Не только "Игра престолов" грядет этой весной, но так же медленно, но верно, к релизу подбираеюся вторые "ведьмачьи игры". И значит растет напряжение медийного поля:

— поляки разослали журналистам "пресс-версию" игры, версия еще не окончательная (но явно доработана по сравнению с теми демками, что сотрудники CD Project RED возили по миру), но все же... На главном русскоязычном фанатском сайте "Хроники Каэр Морхена" можно глянуть на ролики, записанные польским изданием poligamia.pl, а так же на множество скриншотов и перевод-выжимку из отчетов поляков.

— 14 апреля состоится весенней конференция CD Projekt RED:

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Она пройдёт 14 апреля в Варшаве (Польша). Т.к. релиз Ведьмака 2 уже не за горами, на конференции будет представлено много важной информации для всех, кто заинтересован в его покупке.

На мероприятии будут раскрыты следующие вопросы:

• минимальные и рекомендуемые системные требования, а также их влияние на производительность игры;

• различия между разными языковыми версиями и цензура;

• будет подробно рассмотрен вопрос защиты от копирования;

• импортирование сохранений из первой части Ведьмака;

• детали о движке RED Engine;

• и многое другое.

Старший продюсер Томаш Гоп будет представлять студию на этом мероприятии. Он проведёт презентацию, в процессе которой ответит на множество важных вопросов об игре.

Как обычно, на конференции соберутся журналисты, инвесторы и представители индустрии из различных регионов Польши.

Английская часть конференции будет транслироваться в прямом эфире на странице Ведьмака 2 в фейсбук и официальном сайте. А также безусловно на "Хрониках Каэр Морхена".

Конференция начнётся в 19.00 по МСК.

Ждем, ждем.

А пока мирно допрохожу "Dragon Age 2". Не смотря на все недостатки, играть мне интересно :) Может, когда пройду, то в майском отпуске начну проходит первую часть со всеми DLC (во время оно начинал уже, но не срослось ...). Кстати:

Продолжаем разговор:

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Yesterday afternoon's Dragon Age RPG preview went over well, so we want to get today's posted for you nice and early (West Coast early, anyway). This second PDF Preview is straight out of the Magic chapter of the Player's Guide, and provides some insights into what playing a mage is like in Dragon Age.

Tomorrow is DA Day in our Green Ronin Online Store: You'll be able to pre-order Dragon Age RPG Set 1, and the PDF will become available for sale as well!

Green Ronin

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We have posted a Dragon Age RPG PDF Preview of the Rogue class, straight out of the actual, final, approved files. That's right--Set 1 is approved and off to press, and will be available in stores in January.

More news and a second PDF Preview tomorrow (Tuesday, December 8)...

Green Ronin

Часть 3.

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Let's talk about character creation in the Dragon Age RPG. The topic takes up much of the Set 1 Player's Guide, which is as it should be. My main goals were to make the process straight forward and to provide a good number of options for character customization. We will be offering a set of six pre-generated characters for download off our website for folks without a lot of time, but the Player's Guide encourages you to make your own PC. You're going to be spending a lot of time with the character after all, so you should make sure you end up with a PC you like and will want to play.

Character creation is an 8-step process. I'll list them out first and then cover each step in more detail.

Create a character concept.

Determine abilities.

Choose a background.

Choose a class.

Pick equipment.

Calculate Defense and Speed.

Pick a name.

Choose goals and character ties.

Create a Character Concept

This is a rough idea of the sort of character you'd like to play. This may change as you go through the process but it's good to start with a direction.

Determine Abilities

These are your character's core physical and mental attributes. There are 8 abilities in Dragon Age, and as discussed in Design Diary 2 ability tests are the core mechanic of the game. The abilities are Communication, Constitution, Cunning, Dexterity, Magic, Perception, Strength, and Willpower.

You generate your stats by rolling 3d6 and consulting a table. You end up with starting abilities that range from –2 to 4, with 1 being an average result. You roll the abilities in order, but when you're done you can swap any two. So if you really want to play a mage but you rolled a lousy magic score, you can swap in one of your better results. That's the extent of the hand-holding though. You are not making genetically engineered adventurers with perfectly placed stats here, but characters who have to deal with the hand fate has dealt them.

Choose a Background

Backgrounds represent your culture and upbringing and there are seven to choose from in Set 1: Apostate, Avvarian Hillsman, Circle Mage, City Elf, Dalish Elf, Fereldan Freeman, and Surface Dwarf. Choosing a background modifies your character in several ways:

It increases one or more of your abilities.

It provides one of more ability focuses (discussed in Design Diary 2).

It determines your race (dwarf, elf, or human).

It dictates your class choices.

It determines the languages you can speak and read.

Each background provides some set benefits. You then get two rolls on a table that can provide either +1 on certain abilities or additional focuses.

Choose a Class

This is your character's calling in life. You can choose to be a mage, rogue, or warrior and your class determines certain key features of your character:

* Primary Abilities: A class has three primary abilities. These are the abilities most important to the class and the ones used most often.

* Secondary Abilities: A class has five secondary abilities. These abilities are not as important as primary abilities but all can be useful in the right circumstances.

* Starting Health: Health is a measure of your character's fitness and wellbeing.

* Weapon Groups: Your class determines the weapons your character knows how to use. Weapons are divided into groups and this entry tells you which ones your character is trained in.

