Divinity Original Sin 2 goes D&D with Game Master Mode
Check out Divinity: Original Sin 2’s game master mode, coming soon to a PC near you.
That’s right folks, it’s time to break out the graph paper and campaign notes–maybe go dig up your old Neverwinter Nights custom scripts for reference–because Divinity Original Sin 2’s GM mode looks pretty sweet. For those of you not familiar with it, Divinity: Original Sin is a modern homage to classic RPGs. Playing the game you’ll see heavy shades of Baldur’s Gate and Diablo II–in fact, imagine if they had a baby and you’ve basically got the first game summarized in a nutshell.
That was back in 2014. In 2015 they kickstarted a sequel to the tune of 2 million dollars, which when coupled with the funding provided by Larian Studios (who developed the game), meant one thing–the addition of a Game Master Mode to the sequel. That was back in 2015. Today Polygon has a first look at the game’s Game Master Mode, but with an added twist.
Not only is there a game master mode, but Larian Studios have also teamed up with Wizards (at least in part) to create the Lost Mine of Phandelver in D: OS2’s engine. Now whether this means more “official” modules or even that the Lost Mine will even be included in the game’s eventual release is unclear. But, the mode looks pretty solid regardless. There’s a ton of customization options. In the video we link to below you can see a player climb up to the top of a tower and try to hurl a goblin off of it–and it happens. The game’s built-in level editor looks incredibly robust. The view from the GM’s screen (hah I see what they did there) lets you go as deep into the game as having monsters hurl flower pots at your foes in-game.
Even more exciting is the apparent ability to create vignettes/dialogue choices on the fly.
But more than that, you can even go in and edit the options you’re presented with. In the video they mention throwing explosive barrels down a well, despite it not being an option available to them. And that seems to be a repeating theme here–the ability to go off-script and try to do things outside of the game’s limitations. Which, of course is the advantage of having a GM there in the first place. And some might say is the advantage that pen and paper RPGs have over video game RPGs is the limitless frame-rate and possibilities of the imaginationnn.
Pictured: The limitless possibilities of the imaginationnnnnnnnn
Okay but seriously video games are great and this looks like a really neat foray into multiplayer CRPGs that reminds me of the Neverwinter Nights days in the best ways. Speaking of–Neverwinter Nights is still kicking, you can grab it off of GoG and find multiplayer servers still up and running. So if you have a hankering to take this idea for a test run, that’s one way to do it.
At any rate, let’s get to the video.
via Polygon
This is what Divinity: Original Sin2’s game master mode offers: the fun of Original Sin’s underlying mechanics and its visualization, but the freedom for creativity and group storytelling that D&D provides.
Later in the campaign, our party found itself ambushed by a small group of goblins camping in some ruins. We were able to handle two goblins on the ground, but a third was raining arrows on us from up above. Our fastest party member, a dwarf named Dwemer, decided to take care of this nuisance.
Dwemer scaled up a vine and ran up to the goblin. But rather than attacking using Divinity’s normal turn-based combat system, the player controlling Dwemer turned to the GM and announced that he wanted to grab the goblin and toss him off the nearby ledge. The GM paused for a moment to consider and then had Dwemer do a dice roll while checking his strength stat and comparing it to the goblin’s. The roll was successful; the goblin got tossed to the ground and knocked out, even though there were no specific combat skills on Dwemer’s bar that would normally allow for this.
Subscribe to our newsletter!Get Tabletop, RPG & Pop Culture news delivered directly to your inbox.By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.This flexibility exists outside of individual combat scenarios and across the overall structure of any given campaign as well. Unique encounters can be prepared as what the game calls “vignettes” — short written descriptions that offer the party members a number of choices. There’s also freedom to edit these vignettes on the fly, adding in a surprising new option that the players come up with.
Running a great RPG campaign means being prepared for players to go in a completely different direction than you intended. Divinity: Original Sin 2 will let game masters queue up dozens of single-screen levels to be used over the course of a campaign, and you can even upload your own unique world map. The game will ship with somewhere between 120 and 150 pre-made levels that can be added into your module and loaded up at any point. These maps run the fantasy gamut from deserts to pirate ships to dark caverns.
AdvertisementIf you’re not seeing the exact level you need for your campaign, or if you want to design something more tightly tied to what you’re planning, you can hop out of the game proper and into its modding tools.
You can find even more details in the full article–and you can hear the sweet sweet timbre of Griffin McElroy’s voice if you watch the video. And if you want to see more Game Master Mode in action, be sure and check out Larian studios’ Twitch Channel.
Read more about Divinity Original Sin 2’s Game Master Mode
Happy Adventuring!
