This is the third installment of the story driven, action oriented module series 'Lords of Darkness'. This module takes off where Chapter 2 ended. It is _highly_ recommended to play Chapters 1 and 2 first in case you haven't. In this chapter you and your elven companion Alanya will have to find out the true reason why the Lord's Council which is currently suppressing the people of Arboril is so interested in making Alanya vanish...
Posted by ColdWizard at 2012-08-05 13:50:10 Voted 8.00 on 08/05/12
More frustrating than fun even though I enjoyed the story very much.
Combat for my dex-based Rogue/Monk character being inordinately difficult, culminating in an final encounter in which neither he nor the henchman could do damage.
**Possible Spoiler**
Traps worked to a degree, except I ran out and the plethora of lesser crafted traps lacked enough punch.
**End**
Posted by Khaos1987 at 2011-05-02 11:43:10 Voted 9.50 on 05/02/11
Continues the line of quality we expect from the previous modules.
Posted by TomaszTrapczynski at 2011-03-07 06:58:20 Voted 10.00 on 03/07/11
Quite a good mod estimate at 10 and others as well.
Posted by BelgarathMTH at 2010-11-29 12:31:59 Voted 8.50 on 11/29/10
Shows a noticeable improvement in mod-making skills over chapters one and two.
I loved the story, and I'm in love with Terrence. I wish he had a romance story.
It's still a little tense having to go through so much play without access to a trader. My packs were ready to burst by the time I finally got back out. Fortunately, I learned my lesson from chapter 2 and had bought about 50 Heal potions!
Many of the new tilesets used create severe problems in henchman pathfinding. I had to reload many times to get them unstuck from narrow passage openings, in the new sewer tileset and in the stone dungeon tileset.
Overall, an excellent piece of work. I look forward to finishing Chapter 4, and I will probably play again in the future trying different characters.
Posted by SatorArepo at 2009-11-09 20:34:27 Voted 9.75 on 11/09/09
Great time playing this mod, although it's very linear the story and characters kept it compelling. I am stuck in part III though:
SPOILERS:
It seems from browsing the board that there were early problems with the cutscene in Gorian's hut--it went off fine the second time, but after teleportation Alanya is back in my party! Which can't be right. Any ideas?
Posted by Goglutin at 2009-09-21 14:49:59 Voted 4.00 on 09/21/09
That's it - another over-rated mod. The stupidity of encounters had me out of this mod. No way I'm not gonna keep up playing a mod with packs of dazing-sneak attacking BEARS (?!). Damn , sneak attack represent the attacker opportunity to gain advantage of a situation (such as unbanlancing, weak armor spot, surprise attacks... ) wich an animal CANNOT DO as they rely on instinct!!!
I never met a so stupidly designed mod (and I played a lot of mod)... and I never gave such a low score. Thanks for making me lose my time with pointless and ridiculous encounters...
Posted by Skildron at 2009-06-15 05:13:44 Voted 10.00 on 06/15/09
One of the best stories I ever encountered in nwn modules. I felt like beeing the main character in a novel - and I really liked that.
Posted by Eva Galana at 2009-04-28 08:32:01 Voted 8.75 on 04/28/09
Ah, the story just keeps getting better and better. I especially liked the addition of the second henchman (well, my female elven rogue/fighter likes the addition). Some issue that I noticed with the second - henchmen have trouble navigating doorways and obstacles. Easy fix - just go fetch 'em - but time consuming and a little frustrating. Also, the boss fight was VERY unbalance (spoiler alert)...
I lost many, many XP because it is impossible to avoid death - and when you loose XP for your death AND your henchies, well, that adds up quickly. And, at the end, when I finally won, I got the same XP as I would had I fought just a regular ol' orc! Unbalanced through and through, and a major upsetting point for me. When a boss enemy has so many immunities that no tactics other than hit, hit, hit work, it gets boring and frustrating (I actually swore at my computer!!!).
Otherwise, I really am enjoying the series, hence the additional .25 in points! _________________________ Well...who would have thought THAT would happen?
Posted by colourwolf at 2009-04-12 01:35:35 Voted 9.50 on 04/12/09
Really enjoyed this one despite the linearity.
Posted by Dalethfc at 2009-02-18 00:25:42 Voted 9.75 on 02/18/09
And it just gets thrilling,,, quality stuff _________________________ Dalethfc
Posted by Almaria at 2009-02-12 22:41:31 Voted 9.75 on 02/12/09
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 2008-11-06 08:23:42 Voted 9.25 on 11/06/08
Great work. One of the few series I played through a second time.
