For my Simple DnD Map playtest on September 13, I designed a simple DnD level consisting of four encounters. The level was designed to start with a player choice to go into a fortified house or take a longer path through the forest. The house held one locked door, one strong enemy, one weak enemy, and a treasure chest. The forest path held three weak enemies. Both paths exited to the next open area that has one strong enemy and one treasure chest. For the last encounter, players would proceed into a cave for the boss fight.
Since the rulesheet mostly discussed combat mechanics, I figured that a good tutorial level would feature some simple encounters to get players accustomed to it. Each encounter had a small number of overall enemies, no more than three, and none of them were especially powerful. Some had more defense, but none had high offense besides the boss.
For the playtest I was in a group with Kyle, who picked the Mage class, and Valerie, who picked the Ranger class. First, they entered the house by unlocking the locked door. They killed the enemies inside very quickly, and found the treasure chest hidden in its back room. Valerie got to it first and was rewarded with a health potion. I added this to the game to introduce it as a mechanic and keep things easy. They proceeded to the next encounter, which they also ended in a single turn. Kyle got to the second chest and found an enchantment scroll, which let him choose one stat to increase. They ended the adventure with the boss fight, who could summon weaker enemies to fight, and use strong magic attacks. They dispatched the boss in a few turns, and struggled more to deal with the summoned enemies. However, they were successful.
What went right?
The players enjoyed the simple dramatic element of having to fight a necromancer to avenge your father. They seemed to enjoy finding items in treasure chests. The final boss went well, being somewhat challenging but ultimately ending with them succeeding. The challenge was important as it made the players consider their combat options. They engaged with the majority of the combat mechanics, such as attacks, magic attacks, positioning, and healing from damage.
What went wrong?
The thing I noticed most was that they ended most encounters in a single hit with some lucky dice rolls. I think my strong enemies needed more defense, or just to have more of them. This may however been due to class balance, since they both picked characters with high range. The players also noted that the level bounds should’ve been more visibly clear on the map. Graying out the out of bounds area would have added to my level.
For other additions, players didn’t get a chance to use the jumping skills. An improved version of the level would have some gaps or obstacles to jump over.
Overall, players had an easy time figuring out where to go. They enjoyed a lot of my additions, such as the items and final boss. However, they didn’t end up using the health potion. Because item usage is mentioned in the rulesheet, I could’ve added another possible potion, such as strength, that would encourage players to use it actively rather than reactively.
Other than that, I think the level was mostly successful at easing the players into combat. With some encounter rebalancing to create a smoother difficulty curve, and some obstacles to jump over, I think it would be very well off.
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