Sad news today. I just received word that Neverwinter will be closing down its Foundry for good.
Neverwinter is an MMORPG set in Dungeons & Dragons’ Forgotten Realms setting, using a version of the 4th Edition D&D ruleset. It had an editor named the Foundry that gave players the ability to create their own quests and dungeons, complete with branching dialogue, monsters, simple puzzles, and (pre-generated) quest rewards, for other players to play through and critique.
Though it had its flaws, for me and many others, it was the main draw of the game. I won’t forget adventures like faithful renditions of Drizzt’s battle with the Many Arrows orcs, doing my in-character introduction for my roleplay guild <Order of the Broken Path>, knocking over mountains of crates just for the heck of it, evenings spent in specially created taverns chatting with other roleplayers, and even a quirky quest about saving a village from hallucinatory cheese.
From left to right: Theolus “Foundry Apprentice” of The Broken Path, Tony Chianti “Foundry Neophyte” of Infernal Paragons, Eixelebrat “Foundry Grandmaster” of NWLC Alpha, Ian Darksword “Foundry Stalwart” of Noble Misfits, Irras Locksheon “Moonstar Agent” of The Court of Bones, Claudia Helder “Foundry Grandmaster” of Jagged Daggers, Rendis Redhair “Foundry Neophyte” of Elite Mercenaria, Thia Duskwalker “Foundry Graduate” of Order of the Raven, CruelBanana “The Blue” of Reborn Immortals, Nedryn Zauth “Foundry Apprentice” of Order of the Silent Shroud
(Photo credit to Locksheon.)
I myself created a small campaign following the story of a drow who had fled the Underdark after his daughter had been turned into an evil priestess of Lloth. He surfaced somewhere in the Anarouch Desert, met a sharp-tongued wood elf who reluctantly befriended him, and eventually found faith in Amaunator (Lathander), the god of the sun and truth. The campaign is still available until April 11th on Neverwinter. If you care to give it a look-up, it is called the Fox’s Den; author is @kevaar. Please note, given the current status of the Foundry, some bugs may exist that I can no longer control.
I’m just a little choked up it’ll all be gone soon, really. Over the next few weeks I’ll be salvaging what I can, perhaps to retool for a pen and paper module. Or perhaps greater things lie in store? The community of Foundry authors, while small, has been wonderful, and we’re considering refocusing our creative efforts into making a community based on creating quests and perhaps even our own indie RPG. It’s too early to tell yet.
In the meantime, it was good while it lasted. We’ll miss you, Foundry. Should you resurface in some form, whether in this game or another, don’t be a stranger, hey?
