Balanced and tested for single-player, but should work in multiplayer.
Language
English
Level Range
Designed for a single first-level character of any class.
Races
any
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Heavy
Hack & Slash
Medium
Classes
any except paladin
Scope
Part of Series
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
01
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
01
Content Rating
Teen
Alignments
Non-good strongly recommended! Good characters will shift to Neutral upon loading the module!
Description
WARNING: THIS MODULE DOES NOT CURRENTLY WORK WITH HOTU, AND MAY NOT WORK WITH v.1.61 AT ALL. I'll fix it when I can, but that involves a bunch of uninstalling/reinstalling expansions, and a friend has some of my NWN disks right now. The problem is with polymorphing into a raven to fly back to your lair, which isn't necessary to finish the mod but eliminates a LOT of walking since you go back home often to build new skeletons. In Bone Kenning you play a thanaturge, a necromancer from a long family tradition who animates bones through a ritual called the Incant of Reanimation.
This was a remarkable mod. I hope Wes Lewis does decide to continue the series, because this first episode was extremely original, and extremely fun. Usually the options to play modules as "evil" are silly -- you basically act like an arrogant, selfish jerk, you don't get to do a lot of quests, and pretty soon people start hunting you down (e.g. Baldur's Gate). In this module, however, you get to play characters that, while certainly selfish and conniving, also can harbor a strong sense of honor, loyalty, and integrity. And while, ultimately, this *is* an "evil" mod, you can legitimately play characters that range from lawful neutral to maniacally evil. The thanaturgical arts were well implemented, though it is a shame that you are limited to only one thrall (at least at this time). Some of the item descriptions hint that you may be able to control other undead creatures, including shadows, in future editions. I really liked how customizable the thralls are, which allows you to design them to be anything from front line tanks to ranged support fighters. You can focus their defenses on physical damage, or concentrate more on defense from magical attacks. It's a very flexible system and was quite enjoyable to use. This is a hall-of-fame module, and with good reason. It's original, engrossing, and fun. But it's short and leaves you desperately wanting more. Hopefully Wes will continue his work on the series and release some new content soon! :)
Posted by Doomfarer at on09/01/04
Very cool and different module.
Posted by TheEverConsumingDarkness at 2004-08-3018:14:00
Sweet mod! Havent finished yet (hardly anywhere actually... i near the boars, i dont think that spoils anything) but so far it is truly one of the best mods ive played. Plus the explanation of "special" abilities due to bloodline is amazingly inventive. P.S. Love the thrall system.
Posted by TheEverConsumingDarkness at 2004-08-3018:14:00
Sweet mod! Havent finished yet (hardly anywhere actually... i near the boars, i dont think that spoils anything) but so far it is truly one of the best mods ive played. Plus the explanation of "special" abilities due to bloodline is amazingly inventive. P.S. Love the thrall system.
Posted by Strange_One at on08/22/04
I really enjoyed this imaginative adventure! Massive kudos for originality.
Posted by JDoraime at 2004-08-1910:59:00
After a year of playing, Bone Kenning is still my favorite starting module, for many of the reasons others have listed. I did find one obscure bug last night, with the elder shadow. You see, this time I played a cleric with the healing domain, and once those hit 3rd level, they're rather vicious undead slayers. After a dozen tries, I actually managed to kill the elder shadow in a fight. The game choked on some kind of infinite loop where each iteration awarded 400xp. Once the code cleared, the character had enough xp to shoot it up clear into the epic levels. On a side note, thank you for the attention to detail regarding the undead. A lot of module makers tend to forget to make undead creatures undead, so healing spells end up healing them instead of destroying them. So... When is the sequel coming out?
Posted by Anonymous at 2004-08-0815:26:00
@: Nooneinparticoular: have you just got beaten by a punk, kid? :D Please keep your little political phantasies away from this site. As a matter of fact, I won't even offer you my e-mail adress. Isn't there a rule like "no weakmimded ridicolous kid preaching" on this VIDEOGAME site?
Posted by Teskariel at 2004-07-2614:44:00
Well... first thing is of course: GREATEST MOD EVER! *coughs* Now that being said, lets go into detail: -the approach at necromancy is quite innovative, I absolutely liked finding bones and connecting them -I havent found any bugs since i installed the newest version and changed the raven feather -maybe the thing i liked most was the range of possibilities to be
Posted by caiata at on06/22/04
This is a brilliant module. Creative, innovative, engrossing ... my favourite module of all time. When second part, damnit? WHEN SECOND PART?!
Posted by Pirogen at 2004-06-2203:53:00
***POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD*** Finished the mod yeterday, and loved every part of it. Running around in Kavesk with a thrall and familiar, and completly owning the streets, was one of the best experiences associated with NWN I've ever... um... experienced. Things I liked: -The Thrall. The idea of gathering bones to animate as a servant was incredible. -The dialouge. Even though english isn't my first language, I find it somewhat irritating when NPC's say things like "hi" (no offense, SteveB - your mods are great in almost every other aspect). -The general idea, feel, and completion of the mod. Mad props! What I didn't like (note that I'm taking up some *very* tiny things here. Take it as a compliment - since there are no big flaws in this wonderful little piece of art, leaving the small things out would leave me with nothing at all to whine about, and how fun is that?): -A few things had incorrect info on them when you "examine" them - for example, the dead boar in the Blighted Pit (or whatever it was called; it's the place where you get the second book from that ghoul) has the same description as the violated graves back in the graveyard. (obviously, this can hardly be called an "issue" at all, see above). -The crypt with the giant shadow was kind of hard. Maybe that's because I was playing as a wizard; After I had taken out the first group of minor shadows with what few AOE spells I had, I had to simply run to each brazier with the whole mob after me, and hope for the best. -the lack of a sequel. You better let me continue this awesome series before my shadow-thrall knocks at your door, you understand? ;) And, finally... Originally posted by Wes: ...and yeah, that fix works, although the closer the delay is to 3.0 the better. For example... DelayCommand(3.01,AssignCommand(oPC,JumpToLocation(lDest))); For some reason known only to God - and possibly to those who, unlike me, have a basic understanding of scripting - changing a float value from 3.0 to 3.1 in the end of the script makes the raven feather work. Well, almost - sometimes, the raven will just stand still a few seconds before teleporting. My familiar would always remain still until we actually teleported. Still, being able to shortcut every now and then is kind of nifty, don't you think? P.S. *reads further down* Originally posted by Wes Levis: ...allow the player a platoon of 3-4 thralls... ...Animate Dead would effectively cast the Incant of Reanimation anytime, anywhere... ...Undead Graft would let you choose the bones and/or claws to replace your boring old living arm, and you'd gain some of the bones' properties the way a thrall does... *starts drooling*
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