Hi Mike, Bearer of the Green Dragon Mask here. When last we spoke, you said there was some cross-training and borrowing between the D&D team and the Magic team. Could you elaborate on the types of ideas or experiences they hope to share with their new teams, and what they hope to bring over from the other side?Congrats! You did the Zhentarim proud!
The big thing we’re learning from Magic is how to improve our storytelling. Two people from Magic – Richard Whitters and Adam Lee – have come over to guide our art concepting and writing, respectively.
For a long time, D&D was very much driven by a group of lone writers doing whatever they wanted. That led to some pretty interesting individual moments, but it also led to D&D stories being isolated, unconnected, and chaotic. For instance, even after the success of the Baldur’s Gate video games it wasn’t until recently that we featured that city as a key part of the RPG.
With Magic, there’s an emphasis on building compelling stories that work for card sets while also setting the stage for the larger, Magic universe. That’s exactly the direction we’re taking D&D.Comment from discussion AMA: Mike Mearls, Co-Designer of D&D 5, Head of D&D R&D.
The big thing we’re learning from Magic is how to improve our storytelling. Two people from Magic – Richard Whitters and Adam Lee – have come over to guide our art concepting and writing, respectively.
For a long time, D&D was very much driven by a group of lone writers doing whatever they wanted. That led to some pretty interesting individual moments, but it also led to D&D stories being isolated, unconnected, and chaotic. For instance, even after the success of the Baldur’s Gate video games it wasn’t until recently that we featured that city as a key part of the RPG.
With Magic, there’s an emphasis on building compelling stories that work for card sets while also setting the stage for the larger, Magic universe. That’s exactly the direction we’re taking D&D.Comment from discussion AMA: Mike Mearls, Co-Designer of D&D 5, Head of D&D R&D.