Tested with a Wizard/Fighter and a Cleric/Sorcerer character, but most classes should be able to play it. See Readme for more info.
Support for non-SoU characters/characters below level 12 added. Thanks to Lebowski for the idea.
Scope
Large
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
17
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
12
Content Rating
Mature
Alignments
Any, but plot may be quite shaking to Lawful Good characters!
Gameplay Hours
10
Description
"...but you had yet an ace up your sleeve. The mythallar was destroyed, but as Undrentide was headed at great speed to the ground, you activated the Portable Door. Thus you escaped the certain doom of the terrible impact that would occur when the city for the second - and hopefully last - time crashed into the desert sands."
This single-player mod tells the story of what happened after you escaped the downfall of Undrentide, how you acquired the Relic of the Reaper while travelling the Planes, and how you finally found your way back to Faerûn. This is a Planescape module.
Please take your time to read through the readme, as it gives a few hints about character development.
NOTE: As of version 1.11 Requires SoU & HotU at least v1.66 and CEP 1.52!
Files you need to download (see below also):
* FK_MOD_111.rar
* FK_CFG_111.rar
* FK_2_PCMODELS.rar
* FK_HAK_v100.rar
* FK_MUS_v100.rar (optional, but
strongly recommended)
* Na' DC Tiles v. 3.04:
[url]http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Hakpaks.Detail&id=4551 [/url]
Removed "old" (v1.03 or NWN1.65) female human heads, re-enabling the CEP v1.52 human female heads as of NWN 1.66. "Broken" female human heads should be fixed with this.
Posted by Berliad at 2011-08-19 13:41:57 Voted 8.50 on 08/19/11
It brings me pain to see that this module still doesn't have 10 votes.
I didn't want to vote on it because I felt like I already had a say with the review. But this will get it closer to the magic #10 vote. I hope I didn't kill this mod with my review all those years ago--it absolutely deserves more attention than it's gotten. _________________________ My NWN Blog FRW Character Creator
Posted by DoomSaber at 2011-07-02 15:12:27 Voted 9.75 on 07/02/11
Why this module doesn't have more votes is a mystery to me. It's an ingenious bit of storytelling.
-.25 for forced death. I personally don't have anything against it in the context of the story, but the fact that the battle is not winnable can be off putting.
Y'know, it might be nice to know you're *supposed* to die at the start. It's easy enough to beat down the enemies you fight, but they're immortal and never die.
Tried to update an error in the link to DC Tiles, but no cigar...
No update on the mod itself as of yet - but since I've gone through SoU and intend to play through this and HotU after that, it's not completely impossible that this mod will be updated to v 1.69 and CEP2... We'll see. :-) _________________________ best regards,
fk
Weird... I posted an answer to lands899, but it doesn't show up... Ah well, let's try again. Sorry if the result is double post.
@ lands899:
Sorry it has taken some time to get an answer, I don't visit this website much nowadays.
As for the password, I hate to tell you, but I don't remember myself... It's been 3 years since I was designing this thing. But KNOWING the password itself isn't enough... The PC must know it (I am using a local int, IIRC).
So it must "surface" while playing for you to be able to use it (dialog-based).
The password can be obtained from a githyanki captain (house in the SE corner of the map) or the abishai merchant.
Most doors are unpickable, but look for those that do not have the same appearance as most others... These are either pickable, or there is a key for them somewhere. _________________________ best regards,
fk
FK,
I have just read through every post in an effort to find the password for the gate to the gray wastes. I had figured out using the invisibility potions allowed you to avoid fighting the hostiles in the city, but NONE of the doors will open for me. I can't pick them nor bash them. Very frustrating...help if you can. Thanks.
Posted by macabroid at 2008-01-14 13:23:38 Voted 8.25 on 01/05/08
"Updated description and setting based on feedback from macabroid."
Unfortunately, the vault search still doesn't find your module when I try to search for modules using the keyword "Planescape". You may try to do it yourself and see the results. I suppose it searches only the Description field, and your Description field still doesn't contain the word "Planescape"! Or maybe it's some weird bug (desynchronization?) of the search engine...
