D&D 5E Does a D&D Videogame have to be turn-based?

[Wiseblood]

Nope. It does need D&D IP.

 

[Harzel]

How to trick a Player into thinking probability is not probability while maintaining D&D mechanics.

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Anyways – that’s my wacky idea for solving the issue of large fail probability in D&D when porting to a video game.

That sounds intensely clever, but isn't there the possibility that it turns out it really *is* a skill game - sort of a twitch game with long pauses between the twitches?

 

[Hillsy7]

That sounds intensely clever, but isn't there the possibility that it turns out it really *is* a skill game - sort of a twitch game with long pauses between the twitches?

Yeah, that is a bit of a risk - but firstly you'd need to build in a decent amount of dev time to get something like a ballpark probability spread. For example, I remember playing Windows Golf FOREVER! in the early 90's (We didn't have a lot of money and it came with the crap PC a family friend gave us). Once I got to a certain base level of skill, the spread of my shots were roughly spread about and I was getting about the same scores. Occasionally I'd hit the perfect drive, but mostly I just hit varying degrees of good drives and the occasional shank. So that's where I'd start, does twitch probability fall on enough of a predictable range that you can curve your probability accordingly?

So lets say that, even then, the answer is, not really. there's a still a couple of things you can do

1) Tailor in game on the fly: Essentially have the game track how good the play is, and adjust the probability range accordingly. Now this *is* kinda punishing the player for getting better, but if you can calc in some flex in the lower skill end/early game then you might be able to give the player some satisfaction for getting to a good level and staying there.

2) D&D does another abusable mathematical quirk: The damage range is binary in that it is ON or OFF. So, you *could* have gradations of HIT (essentially eliminating the MISS condition at higher skill levels), and that gradation which affects the probability range of Damage Dice (e.g. with 5 STR and a Greataxe, your damage is a flat 6-17 spread. If you take that spread as a 100% hit, then apply a HIT coefficient from the initial attack. What this means is the damage per attack is likely to homogenize towards the average of the average, with the occasional ping up to "traditional" damage ranges (the perfect swing), but you'll MISS less, evening the damage out overall. This is arguable less exciting as you're essentially flattening the damage range to lower numbers than normal, but it does eliminate the issue of MISS probability almost entirely.

 

[The Old Crow]

I would love turn based. I like to relax when I play computer games and think about strategy. I want a party to make and control, too, not just one character. Heck, my husbandtobe and me used to play the old D&D games together at the same computer, each controlling half the party. I am not into twitch games.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

A D&D video game doesn't have to be turn based, but there's no reason it shouldn't be. Popular games like XCOM and Divinity Original Sin has shown that there's a plenty big market for turn based games, and I suspect there's a bigger overlap between that market and video gamers interested in a D&D CRPG than say the Skyrim market.

 

[Slit518]

I chose Other.

Meaning you can have the game Pause when you wish. So if you want to play it like an Elder Scrolls V type game you can, or you can add pauses after certain criteria are met (enemy spotted, target destroyed, weapon useless, someone dies, spell cast, etc...).

 

[Zippee]

Absolutely needs turn based as option - the option menu in Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale were the best way, allowed players to select the level of turn based operation they felt comfortable with. TOEE was similar.

The last think I'd want is a pixel click frenzy game - I want it to be about the characters skills with spell and sword coupled with my puzzle solving ability, not my reflex speed with a console pad/mouse, that's just bleugh

 

[HobGoblin42]

Related to this topic, I would like to link to our current running Kickstarter campaign for the turn-based single-player RPG "Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen" evolved from the D&D 3.5e (Open Game License).

 

[Charlaquin]

It kind of depends on what is meant by turn-based. Is BioWare style combat turn-based? KotOR, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect had very RPG-like gameplay, heck KotOR was almost directly ripped off of D&D 3.5, but they all use live action with the option to pause to input commands. What about WoW-style cooldown actions? Those create something in-between live action and turn-based action. What about Diablo and its clones? They feel extremely D&D like to me and their action is straight-up real time.

I would say, unless you have an extremely broad definition of turn-based, then no, a D&D video game doesn’t need tonbr turn based. But turn-based would be an obvious fit for a D&D video game.

 

[cmad1977]

No but if they made an xcom style game I’d buy it right meow.