NWN1 Module Player Diary

[Legacy_Berliad]

               

A lot of module authors for nwn1 and (especially) nwn2 keep "diary" threads on this forum as they work.  I'm just a player.  Nevertheless, I thought it might be fun to do something similar here, recounting my thoughts on what I've been playing, and perhaps exchanging experiences with you folks.  I've been doing this kind of thing on my blog for years, but I thought it might make for better discussion if cross-posted here.

 

A few suggestions for this thread:

* This thread is NOT about playing the critic.  This is not the Review Guild II.

* This thread IS about casual discussion of what we're playing and enjoying.

* Criticism is ok, but please frame it constructively.

* Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on these modules, or talk about other modules you are playing and enjoying.  This doesn't have to be a solo diary.

* Try to keep the spoilers light, or cover them with spoilerbuttons.  

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Berliad]

               

First up, the module I just recently finished...

 

Swordflight, Chapter One by rogueknight333

 

With dreams of glory, wealth, status, or other motivations, you arrive in Calimport and enter a tavern in search of work as an adventurer.  While early jobs are rather mundane--rat hunting and the sort--you quickly find yourself in the company of another would-be adventurer and on your first well-paying assignment: caravan escort duty in the Calimshan Desert.  That job, minor as it might seem, is what ultimately results in your entanglement in plots that involve bandits, undead, and even extra-planar beings.  Here are my comments to the author:

 

I really enjoyed your module.  The story might not sound original on the surface, and employs a lot of fantasy tropes, but it's well-told.  As you mentioned below, it's clear that you try to put a twist on all of the fantasy tropes that you wield.  The result is a fresh and engaging tale that got my youthful adventurer off the ground and on his feet in tales fit for bards.  The entire module is meticulously polished, and was a blast to play through. 

 

Combat is most definitely very challenging.  Heeding your warnings about combat difficulty, I brought a level 2 fighter/rogue that I had from another module into this game.  The module seemed very well-balanced for him.  In fact, in a lot of ways, the module seemed custom-made for my character.  I've never made so much use of usable items like choking powder, potions, etc.  And because he had good use magical item ability, he was also able to make heavy use of magic wands against foes.  The result was a really dynamic combat experience that I found really enjoyable.  My character would probably do better if he had a henchman to tank for him, but he held his own.

 

Thanks for the fun module!  I'm eager to see what the next chapter will bring for my character and his companion!

 

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Berliad]

               

Some random thoughts on builds and strategy...


I'm currently playing through the Prophet, Chapter II by Baldecaran. My character in that module is a rogue/ranger, and is pretty similar to my character from Swordflight: a dual-wielding, dex-oriented fighter type. In Prophet, my character is a halfling with many more rogue levels than ranger levels (I think he's 8 rogue/3 ranger or thereabouts; in Swordflight, he's a human fighter/rogue, with equal levels of each).


I enjoy this character type a lot, but I'm having a little bit of trouble in the Prophet II. The module author made use of a lot of physical damage resistance on his monsters. That's fine if you're a power-attacking fighter, but for a rogue/ranger with very little strength, it's tough to lose 5 damage on each hit I land with my shortsword and dagger. My halfling has only STR 10 (probably a mistake on my part, but I was focusing on DEX, INT, and CHA for these rp-oriented mods), so he really relies on the extra attacks from dual-wielding to keep his damage rate respectable. There haven't yet been any +STR ogre gloves, nor have there been many potions of bull strength available in shops or dungeons.  My character does have 5/- resistance to all three physical damage types as well, and pretty good armor class, so he can hang in there.  But the battles have become these long, kind of boring wars of attrition because neither side can do much damage to the other.


I think the solution moving forward will be to move a lot of my protective gear from my character to the Ranger henchman in the module.  I've been letting him hang back and snipe with arrows while my rogue basically tanked, but it'll make more sense to reverse roles.  That way, I can take advantage of my character's sneak attack more easily.  I'm sure this was the obvious strategic move, but I have a bad habit of trying to horde useful equipment for my PC's and neglecting my henchmen...

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

I do hope you continue this thread.

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_werelynx]

               

Would you mind If I write something on DAO from NWN player perspective?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Berliad]

               

Tarot--definitely will.  We just moved back to the States this past weekend, though, and I've been jet-lagging so bad I haven't had the energy for my normal nighttime nwn adventures.  Going to launch prophet ii in just a few, though, and I'm almost done with it!  Whether I can stay awake more than 20 more minutes remains to be seen...

 

werelynx--do it! '>

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_werelynx]

               

Dragon Age Origins.

 

Why: it was free for some time about a month ago.

 

DLCs: actually I managed to get most of them free as well, except for Awakening. DLC are .dazips and install as any other mod.

EDIT: nope, they show up as active and installed but most of them turn out to be not-working.

