As a game set withinDungeons & Dragons’Forgotten Realms, Cryptic’s free-to-play MMORPGNeverwinteris in an interesting positionwhen it comes to developing its content.The Forgotten Realmshas been in publication since 1987 and has fostered decades of content in the form of novels, comics, and games, providingNeverwinterwith a bottomless well of inspiration to pull from.
For decades,Dungeons & Dragonshas been a platform for gifted authors to tell fantasy stories using a shared set of locations and creatures so that the larger universe grows with each adaptation. One of the most noteworthy examples is author R.A. Salvatore’s bestsellingLegend of Drizztseries, which is considered to be some of the franchise’s best literature. In a recent interview, Game Rant spoke withNeverwinterdevelopers about how they worked hand-in-hand with R.A. Salvatore and his son Geno Salvatore on the game’s new Menzoberranzan module.
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Neverwinter’s Menzoberranzan Module Ties Into R.A. Salvatore’s New Series
R.A. Salvatore’s latestWay of the Drowtrilogy depicts a class conflict brewing in the Drow metropolis Menzoberranzan between the upper-class Lolth Loyalists and the downtrodden Blasphemes. TheNeverwinterteam worked with R.A. Salvatoreand Geno Salvatore to develop a module that would take place in the gaps between the trilogy’s novels. This placement in the timeline allowsNeverwinterto tie in nicely with Salvatore’s trilogy while still having the freedom to develop content that fitsNeverwinter’s distinct style.
One of the things we knew early on was we wanted to do an Underdark block that started with M24. And the moment we knew we wanted to go to the Underdark, we got the ball rolling on working with the Salvatores. There’s a book series that’s ongoing and in the works, and we saw an opportunity to tie in with that.
We’ve worked with them in the past on the Dwarven King, some other Underdark stuff with Bruenor, and the Companions of the Hall, so this was a nice way to work with them directly and build out a story that tells our kind of story – Neverwinter the game’s stories – but also ties into the book stories that he’s telling with his new series.
The team even managed to convince R.A. Salvatore to include some secret teasers for the series' third book, so players with a keen eye may find a few hints about what’s coming in the trilogy’s conclusion.
Neverwinter’s Work with the Salvatores Opens the Door for Future Collaborations
Working with the Salvatores was initially challenging for theNeverwinterteam because the authors needed to work aroundNeverwinter’s quest flow. While a novel’s narrative can flow seamlessly, an MMORPG needs to guide players from one location to the next, knowing they will explore an off-beaten path, while providing rewards and experience points necessary for game progression.
One of the challenges we identified was that there are lots of little things where we need to make things a certain way because that’s how the quests work. We need certain content cues for the steps of a quest since that’s how we do them in Neverwinter.
Once we identified some of those elements, we made a new narrative framework thing that will help us collaborate with people in general in the future. We gave them a boot camp on “this is how Neverwinter content works, and these are the pieces of it.” Then we made a full script sheet outlining the gameplay flow of M25. Then they gave us all the quest dialogue and interesting callouts, lore, commentary, and that sort of thing.
Thanks to their experience with this collaboration, theNeverwinterteam now has a solid workflow prepared for future collaborations. This should make the process much smoother in the future andDungeons & Dragonsfanscan expect more collaborative efforts in the future asNeverwintercontinues to expand.
Neverwinteris free-to-play on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles.
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