I have travelled to an outpost of civilisation called Stone Leigh. The town was built to support a garrison which protects the land from a Ravenloft portal. Without the guards many monsters would creep out of the Gate to infest the area with evil. A terrible storm overtook me just as I was hiking the last few miles. I made it through; soaked and tired, and have found the Temple of Stone Leigh.
This module item strips and sets exp' to 100 on player entry. It uses a powerful Stone of Recall type device called the Returnal Mirror. Multiplayers must aquire this item before they exit the game or they will be item striped again when they re enter.
Features: No hak used. Multiple henchmen (by 69MEH69 modified). Bashable Doors (by Lilac Soul). Illusions (by David Etheredge & Firestarter modified). DMFI wandpack.
I can appreciate the obvious effort that went into this (I was especially impressed by the complexity of the commoners daily patterns); however, setting aside the fact that the opening book finding task has to be one of the dullest, most artificial "quests" I've ever been forced to do in a module, I can't help but feel that a lot of the scripting is sloppy, even for a module this old. *spoiler* A noteworthy example early on was when I couldn't tell anyone that Patson had locked his wife up in the basement, even though I had searched all the rooms, opened his torture equipment and stolen coffin, retrieved the blood stained dagger, freed his wife from her chains, and talked to her several times. It turns out I needed to follow a very specific dialogue path for her to suggest a cure (requiring me to actually state an intention to kill him) before I could even tell Walek what was going on. Then there's Gavist, who I nearly killed because just about ALL your dialogue options are hostile. You can only find out about his potential for redemption if you select one of the more passively hostile dialogue options, but there's no real way to find it without simply guessing. Then there's the simpler, but similarly sloppy examples like the bard who keeps saying he's going to the inn despite BEING there. Or the completely, utterly pointless psuedo-quest where you relay messages between two NPCs literally FIVE FEET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER in the governor's hall for 200 xp. */spoiler* These kind of oversights and examples of shallow design are frustratingly common. I don't mean to be harsh, but I don't feel this module deserves to be anywhere near the Hall of Fame. Modules like Stefan Gagne's elegia eternum and excrucio eternum (released not much later than this) demonstrate that the toolset is capable of far better than this.
Posted by amers1015 at on01/14/09
Fantastic work! I was starting to get bored with modules (it seemed like maybe I'd played all of the 'good' ones) but yours was a breath of fresh air! The only reason I didn't give this one a 10 is because the second installment was flawless and I wanted my vote for that one to reflect that. Great job all the way around. _________________________ The less you know, the more you believe.
Posted by ChrisH at on11/25/08
Nice little intro mod for the Beyond the Gate sequel. The sequel is much better!
Posted by neverelf at 2008-11-2421:29:17
Hi. I've been enjoying this game heaps so far! However I am now stuck! --spoilers-- I'm in the forest back in time where you meet the queen. I've been given my task. But I don't know how to get back. I can't see a 'north portal' anywhere! I've scoured that little patch of forest over and over but still can't find a thing. Where should I be looking? (Using the mirror just kills me.) Help please. =\
Posted by LeslieMS at on11/06/08
Well I don't believe in voting perfect tens because I feel there should always be room to improve or add. However, after playing this module, it doesn't need improvement that I could see, and there certainly was nothing missing! It was absolutely wonderful! I really loved it =) _________________________ Stupidity kills people. Nothing Good comes from ignorance. Knowledge is power that is useless with out the wisdom to use it properly. Be Well and Be Safe, Leslie
Posted by Blitz74 at on09/29/08
This is a very well done module. Here are my thoughts: Race: Human Class: Paladin (7), Champion of Torm (1) upon completion Henchmen: None Story: I thoroughly enjoyed the dialogue, and the history and lore. The books were very well done. There also wasn't an over abundance of dialogue response choices, but just enough to give different character perspective. Clean yet simple. Area layout: All of the areas had just enough to make each one its own. Nothing over done, nor too scarce to be boring. Graphics and visuals: Excellent use of both. Convincing use of creating Stone Leigh and it's common folk to be a town that is alive. I enjoyed the day/night shift of the merchants, and the graphics used within the quests, as well as the animations. Battles: I really only struggled on a couple. But once I took the time to exhaust my resources, I was able to move through within a couple of tries. They were challenging, but enjoyable and not too difficult. Overall: I enjoyed this module. The quests are done well, the transport system works great, and I didn't have any major bugs or complications. It delivers a tabletop DnD feel, adds a great use of visuals and animations, yet keeping the subject directly in front of you. I will definately continue with the next chapter. Thanks for the submission, well done. _________________________ Current Modules - The Dark Ruins of Jharol
Posted by Copperhawk at on08/22/08
Among those games that require the player to start from lvl 1, this game is very fun to play. However, this game is not without frustration: The rogue henchman often wanders somewhere else even if you yell "Follow me" multiple times. The bard henchman will come to heal you when you only "barely injured", and then usually he will be killed by one or two melee hits. Similarly, the sorceress henchman also tends to buff you up during close combat, not knowing that she has only a handful of HP, not to mention that I asked her to stay away and save her spells already. For unknown reasons they still change to melee weapons even if I told them to use range weapons. They don't drink healing potions themselves even if they have and "near death". Keeping your henchman alive is very challenging. If not for the stupid henchman A/I, I would rate it higher.
Posted by Raven35000 at on07/12/08
Awesome module. Very fun to play.
Posted by Razide0506 at on06/20/08
Although this module is showing its age, it's obvious that this was innovative when it was first released, and it still holds up fairly well today. Yes, the henchmen have little personality, and the henchmen system is clunky, and you can walk into people's homes and steal their stuff as they watch without reprecussion, and I admit, the opening quest - to find ten books of knowledge scattered around town - seemed so tedious and contrived that I nearly quit playing right at the start. But I'm glad I didn't, because I ended up enjoying this module. Despite using no custom content, the author did a great job creating a visually interesting, highly atmospheric module, particularly the very creepy asylum. I also liked the various small but innovative features: the chest that gives you a magic weapon of your choice, the mists that suck you into the catacombs, the returning mirror, the oil tree, the alchemist who makes custom potions, and so on. The module is generous with experience, but fairly tight with treasure and magic items, and although the combat varies, it's generally fairly challenging. The story isn't exceptional - in fact, it's really more of a prelude than anything else - but it was enough to keep me entertained. Overall, this module wasn't a masterpiece, but I enjoyed it all the same.
Posted by MikeLM9215 at on05/05/08
Not as fun as the original. Somewhat confusing at times. More bugs than original. Fights can sometimes be too tough. _________________________ The road to Ravenloft is paved with good intentions.
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