"You say that one needs a walkthrough/hintbook to be able to finish this. I think I disagree, based upon the feedback others have given"
I wrote it after reading the posts on your module thread. It seems that almost every man who played it encountered some difficulties (lebovsky, evangelion etc...): not bugs, but situations where the solution was too difficult or extremely non-trivial. I still think that only a few people were lucky (and clever) enough to finish your module without hints, and you shouldn't overestimate the smarts (and patience!!!) of a standard NWN player. IMHO only side-quests (and never � the main plotline!) could be solved using non-trivial approaches like well-hidden doors, keys that you should notice 2 levels before this one and "special" magical clubs. Gothic I&II, KOTOR and Fallout were simple � and commercially successful. But Wizardry 8, Ultima 9 and Lands of Lore 2&3 constantly required non-trivial actions from the player � and were commercial failures!
"If I recall my own mind correctly, the intention was NOT primarily that you could learn the password from the demon after you've visited the gate, though... That option *should* only appear if you fail to get the password from the Gith captain. Of course, you may have discovered a bug there."
Then I suppose it's a bug. I killed the Gith captain. Then I found the trader, but was unable to ask him about the password. Then I read lebovsky's post, visited the gates � and I was able to ask the trader only AFTER my visit to the locked gates. But anyway, this is illogical and strange. First, I had visited the same gates in the future. Second, I had seen the note in the library so I knew about the password. Why should I kill an officer (or visit the gates) to be able to ask the trader about the password?! I knew everything about the password the very moment I read the note!
Anyway, I think you are right about not supporting this module any more. The download count is too low, and this is not because your module is bad, but because there are so many other well-known modules for NWN around. The situation with NWN2 is better at this moment, so good luck with your NWN2 project.
As for "The Shadow Relic" popularity � I still think that the situation may change if the NWN-modding community will learn to recognize the custom contents-heavy modules. The list of custom contents-heavy modules (in a vein of "Most recognized modules" and "upper-level modules") could help, because actually there's not many custom content modules available on the vault. Uhh, maybe I should start a portfolio... Or a discussion thread on NWN boards...
Thanks for your feedback, macabroid. Comments on your comments follow below.
First off, I doubt I'll ever do anything more to the mod. I'm mostly into NWN2 now (trying to create mods there, with time and luck... :))
You say that one needs a walkthrough/hintbook to be able to finish this. I think I disagree, based upon the feedback others have given (assuming you don't run into the tag-based scripts not firing).
That said, with 1.69 around the corner, it may be that I'll have to update the mod just to be sure it's playable at all... We'll see when 1.69 comes out.
"1.You should use the word «Planescape» somewhere in the description of your module. It MUST be found by the NWVault search engine when someone searches mods using the keyword «Planescape». It could greatly increase the popularity of your module."
- Hm. You know, I actually thought I had mentioned that, but the closest is actually "The Planes". This is easy to correct. Thanks for the heads-up.
"2.You should mention in the description just how strongly the plot of your module references the characters and plot of NWN official campaign. For example, I haven't played SoU and HOTU, but I may play these games in the future, and I don't want your module to spoil the plot. Also there's a possibility that the plot of your "bridge module" will be completely incomprehensible without knowing what happened in the OC. So, is it essentially a bridge module or just a standalone module that CAN be played as a bridge module? How much will I spoil the fun if I'll risk to play it without playing SoU\HOTU\Planescape:Torment\etc?"
- Again, good point. But when this mod was released, I guess I assumed "everyone" had played SoU and HotU... Which now, of course, may not be true. I did try my best not to spoil too much about the nature of the Shadow Relic in the mod, but people that have played HotU know what it is... So what bothers me the most, is how much of SoU I have spoiled. Ah well.
"3.Journal records are too revealing.(...)"
