Darkwood Forest, the Fighting Fantasy world of Titan.
Gameplay Length
6-10 hours.
Number Players
The module is primarily intended for solo play, but it should support multiplayer. Even with scalable encounters, it may be too easy if played multiplayer.
Language
English
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Light
Hack & Slash
Medium
Scope
Medium
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player or Multiplayer
Max Character Level
03
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
01
Content Rating
Teen
Alignments
Good or Neutral only.
Description
Who knows what monstrous creatures lurk in Darkwood Forest? 'Only the foolhardy would risk an encounter with the unknown perils that lurk in the murky depths of Darkwood Forest. Yet there is no alternative, for your quest is a desperate race against time. Do you dare venture into the sinister Darkwood Forest to help the Dwarves of the village of Stonebridge?' This module is adapted from the Fighting Fantasy book 'The Forest of Doom' � 1983 Ian Livingstone. It is intended for characters of levels 1�3. Good or Neutral alignments only. Multiplay is possible, though the original gamebook was intended for solo play. This module has expanded on the original gamebook by the addition of many Titan-based monsters, characters and other miscellaneous material found in Out of the Pit, Titan: The Fighting Fantasy World, and other Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.
Posted by Alcazar_Bauglir_II at 2009-04-04 13:37:04 Voted 9.25 on 04/04/09
Admitted, I always loved the Ian Livingstone F&F books so I'm biased. Then again, the Builders specifically aim to please other Fighting fantasy/Titan fans so I'm pretty much the target audience.
I played the updated version from the Builder's website.
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun walking around in the lands of Titan, even if it was just the Darkwood-area. Of course, it is very open-form and sanboxy (is that a word?) so people who like to follow er play more scripted modules will probably not much enjoy this module as the Darkwood is, well, big. Very big. Personally I like to wander a lot, and I love the whole 'vignette/sandbox approach' that marked Ian Livingstone's work - rendered very well in this NWN-conversion. Also, given the fact that the areas weren't too dark, making thw woods smaller might have made quite a few encounters hard to run away from, which, given the challenge level for a starting level character, I needed to do several times (I played a Dwarven Barbarian-Fighter - who doesn't like respawning. The XP-part isn't that bad - more excuses to whack critters - but the gold loss is ;) I liked the humor a lot, I only missed a cave with a certain rodent-like menace. Although I swept the all the maps and as far as I know every nook and cranny, I never found a use for the Flute (can't remember being one in the book either but still), the Stillness-thingee (then again, no crashing huts) and the odd key (though perhaps not all doors were set to 'swallow').
Most Memmorable Likes:
Stonebridge (esp. the real-estate. You bastards, I almost gave up finding that key ;P Perhaps it should have been under the doormat or a vase, to rub it in); Yaztromo's tower; the Dark Elves (which I always envisioned as grayish but what the hey); the way Yzatromo's items were elegantly integrated (though see below).
Most Memmorable Dislikes
Mostly quibbles but still:
- though the Forest makes sense as being big, certain Areas were really larger than necessary. The Goblin Caves spring to mind, as does Xortan Throg's mountain. One reason they felt too big was that there were only a few critters in those big, big areas. Because of the way Throg's tower was set up (IMO unncessarily teeny-weeny Areas) this effect was even more enhanced.
- the Troll area was rather a let down. After all the build-up and detail in other places, the Big Evil Menace you just spent 10 hrs or so to thwart turned out to be a couple of ratty 'closed' cave-entrances with a spawned AD&D Troll. Come on, this way the area can better be scratched.
- the role-playing possibilities were more limited than needed. I could imagine Trumble hiring or even joining as a henchman an unscrupulous PC. Even more fun would of course be if the other areas - including at least Trumble's hometown - you can see from Yaztromo's (I kind of expected that after Xortan Throg DID show up) got developed but that would probably push things too far. Other examples that could use a little more develoment/options were the trapped persons.
- some containers were inaccessible (in caves)
- the Fishing spots acted as super-glue several time, even re-loading didn't work.
- the foraging rules were fun but a bit unnecessary, given the Resting-rules. They also were too elaborate, just heating your food worked fine enough & didn't risk wasting ingredients.
