videogame based on it?

As far as I know, 4th edition was the first set of rules to look to videogames for inspiration. I wasn’t involved in the initial design meetings for the game, but I believe that MMOs played a role in how the game was shaped. I think there was a feeling that D&D needed to move into the MMO space as quickly as possible and that creating a set of MMO-conversion friendly rules would help hasten that.

What we’ve learned since then is that the specific RPG rules aren’t very useful for making other games. Instead, the world lore, feel of the game, distinct features of each class, race, and monster, and so on are much, much more important. If you look at our current boardgames, they don’t use the same exact rules as the RPG but they evoke a similar feel. That’s really the key to us. We want to be able to have a clear, easily understood definition of what a wizard or paladin is. We can then transfer that definition into other games. As long as the feel and key story beats are there, the specific rules are secondary.

Speaking of modularity, what aspects of the game have you found are most important to make modular? Does this kind of modularity make it tricky to think about the way subsystems in the rules will interact? If so, how do you deal with it? Also, do you see the modularity as enabling the system to be tweaked in order to be played differently from any of the previous editions?

Modularity starts with a simple core. The simpler the core, the fewer the basic interactions, the easier it is to see how things work in the game. I’ll be very happy if this edition of the game is the most hackable version of the rules that we’ve released.

In terms of actual rules modules, I see them as important to allowing groups to evoke a specific feel for their campaign. That might be something like making healing less plentiful or adding more realistic injuries to evoke a grittier feel. Other groups that like miniatures play and the tactical challenges posed by combat probably want more details in the combat system.

The modularity speaks somewhat to evoking the feel of different editions, but I also think that there are a lot of different takes on the key elements of older editions. Some people like AD&D’s lethality, while others like that the rules are fairly straightforward and characters easy to manage. I think that if we tried to create a canonical set of AD&D options, many people would disagree with our take.

Instead, we give people the options that they can mix and match if they choose to create the specific campaign they want.

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Moving a bit away from what was done before, could you tell us what is being done now? In what ways does D&D Next differ from any of its predecessors? What are the things that you would like to see changed or that you would like to experiment with? Is there any aspect of the game that you believe has a huge potential for innovation?

One of our design goals is to create a unique mechanic for every class. I’m really happy with how our new fighter mechanic turned out, and I’m also excited with how our non-cleric and wizard spellcasters are developing. My hope is that the new class mechanics are interesting, while at the same time making those classes feel more vivid and closer to their core identity than ever before.

As we solidify the base and deliver the core of D&D, I’d like to start exploring new ideas and concepts specifically in rules modules. I think there’s some exciting potential for people to take D&D in really unique, interesting directions. With modules, we don’t have to worry about anyone other than the people who want that specific option. It can be much more vivid and deep, rather than when we try to make rules that appeal to everyone.