Dragonshard Designer Diary #3 - Monsters and Rewards

Developer Diary

Liquid Entertainment president Ed Del Castillo spills his guts about Dragonshard.

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Dragonshard is an upcoming real-time strategy game with a bit of a split personality. This fantasy-based game, whose roots lie in the Dungeons & Dragon's Eberron campaign setting, will not only feature above- and below-ground action at the same time, but also will look to combine the epic feeling of real-time strategy with traditional role-playing adventure. The result will not be your typical real-time strategy game, as the developers are looking to get away from the traditional resource-gathering, base-building, and tank-rushing that is commonplace in RTS games. In this new edition of our designer diaries, one of the game's designers explains how the monsters you'll battle will differ from those of other RTS games.

Risk and Reward

by Charley Price
Designer, Liquid Entertainment

In order for the dual-layer system in Dragonshard to be as robust as possible, we knew we needed to ensure that each layer presented a distinct yet familiar gameplay experience. To do so, we went to great lengths to ensure that the above-ground gameplay provided the player with a unique and dynamic large-scale real-time-strategy experience by means of squads, captains, soldiers, and other gameplay innovations (as discussed in earlier diaries). The underworld, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. It was here that we hoped to re-create the atmosphere and gameplay dynamics that were so familiar to us from Dungeons & Dragons. In doing so, not only have we implemented a wide array of tombs, shrines, and temples scattered throughout the ancient sunken city that encompasses our underworld, but also we have packed it with gold, treasure, traps, and, of course, monsters.

An underground library holds spectacular rewards, as well as formidable opponents.

One of the challenges that we faced in developing a Dungeons & Dragons RTS was determining how to incorporate and, oftentimes, interpret monsters in the context of our game while still retaining their distinct, iconic D&D feel. In doing so, we are planning to implement a number of unique and interesting systems that not only allow for more-advanced behavior than is found in many RTS games, but also successfully re-create the different types of encounters a D&D party faces when it engages each particular type of monster. Unlike some games, which have a vast array of different-looking monsters that essentially do the same thing (attack, be attacked, and die), D&D encounters are inherently unique and dynamic depending on the makeup of your party and the abilities and tactics of your opponents. In fact, much of what makes encounters in D&D so fun is the opportunity for you to use your preexisting knowledge of the strengths, weaknesses, and abilities of both your allies and the creatures you encounter. Facing off against a winter wolf and a gelatinous cube will each demand tactics unique to that situation, and we want to provide you with the opportunity to discover and execute those strategies as you play. Similarly, for players who are already acquainted with D&D, we want our monsters to be immediately familiar and recognizable, not only in terms of appearance, but also in terms of behavior.

A tormented spirit presents a challenge to this party of adventurers.

For example, we have illithids (mind flayers) as one of the many monster races in Dragonshard. While there are illithid fighters and illithid wizards, each with different tactics and abilities, they both share two iconic abilities that are no doubt familiar to anyone who has ever encountered these foes in their D&D campaigns. The first is mind blast, a psionic ability that serves as a ranged stun attack, dazing the targeted unit for a particular period of time. The second is brain extraction, a damage-over-time ability with instant kill potential. When a mind flayer approaches a dazed target, it can attempt to extract its brain, provided the dazed target has one (war-forged units, for example, are immune). This locks the mind flayer into a brain-extraction stance as it latches its tentacles on to the skull of its prey and begins to gnaw its way into the cranial cavity. Throughout this process, the victim is slowly taking damage, which, while notable, is not nearly as lethal as, say, a scorpion's venom. However, if the mind flayer remains attached long enough, it will successfully bore through flesh and bone and gleefully wrench its victim's brain into its gaping maw, killing the unit instantly.