Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
The mad ruler Trebor was once just obsessed with power, but he went off the rails after acquiring a magical amulet of immense power that was stolen from him by his nemesis, the evil archmage Werdna. Werdna, not knowing exactly how to use the amulet properly, accidentally triggers an earthquake that creates a ten-level dungeon under Trebor's castle. Not wanting to look foolish, Werdna declares the dungeon the new hideout for himself and his monster hordes. Trebor is not slacking and declares the labyrinth his new proving ground, where adventurers have to prove themselves for membership in his elite honor guard and incidentally get his amulet back. The first Wizardry was one of the first dungeon-crawling role-playing games and is considered one of the most important representatives of the genre, along with Ultima and Might & Magic. The player creates and controls a group of up to six different adventurers, which he can choose from four races (humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes and hobbits), three alignments (good, neutral and evil) and four basic classes (fighter, priest, mage and thief). These can later evolve into elite classes (Bishop: priest with mage spells; Samurai: fighter with mage spells; Lord: fighter with priest spells and Ninja: Fighter with Thief abilities) if they meet the necessary level requirements. After equipping the party with basic weapons and armor, the player sends them into a 3D vector maze-like dungeon to fight monsters and find treasures in turn-based battles.
Story
The land of Llylgamyn is the basis for many legends. It is the center of trade throughout the land and houses the academy where some of the bravest warriors are trained. In its beginnings it was a monarchy ruled by the royal family, but over time power shifted to aristocrats and theocrats, and eventually the royal family became more of a symbol than anything else. Under a more democratic system, the High Council of Sages appointed an overlord to rule the kingdom. With this, the power of the royal family dwindled almost completely. The overlord was a former warrior of the kingdom and a local hero. His name was Trebor. At first, everything seemed fine, but as time passed, Trebor's hunger for power became more and more apparent. He looked for ways to expand his rule. He learned of an ancient amulet kept in a forgotten temple somewhere outside the kingdom. In an unknown way, he finally managed to find the amulet's hiding place. He gathered his best men and sent them on a mission to recover this legendary artifact. They returned successfully. However, Trebor was not the only one who wanted this artifact. Only a few hours after him, the evil sorcerer Werdna (Trebor's arch-enemy) reached his original destination. When Werdna discovered that someone had found the amulet before him, he became very angry. Using his magic, he managed to discover the amulet's new location. That evening, the wizard attacked the Overlord's castle. By making himself invisible, he managed to sneak past Trebor's guards. He found the Overlord in his throne room, studying the amulet with a group of sages. Werdna cast a powerful spell that froze Trebor and everyone in his immediate vicinity in fear. When Trebor could no longer move, Werdna snatched the amulet from his hands and left the castle. Werdna knew that as soon as Trebor regained his senses, he would be the prime suspect. He could not return to his tower, he needed a new hiding place. That's when a brilliant idea came to him. Werdna decided to use his amulet to build a new home right under the city of Llylgamyn! There was already enough underground mining activity, he should go unnoticed. At the thought of this plan, the amulet began to glow. Suddenly there was a huge earthquake and in a flash Werdna found himself in a huge labyrinth with ten levels in the ground under the city. Werdna summoned monsters as allies and explored the deepest depths to discover the amulet's powers undisturbed. After losing the amulet and discovering the existence of the mysterious labyrinth beneath his city, Trebor went off the rails. His madness grew day by day and all he could think about was getting his amulet back. He summoned the greatest warriors of the realm to enter the labyrinth and find Werdna, but the monsters became more and more numerous and began to spread to the deepest depths of the labyrinth. A year after the discovery of the labyrinth, Trebor had managed to secure the first four floors. Most of the warriors who tried to go deeper were never seen again. Those who did return had their minds twisted and spoke of demons and dark magic. Trebor ordered that the passages to the deeper layers of the labyrinth be sealed with magic to prevent these creatures from entering the city. He also ordered traps to be placed on the first three levels. Once completed, Trebor declared the labyrinth his personal proving ground. New cadets who enrolled in the training academy were given the opportunity to traverse the labyrinth. Those who could find the secret he had hidden for them were rewarded. Trebor decided to use the labyrinth as a test. Those who would make it to the fourth floor would be deemed worthy and would learn the truth about Werdna and the amulet. They would get a chance to go deeper into the labyrinth. If they returned with the amulet, they would be accepted into Trebor's bodyguard. Five years have passed since the amulet disappeared, and this time it's your characters who have volunteered to challenge the Labyrinth. This is where it all begins.