Gen Con isn't too far off now, with August fast approaching (even if the weather doesn't agree!) and with it comes an appearance from Dungeons & Dragons. They have something particularly special for attendees of the event...

Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle will be a chance for heroes and dungeon masters alike to grab pen and pencil, develop characters and charge off with dice in hand to try their hand at the D&D Next Rules.

"Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle is a D&D Next preview and mini-campaign comprised of four thrilling adventures designed to advance characters from 1st level to 10th level. The book also contains everything a Dungeon Master needs to run the adventures, including D&D Next game rules developed during the massive public playtest, monster statistics, spell descriptions, magic item descriptions, and background information on the coastal town of Daggerford, where the campaign is based.

Against the backdrop of the Sundering, brave adventurers must protect the town of Daggerford against an insidious foreign threat while forging alliances, exploring dungeons, and battling monsters. The action moves from the Lizard Marsh to the orc-infested hills, finally culminating in a deadly altercation amid the crumbling ruins of the legendary Dragonspear Castle.

Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle includes pre-generated D&D Next characters, as well as rules for advancing these characters up to level 10. The book also includes the winning character sheet from our recent contest."

A special note is that Gale Force Nine are behind this exclusive for Gen Con and while it can be pre-ordered online you can ONLY pick it up from Gen Con during the event. It also comes with a nice limited edition miniature, Paladin Isteval via pre-orders or on the day...

It certainly looks like its going to be fun and maybe we'll even see some geek-celebrity play through of some of it up on the web in either podcast or video form.

As well as the adventure Wizards of the Coast also showed off some concept art for the monsters in D&D Next through an article that explained the difference between artwork and concept and what it takes to get through these various stages.

It's all looking very good and I don't imagine I'll be missing out on the three book release of this when it's finally out. Meanwhile I have my own D&D Next Character to bring to life.

I think I'm either going to be playing a Human Wizard or a Dwarf Fighter so come up with some excellent fantasy names for me and I'll let you know if I use them.

Grab the next playtest packet here and join in the fun!

D&D Next Playtest

Drop comments and suggestions below!