Character is (usually) a wiseass, but all alignments get options.
Description
The forest to the west of PUTS is unlike any other -- for starters, it glows purple during the day and six legged werehamsters prowl its depths. Magical hazmat isn't a pretty thing -- and you're about to get a look firsthand. Module is a mixture of intense combat, weird puzzles and strange humor inside a surreal forest distorted by magical powers. And it's got elves and sexy gypsies, too. (Updated to v1.4)
Posted by amers1015 at 2009-09-24 12:07:12 Voted 9.50 on 09/24/09
All I can say is WOW! I can't believe I'd never played this series before!
It's very funny (sometimes down right hilarious), but still manages to tell a great story with engaging characters.
I agree with others that posted that the combat was too freakin' hard at times, but I was having such a good time with this, that I didn't even mind really.
Excellent work, everyone should try this series! _________________________ The less you know, the more you believe.
Posted by Goglutin at 2009-08-17 08:51:16 Voted 9.00 on 08/17/09
I played through the hole campaign and it was really good ( the rating is for the whole campaign). Note : I'm really greedy on tens...
I had not given a ten because in the first 5 modules (out of ten). I got really frustrated by too hard combat and by the fact that XP was only gained through fight. I was playing a rogue and it was really hard without a good henchmen to help me maneuver for placing my sneak attacks. Indeed, the balance is really much better in the ''rerolled'' campaign and the fact that you have a henchmen with you helped me much. The second part of the campaign is really better than the first one so keep on playing up to those one and you'll be surprised.
Still, the humor and the storyline is good (or should I say GOOD !!!) so it deserve its 9 rightfully !!! Be prepared for a good laugh and don't take it seriously !!!
Posted by Copperhawk at 2007-12-11 07:27:52 Voted 8.25 on 12/11/07
Combat is kind of repetitive and can be quite hard for some characters. But overall I still find this game is pretty fun for me.
Posted by WeAreAllKosh at 2007-12-06 11:33:38 Voted 5.75 on 12/06/07
/wonders if Gagne killed Savicki's dog
The series takes a step back from Part 2 here. The primary draw of Penultima (the humor) is almost nonexistent in this one. The main story takes on a very serious tone and starts becoming overly complex, and the little humorous tidbits that lightened up the first two are nowhere to be found. This module is primarily hack 'n' slash and the combats, more often than not, are just a nuisance -- shadows and spiders draining your abilities and creatures with concealment are prevalent, and many of the creature groups spawn and respawn right next to you. With the exception of the final encounter, experience and (especially) treasure is extremely paltry; I haul in more gold retrieving the diamond from the Dragon challenge in the City module than I got from this one.
I wasn't in love with the Kaos challenges. The PacMan spoof was really just a long-winded maze romp, and the violence challenge was just a shallow fight-in-a-cave. The only one I was unable to complete was boiled down to a persuade check. Never got to try the catapult challenge, but it looked dumb. And the dialogue for the nature challenge stuck me with one line -- an instant kill -- which I had to walk away to avoid.
Even the high-voters hint that this is an inferior effort to later installments in the series (I still wonder why they vote high), and the City module definitely shows what the author is capable of. I'm just waiting for it to get to that point ...
Posted by datom at 2007-07-22 10:53:17 Voted 8.75 on 07/22/07
Best so far - great stuff.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-07-12 10:17:38 Voted 3.00 on 07/12/07
Some interesting little halfling critters, but not thrilled the orcs belonged to someone who helped you by giving you the key.
Also didn't care to run into Neckerson again. _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by zethre at 2007-01-30 14:41:45 Voted 10.00 on 01/30/07
Love your work! Please keep it up! _________________________ If the human brain was so simple we could understand it, we'd be so simple we couldn't
Posted by cosmonauts_wrath at 2007-01-17 19:29:31 Voted 10.00 on 01/17/07
must keep playing...
Posted by Scarn71 at 2006-06-28 21:55:34 Voted 9.50 on 06/28/06
Stefan Gagne, hats off. This entire series is terrific. I recommend it to any and all players. The time and effort put into crafting a well thought out series such as this makes this a must play for all gamers. Each installment was better than the next. Thank you.
Posted by ColbyWolf at 2006-04-26 22:53:05 Voted 8.50 on 04/26/06
Man.. I love Stefan's work.. EE and HexCoda are bottom line my favorite modules... I adored penultima to this point.. ... I mean.. I played like a rabid badger til a few months ago.. til a pack of beetled repeatedly whooped my tail.. then set it down for "a day" ... I picked it up again today and happily tore through the camp that was killing me before.. cruised through the rest of that map (ch 2, BTW) without getting touched... only to get utterly fluffed off with the cleric-who-isnt'-really-there.
repeated reloading finally got her with me into chapter 3.. I instantly saved.. discovered that I lost her if I stealthed.. so said, fine, I can do without stealth, just have to be careful... ...
so then she de-parties mid battle and gets us both killed.
and that's when I hang up me bow and set this aside for a few more months.
