D&D Raids Facebook with Old-School Neverwinter RPG

Social games on Facebook have come a long way since the early days of Mafia Wars and Farmville. Now members have titles like Order & Chaos Online which is a full-blown MMORPG that's tied with the popular iOS version, NOVA Elite which was an actual FPS before Gameloft pulled the plug on Friday, and EA's just-launched The Sims Social. Unfortunately, great gems like these may get overlooked simply because Facebook lacks any kind of app directory showing what's available to use or play.

That said, many RPG fans may miss a new Dungeons & Dragons title that launched on Monday. Called D&D: Heroes of Neverwinter, Atari's new entry looks and feels like an old-school turn-based RPG. Players can recruit other player characters for a small fee to form a party of four, or click on a friend's portrait on the Adventuring Band below the main game view to recruit their characters for free. The latter option means that friends will earn extra gold when their characters help in a quest.

"Heroes of Neverwinter delivers a high level of depth, polish and authenticity that will fundamentally change the way players think of RPG gaming on social platforms," said Jim Wilson, President and CEO of Atari, Inc. "Existing fans of the D&D franchise will find the translation compelling in all areas of the gameplay experience, while more casual gamers will find the adaptation accessible and intuitive."

According to Atari, the RPG features over 50 dungeons, over 40 unique monsters and over 30 unique skills. Classes include the Cleric, Fighter, Rogue and Wizard, and races include Dragonborn, Eladrin, Halfling and Human. Players can pick from four pre-generated characters, or create one from scratch by choosing a race, class, gender, and distributing 22 points across Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, Constitution, Intelligence and Charisma attributes. 3 character slots are available form the start, another 2 can be unlocked by completing certain Achievements, and an additional 3 can be acquired using Astral Diamonds.

So far all characters have a level cap of 10, but to keep things alive beyond that point, Atari has implemented a Dungeon Workshop when any one character reaches level 10 (or Astral Diamonds are used). This unlocked Dungeon Master role allows players to create an adventure for anyone to play. By default, players can create 2 adventures, but additional adventure slots become available through achievements or purchase. Players can also visit their friends' houses to view their heroic Achievements and leave special gifts behind in their Chests of Wonder. They can even click on a friend's Chest of Wonder to select a gift for themselves.

To check out Atari's new social Neverwinter RPG, head here.