So, WotC is updating the Lost Mines of Phandelver into a full on set of adventures for levels 1 to 12, and I am thinking that for the next playtest, that’s what I will use.
It will mean that I have to localize the adventure itself, but that seems like a good choice, and will give folks a chance to explore something somewhat familiar while also getting used to the House Rules set up.
The biggest change right now is that I am really playing around with the Cleric structures — setting up Magical Girls and Paladins as the main “healing” classes, while aso allowing as an example a more traditional cleric — but without the nightmare of Domains, since those are part of the subclass stuff that Wyrlde does away with entirely.
I happen to like DOmains, though, which kinda hurts, lol. Domains don’t work for Wyrlde, though — the Old Ones are not powerful and present enough to be able to provide them, and the Hosts are all “gods of everything”, so the domain system falls apart under that kind of set up.
The initial test of Witches was ok, and I like the way the new Druids have come together (more based on shamanistic practices and leaning into shinto and santeria style stuff). Once I finish the clerics I will go back into the Nomads and see if I can fix the Jedi problem.
Even as I am transferring the Wyrlde book contents into the website, I am doing minor updates and text corrections. The whole is a unique quirk, since the major thrusts of the playtest were that the classes were over powered and there wee too many. So trimming it down to 15 and then going back to start where I bind the classes to the world’s setting is the whole thing. Those were the things the players liked the most — how Gunslingers are tied deeply tot he wild west of Dorado, how Monk’s are just Mortal Kombat types, and so forth. It creates a deeper tie. One surprise was that the vanguard are genuinely fun to play if you get intot he right frame of mind — they are showmen and performers who value the skill of an individual and the thrill of direct battle. It makes them an interesting counterpart to the more staid but extremely deadly Warriors — who emphasize team effort and tactical approaches over glory.
The Shrinewarden change — magical girls become luminars become Shrinewards, but are still magical girls, and I love that, lol. I did not like losing my whole Runewright idea, but by shifting them into the witch and warlock areas I became more confident in their roles int he world. The traditional, rules based Sorcerer and Warlock are really hard to make work here.
One player made a Fairy Vanguard, and let me tell you, do not mess with a fairy vanguard. A two foot tall berserker is still a berserker, and size just makes them more difficult to deal with.