 

Mods: Come in as overrides and .dazips.There is a nice tool for installing them made by Bioware and another better tool by community. It even shows you when there are conflicts. You would think it is great, but not so much. Because conflicts exist even between 2 files in one project. Next thing is that one override causes 5 other to break. Another thing is that override might not be compatible with dazips and it won't show until you reach the bug in game. Dao community does not want to make things work with each other apparently*.

 

Modules: same as above about installation. Haven't tried them yet, but they already managed to break my loading screen. If anyone liked Rose of Eternity series with their overmarketing then the 3rd part was just released in DAO toolset. Perfect timing '>

 

Override: I just want to mention it allows to have files in folders unlike NWN.

 

Classes: 3 whole classes! With 4 specializations each! Specialization is like 1/10th of a class though. So according to my calcs 4.2 classes. Not much. Also 75% of enemies fall into these classes as well. They do have some monster-only skills, but well.

 

Enemies: can't check their classes, nor any difficulty rating(except that bosses are yellow-red). This is annoying when you think that mob with casting powers should have some mana for you to steal and it has only stamina..

 

Romances: You can fully romance and sleep with companions once you reach the camp 2nd time. Just buy the +50 approval gifts. No sweet talkin', no build-up meh. Then I installed "Polyamory" to get all romances in one playthrough. Nope, incompatible with bugfixes.

 

RPG/HnS: well game is real time with active pause and all battles require tactics especially at harder levels. You can set AI with several IF THEN commands disguised in a menu, otherwise your party will be dumb or you will have to control all characters at once. During pause you can set only one action in queue. As to whether there is rpg or not: it feels like "adult" bloody™** rpg, with choices, some of which are even meaningful.

 

TAB - highlights items and while in NWN invisible placeables are rare... in DAO you encounter i.e. "pile of rocks" that is only visible with TAB Non lootable objects generally.

 

Origins: how nice I can play 6 different prologues! Yay! How creative. Then I found out that they reuse most of the areas from those origins. Anyway played a mage concentrating on healing.

 

Toolset: Haven't opened it and never will.

 

Plot: nothing new I guess.

 

Party: I chose 2 mages (me & Morrigan), warrior (allistair), rogue (leliana) + mabari (doge). Shame you can't take all of them on missions. There is party campsite and random encounters and bickering and world map.

 

*with some exceptions

**that's sarcasm, DAO marketing with all the blood(dragon made of blood, duh) was the thing that made me NOT buy it when it came out.

 

PS: Sorry Tarot.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Berliad]

               

Interesting to hear.  Dragon Age has been on my to-try list for a long time, but I've never gotten around to buying it.  I still probably would like to, although I've definitely seen the mixed reviews.

 

I'm torn between trying the xbox360 version and the pc version.  I enjoy using my xbox when I can because it's in a better room for gaming, although I'm guessing I'd prefer the PC controls better.  Anyone tried the xbox360 version?

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_werelynx]

               

Action is fast paced definitely and xbox version with the enemy switching one by one just to attack ONCE by ONE character could prove to be tedious. Never got far in the xbox version. Tried couple origins and put it back.

 

one more thing..

Areas: are handled similarly to NWN, there is world map and areas are confined, castle you can see over the bridge is actually another area and you can't walk the bridge just magically load yourself into another area.

Spells: some are clones of NWN/DnD ones

 

EDIT : I'll keep all further thoughts on DAO here, not to mess up thread any further

 

Horses: no horses nor any rideable mounts. Bioware never learns.

DnD vs. DAO: enough for a lawsuit. Then again most of DnD is from common folklore, ain't it?

Forest: finally 3D forest! On the other hand I haven't seen an are with both under and over the bridge walkable areas.. coincidence? Probably not.

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Tarot Redhand]

               

@werelynx No need to apologise. The only place you'll find blood (apart from that of my victims... '> ) around me is my little (rather neat I think) logo (part of my signature) in the catalogues I include with the cc I release.

 

TR

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Berliad]

               

This might not be directly relevant, but could be of interest: I finally read Luke Scull's first novel, The Grim Company.  Luke, aka. Alazander, was, of course, a very prominent author with Neverwinter Nights, both for his independent work and his time with Ossian Studios.  He also was very active in the review guild, and did all kinds of great things for the community.  Here's my review of the book.  It was a very good read, despite some of my reservations about the first half.

The Grim Company by Luke Scull is set in a world where a group of mages rose to such power to defeat the gods themselves.  In the generations that passed since that conflict, the most powerful of the surviving mages took territory for themselves, and now wage war against one another.  While their fortified cities and impossibly powerful magic provides protection against the demons that encroach on the world now that the gods have been exterminated, the magelords rule as tyrants.  In Dorminia, home of the Magelord Salazar, a small group of resistance fighters have been quietly waiting for their moment to strike back.  While the odds seem close to impossible, they have a few tricks up their sleeves: the deep pockets of a successful merchant, drugs that permit them to escape the notice of Salazar's patrolling mindhawks, and Davarus Cole.  Cole, an orphan, possesses his father's enchanted dagger, Magebane, a magical blade that provides magical defenses against the Magelord's magic.  He would form a potent weapon, were it not for that two-copper head of his...

