Play Dungeons Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons grows up

As Todd Beaubien's character moves down the bridge in a dungeon, he asks, "What do I see?"

"A skeleton," replies Zero Diaz. "And it's on fire."

Drawing his weapon, Beaubien's character, along with the other five players in the game, makes quick work of the undead minion after a few rolls of the dice.

It's a typical Wednesday night at Dragon's Lair on Burnet Road, and about 40 players are gathered in the back room of the comic and game shop to play Dungeons & Dragons, the iconic tabletop role-playing game developed more than 30 years ago.

But these are not the stereotypical basement-dwelling, Doritos-munching geeks who have become fodder for gamer parody, and this is not your dad's edition of D&D.

Industry experts and gamers agree that tabletop gaming, particularly role-playing games like D&D, are seeing a revival. With more games on the market than ever before and more gamers from all walks of life rolling the dice, it's a good time to play.

"There is a renewed interest in this type of gaming," said Paul Chapman, director of marketing for Austin-based Steve Jackson games, the publisher of the popular GURPS game series. "Where gaming always used be this thing you did in college or small groups, it has become more mainstream and it lost a lot of the stigma that it used to have."

RPGs work like this: Players design characters using certain rules in the game universe, whether it's the Tolkienesque D&D or games based in the "Star Wars" or "Doctor Who" universes. Game Masters set up situations for the players, who use their characters (and all of their abilities) to navigate those scenarios and solve problems. Miniature figures on game boards can be used to represent movement through the universe. Add a dash of play acting and a healthy dose of imagination and serve up for an interesting evening with friends.

The kids who played D&D and other RPGs are all grown up, and they finally have the free time and money to devote to the hobby, they said. Many have ditched the basement for the high-end game room and swapped the Doritos for more gourmet fare. Though some gamers stick to junk food out of sense of tradition, you're more likely to find vegetarian Japanese curry or menus to match the theme of the game on offer. Potluck lunches or gourmet dinner parties now accompany many games.

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When Chris Tulach, the D&D Organized Play Program Manager, came to R&D with the task of creating the D&D Game Day adventure , it fell to me, as a D&D producer, to decide who would tackle it. Erik Scott de Bie had worked on the Neverwinter Campaign Setting and was also lined up to write the D&D Encounters season taking place in Neverwinter, so he seemed like an obvious choice. And fortunately, he agreed to the project.

As Chris and I discussed the practical constraints of the product—page count, maps, release date—we set upon an idea that dovetailed perfectly with the goal of creating an integrated Neverwinter experience: making the Game Day adventure a prequel to the D&D Encounters season. We wanted the adventure to encourage players to continue on to the Encounters season, both through story and character rewards.

I went to Erik and asked him for an outline that placed the adventure some amount of time prior to the start of the Encounters season, Lost Crown of Neverwinter . I also explained that we would have the characters carry over their XP and treasure from the adventure to the season. Several days later, Erik came back with an outline that proposed to place the adventure roughly a month before the start of the season, as a group of adventures was just arriving in the city of Neverwinter. One of the challenges Erik had in crafting the outline (and later the adventure itself) was in keeping the duration to three hours while still providing a strong glimpse of Neverwinter. Matt Sernett, lead designer on the Neverwinter Campaign Setting , worked with Erik on the details of the outline, until both were satisfied with it.

The adventure, Gates of Neverdeath , was now taking shape.

As Erik worked on the adventure, Chris and I debated character creation. We wanted it to be an important part of the experience, and the character themes in the Neverwinter Campaign Setting seemed like the perfect way to accomplish this. Although the duration limited how much these themes could be integrated into the Game Day adventure, the discussion provided us with the idea to give Erik yet another mandate: create a series of “theme tie-ins” for Lost Crown of Neverwinter to give each character the opportunity to have a spotlight moment during the Encounters season.

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