Tester’s manual

1. Your role as a tester

You are playing the real game, exactly as it is. What helps us most:

• play normally, as you would at a real table, and also try unexpected things;
• tell us whenever something seems wrong, using the Report a problem button (section 11);
• also tell us what you liked or what is missing (choose “Idea or suggestion”).

One simple rule: the Dungeon Master (the DM) tells the story, the program decides. Rolls, HP, gold, items, time, and movement are tracked by the program according to the D&D 5e rules. If the story contradicts your character sheet, or makes something appear that does not exist, that is exactly what you should report.

2. Entering the game

You can browse the site without an account: the worlds, the creation screen, this manual. To write a story, create a hero, play, join a game, or report a problem, the game asks you to sign in (Sign in or Create an account, at the top of the campaign screen).

1. Go to whisperofthebard.com, or install the app with the Download the Windows app (or Android) button on the sign-in screen; no account is required to download it. On Android, accept « unknown app » if your phone asks you to.
2. Create an account (username or email, password of at least 10 characters), or Sign in with Google if the button is available.
3. Your account is initially « pending ». On this screen, enter the tester key received by email (format XXXX-XXXX-XXXX), then Validate: your account opens right away. Your key gives you a number of hours of playtime; the details are in Balance, next to your name.

You can reread this manual at any time: the « Tester manual » link below the sign-in form, and the Manual button in the game.

3. Create a game

On the home screen, New campaign, in four steps (1. World, 2. Story, 3. Heroes, 4. Start):

1. World: write the players' first names (« Who's playing? »), choose a world from the list (its map, cities, and continent are prepared in advance), a campaign name, and a tone. The « Session Zero » sets the starting level, lethality, combat difficulty, themes to avoid, and automatic dice rolling. Then Write the story: a new story is written for your game in this world (up to 15 minutes; as long as the dots are moving, the writing goes on, and you can close the page without losing anything). It never reuses a story already played in this world.
2. Story: read the chronicle of the era, known locations, factions, peoples, and possible paths. Another story writes a different one; Create the heroes of this era → to continue.
3. Heroes: each player creates their hero (section 4), then Next: start →.
4. Start: starting location, season, weather, then Start the adventure. The DM narrates the opening scene.

To play together on different computers: Invite a member (campaign list) or Invite a friend (game menu) creates an invitation link, or an ID and password; your friend uses Join a game. ▶ Resume reopens a game.

4. Create your hero

• Create under the player's first name, or The DM suggests one for a hero that fits the world, which you can then edit.
• The creation window has 7 steps: Race, Class, Abilities, Appearance, Identity, Skills, Summary (Next →, ← Previous), then Add this hero.
• Peoples absent from this world are grayed out; rare ones are marked.
• Abilities: Point Buy (27), Standard Array, or Roll 4d6; Assign for … places the values according to the class.
• Spellcasters: Choose my spells. Above level 1, the game asks for the spells at the starting level.
• Appearance: Paint the portrait. Identity: name, background, alignment, place of origin, personality, personal history. Two heroes born in the same place must state their relationship (siblings, childhood friends, rivals…).

5. Play: write an action

Choose your hero in the box to the left of the text area (« Entire party » if you play multiple heroes), write what they do, then Send (Enter; Shift+Enter for a new line). All the game's buttons are in Menu ▾, at the top.

• Say only what YOUR hero does and says. The DM makes the world react; they must never make your hero speak or act in your place.
• With multiple players: each player writes for their own hero. A message can make several heroes act together if you decide to.
• A name that doesn't exist in the game (« Grom attacks Pol » when no one has that name): the game replies « Problem with your message » instead of making something up.
• When the game needs clarification, it offers choice buttons below the message: click the appropriate one.
• ↶ Correct undoes your last message and the DM's response (everything it changed is restored to how it was) and puts your text back in the text box so you can edit it. Read aloud reads a response aloud.
• Out of character: type @ for suggestions. @MJ asks the Dungeon Master a question without advancing the story; @first name sends a private message to a player (the DM can't read it).
• Scene replays your last scene for free; the Quick Actions… list below the text box offers common rolls, attacking, rests, and the list of commands.
• Commands: type /aide for the list. Most useful: /repos court, /repos long, /fiche, /inspiration, /potion, /lancer 2d6+3 (free rolls).

6. Dice

• An uncertain action calls for a roll: “The DM asks …” appears below the chat with the Roll button. The program rolls using your actual bonuses and compares the result to the DC; the DM then describes the outcome, success or failure.
• An action with no uncertainty (looking around the room, asking a simple question, buying a beer) doesn't call for a roll.
• If you checked “Roll dice automatically,” the program rolls for you.
• Each roll, including its bonus details, is kept in the Journal tab of the heroes panel; the Dice tab allows free rolls.

