Characters should start at level 1 and will reach level 4 by the end of the mod..
Races
Story works best for humans, half-elves, and half-orcs. Dwarves, elves, gnomes and halflings not recommended.
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Medium
Hack & Slash
Heavy
Classes
Single-player wizards/sorcs and rogues may have a tough time. Blackguards highly recommended!
Scope
Part of Series
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
04
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
01
Content Rating
Mature
Alignments
LE or NE recommended/required.
Description
This module is part one of 'The Infernal Crown,' a four-module campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. It is intended for single-player use with first level characters. You begin the campaign as a member of a secret society of vigilantes, whose motto is 'evil unto evil' (think Dirty Harry or the Punisher), so your character should be evil or neutral in alignment (lawful evil is ideal). Humans, Half-Elves, and Half-Orcs are ideal choices for character races. Dwarves, elves, halflings, and gnomes are not recommended. Single-class wizards, sorcerors, and rogues may have a tough time with the module, but henchmen are available to help you. No Hak-Paks are required. The Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark expansion pack are both required to play this campaign (older SOU-only versions are available on my website).
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2012-04-01 18:13:41 Voted 9.75 on 04/01/12
I will downscore due to killing the boy in the beginning. I thought the adventure could be done without killing an innocent. _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2012-04-01 16:13:54 Voted 9.75 on 04/01/12
Loved the Zombie Master! _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by ericdoman at 2010-04-28 06:12:37 Voted 8.50 on 04/28/10
Playing this mod as has been explained is very hard due to opponents is true. I tried it originally with a rgr upto and including the village. Then I used all companions for the forest etc. The downside for use of companions is the AI, generally for most NWN companions, except ftr types. Vivianna would cast a sleep spell in combat unfortunately knocking me out (hardcore). Did not seem to affect party, although Fandral would then sneak attack her. Fandral whom I wanted just to use ranged attack woul charge into combat. We all had to for one encounter with skel warriors.
Anyway it can be done.
I decided to retry with a cleric, solo and did OK but based on the build.
1 You can craft holy water into 2 minor traps which can seriosly damage the wraith.
2 Havin Magic weapon spell is huge, hence better AI for companions would make a difference. that is cleric and wiz could have magic weapn in their spellbook. Probbaly mage armour or shield of faith. Cure spells, magic missile, acid splash.
3 You will probably need to shoot and run when in village because yes the sergeant is very hard. My cleric who was now 3rd lvl can use melf acid arrow and go invisible (trickery and magic domains).
3 The shadows. Bit of gamesmanship but as long as you can kill what is around them. When they finally see you make a dash to an open door and close it when you pass. Wait. Open door the shadow is trying t bash door down so now you can attack it.
The captain. You can purchase caltrops at store in village. You can also rest in some of the houses there. Make spike traps, lure lesser Zhents away. Go downstairs they will follow and kill them. Set traps downstairs. Lure captain down and into traps. You have a chance.
I lured him downstairs. Went invisible then summoned creatures to try and damage him to no avail as he would kill them really quickly. Had to use hold person and with summ creature II (unsummon when very close to killing him). But yes he is very hard.
This mod does scale up with opponents. Wraith spider solo. Dire Spider? with companions.
It is very hard but doable. I think it was devised for multi play
Posted by ericdoman at 2010-04-28 05:27:28 Voted 8.50 on 04/28/10
Could not remember if I voted on this
Posted by Flaming Eye at 2009-10-09 15:01:24 Voted 3.00 on 10/09/09
I liked the premise of this series and started a LE monk. However, the fights were basically impossible from the start. Shadows against a 2nd level character?? WT*? I started with ST 14, so any strength drain meant that I couldn't damage the Shadow any more. This combined with restricted resting and few potions (meaning that one had to walk across two or more maps to regain HPs) after a while had me quicksaving during fights after *every single hit I scored*. A number of opponents took 10 and more reloads. Add to that doors that are locked for no good reason with high DR - no, my monk could not pick locks, so he merrily bashed away for ten minutes while I read a book, which is not what I'm looking forward to when playing a mod. I finally gave up when I fought the Zhentarim Sergeant - even this guy alone would have been too much for my char, but he actually had a couple of friends along, too.
I wasted two evenings with this and am sorely pissed. A level 5 character may be better for this module, but I'll be damned if I try this again.
3 points for a nice concept that was totally mismanaged.
