Dungeon Lords Q&A

There's usually only one kind of action role-playing game, and that's the Diablo-style adventure where you run around the world slaying monsters, picking up lots of loot, and repeating the process over and over again. But designer D.W. Bradley, whose previous credits include contributions to the classic Wizardry series, hopes to reinvent the genre with Dungeon Lords, which will combine the fast-paced-action role-playing of Diablo with an eye toward providing the depth of a more traditional RPG. We had the opportunity recently to ask Bradley some questions, and we managed to pry quite a few details out of him.

Humans are one of the eight playable races in the game.

GameSpot: Thanks for taking the time for this interview. In your own words, what is Dungeon Lords, and what are you trying to accomplish with the game?

D.W. Bradley: Dungeon Lords is the first game to combine a deep 3D RPG with real-time arcade-style fighting action. Everything in the game is based upon using the combined skills and abilities of both the player and his or her character hero. Dungeon Lords puts complete control of all character actions in the world at the player's fingertips. We let the player do the actual fighting, blocking, dodging, and so on, while still offering a rich and extensive world to explore, deep character design and hero development choices, and a huge storyline that provides all the best of what RPG players love.

GS: What can you tell us about the world of Dungeon Lords? There's so much that we don't know about the game's setting, though we do know that the game will take place in forests, towns, and castles, in addition to dungeons.

DWB: Dungeon Lords is set in a world that is fractured by a massive conflict on both the physical and magical levels. This conflict takes place within the kingdom of a lord whose power is quickly slipping away. The kingdom covers a vast region, including towns, dungeons, castles, ruins, mountains, caves, swamps, plains, and, of course, lots of deep wilderness forests where all kinds of beasties like to hide. Every major setting is completely different, and once the player leaves the first town, gameplay progression is nonlinear (i.e. the player may determine his or her own course through the world). Of course, I have no intention of spoiling any of the details of the actual game scenes and settings in advance of release. OK, maybe one: The Shadow Ruins is an ancient reliquary of a fallen order of the Knight Templars, and now it's the fortress and lair of an unholy Shadow Lord. (I'm so weak. Sheesh.)

GS: We've heard that there are eight playable races in the game. What are these races and classes, and how will they impact the way the game is played?

DWB: I'll only tell you six! Three are familiar to all RPG fans: human male and female; elf male and female; and dwarf male and female. The other races are all special subhumans (called the Demigoths), and three of these are Urgoth (big, furry bestial guys), Wylvan (wolfish characters), and Thrall (sneaky mean, little, hairy dudes). The chosen race for the player's hero primarily determines certain tendencies in how that character develops in the game, and it can be a factor in dealing with NPC characters in the world. Racial choice may offer possible opportunities and also offer certain special characteristics that the character may acquire.

GS: We've seen some diabolical monsters, including skeletons and trolls, but what other kinds of creatures can we expect to encounter?

DWB: "Just say 'No!' to spoilers!" (My poorly kept motto.) From giant trolls, to fiery drakes, to supernatural denizens, to crafty wizards, to exotic forest beasts, to marauding militia, the game is loaded. I'll say no more!!

GS: Tell us a bit about the game's magic system. How flexible and powerful will it be, and will every class have some kind of magic ability or just certain ones?

DWB: First, I want to point out that regardless of character class choices the player makes, all characters may still learn magic and other skills that are traditionally limited to specific classes in other RPGs. Class choices (multiple classes are supported) determine how quickly a character is able to learn certain skills associated with that class, but other classes are not necessarily prohibited from learning these skills as well. However, there is a unique skill associated with each of the second- and third-tier classes.

Dungeon Lords is full of spectacular spell effects.

On magic: There are four distinct schools of magic and more than 90 spells in all. (Or maybe there are more than 120. I lose count!) The magic schools are: arcane magic, typically associated with elemental offensive spells like fireball and magic missile; celestial magic, which draws power from the stars for spells like healing and light; nether magic, which focuses on summoning and cursing spells by mixing nether katals; and rune magic, for which combinations of rune stones create spells for protection, buffs, and power-ups. Each type of magic is invoked differently from the other magic schools, and all are predicated on judicious use by the player. So, in Dungeon Lords, there is no big mana pool that allows players to cast the same spells over and over ad nauseam. In Dungeon Lords, once you've used up your fireballs, or mixed your last dried homonculous, or drained the last bit of power out of one of your star crystals, it may be a long while before you can cast these spells again. So use them wisely.