14 DAY TRIAL // The free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Dungeons & Dragons universe, Neverwinter, is going to play host to a special event in which its players will be able to take part in a digital game version of the real world tabletop game that inspired the video game they are are playing.
How's that for a mouthful? Titled Respen's Marvelous Game, the new event is catered toward fans of meta-gameplay experiences and will run from April 1 through April 4.
The mysterious and not-quite-serious event stars the mischievous mage Respen Durothil, calling out to all the heroes of Neverwinter to try his new game. Sitting at a table with his fellow heroes – Sergeant Knox, Makos, Celeste, Xuna and Rhix – players will move miniature versions of their character avatar across a paper maps set either in a perilous dungeon or a murky swamp.
By employing the magic of multifaceted dice, grid paper and cardboard dividers, players will be able to let their imagination run rampant in the quest to save an elven princess, with the adventure set to a witty narration by the dungeon master himself, the mischievous Respen.
Players who indulge in Respen's Marvelous Game will receive various prizes and will be able to earn multisided Cystal Dice from chests and foes, which they can then trade for various exclusive event items. The game-inside-the-game takes place in the Driftwood Tavern in the Protector's Enclave.
Players who accept the challenge and take part in the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired game within the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired game will have the chance to battle notable D&D enemies and earn the exclusive friendly Green Slime Companion, as well as a stat-boosting Adorable Pocket Pet, and additionally to taste the yummy tabletop snacks, the Neverwintan Red Veins, Lathander's Dew and Lliira's Fare.
This is, of course, intended as a joke, but the good kind of joke, where you get to make some bad Inception puns and then roll up your sleeves and get to work on pummeling some virtual tabletop dungeon denizens in an adaptation of a game that's seen global love.
Players who want to join Neverwinter and play the massively multiplayer online role-playing game for free can sign up on Perfect World's website.
If you want to see what the game's all about, check out the short video below, summing up the game's features and showing some gameplay footage illustrating Neverwinter's core concepts and gameplay experience.
