Bring in your character from Chapter 1 if possible!
Races
Human, Elf, Half-Elf or Dwarf
Tricks & Traps
Medium
Roleplay
Light
Hack & Slash
Heavy
Classes
Any
Scope
Part of Series
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
07
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
05
Content Rating
Teen
Alignments
Any
Description
This module takes off where Chapter 1 ended. It is _highly_ recommended to play Chapter 1 first, in case you haven't. The story so far (small spoilers from Chapter 1): You managed to escape the prison where you have been wrongfully incarcerated. Under way, you also freed a young elven maiden named Alanya from the prison, who was locked up for ten years without any obvious reason - and has become your companion since then. You and Alanya made your escape and finally met Count Lyonard, an important figure of the Arborilian Resistance Movement fighting the Lord's Council which is currently oppressing the people of Arboril. You performed a mission for him, but now you are wanted by the Arborilian military more then ever. Count Lyonard has then sent you to seek out the wizard Gorian who is living the small town of Whitecoast.
I really enjoyed this series! Well told story that unfolded at just the right pace. The romance was very well done, too; one of the best romances in a mod ever.
Posted by Caller_in_Darkness at on11/06/08
Great work. One of the few series I played through a second time.
Posted by jalan at on09/25/08
2nd best series available for NWN. Sorry it took so long for me to rate it.
Posted by MrKez at 14:28:52 Voted9.00
I have not finished this one yet. I just wanted to question this small bug. During a fight in the desert north of Whitecoast, Alanya was hit with a spell, I think it was daze or some kind of domination. Anyway, she left the party but was still alive. I talked to her after the battle and got her to rejoin the party. She would do nothing. She would not follow, but would show up at area transitions. She would not fight, but when she died, that was it. There was no resurrection. Luckily, I had saved about 10 minutes before and did not lose a lot of progress. Has anyone encountered this?
Posted by Razide0506 at on03/20/08
In some ways, this module is an improvement over the first entry in the series, while in others it isn't quite as good. Both are very linear modules, but whereas in part one you were always moving forward on a fairly narrow path, part two gives you more freedom in how you get things done. This isn't an entirely good thing, however, as there's a good amount of meandering and backtracking in this episode that wasn't present in the first one (although the author does provide helpful shortcuts at various places). The first part of the module is fairly standard - show up at a village and help out with a bunch of problems - and it could have been part of any module. Then there's an unexpected twist (along with a cool cutscene), and the second part of the module is basically a long, multi-part, and fairly improbable go fetch quest (although to be fair, the game limitations pretty much require that all the parts of the long-lost macguffin be within walking distance of your home base). Finally, the last part involves taking on the villain in a massive battle that was a lot of fun to do. Once again, the combat in the game is challenging, made more so by the fact that, once again, resources are kept deliberately scarce. In fact, for a large part of the module I couldn't re-supply at all, which made me hoard my healing potions and kits very carefully. There are some very nice custom tilesets and portraits, and Alanya continues to be one of the more memorable henchmen, although the scripted conversations with her tended to get pretty repetitive. While most of the subquests were pretty standard stuff, the tomb subquest had an interesting backstory and characters, and even a bit of poignancy. On the downside, the aforementioned tomb quest is one of the most annoying parts of the module, as it involves spending a long time wandering around a maze. What's more, there's no logical reason for the maze to be there: if the burial chamber were at the end of the maze, that'd make sense, but the maze is actually under the burial chambers, and pretty much just stuck there for the sake of the story. In general, logic gets short shrift in the game: early on, you're attacked by a succession of bounty hunters in the area, all of whom are camped out in the same area, waiting around each bend. In one subquest, the basement of an inn is literally filled with dire rats and giant spiders, making you wonder how the innkeeper does any business at all. I repeatedly ran into tigers, leopards, and panthers out in the hills and the forests, which is kind of like running into polar bears in the jungle. I frequently encountered disparate groups of monsters living in the same cave/dungeon complex, even though, realistically, they'd have all killed each other. Again, the maze was the most egregious example of this: not only was it filled with a bunch of monsters that wouldn't live together, but there's no logical way for them to have even gotten in there, and no way for them to survive while down there (and the author made no attempt to make it look like they did live down there). Finally, I was disappointed by the lack of support for rogues in the module: the only traps available were "minor" level traps, which were far too weak to be useful against the opponents in this game. Despite these weaknesses, the module was generally fun, challenging, and interesting, and I'm looking forward to playing the next part.
Posted by Razide0506 at on03/20/08
@WeAreAllKosh: When you made similar comments about the last part of the Aielund saga, I thought you had a point. Now I'm just starting to suspect that you set the bar for "challenging" combat lower than most everyone else, because I just finished this module, and the bodaks weren't especially numerous or exceptionally difficult, and my character was not a min-maxed tank build with high will saves. At any rate, I don't label someone a troll because they gave a module less than a 9, but giving a module a 3 because you found the combat too difficult is grossly unfair.