- quite some times I didn't use a Yaztromo item because it was completely unnecesary (eg the Troll and the Ogre). Recieving (a lot) less xp for not wasting resources seems a bit odd.
- given the size of the Darkwood, the merchants in the Darkwood itself were too concentrated, just 1 Area Transition apart.
All in all, I really enjoyed this module and would recommend it whole heartedly to all fans of Fighting Fantasy books and their style, somewhat less to 'sandbox-adepts', and not at all to people who prefer a lot of guidance, because basically you're looking for two needles in a big haystack.
tried to play this module and it says: "could not load module - custom talk table missing" .. at least that's what i remember it saying. anybody any idea what i have to do?
And IF you can...MAKE MORE! Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone books were so enjoyable back when I was a lad! Thanks again!! _________________________ -----------------------------------------
Creation is 100% imagination, but hakpaks
are another story altogether! ;-)
Dude!!! I have this book! I bought it when I was a kid! THANK YOU!!! Can't wait to play it! _________________________ -----------------------------------------
Creation is 100% imagination, but hakpaks
are another story altogether! ;-)
Posted by Forrestwolf at 2006-03-18 05:35:31 Voted 10.00 on 03/18/06
Great stuff. Attention to detail, strong attempt to recreate the Fighting Fantasy world. Also my favorite FF book! A FF fan could spend a LOT of time here.
Posted by Deathstalker at 2005-09-27 03:08:34 Voted 8.75 on 09/27/05
Wow! Neat idea for a module! I remember this book from when I was a kid.
Posted by Alistair ( 82.3.xxx.xxx ) at 2005-07-03 04:48:53
Thank you Mirgalen your comments are appreciated. Do not scrap your save game. You are may not be stuck in the pit... There are 2 ways to get out. wait for help or use a certain magical item.
I'm glad your enjoying the non generic DnD world that myself and Simon spent two years creating. There are a lot of very tiny details that are easily missed.
I have been meaning to complete the next very minor update and your post may just have given me the motivation to get on with it. (VERY minor and will not affect gameplay just a few more custom creatures)
HINT:
Keep, collect and buy every seemingly useless amgical item you can get hold of, some are red herrings but some are very handy in specific situations (AKA Fighting Fantasy books) while very few are necessary to complete the module they can give a hell of an edge.
It is a good thing that I lowered my requirements in filtering modules. Before it would be unlikely for me to download something with less than 1000 downloads. I recently decided to drop that to 500 instead.
The module score does not seems to matter here as they are only two votes. On the other hand the comments posted below were interesting enough to make me click on download.
I only played a little bit of this so far but it is that good. Be prepared to explore a real land some may not like the big maps but in this case they do feel real and fit in the story. I have seen a lot of interesting creatures with special effects I had not seen before. This part is very well done. Also the two creators did a very good kob in terms of balancing the encounters. My lvl 2 character with minimum hiding skills had little problems avoiding tough foes while travelling in the land.
I have not really done anything yet but I had a lot of fun exploring the land until my character got stuck in a pit. Never mind, I shall start over again.
I wish you guys had done the conversion of "Warlock of the Firetop Mountain" that module seems to lack all the qualities your module have e.g. atmosphere, "realism", game balance, fun factor...
Well done and thanks for making a great module.
Posted by Cosmo at 2004-11-07 04:07:32 Voted 7.75 on 11/07/04
Posted by Balgin Stondraeg ( 81.76.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-10-31 04:17:00
Also as a long standing Fighting Fantasy player (who's favourite FF book was FF3!!!) I felt that the whole subject of Titan was treated somewhat more riireverantly than the original Jackpon & Livingstone works. Whilst there was humour you (the module designers) seem to have chosen to interject more of it than the original FF authors did. Maybe it's because you've crammed so much of the good stuff (goblin jokes etc) into one small space (one single adventure.
That being said FF3 was almost unique in that you were actualy allowed to go back to the begining and try again (although FF2 almost included such an option). However it's beautifuly nonlinear structure included lots of random encounters that had nothing to do with the plot but still had a reason for being there.
