Welcome to the Wyrmspear play test!
Wyrmspear is a re-imagining of the classic Dragons of Despair DL#1 adventure scenario (published by TSR in 1984) in OD&D/Delving Deeper terms.
Wyrmspear eschews the wider scope of TSR's epic campaign setting to focus on a single, dungeon scenario based on the Xak Tsaroth map. It brings players back to the original 3 (or 4) PC classes, positioned at 0e-scale experience levels, and includes a bunch of minor tweaks to DL#1 that make it directly playable with the original rules. E.g., hobbets rather than kender, lizardmen (cough) rather than draconians, armies of normal fighting-men rather than scores of 4th-level fighters, and so on.
Wyrmspear is ultimately a re-keying (and modest expansion) of the awesome isometric DL#1 dungeon map, only loosely inspired by the TSR legendaria. While many of the names are throwbacks to DL#1, this is simply for a fun sense of nostalgia; it is not intended to align properly to DragonLance canon. (Whether I stick with these names or replace them will depend somewhat on the reactions I see here in this play test).
Wyrm Wurld
The world of Wyrmspear is less high fantasy, more sword & sorcery. That means it's grittier, deadlier, and emphasises individual struggles over grand geopolitical machinations. The "Wyrm Wurld" is deliberately not named "Krin" or "Qrin", or anything else, so that the whole scenario could be dropped right into a ref's existing campaign.
Wyrmspear is set in a network of towns and villages that could be anywhere. Harvest, Plow, Solstice, Flax, and other villages of the North Holdings are run by the Speakers---and distant High Speakers who supposedly converse directly with the gods. There are Speakers and gods for everything, but miracles are few and far between; their clerics have no spells or power over the undead. The neglected order of the Knights of Solaria is scarcely continued by its last handful of practitioners. The nomadic, hunter/herder plainsmen are regarded with suspicion by sensible towns folk.
Gold, silver and copper pieces are the standard currency because that's interoperable with most refs' settings. While clerics of Wyrmspear have no spells, they could co-exist with clerics of other games who do have spells. There are no Kender and there's no draconian army. There's no blue crystal staff, no unicorn forest master dishing out quests, and no rail-roady plot. There IS a brooding Nightwood, a hidden swamp, and a sunken ruin. There is trouble with a dangerous force of lizard men. There is a terrible dragon, lurking somewhere in the ruins. There is treasure to be found. And, there is a legendary Wyrm Spear.
Game Rules
This playtest will be run using the (still partially un-published) DD v5 rules.
Most of what the players need to know is available in these two documents:
DD5 Heroes and Magic
DD5 Players Quick Starter
(I'm aware that both are due for an update/refresh, but if you happen to notice any inconsistencies between these two docs please let me know over in the Out Of Character topic).
In general, players don't need any detailed rules knowledge. I will coach the game along and explain how the rules are working, as required.
I will throw all the dice (mainly to keep the game pace up), and report the results back in my posts. Those who have played here previously will be used to this style. For the new players, I play the dice as they fall. Monsters and PCs alike live or die by the inscrutable dice gods. This empowers players to own their own fates and, besides; not knowing how things will turn out is all part of the fun!
This scenario is designed exactly around the OD&D dungeon building spec, so from that perspective it is "balanced" (cough) in the sense that challenges are aligned to the dungeon levels they are found on. What is not quite so obvious is what dungeon levels the various encounter areas should ideally be designated as. I hope this run thru will help to sort that out.
Because this is a play test: if there is TPK, or if the party gets seriously diminished along the way, I may opt to wind back, adjust, and re-run certainly combat areas. I will generally try to keep it interesting for everyone, so don't be disheartened if your PC dies. Your reincarnation won't be far off
You can post suggestions, questions, or general banter over in the Out Of Character topic.
I am here to help!