Posted by WeAreAllKosh at on10/10/07
@kaiser: 1. The Revenant gaze requires a will save. And as I indicated, if you fail that one you're dead anyway because the Bodak can keep hitting you with the death gaze and you can't fight back. 2. My character was a rogue with a constitution around 10. Is that bad? Does the readme mention somewhere that only classes with good fortitude saves should be used? No, I don't believe it does. DC 16 is not bad if it's an ability decrease or a slow effect or something else that can be overcome. If it's death, a low roll is going to be your last roll no matter how high your fortitude bonus is. And in a solo game like NWN, there are no other PC's to cover for you if that happens. For this type of game, it's a poor design choice regardless of how 'smart' the prospective player is. 3. What ridiculous character was I using? Did I mention that I was using an arcane caster? I was using a human rogue. Is a human rogue not a viable build? Then explain this, please: Races: Human, Elf, Half-Elf or Dwarf Classes: Any Hmm. Does that say 'Fighter?' Does it say 'Tank?' Does it say 'Melee Character?' Does it say 'A class with a good fortitude save progression?' No, I'm pretty sure it says 'any.' Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But I think it's unfair to accuse someone of being incompetent when you have no idea who they are or suggest that they're using 'ridiculous' class builds when there is nothing to indicate what kind of build they did use.
Posted by xxxkaiserxxx at 2007-12-2609:15:59
@WeAreAllKosh The bodak's death gaze is one that needs you to make a fortitude save, not will. Potions of endurance can be bought in the town to increase your CON which in turn increase your fortitude saves. Your character must have a really low CON because the death gaze is only DC 16 if I am not wrong. Same thing with the revenant's paralysis. Boots of striding are quite frequent drops as well. The game does provide you with means to deal with it. I strongly believe that everybody is entitled to their own opinion. But I just think it is unfair to accuse modules to be overly challenging or 'annoying' because of the player's own lack of competance, or using ridiculous charcters like a half orc wizard or dwarven sorcerer. Cheers
Posted by WeAreAllKosh at on10/10/07
What would have been an otherwise great series was ruined by Bodaks, Bodaks, Bodaks. The fourth one was enough for me, and I'm sorry to say that I won't see the rest of the story continued because I'm quitting. I see commenters lauding the 'challening' combat. Bodaks are not challenging. They're annoying. You roll a die -- if it's not high enough, game over. There's nothing challenging about that nor is there anything fun about it. It's plain and simple reliance on luck. The problem is further compounded here by the fact that the Bodaks are always accompanied by a Revenant. So you're dealing with a Save against Death -and- a Save against Paralysis. You have to nail two saves, and if you fail either one you're screwed because paralysis prevents you from killing the Bodak. These encounters were like repeatedly slamming into a brick wall and reloading until I got lucky enough to plow through it. Not something I want to subject myself to anymore. Bodaks aren't a problem if there's equipment offered to avoid or, at least, provide better resistance to their death gazes. But there were no items available in treasure hordes or from merchants that provided any such boon. No death ward scrolls, no belts of guiding light, not even potions of owl wisdom to help somewhat with the save (but still not avoid the effect of dismally low rolls). When the only options are either the aforementioned brick wall treatment or turning on god mode (one that I will never go near for purposes other than debugging) there's a problem. I'm sure more people than previous comments would indicate struggled with this problem, but were too frustrated to vote. This was really looking like a good well-constucted epic campaign, but one really bad apple spoiled the bunch too much for me.
Posted by Andarian at on09/08/07
I was surprised to realize that I'd missed voting on this earlier installment of my favorite module series, Lords of Darkness. I played these modules again last year, and they are the only ones that I have ever played more than once. On replaying, I found that this particular module fit a very good niche in the series. While heavier on it than I usually prefer, this chapter was not quite as H&S heavy as the last two parts. The storyline was interesting, original, and extremely engaging. Alanya is probably the most memorable companion of any module that I've ever played, and certainly the best romance prospect. The romance (if you choose to play it) develops slowly from when you meet her in the first module, and in this one you get to see her starting to fall in love with your character. This is well handled, and for those who like RPG romances, it definitely gives the experience of playing a compelling love story. While there are a couple of minor issues with the series -- such as the need to unequip/re-equip familiars when leveling, to avoid the destruction of equipment, the heavy H&S, and some grammar issues owing to the fact that the author is not a native English speaker) -- I enjoyed the module so much that I don't think these are serious enough to factor in to my final score. "The Dark Age of Arboril" is a wonderful module, and I recommend it -- and the Lords of Darkness series as a whole -- very highly. _________________________ Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog Academy for Modding Excellence
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