Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone Interview
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Q: Was there any difficulty in bringing a traditionally complex RPG franchise into more action-oriented gameplay?
A: Making a cinematic, movie-style action game based on D&D wasn't difficult, but only because we had great resources available.
First of all, our team has a number of passionate, long-time D&D players who were intimately familiar with the Realms. We've done several prior Forgotten Realms games, ranging from the old SSI Gold Box series to the first massively multiplayer online RPG, the original Neverwinter Nights. Although we're best known for the cinematic high speed action of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, many of the same people who created The Two Towers worked on our D&D games.
Secondly, we had great support from Wizards of the Coast, who publish the Forgotten Realms books and games. When we encountered issues on how to make a lightning-fast action game true to D&D, they would work with us to brainstorm the best way to seamlessly reflect the rules. The game is like a race car: the D&D rules are the engine that make it work so well, but the way it works is all hidden "under the hood." The player knows that the game is emotionally involving and full of fast action, and the consistency and balance of D&D are all present in the foundation of the game.
