DnD Game?

General
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This is more of a suggestion for anyone who might be thinking on what kind of game to work on or make. But I’m a little surprised now that I thought of it that there’s no DnD CoG/HG from this site. Even though some games from this site already applies a Dice Roll system with both in a finished game and in some WIP like “Path of Martial Arts” for example. It would be nice to see a DnD game from this site since we could get access to a lot of classes from the Tabletop version that we don’t see in most DnD video games (except through Mods) like BG3, Pathfinders and the online ones.

And since it’s a text game, we would have more freedom in how powerful our MC becomes and what kind of paths and actions they can take in their journey. We could see classes like Blood Hunter, Artificer, Cavalier, Shifter and unique subclasses belonging to them like Lycan Blood Hunter, Ranger Drakewarden, Wizard Bladesinger, etc. In terms of the types of paths we could have. We could become a God or Demi-God, leader of a Merchant organization that we started or took over, member of an Assassin or Thieves guilds, an Adventurer, a Ruler/Monarch like in Kingmaker or even something unique like a Vampire Lord, Pack Leader, Monster Hunter for hire (basically a Witcher or like the MC from the Monster Hunter series), Wise Hermit, Witch in the Woods, Scholar, Mercenary, Dragon Lord to Dragon God, member or future leader of a Demonic Cult or one of the big time Demon Lords, etc. All in all, there’s a lot of possibility for this kind of DnD game in a text form made from this site.

I would guess the reason we haven’t seen a DnD or a similar game to it yet is because of Copyright issues?

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Yes, Wizards of the Coast are not particularly flexible with their licencing, especially after this year.

There are other systems which could be made in ChoiceScript, though, and made into a DnD-inspired fantasy setting - such as Powered by the Apocalypse or Forged in the Dark games (there is already a Blades in the Dark HG).

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Actually, I think the biggest barrier to making tabletop style games, with dice rolls and randomization, was the lack of official save features in choicescript.
So we might start seeing more of that now

I personally wouldn’t feel safe to use the open parts of the DnD system, even though it’s legal.
Not after the stunt Wizards of the Coast tried to pull, just a year ago.

But even not thinking about copyright issues, making a game like you suggest is an absolutely massive undertaking.
Coding a stat-heavy game is so much work, even when you don’t have to develop the system yourself. Almost unbelievably so, if you haven’t tried it, and seen for yourself.
And then the game needs to have a written reaction to every possible outcome.
I also have the distinct impression, that most of the authors here are a lot more into writing, than coding, and people tend to not want to make a project that is heavy on the parts they dislike, feel insecure about, or just don’t have the skill-set for.
Don’t forget that these games are usually made by one single person.

You say the game being text gives more freedom for how powerful the PC becomes, but the author would still have to actually write all of those options for power, and do so realistically, and create a narrative that can work with diverse levels of power.
Generally, I feel like most of the different options you listed would be better explored by being the focus of each their own game, than by multiple paths being lumped together into a single game.

Using such an established system as DnD would also come with a lot of opiniated fans, who would want their personal favorite part of the system included. And DnD is just too big to include everything.
Just look at Baldur’s Gate 3. So many character creation options, and there are still so many people complaining about their favorite class or race not being included. And even they made backgrounds a purely mechanical thing, that doesn’t get referenced, unless you play as an origin character, and gives no new dialogue options.
A lot of these fans would also come from tabletop, and be used to the freedom of having a human DM, who can respond to all their creativity. A video-game just cannot possibly recreate that, no matter how much work you put into it.

Edit: All that said, it is something I really want to do, and hope to one day actually have the time and energy for.

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Basically what @HarrisPS and @The_Lady_Luck said.

  • massive undertaking even not considering copyright issues.
  • there are other system, rules-lite and story driven I feel would better suit IF.
  • most readers of CSG are in for the story and not so much the mechanics. In fact, randomicity and heavy simulationism will likely push a lot of people away.
  • no matter how many options you write you can never match a live session of DnD (or any other system for that matter).

I actually had half a mind to make an IF using a simplified version of Forged in the Dark. This is probably one of the ideas that sound interesting but I’ll never actually do it. It’s just too much work for little return.

Really? Do you know the name by any chance? :pleading_face:

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Here it is! :slight_smile:

Thinking about Forged in the Dark and PbtA, one of the added challenges to write it would be writing all the “success but with a complication” results - accounting for simpler passes and fails is a lot of work, let alone partial successes. It could be really rich, or result in author overload.

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There are actually 4 outcomes if you consider a critical hit (two 6s). But yeah, that would be a lot more work, not to mention most of it would never be seen since in FitD you win more than you loose as your player gets stronger.

I remember when this game came out. I didn’t know it was FitD.

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The only reason I consider making stat-heavy games, is because I really enjoy coding, and the problem-solving that comes with it.
That part is definitely not for everyone.

I did a lot of code-diving when I was giving feedback to BREACH, so I saw exactly how much work was put into making it work.

I think a challenge that could come with adapting many rules-lite systems, is that they often rely even more heavily on having a human GM who can improvise.

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That’s true to a point. There’s no improv in IF whether you adopt a rules-lite system or not. You would do just like it were a story driven IF with no particular system. You’d offer options and adjudicate the specific options you’ve given.

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Man it is difficult to even know where to start with this one.

Yes, it is because of copyright issues.