Ok I don't know why I'm having this problem or if anyone else is but when it comes time to talk to Alanya in her room at the healers place my character goes n talks to my other henchman... Whats the deal? Is this a bug or something else _________________________ "Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time. The Prophecies will be fulfilled. The Dragon is Reborn."
The third in the series is the best module I've had the pleasure of playing. A really involving story line and great atmospherics. A master class for other would be module writers to study and learn from. Thanks.
Posted by jalan at 2008-09-25 08:40:38 Voted 9.75 on 09/25/08
2nd best series available for NWN. Sorry it took so long for me to rate it.
Posted by MrKez at 2008-07-09 16:06:20 Voted 9.00 on 07/09/08
The good: Story is nicely paced and well done. There was some good progression in this module. Some of the combat was very challenging for my level 13 sorcerer/ 3 Eldritch Knight especially if he just waded into the middle of combat. Standing back and using Finger of Death worked very well in many combats. Most of the settings were very pretty.
The bad: Terrence the monk. I was forced to take him along. He never apologized for getting Alanya captured. I felt he should have been LN due to V saying that Terrence was his informant. V could have been lying, but still Terrence never defended his actions. I also thought the sewers were a bit overdone. The party kept getting stuck in corners and I had to fight some of the battles solo.
The worst part about this module is waiting for part 4. I really like this series overall. I want to get a crack at the rest of the lords. The story is entertaining and the combat is challenging. I will keep this one and replay it again.
Thank you so much Fantus for this series. Is there any word about the next installment?
Posted by Razide0506 at 2008-03-25 11:04:15 Voted 8.50 on 03/25/08
The combat in this module is fun and challenging, with a wide variety of opponents that require tactical skill to overcome. Rushing in will definitely get you killed in some places. The final battle, in particular, is extremely difficult, so much so that it probably crosses the line from challenging to annoying. The main villain seems to have near-complete immunity to most forms of elemental damage, which meant that none of my various arrows (I was playing an bow-centric Ftr/Rogue/Cleric) could do more than scratch her, and almost none of the traps I laid did any damage, nor did any of the wands I used against her. She also shrugged off all my attempts to weaken her with spells (Bestow Curse, Doom, Contagion, & Blindness/Deafness). On top of all that, her knockdown ability meant that Terrence spent a lot of time on the ground (as did I, when she got close enough to hit me). A Tenser's Transformation scroll turned out to be my biggest asset, but eventually I was forced to resort to things like negative energy ray and sonic blast to hurt her, and I had to let Terrence do a lot of the work.
The module looks fantastic, particularly the custom mountain tileset, and the custom portraits are a nice touch. The author also uses cutscenes well to build tension and tell the story. Two, in particular, stand out: one is a key moment of character development that includes some nice visuals, the other a tension-building moment that makes great use of sound.
The monster placement is more logical in this entry than in the last two, although there's one area toward the end where it feels like the author threw in half the monsters from the previous two installments. Also, at one point I found magic items on the bodies of dead prisoners - a minor thing, but still something that breaks realism. However, the biggest logical lapses are in the story, which I really found disappointing (and I realize I'm in the minority). There's one point in the module, in particular, which requires a massive coincidence and which has the PC and Alanya acting like idiots, and which has an NPC that acts almost like a deus ex machina (and who isn't even internally consistent; Terrence starts at your level (which was 12 or 13 for me), but who later says that he's never actually used his combat skills in real-life) and which requires several logical leaps and forced plot developments that it killed the realism and really dropped me out of the module. Alanya's big secret wasn't too hard to figure out, but the explanation as to why she was held prisoner makes very little sense; even the villain himself doesn't quite seem to know why he was holding her.
Overall, I did have fun playing this module, and I thought it was generally well done. However, the clumsy plotting really hurt my immersion in the story, and thus reduced my enjoyment of the module as well.
Beautiful. But my PC and Alyana never reversed back to " normal ", their former human states after the amulet city story. They keep looking like those ugly nobles, until back to the wizard even. Oups? :-) Clue? _________________________ @ + jml, level 52
"Overgod? Is that like Supergod or something?", from "Citadel"
"M�not shr this ishych u g�dea.", from "Prophet" series
Posted by Andarian at 2007-09-08 10:18:09 Voted 10.00 on 09/08/07
I was surprised to realize that I'd missed voting on this 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. It's hard to choose, but I would have to say that this particular module is my favorite in the series. 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. In this chapter, she finally declares her love for you, in a breathtakingly touching scene in the country by a series of waterfalls. It was easily the most moving scene I've ever played in an RPG. For those who like RPG romances, it definitely gives the experience of playing a compelling love story.
The plot is complex and well constructed, and the events in the later part of the module in particular are laced with heart-pounding action and suspense. The author skillfully builds increasing dramatic tension through the use of periodic cutscenes, as you and one of your companions race against time to save Alanya from being tortured to death. This was extraordinarily effective, and was one of the best dramatic uses of cinematic cutscenes that I've ever seen.
There are a few 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). However, I enjoyed the module so much that I don't think these are serious enough to factor in to my final score. "Alanya's Secret" is a wonderful module, and I recommend it -- as well as the Lords of Darkness series as a whole -- very highly. _________________________ Sanctum of the Archmage Writing Projects Website and Blog Academy for Modding Excellence
Posted by micataur at 2007-08-09 23:04:46 Voted 10.00 on 08/09/07
great story
great balance
great relationship
kudos fantus
Posted by Vodrath at 2007-03-12 13:43:57 Voted 9.75 on 03/12/07
The third part of my most loved hack n slash adventure.
It shows remarkable improvement of the author's skill in building areas.
The story is a bit predictable, but drew me in, and the plot immersed be nonetheless, which is a feat on its own.
Again the mix of old school SNES RPG, cool action and well put together areas, loveable heroes and heroines, as well as hate worthy enemies work very, very well.
Spoiler:
The only thing that bothered me is the very long sequence getting through the sewers into the archives and so on. One or two levels less sewers would have improved it, imho.
This, and the fact that part 4 is even better, are the reasons this does not get a straight 10 from me.
Posted by acamantor at 2007-03-01 10:15:25 Voted 9.25 on 03/01/07
Excellent continuation for the series.
Posted by Goggie at 2006-11-08 15:16:46 Voted 10.00 on 11/08/06
Excellent.
Posted by elfingrey at 2006-09-06 01:14:59 Voted 10.00 on 09/06/06
Great! I wish there were more like tkis mod and thid series. Thanks for your hard work Fantus! _________________________ "The Large Print Giveth and The Small Print Taketh Away." Tom Waits
Posted by StevenACarder at 2006-09-03 21:07:56 Voted 10.00 on 09/03/06
I really enjoyed this module, and the whole series. I was surprised by Alanya's secret when it was revealed and both my character and I have become quite attached to her.
Posted by ladynaava at 2006-07-24 22:19:07 Voted 10.00 on 07/24/06
I very much enjoyed it. Great henchmen! A+++
Posted by hmdai at 2006-07-07 02:33:44 Voted 9.75 on 07/07/06
Finish the part 3 of the series. The story is more engaging than the previous two parts.
- The identity of Alanya is a real surprise! That's explain much about why she is being jailed for more than ten years. This also provide another strong reason for the good-aligned player to help her.
- The twist for Alanya's kidnap is surprising and interesting.
- The torturing process is presented by using black screen and woman's screaming sound. It is really unnerving and is a nice arrangment.
- Near the end of mod, the cutscene, the music, just create an excellent atmosphere that our party have to combat with time in order to save Alanya. _________________________ Overlooked Module Report February 2009 | Master List | Forum Thread Academy of Modding Excellence Romance Module List Horror Module Collection Starlight's favorite module list
Posted by Shin Okada at 2006-06-18 13:58:49 Voted 10.00 on 06/18/06
A great mod and great story. Good hack & Slash. Attractive chick :)
Some may complain that the story is rather linear and not having a lot of RP options. But personally, I don't care as PC games can never have true freedom of roleplaying which PnP RPGs have anyway.
Posted by Jamro at 2006-06-07 10:12:22 Voted 9.00 on 06/07/06
As good as the second one, even better in some ways, but hacking is starting to get ridiculously hard.
Posted by bjdnwn at 2006-05-10 09:27:01 Voted 9.50 on 05/10/06
A great module.
The visual content ist very good. And although the gameplay is mostly H&S, it never gets boring or repetitive.
But what really kept me playing was the great story and the way it is told. It has everything: A movie worth story, believable NPCs, depth, emotions and even a beautiful romance.
A must download for everyone including those who usually don't like H&S.
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