Neverwinter Nights 2: Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God Interview Part 2

Warcry: What is the weakest element of the story?

BR: For me, the weakest part of the story is the resolution of the relationship between Damodar and Klaxx, the Lich. We never quite got it right. It's no big deal, really, when you think of everything else that could have gone wrong. But I can't watch it anymore. The end, when the Lich leaves Damodar on the hilltop to face Berek, drives me crazy.

Warcry: Are there any scenes, moments, or character-interactions your especially proud of?

BR: I don't know if it's pride, but I do love it when Damodar's Half-Orc assistant says "Good times". It wasn't written that way. The guy was supposed to be human and we changed it mid-production to a Half-Orc. I was in Lithuania for the shoot and when the prosthetic arrived I got the idea to have the Half-Orc chime in with his very elementary analysis of the situation. It worked perfectly, and I get a little chuckle every time I see it.

RK: For me, I lose interest in a movie when I feel like Iım being lied to - when I feel like the writer is either trying to force something on me, stretch things, speak for the characters or worse yet condescend to the characters. So I guess the thing Iım most proud of as a writer is that I think we avoided this. I think we were fair to all the characters and didnıt impose our ³will² on them. We didnıt try to speak for them. They were who they were, not who we were or who we thought they should be. They spoke with their own voices and exercised freewill. I donıt think we got in their way.

Warcry: Crafting a living world is a challenge for any writer; what techniques did you use to make your story breathe?

BR: While writing I never think about trying to make it breathe or adding a human dimension. It's just not something I consciously attempt. You know what you like, what you don't like, and what parts are just servicing the story. Every time I go through the story, in every draft, some new piece of characterization inevitably just kind of floats into place -- like a Tetris block you don't have to touch. It happens because you are becoming more familiar with the players. It's been my experience that when I try forcing
life into something it ends up feeling, well, forced. Unnatural.

RK: Itıs kind of like I said above. You canıt impose your will on things. At some point you become so well acquainted with the story and characters that it almost starts writing itself and youıre just a stenographer. But that doesnıt mean itıs easy.

Warcry: Did you find it more difficult to create protagonists or antagonists? Why?

BR: Much more difficult to create protagonists. They are the nucleus of your story -- everything else revolves around them. Structure, dramatic arc, emotional content are all governed by the gravitational force of your protagonist. Antagonists, on the other hand, don't have nearly as many responsibilities. You just kind of let them loose and watch as they make life hell for your heroes.

RK: Protagonists absolutely. There are so many things you have to concern yourself with. But antagonists are easy and a lot more fun to write because you donıt have to try to get the audience to like them.

Warcry: Tell us a little bit about the editing process. How many iterations did the story go through? What were some of the biggest changes, without giving too much away?

RK&BR: It was originally meant to be a sequel. Thatıs why itıs set in Ismir and Damodar was brought back as the villain. During the development process a decision was made to have the story be less of a sequel and more of a self-contained adventure, like a module. This meant re-working the structure to remove the dramatic connections to the first movie. But there were certain elements from the original concept that we thought the fans of the first movie would appreciate seeing again, like Damodar. So, we had to figure out a way to justify Damodarıs presence without making it a sequel. The solution was to keep it in Ismir and have Damodar seek his revenge one hundred years later as one of the Undead, in this case a Corpse Creature.

Warcry: Have you seen the finished product yet? How does it look? How do you feel about it?

RK&BR: I donıt think there's ever been a writer who was one hundred percent satisfied with all of the content that ends up on the screen. Itıs just not going to happen. Thereıs always something thatıs cut due to time, money, or artistic difference with everyone from the director to the production designer. Itıs the nature of the beast. We didnıt have the time or money of The Lord of the Rings so we knew early on there was a good chance that not everything weıd written was going to be put on screen. The production was going to have to be fluid and deviation from the script was inevitable. So, placing your expectations within that context, we are both happy with what finally ended up on screen.

We would like to thank both Robert and Brian for taking the time to answer our questions. Make sure you pick up your copy of Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God on DVD.