It might be worth mentioning stuff in Bigleg's conversation to indicate the fact that he is halucinating due to the poisoned darts the pygmies shot him with (and why those goblins ahd to come attacking me and him run up to me, stick close and ignore them 'till they're dead still confuses me, perhaps delay their appearance?)
Calling the map "the most useless map ever" is indicative of the light hearted nature with which you have approached the module. Whilst the map in the book wasn't very good (everything inside the forest apart from the river was just a bunch of trees indicating unknown territory) it also allowed you to chart your own progress and get a feeling of exploring uncharted woodland paths. Also the joke about Yaztromo's honey cakes wasn't anything I remember from any FF source although admitedly I haven't read anything (but have read most of the stuff Yaztromo's related to, the adventures and Titan but it was a few years back).
All your "wizards" could have looked more like wizards. Instead of technicolour jumpsuits they could easily be ajusted to match existing FF artwork depicting them (I even took a shot at it myself). Same goes for many of the other npc's, like the catwoman using the suited rakshasa model when you could have used a human model with the tiger/cat helmet/head from the CEP and used Lisa's scaly body parts (and the smooth pelvis and tail belt) using whatever "skin" colours would be most likely to make the scales look like fur - to make a really effective catwoman.
Your dark elves look like drow. Titan's dark elvesdo not look liek drow, the black elves might (can't remember offhand). Titan's dark elves look more simply like evil elves or the way the Warhammer dark elves used to back in the late 80's/early 90's (Siege of Sardath & other 90's FF book illustrations).
A bit of an over exessive use of the glossy colours where the matt ones would have done better too. Titan was never really written as a glossy shiny place, more sort of grubby and grotty.
I think the module could have probably done better without the Barinjhar (Bar & Jar)/ Xortan Throg / Princess kidnap thing. Simply sticking to The Forets and related stuff would have been good enough but I can understand that you wanted to include other things.
OK thanks for that, sound set altered ready for next update. We're working on a few other minor alterations and attempting to use some of CEP 1.5. Will post when update is ready.
Posted by Balgin Stondraeg ( 84.65.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-10-21 22:24:00
Your randomly spawning necromancers are men but have a female soundset and the sounds they make when wounded or die really seem out of place.
Posted by kmc at 2004-10-18 14:41:00 Voted 6.75 on 10/08/04
to Tellner:
Spoiler
Regarding the Elf Dungeon, there is no key, you have to go around to the other side. Try investing in Dwarven real estate. _________________________ KMc
Posted by kmc at 2004-10-18 14:39:00 Voted 6.75 on 10/08/04
I understand about the keys, but I can't for the life of me find the one that fits the door for the Dark Elf Dungeon. Been everywhere on the plains, southern forest and part of the northern. If someone knows where to find this key, please contact me offline at
Firstly thanks for the feedback, we are taking everything seriously. Secondly this is a long post sorry.
*Spoiler Alert*
Yes this is our first module but we have carefully considered every aspect of it, although a few mistakes did slip by us. This module was not completed in a hurry, for example there are 900 scripts in this module if a few don't work properly they will be fixed but I'm not overly concerned.
The Forest: Yes its large, intentionally so. Darkwood as described in all source material is a huge foreboding place, we designed it as such. The northern forest is a maze, its very easy to get lost in darkwood so this is our way of portraying this while creating areas slightly different from generic forest. We particularly enjoyed the freeform aspect of the original BG Game and designed our mod along this freeform idea. Not everyone will appreciate it.
The journal entry is an issue and has been fixed ready for our next update, thanks for the pointer. We did not notice this in playtesting. Other areas of our journal system are exceptionally robust more so than most official campaign we have played. This kind of error happend frequently in modules we have played including BG series, torment etc.
Yaztromo's tower is designed based on an artists drawing in a Titan sourcebook. Why are PC's ever allowed into buildings off the street, yes its a little unrealistic but happens in all official mods. The only way round this is with factions but could make the module uncompletable.
Throg's portal leads to Yaztromo's tower to make the quest easily completable. The background info (books and conversations) describes some of the enmity between the two wizards.