I know this is an old module.. and I dont' expect it to be updated.. but.. man.. I'm gonna have to go through this one with my SO and pretend that henchmen don't exist -_-
Honestly: good job Stefan... I adore it.. I jsut wish this was playable, lol... >_
Posted by slobberknocker at 2006-04-09 18:55:21 Voted 10.00 on 04/09/06
very good
Posted by GLWizard at 2006-03-18 08:59:25 Voted 10.00 on 03/18/06
I didn't play the others but it was ahh.. interesting? After all those good deeds (disregarding the dragon destruction) you'd figure some of those chicks would dole out a freebie. Grr Penguin changing me Sacrygodmother.....
Oh that poor family turned into a beholder loaf.
Posted by frankie at 2005-04-06 07:08:24 Voted 7.50 on 04/06/05
Not bad, but not as funny as the title suggests. Also, the henchman don't work if you have HotU installed.
Posted by LoCash at 2005-04-05 19:35:34 Voted 7.00 on 04/05/05
Posted by TOllas at 2005-03-10 11:08:51 Voted 8.75 on 03/10/05
Posted by CrawHammerfist at 2005-01-31 16:59:28 Voted 8.50 on 01/31/05
Had to love the Pac-Man reference. Would rate this higher, but I've played your later work. Congrats on the Bioware hire.
Posted by erthule at 2004-12-13 02:31:26 Voted 6.00 on 12/13/04
Posted by darth_borehd at 2004-11-27 16:08:14 Voted 9.25 on 11/27/04
The entire Penultima series is a must-have.
Posted by MikeLM9215 at 2004-10-03 14:16:10 Voted 6.25 on 10/03/04
Humanoids are too nasty for the lower end of the scale. I ended the module with less experience than I started. _________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
Just thought I'd post info gained by emailing the mod's author regarding my earlier post. Apparently the henchmen problems I and others mention is due to the HotU changes to henchmen AI scripts, and the only solution would be for Stephen to redo the modules. Fortunately the Rerolled modules apparently do not have these problems. And while it is unfortunate that the optional henchmen, such as the halflings in this mod, are not useable if one does certain activities, he told me that Dawn, the only henchman you actually NEED is not with you for long enough in the next mod to require doing anything like hiding or disabling traps. I'm about to go play that mod now.
Regarding the game balancing, he didn't have much to suggest to me, either, except that it is largely the result of changes to AI and such that he can't control, and that it was an early attempt on his part. So I guess we're stuck with some insanely difficult encounters for these mods, without commensurate experience or treasure rewards. Ah well. The writing is good, anyway.
So my overall conclusion then is that if you want a solution to a problem from the mod author, email is the way to go. He answered me within 24 hours. I guess he doesn't check these boards too much.
Posted by THG at 2004-09-27 14:08:06 Voted 8.50 on 09/27/04
This entry made me quit the first time I played, as my halfling thief was chased around the woods for the better part of an hour by a pack of, well, everything, before finally succumbing to the multi-legged mob. I came back with a sturdier thief, and he was able to carve his way through the wildlife. It may have been interesting (and helpful) if the various animal packs didn�t work in tandem, and were in fact hostile to each other. I also had a problem with the two henchpeople, as they both kept spontaneously quitting my service. The Tainted and their traps made a nice challenge, and the Kaos trials added some good variety to the proceedings. Finally, it was a nice surprise to run into the thorn in my side from Dewey�s Decimal, and strangely, I felt kind of bad when I killed him.
Posted by Brandiles at 2004-09-23 23:19:17 Voted 8.00 on 09/23/04
Hazard pay was a good improvement upon the first two in this series. At last, there actually is a plot, and it may even be worth paying attention to! This mod is a pretty linear hack and slash, but there were several fun features that kept it interesting. I think my favorite part involved the kRaD SpEaKiNg guardian of kaos, as well as the tasks you were asked to perform to win his favor. The pac-man maze was particularly fun and engaging.
Combat in this mod was probably still too difficult for my now level 6 monk. ... However, I'm now playing on "easy" mode full time now, and I'm finding it to be nicely balanced. It's still challenging, but everything is winable. I might even fair decently now...Improved Knockdown has become a default attack mode for my monk, and she's using it to great effect. Strangely, the difficulty of combat seemed to start high and steadily decrease over the course of the mod..
One fairly major bug that I encoutered: you are offered the opportunity to travel with one of two henchmen for a short time in this mod, but whenever a battle started, they immediately disassociated themself from my party. The dialog still seemed to think they were in henchman mode, but I couldn't command them. I released them and tried to pick them up again, but it wouldn't allow me to do so. Happened with both henchmen.
Overall, I had fun playing Hazard Pay. I'm looking forward to the next step in my adventure.