7. Searching, Hiding, Noticing

Hidden things follow the rules of D&D, not the DM's mood:

• Noticing without searching: each present hero's passive Perception is secretly compared with whatever is hidden (a person, a trap, a clue). If it's high enough, a message tells you what your hero notices.
• Searching (“I search the room,” “I scan the room”): a Perception or Investigation roll against the DC of whatever is hidden. On a success, you find it; on a failure, you find nothing, without knowing whether there was anything there.
• A hidden person doesn't appear anywhere (neither among those present nor in the list of characters) until someone discovers them, and a hidden object can't be taken before it has been found.
• Hiding: a Stealth roll, maintained for a few rounds; it counts for surprise if combat begins.

If the story shows you someone or something hidden without a roll or Perception, report it.

8. Combat

• An attack against someone present opens the combat grid (1 square = 5 feet). Place your heroes, then Start Combat.
• The initiative order appears at the top. On your turn: move across the squares, then Attack, Cast a spell… or Other actions… (Dash, Disengage, Dodge, Help, Hide, Search, Grapple, Drink a potion, class features, bonus actions…), then End Turn. Flee ends combat.
• Spell reactions (Shield, Counterspell…) are armed under “Other actions” and trigger automatically at the right moment.
• Enemies act on their own according to the rules. A hidden enemy on the grid is marked “hidden”; the Search action (Perception) can find it.
• Surprise is determined by Stealth against passive Perception: a surprised hero loses their first turn.
• At 0 HP outside the grid: Death Saving Throw (Heroes tab) or /mort. After combat, Body (N) then Loot: the contents are determined by the program, to share or leave behind.
• In combat, ↶ Back undoes the last action.

9. Map, Travel, Cities

• The mini-map in the top right opens the world map: click a location for its details, double-click to travel there, Measure for distances and travel time, 3D Terrain for the relief map.
• Locations your heroes don't know yet don't appear there, or appear by name only; you discover them through rumors, NPCs, and exploration.
• In a city, only places your heroes know are offered; to find another, ask a passerby or search for it.
• Shops (World tab of the panel, in a city): Buy, then review the bill at the game's prices: Accept and Pay, Negotiate (a Persuasion, Intimidation, or Deception attempt), or − Refuse.
• A quest or agreement proposed by an NPC appears as a card: Accept, Negotiate, or − Refuse.
• Travel passes time, uses up rations, and may lead to encounters. The clock and weather are at the top of the screen.

10. The Other Buttons

• Heroes panel: Heroes, Inventory (click an item: equip, drink, stow…), Spells, Progression, World, Map, Journal, Dice.
• Level up: a window opens automatically after a long rest; make all your choices, then Finish.
• Memory: the summary of the game kept by the DM; correct it if it misunderstood.
• Quests: the quest, mission, and appointment log; track a quest on the map.
• World: the chronicle of the era.
• Voice, Music, Sound effects: audio, with their volume.
• Save and Archives: named saves and returning to a past moment.
• Voice rooms: talk aloud with the other players.
• ⟵ Campaigns: return to the list of games (the game is saved continuously).

11. Report a problem

Two ways, always available:

• the small Report button at the bottom right of a DM response: this response is attached to the report;
• the Report a problem button in the game menu or on the campaigns screen.

Choose the kind of problem, then describe what you did, what happened, and what you expected. The game, turn, location, and latest messages are attached automatically: no need to copy them.

Feedback: we read every report and respond to it. The response and status (Read, In progress, Fixed, Will not be changed) appear in My reports (in the report window). When a response is waiting for you, the button becomes “Report a problem (1 response)”.

One problem per report makes it easier to track. A screenshot is not necessary: the exact text of the messages is attached.

Write to us, plain and simple: the Messages button (in the game menu or on the campaigns screen) opens your conversation with the team. A question, an idea, what you liked or didn’t like: write whenever you want; our replies arrive in the same place, along with our announcements (new version, something to try). When a message is waiting for you, the button becomes “Messages (1)”.

12. Things to try

• Talk to NPCs, negotiate, lie, threaten: do social checks happen at the right time, and only then?
• Ask for something the NPC couldn’t know: does it make up a response?
• Search a location, look for someone, hide, steal: are checks and passive Perception respected?
• Buy, sell, rent a room, pay for a service: are the prices and gold fair?
• Travel, rest, spend the night: are time, rations, HP, and spell slots tracked correctly?
• Fight, cast spells, use your class features: are the rules applied?
• Return to a place you’ve already seen: does the DM describe it as before, with the same people?
• Splitting up: two heroes in two different places, each with their own story.

Thank you for helping us make a better game!