 

The thing that stands out the most about this book is the setting.  While I hope this is not offensive to say, Scull's world reminds me a bit of a post-apocalyptic Forgotten Realms: a high-magic world with a rich history and powerful, meddling deities...but set in the turmoil after mortals rose up to destroy the gods and rule on their own.  We "meet" only four of the Magelords.  Each is unique in his/her own way, and the personalities of their kingdoms follows from their masters.  It's a fantastic setting, one in which the history is every bit as exciting as the current events.

 

I am familiar with some of the author's prior works, and the thing that has always stood out to me was his ability to create three-dimensional, interesting characters.  That knack unquestionably continues in his novel.  We have Daravus Cole, the outrageously cocky, virtually clueless, wannabe hero.  There is Brodar Kayne and his companion Jerek the Wolf, two highlander mercenaries on the run from the North.  Sasha, the brave, adopted daughter of the resistance leader and his lieutenant.  And we have Isaac, the curiously adept manservant of Eremul, the halfmage.  It is an intentionally ragtag bunch, but each has his or her own, important role to play in the story.

 

As much as I ended up liking them by the novel's end, however, the thing I struggled with the most in this book was that it seemed to take a while for the depth of these characters to shine through.  Each of the heroes (antiheroes?) is presented, at least initially, as little more than the stereotype I describe above, as are most of the villains in the story.  Cole, in particular, is presented as so over-the-top-ridiculous that it was hard to continue reading through his initial strutting and immature angst.  With the exception of old Brodar Kayne, none of the characters were particularly likeable from the start of the book.  Furthermore, there were what seemed to be an inordinate number of penis mentions in the first third of the book, which I found to be off-putting (and I don't consider myself a prude).

 

As the book went on, however, we see more sides to each of the characters.  They are challenged, they crack, and sometimes, they find the strength to go on.  Or, they die.  Somehow, along the way, I found myself caring about all of the main characters--even Daravus Cole.  The plot develops quickly as well; far more happens in this book than I expected from the first in a series.  This book is not just about introducing threads to be wrapped up at a later time.  Rather, events happen that will permanently change the power structure of the region.  Despite the satisfying ending, there are more than enough open lines of mystery to make purchasing the next book an easy decision.  I am very much am looking forward to Sword of the North!

               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Berliad]

               

Sorry for the long delay.  I've been playing a nwn2 module lately, and dabbling with other games (diablo 3, some old wii titles, etc).  But here are my long-overdue comments on Baldecaran's Prophet II.

 

Having unwittingly become the center of an ancient prophecy, and dubbed the unmaker who will bring about the Century of Sorrow that leads to the end of the world, the PC sets off for the desert city of Hierathanum.  There, you hope to meet with the Dreamweavers, a group of mysterious dreamers who, like you, are gifted with The Sight.  With their guidance, you hope to learn more of your powers, and hopefully find a way to avoid bringing about the end of times.

Chapter I of the Prophet featured a vast journey with incredible twists and turns, and featured powerfully-written NPC companions who were integral to the plot.  Therefore, it was with some excitement that I launched the next chapter.  It was a well-polished module, with strong writing, good technical skill, and a bare minimum of typos, small bugs, etc.  Area design was about as good as it gets in NWN1, with creative skillful use of custom spectacular custom content.  The "Mountains" tileset has never been used so well as in this series, and I loved many of the other innovative ideas he used.

 

Combat remained interesting, with damage absorption continuing to play a big role in the success of my character.  This was also true of the NPC's, and therefore required me to do whatever I could to make use of sneak attack damage to avoid lengthy battles of attrition.  While I started the module trying to "tank" with my rogue/ranger, I did find it necessary to reverse things and let my ranger companion be the primary melee character with the majority of the good damage-absorption equipment.  This meant my character wasn't as well equipped, but it made sense to keep the enemies on him: he had more HP, and if the foes were targeting him then I could sneak attack them.

That all said, I found the module's story to be a bit disappointing.  The first half of the module established the setting and flavor of Hierathanum, but ended up largely just being a blockade to the character's progress in the story.  The elements of the main plot that were present were largely just a rehash of the events of th first module, which seemed overdone.  And when the story did progress...well, it was on rails.  One's choices did not matter.  ....  I fully realize that this is kind of the point of the module--it's about a prophecy, after all--and is what puts the PC in the center of the story's challenge.  But for some reason, it still just didn't ring true the way the same kinds of themes did in the first module. 

 

In any case, it certainly serves the purpose of setting up the final chapter of the trilogy.  I had a fun time playing in the author's world once again, and I'm excited to see how my character will work his way out of this situation...if he is even able to do so.  The module ends on a dark note, and it's hard to imagine what can be done amid all of the hopelessness.  Here's hoping for an epic solution in chapter III!