Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard
Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard is a real-time strategy video game developed by Liquid Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and published by Atari in 2005. It is set in Eberron, one of the official Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings. The game combines elements of the traditional real-time strategy game with role-playing elements such as hero units and quests. Dragonshard includes two single-player campaigns, single-player skirmish maps, and multiplayer support. The single-player campaign follows the battles of three competing factions for control of a magical artifact known as the Heart of Siberys. Although Dragonshard was touted by Atari as "the first Dungeons & Dragons real-time strategy game,"[2] Stronghold (1993) was released more than a decade earlier.[3]
Story
Dragonshard takes place in the world of Eberron. In the creation myth of Eberron, the dragon Khyber fought with his sister Siberys and shattered her body into pieces. In his anger, Khyber's brother Eberron wrapped him in his coils and held Khyber captive. The bodies of the three dragons became the three parts of Eberron's world: the surface of Eberron, the ring of Siberys surrounding Eberron, and the underworld of Khyber. From the three parts of the world emerge dragon shards, fragments of crystal and rock imbued with magical power. The Heart of Siberys is the largest dragonstone in Eberron. When it fell from the Ring of Siberys onto the continent of Xen'drik, it created a storm-swept mountain range known as the Ring of Storms and caused a city to sink into the ground. His immense magical power caused the natural creatures of the Ring of Storms to evolve into the Lizardfolk. To this day, the Heart causes conflict between factions over control of its power. In addition to the playable races, Eberron is populated by a number of neutral non-player factions and creatures, including the Illithids, long-time enemies of the Umbragen, a variety of golems created by an extinct elven race, the Ettins, and the Thri-Kreen. Dragonshard is the first video game set in the D&D campaign world of Eberron. The creator of Eberron, Keith Baker, wrote the story for Dragonshard. However, there are some discrepancies between the game and the canonical Eberron Campaign setting. Sibery's dragon shards should be gold, but in the game they are blue. Building new warforged is forbidden under the Treaty of Thronehold, which ended the Last War - the only sources of new warforged are the illegal forge of Merrix d'Cannith in Sharn and the forge of the Lord of Blades in the Mournlands. In-game, however, the Order Faction can build Warforged Titans.