When sarissa is rescued a cutscene will begin and conversation initiated between PC, Sarissa & Morval. If morval is not in the room and the quest has not oficially been given then Throg's tower should be inacessible. If not please let us know how / what you did and we will fix urgently.
Keys: There are 6 locked doors in the game. 2 are opened in conversations when new areas are ready to be accessed. 2 relate to a very minor sidequest and are in a NPC / Monsters inventory. 1 relates to a medium sidequest and can be purchassed. 1 is vital to the game and can be found in Darkwood Plain 2 near the top in an NPS / Monster's inventory, this is a little obscure because its so vital however its straight out of the book.
There are hints about the items required to complete the game, one is EASY to find and the other is actually quite difficult.
Gamebooks were fairly structured. To complete this game stick to the paths and you will find all relevant plot required NPC's and items.
We used content from the CEP as required, theres actually quite a lot. But we have not added anything that would be out of place in the Titan world. We have added nothing just because its there. Our next mod, if we get round to it, will include a lot more CEP content because the setting requires it.
We have based this module on a gamebook and have stuck to it rigidly, maybe too much in some opinions, but we and all our playtesters enjoyed the style.
I'm sorry we don't enjoy the same style of game or want the same thing from a game, difference of opinions I suppose. Why can't you finish the game? Let me know and I'll point you in the right direction. Please post a link to the style of game you particularly enjoy and I'll play through it to see if anything can be improved upon.
Posted by kmc at 2004-10-08 11:24:16 Voted 6.75 on 10/08/04
Lots of LARGE areas with little content. _________________________ KMc
Posted by Anonymous ( 217.44.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-10-05 17:11:00
Dear S&R
I'm glad I could help. I know how easy it is to make a last minute error without realising it from bitter experience with my own modules. I only played the south forest sections before getting to that point, but found no other errors, and it was very much in the spirit of the book, which was good. I think the quality control is much better than that of the first uploaded versions of my modules. Hope you get good feedback!
John
Posted by Anonymous ( 81.155.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-10-05 08:19:00
Dear S&R,
It's John again. Thanks for the reply. I looked at your module, and all the local integers seem rather convoluted, but it seems that you have a Do-ONCE int that gets set to 1 when you walk over a trigger on approaching the Wizard and after a 3 second delay the wizard will talk to you anyway. But the wizard won't say what he is supposed to becuase you have a conditional false when the Do_once =1. Then the woman is moved in, but without the script in that wizard's second conversation, the int is not set right to trigger her onevent script.
What baffles me is how it ever works??? I have never got it to work no matter what I do.
I didn't attack or attempt to speak to Throg while the Prince was alive, no. ;) I waited until afterward, after I picked up the Prince's stuff. By that time I was out of combat mode. Maybe I should wiat to pick up the Prince's stuff?
Hmm . . . OK, we think we *might* know the cause of the cutscene issue. Could those who have had this problem please answer this one simple question?
** SPOILERS GALORE **
Did you attack Throg while Barinjhar was still alive?
I've just tested it a number of times, sometimes with the Lizard Henchman, and it's working perfectly for me--when I focus on Barinjhar and leave Throg alone. Both initiating conversation after Barinjhar's death, and the hidden trigger on the floor near Throg that does the same thing work perfectly. When I tested it by attacking Throg while Barinjhar is alive, I get the same problem; cutscene starts, but Throg refuses to fire the conversation.
If that's the cause for everyone (I'm assuming it is, but I want to make sure), that's narrowed the problem down to a manageable level. It should get fixed sometime this week, maybe sooner.
[Oh, and don't ask how I managed to move the PC to Throg's Tower so quickly; it's a secret!]
The Prince's ondeath script does nothing more than set a variable; it doesn't initiate the cutscene at all. As you say, John, trying to do that doesn't work too well (we know: we tried in Beta, we failed ;-) ).