- Yes, others have pointed that out as well. It is a matter of design decisions. I wanted people to enjoy the mod and have a clear understanding about what is going on, rather than being "in the dark" totally. But again, I may have exaggerated my use of the journal.
"4.It is completely illogical that the dialog option that lets you persuade the demon to tell you the password appears only AFTER you visit the gates. I've already found the note in the library that says that the gates are "password-protected", and surely I know what portal it is � I saw it in the future.(...)"
- He he, yes YOU may know what gate that is in question... But others may not. :-)
Again, a matter of design decisions. If I recall my own mind correctly, the intention was NOT primarily that you could learn the password from the demon after you've visited the gate, though... That option *should* only appear if you fail to get the password from the Gith captain. Of course, you may have discovered a bug there.
"5.When you open the door to the 4th level of the tower (with pure emerald), the speakstring tells you that "silver crescent key fits"!"
- Uhm. Are you sure? While it is a minor error, I thought that was corrected after I found it in my own playtesting while designing the thing.
Final words: As I've said, I have doubts that I'll do anything more with this mod - but who knows. Things that require total redesign (e.g. journal too revealing) will most likely NOT be changed. It will require a lot rework and testing to get it to work properly, and I don't know if I'll ever set time aside to do it, as long as the mod is playable and enjoyable as a whole.
But who knows. :-) _________________________ best regards,
fk
Posted by macabroid at 2008-01-05 03:45:45 Voted 8.25 on 01/05/08
This module recreates the authentic "Planescape" feeling much better than even well-known mods like "The Nature of Man" and "Demon" do. Unfortunately, it's impossible to finish this mod without a hintbook\walkthrough, and this is a bad thing: the game shouldn't require extremely non-trivial decisions on its main plot line, it breaks the immersion completely. Also, this module should be marked as LOW on role-playing, because here we have one role-playing choice for one hundred combat encounters, and still this mod is marked as medium on role-playing and medium on combat! This is misguiding: I expected much more depth in dialog options and characters � and failed. Also, please note that your estimation of gameplay length is too low: I've spent more than 11 hours playing this mod, and I played very hastily, so I think it actually requires 8-13 hours of gameplay. Some more specific notes:
SPOILERS
1.You should use the word «Planescape» somewhere in the description of your module. It MUST be found by the NWVault search engine when someone searches mods using the keyword «Planescape». It could greatly increase the popularity of your module.
2.You should mention in the description just how strongly the plot of your module references the characters and plot of NWN official campaign. For example, I haven't played SoU and HOTU, but I may play these games in the future, and I don't want your module to spoil the plot. Also there's a possibility that the plot of your "bridge module" will be completely incomprehensible without knowing what happened in the OC. So, is it essentially a bridge module or just a standalone module that CAN be played as a bridge module? How much will I spoil the fun if I'll risk to play it without playing SoU\HOTU\Planescape:Torment\etc?
3.Journal records are too revealing. For example, right after you entered the portal that teleported you into the past, the journal record tells to the player that he is in the past now! It would be much more mysterious and effective if the player would have to figure out what happened. The record about the "past" could appear in the journal much later (when he leaves the fortress, for example). The same thing could be said about the journal entry about the "Marked One" after the talking with the librarian. Why should the journal say that you are the Marked One?! Let the player guess, it's more involving and fun. For example, my first thought was that the Marked One was the demoness I unlocked inside the prison!
4.It is completely illogical that the dialog option that lets you persuade the demon to tell you the password appears only AFTER you visit the gates. I've already found the note in the library that says that the gates are "password-protected", and surely I know what portal it is � I saw it in the future. So my character had no motivation to visit that gates without knowing the password � but in fact he couldn't learn the password without visiting the locked gates! I just thought the game is broken and only after reading lebovski's posts TWICE I've found out what happened!
5.When you open the door to the 4th level of the tower (with pure emerald), the speakstring tells you that "silver crescent key fits"!
Anyway, it's a good module, and with more characters and dialog options (and less boring combat) it could become even better. I have nothing against a good action module, but even an action module must have a more developed plot\characters.