* Class Powers: A class provides your character with a variety of special powers, such as spellcasting and backstab. These are listed out by level in the class description.

Pick Equipment

All characters started with some equipment based on their class and other character details. They also get a small amount of silver to buy additional items.

Calculate Defense and Speed

These are derived stats. Defense is equal to 10 + Dexterity and it's the number enemies need to meet or beat to hit you in combat. You also add your Dexterity to a base speed determined by your race. The total is how many yards you can go with a move action.

Pick a Name

Every hero needs a good name! The Player's Guide provides sample names for each culture but you can of course make up your own as well.

Choose Goals and Character Ties

We encourage you to do a group character creation session so all the players can talk to each other throughout the process. If you don't, you should at least do this step when everyone is together. The Player's Guide recommends that you pick at least three goals for your character. They not only help you give your character some personality, but also give the GM great raw material to work with when designing adventures.

Character ties are the bonds amongst the PCs when the campaign begins. We recommend that a character has at least one tie to every other character in the group, even if it's a tenuous one. There are reasons these PCs got together and ties are meant to bring them out and help cohere both the players and their characters.

So that's the character creation process in brief. As you can see, it's quite easy and the Player's Guide takes you through every step in detail. There's also an extended example that follows the whole process, so you can see a character take shape. Once you've created your character, you are ready to play Dragon Age!

Chris Pramas

Продолжаем — на это раз о базисе системы (как ни странно, но набор и значение базовых статов, а так же подход к скиллам существенно отличается от компьютерной версии, что не есть хорошо, так как то же D&D было хорошо тем, что настольный и компьютерный варианты не сильно отличались):

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In my first design diary, I talked about how the game came to be and some of the early decisions I had to make about adapting Dragon Age: Origins to the world of tabletop RPGs. This time out I'm going to discuss the core game mechanics of Dragon Age, so you can get a sense of what the game is like.

So let's start with the heart of the game: the ability test. Characters in Dragon Age are defined by eight abilities: Communication, Constitution, Cunning, Dexterity, Magic, Perception, Strength, and Willpower. Six of these you may recognize from Dragon Age: Origins. I added two more, Communication and Perception, to account for things that the computer game handles in different ways (conversation trees, for example). A starting character can have abilities that range from –2 to 5, with 1 being average. When your character tries something with a risk of failure, you take an ability test. To do so, you roll 3d6, add them together, and then add your ability. Your total is the test result. You compare this to either a static target number or another character's test result if it's an opposed test.

Test result = 3d6 + ability

I chose 3d6 for resolution because of the lovely bell curve it provides. The 20-sided die is classic but your chance of rolling any particular result is a flat 5%. In play this often means that Sir Awesomesauce, master of the sword, fails to hit the most pathetic of opponents. The bell curve allows for extreme results but rolls tend to cluster around the middle of the spread. About 70% of the results of a 3d6 roll are in the 8-13 range. Practically speaking, this means that on average someone with a higher ability will win a contest, which is as is should be. However, spectacular success and failure are both still possible.

Experienced RPG players may be wondering at this point if there is a dedicated skill system in Dragon Age. The answer is no. The game features what we call "ability focuses" instead. Basically, each ability has a number of focuses, which are related specialties. Stealth and Riding are Dexterity focuses, for example. You get focuses through your character's background and class and they have a simple effect. If you have an applicable focus when you take an ability test, you get a +2 bonus. So the full formula for ability tests is thus:

Test result = 3d6 + ability + focus

When adventures call for ability tests, they are written with the focus in parenthesis. For example: "Gamers must pass a Target Number 21 Willpower (Self-Discipline) test not to buy the Dragon Age RPG the day it becomes available."

You'll note the effect of focuses is quite straight forward; you get a +2 bonus on applicable ability tests. You will not find an enormous and unwieldy skill system here. You will not find pages and pages of very specific rules on how to handle hundreds of situations and special cases. Such skill systems may be thorough and they may seem realistic, but I find they add way too much minutia for the payoff they provide. Dragon Age has a different philosophy behind it. I would rather give the GM a set of tools and let him or her apply them to the endless situations that come up when playing a RPG. That means the GM assesses the totality of the situation before the dice are rolled and either sets a target number (for basic tests) or assigns bonuses and/or penalties for opposed tests. The GM also has another option, the advanced test, which can be used to track completion over time for activities like research, but that is used more rarely.

Many tests in Dragon Age are pass/fail so you either succeed or you don't. Sometimes, though, it matters how well you succeed, and that's where the Dragon Die comes in. The Dragon Die is a major feature of the game and I'll talk more about its applications later. What you need to know for the moment, however, is that when you make an ability test, you need to designate one of your 3d6 as the Dragon Die (usually by using a different colored die than the other two). If you succeed on the test, the result of the Dragon Die measures the degree of success. So a 1 means you just made it and a 6 means you did it spectacularly. The Dragon Die is also key to the game's stunt system, but I'll cover that in another design diary.

So that's the heart of the Dragon Age RPG in brief. Next time I'll talk about character creation, and explain fun stuff like backgrounds, classes, and talents. I should also mention that as of the writing of this design diary (November 19, 2009), the game itself is finished and in BioWare's hands for approval. Once everything is approved, we'll do a PDF release and send it to print. It shouldn't be long now!

А так же тут можно послушать аудиоинтрвью Криса Прамаса.