Posted by Goglutin at 2009-08-12 05:25:33 Voted 6.00 on 08/12/09
The first mod in the serie is the best one - not many bugs - promising storyline... but it become so hack & slash later in other mods that it spoils all the fun...
I dont like to bash uselessly on the modders work but the creator should really do his homework and revise all the modules for a ''bug-blasting'' seance.
My initial impression: After playing for a short time I became frustrated because the "Zombie Masters" minions consist of a lot of shadows and wraiths. Its just too much to expect a 2nd level character to fight shadows... My character's saves are too low; Basically you get one hit and you're dead... I enjoy a challenging battle here and there but in my opinion you shouldn't have to constantly reload because of being killed by overpowered enemies... Not to mention running out of the crypt to rest constantly gets extremely tedious... I'm fine with the rest restriction but I should be finding a lot more healing potions... Perhaps I should've started as a cleric instead of a fighter...
Posted by WeAreAllKosh at 2007-09-02 10:20:06 Voted 3.00 on 09/02/07
This module was going very well for me. I liked the concept, the writing was good, the battles were well balanced for the party of 5. It looked like it was on the road to a vote of 8 or 9.
Then I ran into the Zhentarim Captain.
A 3rd level character should -never- be targetted by an attack with a +18 bonus, unless it's in a battle that's -supposed- to be lost for storyline purposes or it's something capable of only 1 or 2 damage doing the targetting. The Zhentarim Captain did not fall into either of those categories. He actually fell into the category of massacring the entire party in seconds every time I reloaded and fought him. It took a full complement of spells and potions and (more importantly) a lot of lucky rolling to finally overcome him and his army of minions (who also had respectable attack bonuses). If a tabletop DM pulled that on his players, he would have no players. This is a typical case of a designer creating a challenge by giving an NPC uber stats. That's not a challenge, it's a disgrace. Any of these commenters who felt that this module was 'well balanced' do not know anything about D&D encounter balancing.
Though this module looked promising I cannot continue either it or the rest of the series because I can only assume that overpowered encounters are the norm. 3 points for what could have been, but nothing more.
Posted by Mirgalen at 2007-07-14 18:08:28 Voted 4.00 on 07/14/07
Finished the first quest after a lot of fight-teleport-rest-return. It was pretty much the only option we had.
Had to sell some stuff (like axes) to get the necessary gold to heal/cure the team. Fair enough.
Stopped playing right after the completion of the first quest. Here are the two main reasons why I am giving up on this serie:
1. They are other ways to be "Dirty Harry". Don't get me wrong my character is Evil but he is the vengeful type and would not go after random victims (like the first one).
2. Use of "cheated" NPC is a No No for me. The captain in the village can well be Cleric lvl 8 or some Fighter/Cleric combo (BAB 8) yet he should not have/need any epic feat.
And the score is...
Gameplay/Action: 3
Roleplay: 4
Visuals/Sounds: 4
Replayability: 4
Documentation: 4
Posted by Mirgalen at 2007-07-11 08:01:35 Voted 4.00 on 07/14/07
* Minor Spoilers *
Look like my first impression (highly unbalanced module) was the right one. Even if you take 4 not 3 henchmen, you still have only ordinary equipment and there you go against wraith, wight and the deadly shadows (a single one can take the entire party out and the holy water you may have only deal 1 HP of damage to them).
Returned to the ruin tower, found the way below back to the graveyard but no sign of the Zombie Master just hords of undead (including some zombie warriors btw) most of them have DR and nasty stuff like stat/level drain.
Posted by Mirgalen at 2007-07-11 07:07:57 Voted 4.00 on 07/14/07
* MInor spoliers *
I am having some troubles with the fights but... wait a minute, from what I am reading here, maximum henchmen is 3 not 1. Also, I am in the ruin tower looking for the Zombie Master. It seems that I am in the wrong place. Where is he then? In the crypt near the graveyard?
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-01-23 08:59:06 Voted 9.75 on 04/01/12
Why is the content rating mature? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Fighting's too hard, IMO. I don't like having to rely on henchmen. Combating the Zhents in the barn even took a few reloads with all henchmen present.
Posted by acamantor at 2006-10-19 12:00:42 Voted 8.00 on 10/19/06
the background is very interesting, but the adventure has little ties with it.
