One of the highly touted features of Storm of Zehir is the party creation and management. Some have said it is a throwback to the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games. Were these games, and their popularity, the reason this new party management was chosen?

The concept of a party of adventurers is at the core of the Dungeons and Dragons experience. Though of course we considered how party management worked in Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, we were also inspired by other party-based CRPGs including the Wizardry and Might and Magic series. One of our goals has been to incorporate old school, party-focused gameplay into a modern RPG.

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Can you give any more details regarding the new classes, spells, or other player goodies that may be on the horizon?

Some of the spells that will be included in Storm of Zehir include the various Symbol spells. One example is Symbol of Death, which allows you to scribe potent rune of power upon a surface, that when triggered can slay nearby creatures. We’ve revealed two of the classes in Storm of Zehir, the Swashbuckler and the Doomguide. Though I am eager to tell you all everything about the game, there are some things that our producer, Kevin Saunders (who is the equivalent of “The Man” but we like him anyway) would twist my right arm for revealing. And since I need that arm to help finish making the game, I must not reveal another class. However, I will risk Kevin’s wrath to give you a peak at one of the cool abilities of our third, unannounced class. Wizards of the Coast allowed us to take some liberties in adding a brand new ability: Summon Baatezu allows the [unspecified character class] to summon a powerful devil from the Nine Hells to fight for the party. The devils all have different abilities and it is just luck of the draw which one appears. There is a catch, though. The devil has a chance to turn on the party. Also, players familiar with previous games may recognize some of the devils that are summoned.