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Chuck Yager & Garrett Graham Interview - Page One |
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After the first interview that we had with Garrett: Graham, we were still eager to learn more about the game. Luckily, both the game's associate producer, Chuck Yager, and the game's producer, Garrett Graham, answered some more of our questions.
GB: Are all the class features that are stated in the third edition players handbook going to be in the game? If this is not the case, then what features are going to be left out. (e.g. bonus feats for fighters, smite evil for paladins, special abilities for rogues, deflect arrow feat for the monk, etc.) If any features have been deleted, do you feel that the different classes are still balanced compared to each other?
Chuck: When we were transitioning the game from 2nd Edition, where it started, to 3rd Edition, we had to at some point draw a line on what we could include based on the changing nature of the rules as they were being developed by Wizards of the Coast. With this in mind, we still wanted to be able to include as many of the new feats and special abilities as possible. Therefore, the compromise we made as to what was included seemed to work fairly well for keeping the characters balanced and attractive to the player. We are including the bonus feats for fighters, the ranger's favored enemies, the barbarian's rage, the paladin's aura of courage and smite evil abilities, the monk's stunning fist, diamond soul, and purity of body abilities, the rogue's sneak attack, and a list of 17 other feats as well. There are some things that are left out across the board due to what we had to work with when the rules were presented to us, but for the most part, the character classes, skills, and feats represent a nice sample of the total sum the P&P rules describe.
GB: What skills are going to be part of the game? To what extent are skill going to be a part of the game? Can you give an example of how skills are going to be used in the game? Is this done automatically by the computer, or does the player have to indicate when he wants to use a skill?
Chuck: We are including the following skills in Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor... Concentration, Disable Device, Heal, Hide, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search, Spellcraft, and Spot. Skills are very useful as players progress throughout the course of game play. For example, Heal is a universal skill that can save dying characters from meeting the Grim Reaper at Death's Door. Move Silently and Hide and checked against monster's Listen skills to determine surprise. And what rogue wouldn't be complete without the ability to disarm that nasty trap guarding the treasure. The player can elect to use a skill at any time that it would be warranted, but the AI will also use skills like Spot and Search to find items that may be hidden. In essence, we are trying to give players the best of both worlds without stripping away too much control.
GB: In the player's handbook, a character gets skill points. Seeing that only a limited number of skills are implemented, will the game also work with skill points? Does the game follow the rules stipulated in the player's handbook concerning number of skill points? If this is not the case, then what can we expect at character creation concerning skills and skill points?
Garrett: We are not following a system built around skill points in the game given the changes that were going on when we received the rules for 3E. By the time we had a codified rules system that was final we had already designed a system by which skills would be assigned by character class. The points a character receives as they increase in level do follow the Intelligence modifiers of the character plus the static number according to class, and they are distributed amongst the skills that character possesses.
GB: Will alignment play an important role in the game? Is there a danger for Paladins of losing their paladin status when committing "evil" acts? Can a lawful character become unlawful?
Chuck: Unfortunately, although players can choose alignment, there will be little effective difference on the game. We didn't want to tailor the storyline to different alignment based parties for fear of having players miss something, even if it was minor. We are currently looking into throwing a few items into the game that can only be used by specific alignments to make them have some meaning aside from character building, but this remains to be seen what we can accomplish before we ship.
GB: Will Myth Drannor feature "dead" and or "wild" magic areas? If this is the case, will the player know when the party enters such an area?
Chuck: We are not supporting "dead areas" or "wild magic zones" within Myth Drannor. The corruption of the Mythal has caused some strange occurrences to take place that may differ from what reader's of the popular fiction or campaign accessories may know of Myth Drannor.
GB: Will players be able to adjust the difficulty of the game?
Chuck: There are no plans to have a difficulty setting for single player, but the multiplayer dungeons will scale algorithmically to the average level of the characters playing to add some variety to combats and monsters encountered.
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| Article Details |
| Interviewer Flagg
Interviewed Chuck Yager
Associate Producer
Garrett Graham
Producer
Pool of Radiance
Published 01/07/01 |
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