Former CCP staffer on board Pathfinder MMO

Ryan Dancey is at the spearhead of a movement to create an MMO based on critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons ruleset revision, Pathfinder.

The former Eve Online chief marketing officer has joined up with Pathfinder creator Paizo to launch a new company - Goblinworks - to create the proposed game.

The project is in extremely early stages and is seeking investors to fund development, but is described as a "hybrid sandbox/theme park-style MMO roleplaying game where characters explore, develop, and dominate the River Kingdoms, a treacherous no-man's-land of squabbling kingdoms on the edge of wilderness".

Paizo boasts of highly customisable character creation and progression paths and, intriguingly, a full economy system with scalaing guild support.

"Pathfinder Online's robust trading system puts players in control of the world's economy with player-created items, consumables, fortifications, and settlements. Character-controlled settlements can grow into full-fledged kingdoms that compete for resources as they seek to become the dominant force in the land, raising vast armies to hold their territory against the depredations of monstrous creatures, NPC factions, and other player characters.

"Social organizations scale from small parties of a few adventurers to player nations inhabited by thousands. As settlements develop, the surrounding wilderness develops more complex and challenging features, including randomly generated encounters and resources as well as exciting scripted adventures."

Paizo and Goblinworks are seeking player feedback throughout the development process; for more information, check out the game's website.

Pathfinder, often called "3.75", is a pen-and-paper role playing game system built on Dungeons & Dragons 3.5.