General News - New Dungeons & Dragons RPG

Gamepressure reports that Hidden Path Entertainment is working on a new Dungeons & Dragons RPG, maybe with a Ravenloft setting:

AAA Open-world Dungeons & Dragons RPG Revealed

We've learned that the developers at Defense Grid are working on a AAA open-world fantasy RPG that will be set in one of the Dungeons & Dragons settings.

Hidden Path Entertainment, the studio behind the Defense Gridseries, is working on a high-budget open-world RPG based on the Dungeons & Dragons license. The team is currently looking for employees for the project. From the job offers published on the company's website, we know that the game is being created on Unreal Engine 4 and that we will lead a party of heroes in it.

We don't know yet in which D&D universe the game will be set. Currently, the world of Forgotten Realms is the most popular, but in the case of this project it may be different. The team responsible for the story is led by Whitney Beltrán, who co-created the upcoming Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft expansion for the tabletop Dungeons & Dragons. The gothic horror world of Ravenloft has rarely appeared in video games, so setting the action of Hidden Path Entertainment's upcoming RPG there would be more interesting than another visit to the Forgotten Realms.

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Thanks Porcozaur!

More information.

Always up for more DnD goodness!

Going from a tower defense game to a open world full fledged DnD rpg is quite a step, however… Good luck to them!

This might be the first (definitely no more than the second) time I've seen a studio advertise a Writer position. That is not an easy career to get into.

I would love to to see a new game in the Ravenloft setting.

That said, I smell something more action-oriented here. "AAA open-world" and Unreal Engine 4 don't make me confident that it's going to be the next Kingmaker or something similar.

The cat is finally out of the bag! We are making a AAA, third-person, open-world fantasy RPG that will be taking place inside the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.

Originally Posted by vanedor
Always up for more DnD goodness!

Same.

It's going to be Bloodlines 2 all over again. Why don't they hire an actual studio that CURRENTLY has the expertise to do the job?

And this seemingly different game at the same time? https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/open-wo…eo-game-reveal

I have mixed feeling on this.

I like D&D games but the question is, would this open world RPG actually feel like D&D game?

I guess its all down to execution but I don't know much about devs at all - looking at their past games doesn't bring me too much confidence tho.

After all the turn-based RPGs this year bring it on. I go in with a open mind. Only thing I worry about is the choice of developers probably don't have the resources or experience.

I'm also biased as I love open world RPGs with action combat.

Oh weird. I clicked on this news title out of curiosity and immediately grew intrigued in a sort of way. Defense Grid is one of my all-time favorite tower defense games (and its dialogue quips are fun!) but I would have never pegged the studio to jump into a dnd game.

Color me curious but somewhat skeptical.

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I have mixed feeling on this.

I like D&D games but the question is, would this open world RPG actually feel like D&D game?

I guess its all down to execution but I don't know much about devs at all - looking at their past games doesn't bring me too much confidence tho.

We had some long debates here about what actually is an open world RPG. That's open for interpretation and games such as PoE and Pathfinder can certainly be considered as Open World, under some definitions. Personally, I'm more worried about the third person view.

Okay that's stretching the legal definition of "what is an open world rpg"in a long way. Seems many like to think they know or have there own version. That I agree on.

Link - https://gamicus.gamepedia.com/Open-world_video_games

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
And this seemingly different game at the same time? https://www.wargamer.com/dnd/open-wo…eo-game-reveal

Sounds like the same game to me.

The other day I was pondering a turn-based Menzoberranzan. But this one won't be it for sure..

We don't know yet in which D&D universe the game will be set

I think its already clear. This fantasy game will be set in the Hidden Defense Grid Universe, which is very popular among ninjas, since they are born with the HIDDEN status. That's why ninja babies must first be found..

Hidden Path is hiring! We are in development on a AAA, third-person, open-world fantasy RPG

A third person is highly likely a realtime thing, so hard pass..

Make it Skyrim with D&D monsters and NPC's like Elminster and you will have a major hit. Easier said than done. Have a Holy Avenger for my Paladin and you can have my money. Place it in Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk.

Put in some classic modules like Keep on the Borderlands and White Plume Mountain and some newer ones for everyone that plays 5e and you will increase the sales.

Always good to see a DnD game. However I'm not a fan of the Ravenoft setting.

Ravenloft is a decent game, and the books that it derives from are even better. Take your inspiration from the glorious gold box games, do NOT try to appeal to billions of people, focus on the core D&D fans and you'll have a glorified hit on your hands. Weave a good tale and the rest will follow.

Originally Posted by Hastar
Make it Skyrim with D&D monsters and NPC's like Elminster and you will have a major hit. Easier said than done. Have a Holy Avenger for my Paladin and you can have my money. Place it in Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk.

Well, that would be a Skyrim in the forgotten realms universe, not a DnD game. Not that it wouldn't be nice per se.

Originally Posted by Hastar
Make it Skyrim with D&D monsters and NPC's like Elminster and you will have a major hit. Easier said than done. Have a Holy Avenger for my Paladin and you can have my money. Place it in Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk.

Put in some classic modules like Keep on the Borderlands and White Plume Mountain and some newer ones for everyone that plays 5e and you will increase the sales.

Day one buy. I'm sure purists will complain but when you make an open world RPG you rarely use tabletop rules. It might be D&D in just name only due to being open world.

I played mods for NWN about Ravenloft and enjoyed them. No they weren't TB either.