As for Throg standing watching--that's because there is no way a 1-3 level character would be able to take him out or withstand his spells; his powers are akin to the mages met in BG2, which is insanely powerful for a low level adventure. However, notice that Grudthak seems to have picked up that same habit from his master. (You did notice Grudthak doing the same, didn't you? ;-) )
Altering the cutscene(s) to make Throg walk away and come back is really more trouble than it's worth, too much work for very little gain. I think it works OK (*when* it works, that is) so I don't see that being changed. Thanks for the feedback, however, John, Alcarin; if that's the only real bug in the game, you've both managed to find it very quickly. You both must be very talented! :-) I only hope that it is the only major bug, and that we can fix it ASAP.
Regards
--
Simon "outspaced" Osborne
Posted by Anonymous ( 217.42.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-10-04 16:44:00
Dear Simon and Alastair,
The cutscene bug occurs repeatedly for me. After killing the Prince, the wizard remains behind the altar. No matter what angle I approach things from, when I intereact with him the cutscene starts, the woman stands next to the wizard and stops ...
An actionstartconversation on the wizard, which I suspect you have done triggered on the ondeath prince script, is always unreliable for such a game critical script, and it's unrealistic that he just stands there anyway. Why don't you make him leave before the prince fight, and have both of them come in on the ondeath event, and have a failsafe escape key function in the cutscene like in the OC, where they also go enemy and lose their plot flags?
Or at least talking to him at that point should provide another opportunity to start the cutscene properly.
Further to Ali's comments, it's also worth remembering that if you ever get stuck in a cutscene, Alt-F4 will bring up a requester to quit the game; it's much better than the old CTRL-ALT-DEL Task Manager business. Of course, hopefully few people will ever trip that particular error, and an update soon should prevent the issue from ever occurring.
My sincere apologies for the cutscene issue, I'm rather embarrassed. We did not notice this in playtesting, I've personally tested this cutscene roughly 30-50 times. Simply approach Xortan Throg from a different angle. I have made necessary alterations that will be included on a fairly iminent update. Its just that Throg gets caught behind the altar and does not initiate conversation.
The raven was indeed directing you to the cave and not to Trumble. I admit North is a bit vague (straight from the book)
Rats journal is a small warmup before main adventure, its not a "quest" anyone gives you just something you do. Journal entries are given by us based on loads of different events not just conversations.
Glad your enjoying it so far. Its not Hack n Slash combat intensive but goes for a slightly different approach.
Posted by Anonymous ( ..xxx.xxx ) at 2004-10-04 09:35:00
I started playing this and come across a couple of problems. :)
Minor Spoilers Ahead!!!
First off, after you kill the Prince in the quest to rescue Sarissa, there's a cut scene that's supposed to start that just hangs everything. I had to finally go out to the Task Manager and end NWN that way. I'll re-play and see if it was just a one-time fluke.
The second is that when I followed the talking raven's advice, I ended up finding Trumble and killing him without ever knowing why until I read the journal entry telling me he was behind the theft of the hammer. I hadn't even found the second piece, yet. :) But, thinking back on it, the raven probably meant for me to go into the Ogre's cave, not to keep following the road. :)
Also got a journal entry when I was exploring the wizard's tower, but the guy never mentioned anythign about rats. :)
So far, it's a decent module, though. I never played through the book, so this is all new to me. :)
Posted by Balgin Stondraeg ( 81.79.xxx.xxx ) at 2004-10-03 22:23:00
Good to see more Titan based adventures! 1-3 for hill giants, lycanthropes and a balrog? Well okay so the original FoD was brilliant and great fun. It was one of the few FF books that allowed you to go back to the begining and start again :).
I'll play it and let you know what I think of it as an adaptation.
Thank you for the enthusiasm. We would certainly appreciate any and all feedback on this module. We'll (Simon and myself, Alistair) both be checking this entry regularly and will try to reply to all comments.
We have numerous ideas for sequels but currently little time to pursue them, feedback would maybe motivate us to do so as well as persuade us to find the time.
Wow, freakin awesome...I am glad you guys made this mod..A while back I was going to do it, since it was one of my favorite Fighting Fantasy books (behind Warlock on Firetop Mountian, Citadel of Chaos and City of Theives), but I got sidetracked building a PW.
I can't wait to play it and give ya my review!
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