Faerun, north of The Spine of the World (maps included)
Gameplay Length
4-8
Language
English
Level Range
11-16
Races
Any
Tricks & Traps
Medium
Roleplay
Light
Hack & Slash
Heavy
Classes
Any
Scope
Large
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player or Multiplayer
Max Character Level
16
Max # Players
05
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
11
Content Rating
Teen
Alignments
Mostly geared toward good alignments but some room for evil choices.
Description
This module is a spin-off of the Icewind Dale Trilogy books written by R.A. Salvatore. He's my favorite fantasy author and I figured my first attempt at a NWN mod should pay tribute to him. This mod is intended for single or multiplayer, levels 11-16. If you aren't at least 11, you will be raised to 11 in the game and also given some gold if you don't have much. Resting in game requires a bedroll, some rations, and you have to wait 8 real time mins between rests. There are a few henchmen available and I highly suggest you use one if you attempt to play single player. I have attempted to make this mod as challenging as possible without making it frustrating. I would say it's around 30% story 70% action. You will need to download the hak pack to play. Also, sorry about the size but a lot of custom music, load screens, models, and a winter tileset are included in the hak. Download the readme for more info on the story.
Posted by Thullraven at 2012-03-02 21:23:56 Voted 9.25 on 03/02/12
One of the better ones! Still enjoyable after all this time. Thanks.
Posted by Mirgalen at 2012-01-02 17:27:30 Voted 3.50 on 01/02/12
After reading the comments from serious players like jfoxtail, WeAreAllKosh and werelynx2 I gave this one another shot hoping that perhaps I was wrong. To be fair I would say that if you like the settings you may skip this one and try the excellent "Heart of Winter".
I am afraid I have to echo some of the comments made by thesilversamurai:
- "This was a terrible mod� Plagued by bad design decisions"
The first thing is realism. Forget about that. There is a big tower with a lot of mages who (based on the layout) would it seems never eat or sleep.
- "Everything respawns"
- "Bandits are apparently faction allied with spiders, trolls and giants�"
This one is easy to spot. All monsters are of the same faction and they spawn too close to each other so you may face a group of giants+bandits or a group of undead+mages.
- "Mages use bigby's interposing hand, and of course they're always accompanied by warriors with great axes to chop you apart when it succeeds."
In fact the whole game balance is plagued by that kind of design decision. I lost a fighter who went in solo as soon as she entered the "graveyard". Several creatures are holding slashing weapons doing other types of damages (e.g. piercing). In addition most encounters are simply over the top in terms of CR (e.g. you often face 4-8 lvl 15 enemies). For the mage fights, you either need to bypass them (stealth) or use a meat shield to suck the bigby spell before dealing with the spelcasters.
- "I'm not sure the author of this has ever played a tabletop campaign, ever been a DM"
Unfortunately it seems to be the case for 95% of nun modules I have played and it is even more puzzling when authors claim otherwise. That seems to be confirmed by Looking at werelynx2's comment "Started with 15lvl solo as advised ended up being dead approximately 7 times". IMHO, on hardcore settings, a skilled player should not (with a bit of luck) have to die/reload more than 3 times.
- "12 +1 rings of protection in an hour?"
I got over 20 of them but it was not really Monty Haul, at least from the player side. The bandits for instances were very well equipped but did not drop anything worthwhile. Loot was indeed abundant but lame compared to the PC level. I don't buy magic items but the shops had all the +3 gear you could wish for. As opposed to PnP adventuring to find cool items was certainly not the idea here.
- "XP is set far too low"
Low treasures and XP are making the risk/reward ratio as bad as it can be.
Played it "3" times. My fighter got killed by mages. OK, don't try this without a henchmen. BTW since you got resting restrictions the only viable henchmen is the barbarian (as casters tend to ignore instructions and spam all they got during the first encounter). The guy still need to be properly equipped. Before that, I tried to "beat the module" with two barbarians. Without uber equipment or stealth it was very tedious. They got an amulet and the head of a NPC but refused to continue. Things went a lot smoother with an AA+Barbarian team. My AA had some ok equipment including invisibility, haste and DR belts and was able to equip the barbarian better. Once ready we used a surgical strike strategy. We ignored/avoided the stock encounters and lousy loot and went strait for the jugular. We got the amulet without too much problem. Taking the bandits proved to be a bit more challenging. It did require some metagaming including teleporting away when things got out of hands as well as a few save/reload to get the barbarian in the right spot "Don't you step on that trap fool!". Some well placed arrows and a*bleep*tail of spells like "cloud of bewilderment", "darkness", "confusion" and the bard/curse songs did the rest. The last boss did not look like much of a challenge surprisingly. The barbarian charged and my Bard/AA shot a bunch of arrows and that was it. "Wounding whispers" and "Improved invisibility" may have helped. At the end Legodas Singatree was named hero of Ten Towns or something.
3-4: It is clear the author tried to make something interesting, but still fell short. With more work it might be worth the download.

Posted by werelynx2 at 2011-03-05 07:49:55 Voted 7.00 on 03/05/11
oh and I almost forget: cleric henchman when ordered to "buff up" summons balor without casting protection on himself, and the balor is hostile and attacks me and kill everyone in the sight. Nice buff up isn't it? _________________________ Thanks Rolo:)
Posted by werelynx2 at 2011-03-05 06:44:39 Voted 7.00 on 03/05/11
Too many same type encounters. Good they were all customized. Started with 15lvl solo as advised ended up being dead approximately 7 times. _________________________ Thanks Rolo:)
Posted by clinthodo at 2010-05-18 10:50:47 Voted 9.00 on 05/18/10
I'd give this a little higher score if it weren't for all of the ridiculously high-level undead that show up for no reason at all. If it were tough Orcs, Goblins, Bugbears or hostile barbarians poping up out of nowhere then this mod would make a bit more sense.
Well worth playing.
Posted by Number 6 at 2008-10-09 11:18:14 Voted 7.75 on 10/09/08
A nice piece of hack and slashery, not much in the way of story (kill the bad dragon), role play options or henchman back story, but it's fun for what it is.
Seems like i can`t enter the Eastway or do I have to complete some tasks before I may go there?
Posted by WeAreAllKosh at 2007-09-10 09:15:36 Voted 9.00 on 09/10/07
A thoroughly enjoyable module!
The story is simple and straightforward. Nothing too elaborate -- first retrieve the item you need to kill the dragon, then go kill the dragon. But the story as it is is very well delivered. The writing is good, the NPC's keep you engaged in the story, and it all progresses in a smooth logical manner. I compare it favorably to some of the 'epic' stories on the Vault that seem as if they were written by 5th graders.
The challenge was perfect for my 15th level monk with the cleric henchman brought along -- nothing too difficult, nothing too easy. Encounters are built well -- good tactical mixing and placement of creatures as opposed to the cliched 'hordes' that most module makers lean on.
All the LoTR tie-ins were a little weird, especially the film-track that was used for one area. But they don't detract too much from the module. 'Sting,' for instance is very generally described as a sword that is effective against goblinkind -- no mentions of Hobbits battling Isengard and Mordor in the War of the Ring.
As far as treasure placement goes, I don't mind the abundance of +1 items; this is a high-level module where +1 items don't improve a character much nor amount to much gold. What unnerved me a little was the potion placement. Too many potions. I entered this with about 5 Heal potions and walked away with about 25. And I never lacked for CCW potions, since there were 5 in about every other chest. I was using my Henchman to store them, and by the module's end he was a pharmacy.
Enjoyed the atmosphere. Areas are very well designed. The Black Isle music tracks are nice to hear since only the good ones are used. I'm very glad to say that my two favorite Black Isle tracks (Dorn's Deep from IWD and the dragon battle track from BG2) are both used in the white dragon's lair! When I started hearing the Black Isle music, I hoped that the final battle would be accompanied by the dragon battle track; I was very pleased to hear it!
So this is basically a small module -- relatively few areas and nothing too vast as far as story goes -- but everything it does it does very well.
Posted by Astero at 2007-07-10 15:59:59 Voted 8.25 on 07/10/07
A nice hack and slash module. Best played multiplayer. I soloed it with a fighter/rogue char and the battles were most challenging. I chose the barbarian henchman but he was weak, after I bought him some decent equipment he could last longer. I had to wait a lot for the remains to show up. Maybe you could had given some experience points for disarming traps and opening locks. Not be able to sell all of my loot to each merchant was a bit tiresome. Undead creatures spawning in almost every area? They seemed a bit out of place.
I really liked the music and the design of the areas. Few side quests but kept me busy. I had the feeling that the main quest didn't take much of my time though. Despite the fact that it needs improvement, for a first module, it's fine :). It really is what the description says. A straightforward hack and slash.
Posted by ShadowySweetness at 2007-02-27 13:57:13 Voted 9.25 on 02/27/07
Very Nice Hack-n-Slash.. I would have liked more Hench interaction...
No bugs or problems through out..
Thank you for making this Mod for us..
as with out you Mod Muilders what are us NWN fans to do??
Have a Great Day...
Shadow...
Posted by jfoxtail at 2007-01-12 10:37:13 Voted 9.00 on 01/12/07
A belated vote..I played this some months ago.
True as advertised. A fairly linear hack and slash quest with a number of reference to Drizzit and a chance to sub in for him as I recall. Given some of the mods released in 2005 this lacks the epic story but shouldnt be penalized for that. It is what is advertised.
While the plot is linear my version ran bug free; and the mod has held its age really quite well as of patch 168 - something that is not true of all modules.
If you are looking for a few hours of hack and slash, a bug free mod this is a good choice.
Posted by Mirgalen at 2006-10-14 22:35:47 Voted 3.50 on 01/02/12
Too many negative points to make this worthwile IMHO.
Positives: Great music, nice visuals.
Negatives: Very basic story, respawning monsters (welcome to groundhog day), combat balance (almost unplayable event at level 15), only one lousy henchmen, no bag of holding (that's a classic).
Would score it around 4.
Posted by Malak Darkhunter at 2006-09-19 12:59:09 Voted 9.50 on 09/19/06
Really good module for my Ranger,I soloed it,nice atmosphere and animations,great hack and slash,truly some of the toughest fights I've had yet!
Does anyone know where to find Jenson's wife? I'm in the mausoleum (probably spelt wrong :p) and am in the area marked with a map pin that says "Mr.Danbury", and a locked door that's unbashable. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2006-03-05 08:28:52 Voted 10.00 on 03/05/06
Excellent use of tilesets, music, and henchmen voices. _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by Anonymous ( 207.200.xxx.xxx ) at 2006-01-03 17:25:53
I played this mod with my Dwarven Defender (9f/6dd at start), and found it a pleasant diversion, a solid hack & slash that offered enough to keep a one-dimensional character like my dwarf interested.
I was going to try it with my mage of the range (12wiz/5 ranger) but there seems to be a problem with the familiar summoning, as his faerie dragon familiar never appeared and his portrait appeared in the party screen but was blank. He's a base NWN familiar, so I don't know why he wouldn't appear. In any case, I decided not to play it through with him after that. All in all a fun mod, however.
Posted by El Dano at 2005-08-29 09:29:33 Voted 9.25 on 08/29/05
Straight combat mods aren't my cup of tea - they often start to feel like glorified video games - but I can't rate it down for being what it is advertised as.
As far as straight combat mods go, this is excellent. The combat is very challenging and I found it to be extremely well balanced for my solo 11th level (starting) fighter with no henchman. The settings and other visual aspects are outstanding. The quests are straightforward and easy to follow. A few (very) minor gripes:
- I found the undead theme to be kind of out of place and incongruous. When I think Icewind Dale, I think Remorhaz, ice trolls, yeti, etc... not mummies.
-While I liked the Tolkienesque touches... Aragorn's Sword unusable by Rangers???
-The skeleton knights didn't rise from the ground, they dropped from the air. This just seemed strange.
-The different stores added flavor and realism at first... but I quickly got tired of having to go to three different places just to sell all the different kinds of loot.
These small complaints pale in comparison to how very well done this mod is overall.
One possible bug - Whenever I levelled up I got some message that there was a script error or something. Didn't seem to affect play or my character in any way. Maybe you had a special level-up script that had a message or something? Dunno - like I said, it was just an error message and didn't ruin my fun any.
Keep up the good work!
El Dano _________________________ El Dano Black Thorn -- a Forgotten Realms mystery adventure for levels 23-27. Mountain of Mirrors -- a classic PnP conversion for levels 4-7.
Posted by El Dano at 2005-08-29 09:19:44 Voted 9.25 on 08/29/05
For those looking for an uncomplicated, straight-up hack fest, it doesn't get much better than this. _________________________ El Dano Black Thorn -- a Forgotten Realms mystery adventure for levels 23-27. Mountain of Mirrors -- a classic PnP conversion for levels 4-7.
Posted by Kenrae at 2005-04-03 17:16:01 Voted 7.25 on 04/03/05
Posted by Anonymous ( 199.224.xxx.xxx ) at 2005-03-24 12:16:00
I have attempted to download this file 1/2 dz. times from Neverwinter Vault, and continue to get the message that the file header is corrupt. I can unpack the hak pak but not the module. I wonder if someone could check on the integrity of the archive?
Posted by Anonymous ( 199.224.xxx.xxx ) at 2005-03-24 12:16:00
I have attempted to download this file 1/2 dz. times from Neverwinter Vault, and continue to get the message that the file header is corrupt. I can unpack the hak pak but not the module. I wonder if someone could check on the integrity of the archive?
Is it possible to force a henchman to use a ranged attack? The sorcererss always uses her dagger and naturally gets slain in spite of being equipped with a crossbow.
Posted by Renarion at 2005-02-16 12:50:35 Voted 8.00 on 02/16/05
An entertaining module.
Posted by Renarion at 2005-02-16 12:49:00 Voted 8.00 on 02/16/05
No offence thesilversamurai, but have you posted under the right module?
I've played this online with a group of friends and your issues of slowly decomposing corpses, infinite encounters and huge drops sound nothing like the game we played.
Where you running the game locally, as a single player module? Also, did you mainly play in one particular area?
________
Renarion
"If only 'twere possible to change the past, 'twould have been done long ago."
--Ashe Grey
Posted by thesilversamurai at 2005-02-09 01:48:00 Voted 1.00 on 02/09/05
This was a terrible mod. I don't ordinarily vote negatively, but I give this a one. Plagued by bad design decisions, you're forced to wait -minutes- for dead to decompose into corpses which then take another decade to decompose into remains, unless the author forgot to set it up 'correctly' in that particular case, in which case you stand around waiting for the corpse to decompose and it never happens. Which leads to the sight of a paladin chopping up corpses to get to the remains.
Everything respawns, which makes it impossible to leave your henchman anywhere, none of the henchmen have an AC better than 24 or so, making them utterly incapable of keeping up with anything in combat. Worse, Bandits are apparently faction allied with spiders, trolls and giants, though there's no mention in the "story" of any of those elements. Mages use bigby's interposing hand, and of course they're always accompanied by warriors with great axes to chop you apart when it succeeds.
I'm not sure the author of this has ever played a tabletop campaign, ever been a DM or ever designed a mod before. This 'campaign' is the poster child for Monty Haul, with magic weapons, armor, bracers, gloves and other gear dumped on the player with astounding frequency. (12 +1 rings of protection in an hour?). Finally, the XP is set far too low, though unless the issue of constant respawning is fixed, I'm not sure it'd help to raise it.
This is the first mod I've ever just quit half way through in disgust. Don't waste your time, unless you have played everything else and are fond of repetition, monotony and endless amounts of loot.
Posted by thesilversamurai at 2005-02-09 01:40:57 Voted 1.00 on 02/09/05
This was a terrible mod. I don't ordinarily vote negatively, but I give this a one. Plagued by bad design decisions, you're forced to wait -minutes- for dead to decompose into corpses which then take another decade to decompose into remains, unless the author forgot to set it up 'correctly' in that particular case, in which case you stand around waiting for the corpse to decompose and it never happens. Which leads to the sight of a paladin chopping up corpses to get to the remains.
Everything respawns, which makes it impossible to leave your henchman anywhere, none of the henchmen have an AC better than 24 or so, making them utterly incapable of keeping up with anything in combat. Worse, Bandits are apparently faction allied with spiders, trolls and giants, though there's no mention in the "story" of any of those elements. Mages use bigby's interposing hand, and of course they're always accompanied by warriors with great axes to chop you apart when it succeeds.
I'm not sure the author of this has ever played a tabletop campaign, ever been a DM or ever designed a mod before. This 'campaign' is the poster child for Monty Haul, with magic weapons, armor, bracers, gloves and other gear dumped on the player with astounding frequency. (12 +1 rings of protection in an hour?). Finally, the XP is set far too low, though unless the issue of constant respawning is fixed, I'm not sure it'd help to raise it.
This is the first mod I've ever just quit half way through in disgust. Don't waste your time, unless you have played everything else and are fond of repetition, monotony and endless amounts of loot.
Posted by alastairg at 2004-12-17 23:37:49 Voted 9.00 on 12/17/04
played this a while ago pre HOTU great
Posted by vanyamia at 2004-12-13 10:17:40 Voted 9.50 on 12/13/04
Enjoyed the module a great deal, our party really needed the services of it's cleric and rogue. My only comment would be that completing the first stage of the quest seemed to require a lot more time and effort than the finale.
Posted by RobertD at 2004-11-06 15:29:10 Voted 9.00 on 11/06/04
Posted by RobertD ( 80.72.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-11-06 15:21:00
Great module. Actually I don't remember anything better , except for original campaigns of course. Very cool idea is new music set, which adds a special "mood". Not too much hack and slash, on the other hand not too much puzzles, and no stupid quests like 'find me a spring i'll give you a key'. One thing is wrong: I thought it was meant to be 'forgoten realms and north of faerun' story. But in fact there is no drizzt, no icewind dale and only last moments of the game reminds you that you are in far, icy north of faerun. This is the same thing I feel about original campaigns - I want to feel I'm in Faerun, and somehow I don't realize it. If you know what I mean.
Site
at 2012-03-02 21:23:56
at 2005-08-29 09:29:33
at 2004-12-13 10:17:40