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Everyone already gave great reasons as to why we haven’t seen a complex tabletop roleplaying system created in an HG or CoG yet. The idea of replicating the many systems involved in D&D (like it’s grid-based combat) into choicescript sounds like an absolute nightmare. There’s of course the copyright issues involved as well.

I’d say this is a pretty good time to plug my own D&D-style IF game, Tabletop Nights! I really wanted to replicate the feel of being at the table around your friends playing the game. There’s no character creation system or feat selecting involved—it’s a narrative game with silly characters, choices and dice rolls. Check it out here!

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I did actually code a very small DnD style game (called Snakes and Swamps) into UnNatural Season Two that the player can play. But the coding is very simple without a lot of stats it’s simply a class and a dice roll.

I would love to code a third “session” into the game at some point.

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Have you seen Icepeak mountains? While not full D&D (copyright issues etc, combined with not having that same on the fly interactivity of game master to players I’m guessing) it does have the feel of what you might get if you crossed D&D with fighting fantasy to me. I’d also love to see some D&D inspired projects pop up :slight_smile:

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Well, not exactly D&D, persay, but my game Dice and Dungeon Masters (dashingdon.com) is themed around it. Overall, though, dito on a lot of what the others have said; I’ve got a lot of concern with the flip-floppy nature of the Open Gaming stuff from WotC. Haven’t looked into it super much, but I wonder if other, similar providers might be more keen to let others use their content, such as Hack Master which is usually the roleplaying game I most often see depicted in geek media? As for the coding - eh, gads! yes . . . very hard, very difficult, as I am discovering while trying to code for my Dice & Dungeon Master game. You almost have to make a simplified, watered down version, which kind of defeats the whole point to the thing. Sadly, simpler systems like 4.0 would probably be the easiest to code, but those systems are kind of . . . well, yeah. Also, and my last say on the matter for this reply, is that there is already a wonderful elephant in the room to this conversation, as obviously there has been some amazing WoD games created on here, which seem to work great as they are more scene orientated anyways. I’ve only played Vamp and Werewolf for WoD, but I wonder if they have a fantasy game variant with their gaming system? If so, might be a good option if they would like?

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To my knowledge the only released game that has attempted to do that is my own game, Raiders of Icepeak Mountains (I think @Lucid also started one, and there are others in this thread who have talked about their WIPs). I did not attempt to implement the DnD system (super-complicated…) but rather that used in the Fighting Fantasy Series (well, more like the Advanced Fighting Fantasy / Dungeoneer RPG). However, I modified it substantially towards DnD, including a class system, etc, etc…

Some random thoughts, in no particular order, and echoing some stuff that has already been said in this thread:

-I made this game because I wanted to make it, knowing that many CoG / HG readers do not like this kind of games (with “digital dice”, etc, etc).

-It is a labour of love, which I continue to update, even though logically it doesn’t make sense as it is the least well received of all my games… (and I note that maybe part of it is that some of the quests may not be the best ever, so I am not claiming that I am the best of writers here or anything…)

-It takes crazy amounts of time to develop such a system in Choicescript… I love Choicescript, but it was never designed with something like this in mind. Obviously you can still do it, but it is not elegant (and maybe there are better ways than the way I do it… but, I think originally Choicescript didn’t have subroutines, and you need to use tons of them, which makes it difficult to debut).

-Open world systems, again, are difficult to implement… I sort of have done that, and might continue to expand in the future… but again, Choicescript was not build for that, and readers do not expect that and usually get “lost”. My first WIP, The Nebula, had an open galaxy, and the early players of the game just… got lost. This explains why I still haven’t released the game, despite it being “finished”… as I should re-write and re-think many aspects of it… one day…

-So… despite the fact that I continue to write what I want to write (and I advise everybody to do the same!), speaking logically I cannot recommend anybody to try to write an RPG in Choicescript (but, you will see me continue to do so for years to come! :slight_smile: )

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Did you read my message I sent to you about Life as a Lich? Last we spoke, you asked me some questions about it and I answered them in the same message tab.

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Yes, I did, thanks so much! :slight_smile: (and sorry for not replying… after your message I started to do some work following your suggestions -I introduced a new character you can find, a Death Knight- and those of other playtesters… and then got swamped with work in my daytime job). So now I’m trying to get everything finished by Xmas, so that I can write over the New Year period :slight_smile:

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Well when you get the chance, can you send me another personal message on your opinion on what I said for each of the questions? Basically, I want to know your opinion on them, which of the suggestion did you implement, are planning to or considering to implement or rejected and your thoughts on some of the events I suggested.

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Sure! :slight_smile: I will eventually reply in detail (to you and every other playtester… just I have been a bit overwhelmed)

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I feel like I had this conversation here recently. There are tons of games here that use D&D-like mechanics. Some are stat heavy and require careful monitoring in order to be successful, like the Lost Heir series. Others have actual dice rolls that determine your success or failure, like Breach: the Archangel Job. If you really dig into how these games work, you’ll see D&D elements all over the place.

Lost Heir series has actual classes and a party that you adventure with too. It’s probably the most D&D game I can think of, actually.

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DnD inspired the RPG genre in game industry, or the other around, I don’t exactly know who pioneered it first, but the plot is pretty much similar:

  • a band of adventurers
  • specialized classes with its own perks and flaws
  • exploring uncharted areas
  • on a mission to save the world or something

so it’s much safer to make a DnD-inspired games because it’s widely used anywhere, just need some creativity to find alternative names to classes, skills, and items

good luck, can’t wait to try your game