Dungeons & Dragons on Microsoft Surface Becoming a Reality

Remember that “proof of concept” version of Dungeons & Dragons running on the Microsoft Surface platform we reported about last year? Even in its early form, the idea impressed a lot of people – including Wizards of the Coast. The D&D publisher has since teamed up with the Carnegie Mellon University group to commercialize the concept, and the two of them have been busy showing it to a few journalists before a fully playable version makes its debut at this year’s PAX East. CNET is among the first to bring us further details:

The figurines–optional in regular D&D but great tools here–are “tagged” with dot codes on the bottom. The Surface is able to use its tiny cameras to view these unique codes and determine which character is where on the game grid. This means the game can automatically determine line-of-fire angles and keep track of enemy health.
This really speeds things up. A combat round in traditional D&D can take awhile. Initiative, roll-to-hit, damage, movement, and everything else has to be calculated. The program on the Surface automates all of this. Instead of several minutes, the combat round we tried (in which we killed a couple of weak orcs) took only a minute or two. And it was more fun.
The Dungeon Master (yes, you still need one) uses a PC networked with the Surface to control the game and the environment. All of the functions a DM fills in the traditional game, from generating monsters to mapping caverns, are available here. As a DM, I’ve always wanted to draw the game map dynamically.
The virtual dice are another great touch. Swiping your finger on the table launches your hit die across the game. The Surface automatically calculates your to-hit modifiers (bonuses players can get to their to-hit rolls based on modifiers in the game) so you know immediately how the combat goes.

Here’s the original work-in-progress video, too, in case you missed it the first time: