For post - HOTU PCs (automatic or manual level-up at start to 25th level also available
Tricks & Traps
Medium
Roleplay
Medium
Hack & Slash
Heavy
Scope
Part of Series
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player or Multiplayer
Max Character Level
30
Max # Players
04
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
25
Content Rating
Teen
Alignments
Good or evil paths
Gameplay Hours
08
Description
CEP2 v1.91
'Having defeated the hordes of the Underdark, your victory was feted throughout Faerun. As time passed, spent secure in your new fortress among your riches and followers, the thrill of adventure became but a distant memory, a tale to be told by the fireside. For your reputation had become such that none in the wide world dared challenge your might.
'But other worlds exist upon which men - and monsters - tread, and Powers there are, beyond time and space, who rule the shadowy corridors between these worlds. And perhaps it was inevitable that eventually, as you dreamt one night of past conquests and victories, the Powers drew you into their presence. For they have a task for you, a mission to quicken your pulse and send a tingle of danger running along your spine. Adventure, like a long-forgotten friend, beckons you forth once more!'
"Shadows over Heliopolis" is an adventure in an alien land of baking deserts and strange foes designed to challenge post-HOTU PCs.
This is the first module in the Sands of Fate trilogy, which continues with "Gem Tower" and concludes with "Pyramid of the Ancients".
What a great module! An amazing setting, great and twisted story, high quality dialogues - just perfect over all.
Posted by randalbr at on02/25/09
Good work =)
Posted by lrolro at 2009-02-2511:52:07
Hi got level drained at the ruined tower-crypt, what's the cure for level drain? Great module, by the way. Thanks!
Posted by JP2U at on12/18/08
Epona, if I'm right about where you are then it's just a hidden/secret door with a very high search DC. Basically you just have to have respectable search and stand in the right spot for a while or you have to free / help out a certain NPC who will show you where it is. The NPC route is much easier and it should be pretty obvious who it is I think as soon as you find them. If they're already dead then you can either reload a game and save them or just do it the hard way. On the map that the door is on there are only so many places to look so you can either put on your search/spot gear and use your search/int/spot/wisdom buffs and then walk veeerrry slowly around all those areas OR you can go to the area(s) you think it must be at, use console commands to enter DebugMode 1, and then just focus your search in the yellow zones that show up. Obviously this is "cheating" but one of the main differences between pnp and nwn is that when you run search checks in pnp you can just say "The party takes however long is needed to search the area and find the door we think is here." and even if that takes a day or a week it happens with just the few seconds it takes to make a few rolls of the dice, barring wandering encounters of course. In nwn it takes, well, however long it takes. Unfortunately I really don't think there's any way of correcting this. Your only options are to get rid of secret doors in nwn entirely (not good), make their search checks all ridiculously low /or make the area they're visible in very large (which makes rogues obsolete), or require that every party have an elven rogue in it. What I do in a mod with a lot of secret doors is basically exhaust all my options, search where the logical places are then, if I still can't find them, enter Debug and, as soon as I see the area, leave Debug and do it the old-fashioned way. My wizard had a pixie familiar I think which made it pretty easy and I usually tried to carry one extended clairaudience to buff her with. My ranger had a semi-respectable spot/search (15-25 base over the course of the mod) and some good spot/search gear (+10-15 or more). Once you get into the desert folk lair you'll find it can be a frustrating maze of traps, pits, catacombs, unbashable/plot-locked doors, secret doors, etc. You might have to backtrack two or three times but I think you'll find it will be worth it.
Posted by Epona at 2008-12-2106:57:50
I'm not sure if you're still taking comments, but I'm stuck in your (awesome!) mod, and I really need some help. Sorry if this has been asked before, but 32 pages of comments is a lot to go through :P *********SPOILERS********* * * * * * Maybe I'm just being a blind old bat, but in the whole Deep Desert I can't find any trace of the Desert Folk. I've crossed both areas several times, and finally even checked the walktrough. It says that they can be found near some rocks in the centre of the second area, but the only monsters I encounter there are sand beetles (the smaller and the bigger kind...) Actually I'm hoping to be swallowed by a sand worm during my search, cause I would love to play out that scene, but frankly I'm a bit tired of stroling around endlessly ;) * * * * * *********END SPOILERS********* I hope someone will be able to help me, cause I'd love to finish this mod! _________________________ "By believing, one can see"
Posted by JP2U at on12/18/08
This is just an addendum to my last post and it's in response to Mirgalen's report of a bad experience and an impossible fight. Mirgalen is not alone in that complaint as you will probably see from reviewing other posts. Everything I say in what follows uses the druid/bard/RDD as an example but could equally apply to a number of other builds. The problem is clear when you just ask yourself a few questions as follows: What is the BAB progression of bards, druids, and RDDs? Answer: It's bad. What is the BAB progression of a bard/druid/RDD combo? Answer: It's even worse than just one of those classes alone and even worse than any two of them put together. At 20th you'll be luck to have a 13 BAB. What is the caster level of a multi-class bard/druid/RDD? Answer: It's very low. Do druids or bards have any direct damaging spells? Answer: They have few to none. They mostly have some very low damage spells and some hindering or disabling spells and some 1-shot 1-target spells like drown which, at high level, are mostly useless. The best thing they have I think is bombard which is roughly the equivalent of a cleric or wizard spell of only 4th level. What's worse, being triple-classed you couldn't penetrate the SR of a bug. Do druids or bards have any AB, AC, or dmg enchancing buffs? Answer: Druids have basically none and, from a combat-oriented pvm perspective, are pretty much the worst class in the whole game. In my opinion they need to be totally reworked/rethought ... at least give them spontaneous curing. Bards have GMW (totally useless in an epic module) and just a few castings of their song and some spells like warcry that give just +2 to +4 or so and only last rounds. What's worse, their duration is level-based and your bard level is 1/3 what it could be. Skill-wise maybe taunt could help with the AB issue but you probably don't have the int to give you the points for it, which brings us to the next question >> How many stats do you need to raise to succeed as a druid/bard? Answer: At least three ... charisma, wisdom, and dexterity (to preserve semi-respectable AC). Charisma offers you no benefit whatsoever except bard spell access ... no DC increases, no smiting, no divine power, no divine might or shield, no domain abilities, nothing. Then you'll also have to finesse your weapon (using up another feat) and after all that your damage will remain very low since you've neglected strength and don't have any decent buffs to speak of ... not flame or favors or anything. Summary: Druid/bard/RDD and many others like it are fine concept-characters but they are not only not power-builds, they're not even "generic" characters. To be honest, that build in particular is weak in every respect and doesn't offer much useful even for party-play really since they can't even spontaneously cast curing except by using up their few bard spells (which are the only good spells they have). You can't expect a designer to make a mod that is challenging to practically-built characters without it easily wiping out very impractical ones. Obversely, you can't make it doable to impractical builds without making it a cake-walk for practical builds. A truly generic character ... pure wizard, pure cleric, etc. could do fine here with the right play/feats/skills. Pure bards are natural party-players so wouldn't do as well solo here but would be a major asset in multiplayer. That's actually in the original intent of DD I think though. I took my first character in here (the ranger/fighter/CoT) straight off of a PW with no idea what this series was going to be like. He turned out to be a very fortunate choice that was practically made for it. So if you're having a hard time then go back to the basics ... think about how to get your AB, AC, caster-level, etc. up. This is a great mod and its being tough or even impossible to play for just any whacky RP build someone comes up with isn't an excuse to rate it low. I'm currently playing an improved two-weapon-fighting monk/paladin/shadowdancer who I think could do very well here ... Sister Perpetua, Night Guardian of Selune, member of a secret order of Selunites specifically devoted to protecting the faithful of Selune and all night-travelers; to defeating lycanthropes and vampires; and to preventing, detecting, and correcting any corruption of the Selunite faithful. She wields the twin sacred crescents "Waning" and "Waxing", appearing in a fight, quickly doing what must be done, then just fading away like the moon slipping behind clouds. "She walks in beauty like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies, and all the best of dark and bright meet in her aspect ..." ~ Lord Byron I'm using the following plan ... 4/16 in the first 20, sd at 21st, ending up at 20/19/1; finessed, epic focused, epic prowessed kamas; extended divine favor; max out the dex, wis cha just being a nice extra but kept at base of 14 (try to get the wis to perma-26 then just buff the cha with extended eagle and aura of glory if you want). Perma-haste flurry give 6-9 attacks per round with a BAB on the first attacks only 1-5 points lower than a pure warrior and all of the iterative attacks at higher AB than those of a pure warrior. You can get 3 or 4 KD attacks at your highest AB in the first phase of a round before foes have any chance to respond even IF you lose initiative, which you won't, then either keep attacking or fade back out and repeat. Max taunt to give an effective +6 AB boost against bosses and add those favors and you've got +11/+5 ... 12/+14 against undead if using bless weapon. I'm not sure yet if "holy sword" works on kamas but I'm hoping it does! Damage per strike would be low but if you can get elemental dmg or on-strike effects or something, keen kamas, bless weapon, favors, clang, etc. then it really starts adding up with all the iterative attacks. Could go the divine might route too but since it's a dex build, won't ever have over 26 cha, and already has a lot of feat reqs it's probably not worth it. I bring this example up just to show that there are a lot of odd, RPish, builds out there that are still viable if you just think them through. If you play these mods, expect to be challenged.
Posted by JP2U at on12/18/08
I've played this entire series nearly through three times solo with different characters always in HC mode. One a dev-crit + bane of foes vs. crit immunes ranger/fighter(scimitar speciality)/CoT, one a paladin/fighter(longsword specialty)/CoT, and one a rogue/wizard (necro specialist + improved expertise)/CoT (aiming for a 3/35/2 build with massive point saving). In each case I started I think at 24th level with nothing better than +4 gear. There are no show-stoppers throughout the entire series. If you think you're stuck or something can't be done then you just need to go back and do something else first. Some of the combats are incredibly challenging (like the next-to-last fight in Act 1, a dual-wielding high-priest in Act 2, and at least a couple fights in Act 3). All of them are definitely doable with builds that offer good caster level or good AB though. My ranger had a little trouble hitting the GM despite being a pure warrior with epic specialization and high strength but I just went toe-to-toe with him anyway with great fort saves. Healing pots and the occasional sneak-attack pops that my henchie got in on him made the difference ... I had her waiting around a corner in hiding and lured him back to it after I had wasted his lady-friend. That was the first time I had fought that combat and it took me around 3 or 4 reloads to figure out how to win. My paladin couldn't hit the GM without buffing, but if I kept her divine shielded, mighted, and favored (extended of course) and taunted him down (easy to do with max taunt) then it made it very doable (+11 AB AC, +16 dmg) and she just killed him outright without henchie help except a few pre-buffs I think. For the wizard of course it was pretty much just a matter of walking up with extended mestils/elemental shield/death armor, time-stopping everyone, and then just smoking them all with igms spams (greater spell penetration of course). Any builds who can't get their AB up or who don't have the right spells available at the right time along with good caster level are going to suffer. That means that a lot of monk, rogue, or bard taken before 21st is not an option. If you depend heavily on buffs for AB or AC you better make sure you have a lot of them. Damage resistance is good, but don't expect damage reduction to help you out in the final fights if it can be bypassed, because it will be. For casters, regular and metamagic versions of Evard's (one of the most powerful and underrated spells in the game), maybe a few firebrands and the occasional ice storm, wail of the banshee, undeath to death, igms of course, and BBoD when all else fails are your money-makers. In Act 2 however you'll need virtually every damage type there is which means that if you're a sorcerer you'll have to have a very carefully chosen spell list. Also, any builds who rely too much on crits/sneaks will not do as well as others. The whole series is extraordinarily well-balanced considering that DD was never really meant for >20th level. It's a great testing ground for whoever you think is your baddest character. And it's all set within an original, intrigueing world and a plot of truly epic proportions. You just have to play it to see. The series would make a fantastic experience for party-play and I have, sadly, not had that opportunity. One of the best mods in the vault. The only two things I've found fault with it on are: 1) that a cut-scene in Act 2 involving dinosaurs doesn't always work properly ... sometimes your henchie will ignore the cut-scene and run in fighting alone and get killed. Either that or the henchie will actually get ghosted/duped somehow. 2) that several custom monsters including a couple of A2 bosses and undead or other monsters that should be crit immune aren't ... it's not fun to see the demi-god-undead end-boss go down in under two rounds due to a failed dev-crit save. also not fun to see you or your henchie getting sneaks in on epic undead. not all of them were like this but at least a few were. it was surprising to see in an otherwise meticulously built mod.
Posted by xorbaxian at 2008-12-1212:40:28
oh man, i just wanted to download it to play it again [it was one of my favorite modules] and now i see it's cep... i REALLY don't want to download the megagigabyte cep2.0 haks... isn't there any way you could upload the older version where we didn't have to do use cep? that would be REEEEALLY helpful.
Posted by KragCulloden at 2008-11-3008:12:13
Need some help - I'm in the desert folk chambers, upstairs, and have killed the giant spider. I can't go anywhere else. Apparently the traps on the first floor are the key to continuing on - but I cast "Find Traps" as soon as I entered this building/area and all the traps disappeared. There is a globe labelled "Trap Machine" or something similar, but I can't activate it nor damage/destroy it. How do I fix this situation? Anyone have a console command I can use to continue on?
Posted by layson at 12:17:07 Voted9.75
Hello! I would to know if "sands of fate" seriecorrectly works with PRC! Thanks!
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