Posted by Suicide Minion at 2006-07-14 12:14:59 Voted 8.50 on 07/14/06
Pretty good. I appreciate the FR setting, I always prefer it to the custom worlds.
I'm a bit dissapointed that I'm not feeling awfully Evil while playing this mod. I'm just really doing all the same things as playing other modules with my Good heroes.
Posted by Anonymous ( 84.162.xxx.xxx ) at 2006-06-10 18:22:33
the portal system (going back to point where the stone was activated) does not work for me. any help?
Posted by SpacePony at 2006-01-16 14:18:46 Voted 8.25 on 01/16/06
This is a bit of a resurrection of an old thread, but I enjoyed the mod so much I felt I had to comment.
I played this mod as a rogue who dual-classed into rogue/wizard straight away (after killing the kid). I chose a panther familiar and didn't take any henchmen and it was extremely hard, but that's what made it so enjoyable.
I found that I spent every last penny of my loot on healing potions/kits and nothing else (except a decent crossbow and a nice suit of studded leather.) I found that every encounter was very dangerous and there was no point where I could solve a problem with brawn alone. I usually told my familiar to stand fast whilst I went ahead and used my sneak attack. Then I ran back to my panther and we managed to ambush any bad-guys in pursuit. I needed every wizard spell-slot for buffs such as shield and mage-armour, and finishe dthe mod as rogue/wizard : 2/2.
Excellent mod Bob. I'm currently playing Part II and will look for your other mods aswell.
Posted by Lariam at 2005-10-25 14:21:24 Voted 8.50 on 10/25/05
Posted by Craze ( 213.39.xxx.xxx ) at 2005-07-17 16:16:40
How on earth do I get inside the Dareel & Jarendt (hope I spelled them correctly) building?
Or isn't that the point of the first quest? Hitting the wall on the first quest, ouch. 8/
I especially liked the storyline of the cult of Saint Mallusar, with their highly questionable morality. The fact that you can kneel down in a room full of green light and meditate to your ruthless saint really enhances the religious fervor of these people.
Combat difficulty was very good, extremely challenging. I played a monk, and refused to take henchmen, so I had a very hard time. I assume the mod was designed with henchmen in mind, so I can't complain about the really rough spots...but in the end I triumphed anyway.
One of the things I really liked was the scarcity of treasure. Too many mods have you all decked out with magic items by the time you're 3rd level. This one, I really had to count my coins to see if I could afford a healing potion or a little more AC.
My favorite area was the village of Priapul...the houses with corpses lying around was a really nice touch.
The main bug I had trouble with was the cutscene, which others have mentioned. I enjoyed the cutscene, but it would launch as soon as I approached the locked door in the Westernmost room (the small one with 3 orcs in it) and it would also cancel all my buff spells. Further, it would relaunch if I closed and opened the wooden gate to the main orc compound.
Overall, I had a ripping good time and I am looking forward to developing my evil monk assassin throughout the rest of the series! THanks again for making this
Posted by Son of Sundo ( 172.215.xxx.xxx ) at 2005-03-17 23:13:00
This module is sick and I do not understand how it got into the hall of fame. Killing children for pleasure is not acceptable nor is blind obediance to a "higher authority" that gives an unnaceptable order.
Posted by tcw at 2005-02-13 10:40:18 Voted 7.00 on 02/13/05
Posted by Latimer at 2005-01-29 12:04:34 Voted 8.75 on 01/29/05
Posted by bigt27 at 2005-01-08 09:20:04 Voted 7.50 on 01/08/05
Posted by bigt27 at 2005-01-08 09:19:00 Voted 7.50 on 01/08/05
just finished this module and I must say I enjoyed it a lot.
I played with a cleric and 3 henchman and found that it was challenging (which it should be) but well balanced
Posted by bigt27 at 2005-01-08 09:19:00 Voted 7.50 on 01/08/05
just finished this module and I must say I enjoyed it a lot.
I played with a cleric and 3 henchman and found that it was challenging (which it should be) but well balanced
Posted by erthule at 2004-12-13 02:07:05 Voted 8.00 on 12/13/04
Posted by stratdriverl at 2004-11-17 11:26:26 Voted 9.25 on 11/17/04
Excellent module. First module I have played in a while where I actually had to plan encounters and died a few times. Good concept and good execution.
Posted by Alporik at 2004-11-17 09:33:41 Voted 9.75 on 11/17/04
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