D&D’s Virtual Tabletop, ‘Project Sigil’, On Display at D&D Direct
D&D’s new virtual tabletop is a 3D miniature/worldbuilding engine that will let you really dig in and play with WotC’s toys.
D&D’s upcoming 3d virtual tabletop platform. It turns out to be a robust creative toolset, moreso than you might have been expecting, complete with a miniature maker that will let you design your own digital minis, as well as a level builder that is like playing with surprisingly detailed terrain.
D&D Direct Shows Off Project Sigil Preview – 3D Terrain and Minis and Dungeons
Before we get into the features they showed off for the virtual tabletop, though, I want to highlight one thing that leaps out as a weird statement to make. Maybe because they’re hoping that the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 will make people more interested in the toolset? But the whole Project Sigil preview starts off by framing the virtual tabletop tool as a way to “continue the adventure of Baldur’s Gate 3” and that’s in their own words:
“So many of us played Baldur’s Gate 3; this is the opportunity for people to continue their adventures in this new way to play D&D.
We have this 3D sandbox where you can bring your friends and play D&D with all of these cool 3D environment pieces and miniatures that come with the product. You can start experiencing a roleplaying game, but in a more digital friendly format.
You go take those characters, Astarion and Karlach, and you can play with them, and just tell your own tale. Where people who may be used to video games actually get to see the thing you’re talking about instead of just imagining it.
– D&D Direct
I don’t know if that means WotC is aiming this at people who play video games but not D&D? Or if it’s meant to hook new players in? It’s hard to say. But Astarion and Karlach as digital miniatures play a big role in the marketing so far. And that’s a flag planted y WotC to say “this is what we intend, this is what we plan”.
Three more things that they continually repeat, that it’ll be “easy, fast, fun.” Which, maybe that’s the case, but they also want you to add sound effects and visual effects and dynamic lighting to the game. Lots of little detailed set pieces.
And if you play with 3D terrain in real life, you know there’s nothing fast or easy about it. How many hours do you spend crafting the perfect environment? But Project Sigil is ready to integrate with D&D Beyond, in that you can bring in any character from D&D Beyond and it’ll have all your equipment and abilities and spells in the platform.
They also showcased, very briefly, the miniature maker:
It’s basically a character creator but for virtual miniatures. Kind of like Hero Forge, I suppose, but you don’t 3D print your mini at the end of the day. They do say that you can re-dress your miniatures and change out equipment. But, you have to get in and build everything with their pre-made assets. Some of which, you’ll have to buy, for sure. This is where the microtransactions come in, but they’re virtual instead of actual miniatures.
There’s also a level builder that will let you create your own sets:
Again, I don’t know that I would categorize anything they’ve shown off in the video as fast or easy to make. Fast, to me, implies you’ll be done in a single evening. Even just filling out that section of the tavern shown in the screenshot above looks like it’d take hours. To say nothing of a 3D dungeon complex like this one:
But I think WotC knows that. I think that’s why we’re told how quick and easy to use this will be, because that’s going to be the sticking point for this whole platform. But if they can truly make it easy to use, then I can see a lot of people playing in their sandbox. If not? It’s probably going to be a smaller, but more dedicated audience. And that may not be enough to justify to shareholders the existence of the project.
Which I don’t mention as a “hah this is doomed to fail” but rather because of the digital-only nature of this. I’d hate to see hundreds of hours of work building digital campaigns get tossed out if a Hasbro/WotC executive decides that Project Sigil hasn’t met its profit metrics for whatever quarter, and it’s going to be written off as a loss for some accountomancy.
And make no mistake, Hasbro is watching. I mean, they put Optimus Prime right there in the preview. He’s there to fight Drizzt. They talk about wanting to add “other toys” to the sandbox. Which I’m going to guess means the Transformers, GI Joe, Power Rangers – Hasbro’s shareholders must adore the success of Magic’s Universes Beyond because they keep finding ways to do it.
Like carcinization, it seems like all games evolve until they become a Fortnite, giving you yet another venue to see Goku hit the Griddy after getting the dub.
What do you think of Project Sigil?