-B
Posted by Daven ( 205.188.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-09-17 17:31:00
I'll chime in here with some agreement to the below posters. This was the 1st mod series I played after finishing the OC in 2002. As a relatively in-efficient character builder I slashed my way through with an eleven ranger/rogue without much difficulty, plenty of fun, and a full purse...
After taking a good break from gaming, and then playing a few other mods, I thought it would be fun to use this light-hearted parody to learn about bards and arcane archers... Wow have things changed! The 1st couple mods were manageable, but this one is way over-hard...obviously due to the enemy spellcaster AI and the fact that lots of loot has been removed.... I find my self scraping by... I may need to give in for once and take a "boon" to get through and still have fun... I love challenge, but this mod has become more difficult than one with such fun humor should become...
In part as a follow-up to the previous poster, while I'm enjoying these mods so far, I've found the recommended levels rather inaccurate for solo play. I'm trying out a rogue, and twice I've had to export my character to artificially increase her levels in order to be able to survive. I'm now on Chapter 3 and I'm playing a level 12 Rogue, level 1 Shadowdancer, and the only reason I'm able to even think about surviving is my ability to Hide in Plain Sight. With this power, I can sneak up on anyone without true seeing, get a powerful sneak attack on them, run a few steps away, and disappear again so they can't kill me. Battles against monsters immume to sneak attack, such as golems and elementals, are extremely lengthy as I must do this many times to kill them. In some cases I can stand and fight, since my AC level is decent, but its always risky, and I go through potions like water even when I stick with my hit and run tactics, since enemies get off frequent attacks of opportunity as I retreat, before I disappear. So while I intend to try to keep slugging, addressing the balance issue here might not be a bad thing. That, or relabel the mod as not really suitable for solo play.
However, the real reason I'm writing this is to report something of a glitch I have discovered in this chapter. I have reached the point where you encounter the halfling couple intent on getting rid of those chaos-spawned dopplegangers of theirs, or whatever those Taint are. This is the first time a henchman is available in this series, and I was excited at the prospect of having a cleric to back me up. However, to my dismay, the moment I enter stealth mode, as I mentioned above, an essential skill for my ability to survive, her portrait drops off the bar to the left, she utters some piece of apparently unrelated dialogue (I can't remember at the moment what it is) and is no longer my henchman. To make matters worse, when I try to speak to her to get her to rejoin, her dialogue window no longer comes up, she just keeps asking me if I want her to join me. Since there is no dialogue box, I can't say yes. To cap all this off, she died quickly during my first battle with her, unallied to me, and has not reappeared at the campsite in the previous area like she said she would. I'll proceed without her if she's going to be that useless, but its a real shame, I have to say. Someone to heal me when I'm hurting would have been a godsend...
In part as a follow-up to the previous poster, while I'm enjoying these mods so far, I've found the recommended levels rather inaccurate for solo play. I'm trying out a rogue, and twice I've had to export my character to artificially increase her levels in order to be able to survive. I'm now on Chapter 3 and I'm playing a level 12 Rogue, level 1 Shadowdancer, and the only reason I'm able to even think about surviving is my ability to Hide in Plain Sight. With this power, I can sneak up on anyone without true seeing, get a powerful sneak attack on them, run a few steps away, and disappear again so they can't kill me. Battles against monsters immume to sneak attack, such as golems and elementals, are extremely lengthy as I must do this many times to kill them. In some cases I can stand and fight, since my AC level is decent, but its always risky, and I go through potions like water even when I stick with my hit and run tactics, since enemies get off frequent attacks of opportunity as I retreat, before I disappear. So while I intend to try to keep slugging, addressing the balance issue here might not be a bad thing. That, or relabel the mod as not really suitable for solo play.
However, the real reason I'm writing this is to report something of a glitch I have discovered in this chapter. I have reached the point where you encounter the halfling couple intent on getting rid of those chaos-spawned dopplegangers of theirs, or whatever those Taint are. This is the first time a henchman is available in this series, and I was excited at the prospect of having a cleric to back me up. However, to my dismay, the moment I enter stealth mode, as I mentioned above, an essential skill for my ability to survive, her portrait drops off the bar to the left, she utters some piece of apparently unrelated dialogue (I can't remember at the moment what it is) and is no longer my henchman. To make matters worse, when I try to speak to her to get her to rejoin, her dialogue window no longer comes up, she just keeps asking me if I want her to join me. Since there is no dialogue box, I can't say yes. To cap all this off, she died quickly during my first battle with her, unallied to me, and has not reappeared at the campsite in the previous area like she said she would. I'll proceed without her if she's going to be that useless, but its a real shame, I have to say. Someone to heal me when I'm hurting would have been a godsend...
Posted by Snowdon at 2004-09-01 09:52:17 Voted 5.75 on 09/01/04
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