Promoting D&D with computer games | MMORPG Extremist

If you look at the list of Dungeons & Dragons computer games, you will notice that there haven?t been many in recent years. It seems that the D&D brand these days is mostly used to promote B-list generic fantasy games in which the gameplay hasn?t got anything to do with Dungeons & Dragons. There is not a single D&D computer game based on 4th edition rules, although those would be perfect for a turn-based game. I think that is a missed opportunity. Because as we asked ourselves yesterday how to capture the attention of the people who might be going to play pen & paper roleplaying for the next 30 years, computer games are one obvious answer.

Imagine the following: A free computer game (well, free at least for the first adventure) using 4th edition rules for character creation, combat, skill checks, and all that. The adventure starts in a port, has some typical computer game interaction with NPCs sending them on several quests, and then goes on to a more combat-oriented part where the group fights against pirates and monsters in a hidden cave. Several tactical fights later, there is a grand finale boss fight against the pirate king. All pretty much standard for computer roleplaying games.

But here is the kicker: The same adventure is also available as an introductory box to Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition pen & paper roleplaying. The box comes with all the maps, tokens, and encounter descriptions needed to play through the same port town and pirate cave adventure. But it also comes with lots of advice for a beginning dungeon master on how to make the pen & paper version of the adventure more alive than the computer game version: The NPCs in the port town have roleplaying interaction with the players, and not just a simple quests accept or decline option. There is a table with random plot twists, maybe in some version the pirate king isn?t actually the bad guy. And even in combat the pirates do all sort of stuff that computer enemies never do: The table that was fixed in the computer game can be toppled and used as cover by some pirate. Another pirate swings from the chandelier in some daring combat maneuver. And so on.

In short: Pen & paper roleplaying can do things computer roleplaying can?t. By having the same adventure available in a typical computer RPG form, but also in a pen & paper form, players better understand what makes the pen & paper version so much more flexible and great. Instead of scripted and limited options, the pen & paper game offers far greater freedom, actual roleplaying, and more fun with real friends around a table. It is by pointing out the advantages of pen & paper Dungeons & Dragons versus the far more static computer roleplaying games that D&D could best be promoted.

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Source: http://mmorpgextremist.com/710/promoting-dd-with-computer-games/

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