What is it?

A Facebook game. No, seriously. It's a grid-based Dungeons & Dragons game that runs in your browser and lets you experience the thrill of rolling odd-shaped dice to determine actions without even cracking open a Dungeon Master's Guide.

Why is it cool?

Heroes basically replicates the D&D tabletop experience in a slimmed-down form. You create a character (Human, Eladrin, Dragonborn, or Halfling), choose a class (Rogue, Fighter, Cleric, or Wizard), recruit NPCs to join your party, and set out on instanced adventures ripped straight from the Forgotten Realms lore of the Neverwinter license.

Die rolls are all simulated behind the scenes, but if you have any knowledge of the 4th Edition ruleset, you'll feel right at home. The turn-based combat incorporates everything from the pen-and-paper version, down to initiative bonuses, combat advantage, and the move/minor/standard ability structure. Leveling up and randomized loot are taken straight from the core rulebooks as well.

The moment we'll all become Dungeon Masters

When your Heroes character reaches level 10, you'll unlock a dungeon creation toolset which will allow you to craft your own adventures -- complete with story text, monster encounters, and grid layouts -- and make them available to your friends on Facebook.

It's a pretty cool idea, one that the series has tackled before (the original Neverwinter Nights contained a crazy-deep level creator that virtual DMs still use today). But since Heroes runs inside the Facebook platform, it's a lot easier to show off your masterpieces to your buddies. You may never need to throw a polyhedron again when Heroes of Neverwinter launches later this summer.

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