Cryptic Studios delves into the tabletop DNA of Champions Online
The highly pedigreed PC-gaming site Rock, Paper, Shotgun is offering up a week of Champions Online features. They began at the very beginning - the pen and paper game that spawned the online representation. Jack Emmert kicks off the week by noting that moving from tabletop to MMO is a no-brainer move. The Champions license has a 25-year history, allowing for a lot of really compelling content to be 'just lifted' straight from the pages of the RPG sourcebooks. He also notes the relative infancy of the MMO genre, and obviously hopes that future titles like his own will aid in the game type's creative expansion.
Following close on Mr. Emmert's heels comes commentary from pen-and-paper designer George MacDonald. Mr. MacDonald had worked on the Champions game for some time, and has a great viewpoint on the point-based system driving the game's undercarriage. The site and the designer go back and forth on the concept of "expressive" game mechanics, and briefly reflect back on MacDonald's work with the SSI gold box D&D games. These are two great pieces about the intersection of MMOs and their originating art form.
