Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale is an action role-playing video game developed by Bedlam Games and published by Atari. The game includes both single and co-operative multiplayer modes and is set in the Forgotten Realms.
Gameplay
Daggerdale features third-person real-time tactics combat, questing, character development, and exploration. Two modes, campaign and freeplay, are in the game. Single and multiplayer modes are also included, with split-screen multiplayer for up to four players. While some gameplay elements were borrowed from Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, the developers stated that this was taken from the linear part of the game and that the gameplay was inspired by Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes.
The game makes use of the four main D&D character classes: clerics, rogues, wizards and fighters, as well as the four main races, dwarves, elves, halflings and humans. Some customization of the characters is provided as a player earns experience in the game, and character progression advances as per a limited set of 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules for both class and race. Further customization is achieved through loot and equipment drops. Character level advancement is currently limited to level 10.
Synopsis
Characters
Four pre-generated characters are available for players to choose as an avatar: a human male fighter, a dwarf male cleric, a halfing male wizard and an elf female rogue. Players are initially offered limited options for modification of a character - such as choosing the character's name. Additional customization requires the character to gain experience and collect equipment during the game. Each character features abilities and bonuses related to its class and race.
The main antagonist of the game is a worshiper of the god Bane. This Wizard Mage is an agent of the Zhentarim and is known as Rezlus. He is extremely grotesque. He is hell-bent on taking over Daggerdale for his evil god and states it at the beginning of the game. He is amassing an army to take over the Dale. Lorin-Aria is the character in the game who summons the main characters. She was a Banite Priestess, loyal to Rezlus. Her sister, Nezra, is first revealed as a mystery, but at the very end is revealed to be a Zhent loyal to Cyric. Because the game takes place in the Dwarven Mines of Tethyamar, there are many Dwarves present. The Zhentarim are also known as the Black Network, a name which they are referred to when hiding their identity.
The Black Network has been divided into two sections: the Banites and the Cyrcists (those loyal to Bane and those loyal to Cyric). The Zhentarim, however, have become extremely weak following the Spellplague and the division of the Black Network weakened them further. Rezlus hopes to take over Daggerdale and restore the Zhentarim to their former glory. If Rezlus had succeeded, Zhentarim's control in the Dalelands would have been firm again, their empire would be feared, they would have a strong army and Cyric's influence would be crushed, making Bane the main deity again.
Setting
The game takes place in the Forgotten Realms year of 1420 DR in Daggerdale, which rests atop the underground ruins of the Dwarven Kingdom of Tethyamar. The Zhentarim have built the Tower of Void in these ruins. To take over the Dale, players will have to enter the mines, find the Tower of Void, kill Rezlus, and stop the Zhentarim operations. The tower extends high above Daggerdale even though its entrance is underground.
Plot
In the Mines of Tethyamar in Daggerdale, in the year 1420 DR, the Zhentarim have constructed the Tower of Void as an attempt to take over the Dale. Lorin-Aria, fearing the power of the Zhentarim, calls on four adventurer's from different regions in the Dalelands. She calls a human fighter, dwarven cleric, elven rogue and a halfling wizard. She informs the player that the Zhentarim are building an army to conquer Daggerdale. Aria then vanishes before the heroes, telling them that because of her ties to the Zhentarim, she will not be able to aid them further. The heroes soon run into trouble, as they find goblins imprisoning a dwarven worker. The heroes save the worker who informs them that Goblins are raiding their camps all throughout the Mines of Tethyamar.
The heroes are attacked by an earth elemental, a creature that kills all of the goblins and tries to kill the four heroes. The heroes enter a portal and arrive in a rebuilt part of the Ruins of Tethyamar called Granstone. The dwarf Garbo Silvertongue arranges for the heroes to meet with the dwarves' Master Paxton, Union Leader Esar and Ayer. Eventually the heroes manage to gain Master Paxton's favor by helping the dwarves fight the goblins. While looking in Oxenmoor for the dwarves, the heroes find Master Paxton's satchel, containing Dryad Dust, in a goblin camp. The heroes find that the goblins have poisoned the dwarven water supplies with dryad dust. When the heroes return to Granstone, a whole goblin army attacks the Ruins of Tethyamar, however the heroes defeat the goblins. Ayer then has Master Paxton arrested and opens up the Grand Gates for the heroes to enter.
Following Ayer's advice, the heroes enter the Tower of Void through its storage area. There they find Garbo Silvertongue talking to Master Paxton. The heroes overhear Garbo state that he and the Goblins are loyal to Bane and the Zhentarim and that they plan to poison the rest of Granstone's water supplies. Garbo states that the Zhentarim will grant him the rule of the Mines of Tethyamar. When Garbo leaves, the heroes free Master Paxton who runs to Ayer to warn him about Garbo. To make sure the Goblins do not attack Tethyamar again, the heroes attack the Goblin Chieftain killing him, and scattering the Goblins of Tethyamar. The heroes then encounter Garbo and kill him.
