The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [90]
In addition to the standard spells, Might and Magic spells gave other special effects that would later be duplicated in the tabletop version of Dungeons & Dragons. This is most emblematic in the spell Prismatic Ray (the equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons’ Prismatic Spray) which could poison, petrify, burn a target, and more. All told, the Might and Magic series areas were immense, with over twenty of them, each easily the equivalent of a single Wizardry level.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I was also released in 1986. It had non-linear gameplay and permanent player characters. This CRPG distinctly equated “Fellowship” with “party” (Barton 2008:203).
Dungeon Master was released for the Atari ST by FTL Games in 1987. It introduced real-time three-dimensional gameplay and a variety of innovations, including direct manipulation of the environment by clicking the mouse as well as first-person perspective. Also, the characters’ skills were improved directly through use, in contrast to the traditional Dungeons & Dragons style of “leveling up” to improve skills. Spell casting required a knowledge of symbols and how to combine them to cast the appropriate spell types. Sounds were used to indicate nearby creatures, and creatures were lit depending on the light source in the room. I remember playing Dungeon Master fondly. It went on to become the Atari ST’s best-selling product of all time, reaching over 50 percent market penetration of all Atari STs sold (Barton 2008:235).
Demon’s Winter, a sequel to The Shard of Spring, debuted in 1988. It added more classes: berserker, cleric, monk, paladin, ranger, scholar, sorcerer, thief, visionary, and wizard. Demon’s Winter also featured the worship of individual gods, first introduced in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and formalized in third edition of the rules.
In 1988, Dungeons &Dragons finally became part of the CRPG platform that had spawned so many imitators. Pool of Radiance, published by SSI, featured the standard demi-human races (dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, halfling) and classes (cleric, fighter, magic-user, and thief). However, it relied on the same multiclassing rules, particularly restricting multiclassing, which was always a complicated balance (Barton 2008:146).
Additionally, Pool of Radiance hewed strictly to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, requiring spell memorization and slots. It also reinforced the importance of resting, which meant the characters could be ambushed as they rested to memorize spells. Enforcing D&D’s memorization multiplied the level of character management tenfold—memorizing spells during every night’s rest became a chore that wouldn’t be resolved until later versions of the game.
Heroes of the Lance, also published by SSI, followed the same year. Based on the Dragonlance novels by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman, Heroes of the Lance was a side-scroller that used actual Dungeons & Dragons statistics. Heroes of the Lance was challenging to play because the monsters were difficult and you couldn’t save the game. However, the game was noteworthy for being a true port—the Dungeons & Dragons statistics for the characters were exactly as they were in the Dragonlance rule book that was released earlier. In fact, part of the copyright protection asked for statistics of the characters that were published in the instructions accompanying the game, but players who played the tabletop version could bypass that protection by looking up the statistics in the book (Barton 2008:148).
Curse of the Azure Bonds, a sequel to Pool of Radiance, was published in 1989. An improvement over its predecessor, the game allowed characters to reach higher levels (fifth through tenth level) and fight more interesting enemies, including the drow in its first CRPG appearance. It also featured rangers and paladins, as well as dual classing.