The Indie Informer

I rolled the dice this year on The Secret of Weepstone at PAX West. Having initially planned to skip the show, I was deeply stingy with my official appointments (though that didn’t keep my schedule as unladen as I expected). But, wouldn’t you know it? This gorgeously hand-sketched and nostalgic trip back to old-school tabletop gaming popped up in my emails just before the event, and I couldn’t say no. I’m so glad I didn’t because it shot so far past my expectations and earned my top accolades for the show.

Everyone ready for a misty, eerie backstory before rolling initiative? The Secret of Weepstone sweeps through the tale of the titular keep’s founder. A warrior wading through blood as he storms through the land, the original Lord of Weepstone settled unexpectedly on this spot, halting his furious campaign cold. His descendant, Lord Byron, is now the keep’s master and taken with an unnatural illness. Desperate to find its source, the family puts out a call to all who are willing to scour the abandoned estate. This is where I begin.

The faces lining the tavern are grim, at best. Once a prosperous town, the village of Weepstone has plunged into destitution as the noble family’s fortunes fell. Gaunt, dangerous, and opportunistic eyes stare into my soul as I pick among them six heroes to lead the Weepstone expedition.

My party is basically pre-choosen in this early demo, with only six options available. However, several intriguing characters promise to unlock later in development. My merry band is well-balanced between a roguish urchin, a hammer-wielding Dwarf, a human fighter, a magically inclined figure, and a swordswoman. The individual descriptions of these all come with an intoxicatingly ’80s-flavored adventuring, including Elf as a class and backstories detailing foiled human sacrifice.

Then, something happened that struck my heart with joy. To transition from the tavern to the keep’s entrance, the screen displays the pages of the adventure module my narrating Dungeon Master is reading from. It couldn’t be more delightfully AD&D coded. Especially because my first bouts of heedless curiosity get me in trouble.

I soon discover a statue, tall and imposing, in the entry hall. Now, I could search for traps, and I did, but I picked my badly suited Dwarf party member for the job in my haste. He believed all was fine, and so I interacted with it. All was not fine, as tiny needles pierced his skin, dropping his health down one point. As both an introduction to how the RPG differs from the tabletop games I’m used to — lower rolls are often better than higher! — and a reminder that I need to watch myself, this moment couldn’t have been better.

Exploration is vast and uncertain. My mistep with the statue taught me to be cautious, and I felt like the stakes were high and there were dangers around every corner. The coridor labyrinth led me to a battle with goblins — where established party order was crucial. It leads me to environmental puzzles, like when I crafted a key in the forge or accidentally sent a party member to an unfortunate death in the privy.

This last revealed an intriguing element: Dead party members confer special benefits on the party when they pass from the world. In my case, the members of my expedition gained experience more quickly after a battle. It’s a really nice counterbalance to the apparent deadliness of this campaign to have a benefit like this. And new adventurers soon step forward to fill the empty space in unexpected encounters.

This is one to watch, folks! I’ll certainly be keeping a keen eye on any developments from The Secret of Weepstone as we head towards its release next year.