@ Mirgalen:
"OK I figured it. There is a huge design flaw (or at least a highly questionable design choice IMHO) right from the start. Lucky that nobody voted this thing a "1" yet."
- Meaning you will? ;-)
"* Minor Spoiler *
If you want the characer to die right away, why not start the module being dead? If you want the character to die in game, why not put something that can kill the PC very quickly (e.g. a shadow dragon or something)? That would prevent the player from spending hours going in circle and trying all possible magical items in backpack to survive the encounter."
- Well, I won't argue too much with you... You may be right. It's all a matter of personal taste, I guess.
But this module starts as SoU ends - you escape certain death in the ruins of Undrentide by going through the Shadow Portal. The death of the character is in fact the first link to HoTU - this is the way I have made the story about how your character acquired the Relic of The Reaper, which you use to a great(er) extent in HoTU. Remember the description of the item in HoTU? "You acquired this relic while in The Plane of Shadow..." (or somesuch, NWN isn't installed on the computer on which I'm writing this, I can't recall the exact description).
That's why the mod starts this way. As I have understood the ending of SoU, the character does NOT die at the end. Therefore I didn't even think about starting the mod with the character dead. Also, if I did so, how would a newly created character find suitable equipment to deal with the enemies? The mod starts at character level 12. Many of the enemies are either high-level (and/) or magical in nature.
The reason that I ended up using Shadows in the start of the module was because of the background (your character killed the Shadow King/Lich in SoU, and thus the Shadows were somewhat upset). I also needed the Deva to set the stage for what's happening (her dialog in the beginning tells you in fact that Mephistopheles himself has taken interest in you - though somewhat cryptic, of course!).
Still, I cannot deny that I have spent many hours playing Planescape: Torment. :-)
Quite a lot of elements in this mod is borrowed from that excellent game.
And if you think about it, would a Shadow Dragon that was impossible to kill be less irritating than a swarm of Shadows? In my opinion, no. :-) _________________________ best regards,
fk
OK I figured it. There is a huge design flaw (or at least a highly questionable design choice IMHO) right from the start. Lucky that nobody voted this thing a "1" yet.
* Minor Spoiler *
If you want the characer to die right away, why not start the module being dead? If you want the character to die in game, why not put something that can kill the PC very quickly (e.g. a shadow dragon or something)? That would prevent the player from spending hours going in circle and trying all possible magical items in backpack to survive the encounter.
Note: I managed to survive/hide after summoning something to distract the creatures. After a while decided to play "kamikase" to see if there was something after.
Stuck/Dead right from the start. Please provide a hint or clue.
Playing a solid melee character (lvl 12) who (so far) could defeat anything but the toughest bosses.
* Spoiler *
1. Found a NPC - the one with wings
2. Got attacked by 5+ creatures (6-8 I think)
3. NPC died right away
4. Have been unable to kill a single creature (best weapon is +3)
5. Tried to use/destroy portal/mirror and or rogue stone w/o luck
6. After a while got killed (possibly after failing a saving throw)
"First and foremost, great module so far! I'm loving the setting and storyline.
But I'm stuck. I believe it's the same place Saurus33 was stuck as well. I travelled back in time 1000 years and cannot find the command word for the portal to get me to the Grey Wastes. I've searched high and low both inside the fortress and out.
Thanks for the help! -Caedmon"
- Thanks. :-)
The command word can be either be bargained for, or you can extort it from someone... Have you been inside some of the houses in the city of the past? _________________________ best regards,
fk
First and foremost, great module so far! I'm loving the setting and storyline.
But I'm stuck. I believe it's the same place Saurus33 was stuck as well. I travelled back in time 1000 years and cannot find the command word for the portal to get me to the Grey Wastes. I've searched high and low both inside the fortress and out.
@ Agamere:
"I just ran into the problem of the Fire Immunity Potion not working for me. I tried taking one, then both potions, still I got fried trying to cross the lava. This is a show stopper for me, since I do not know how to spawn in items yet (anyone want to provide a quick tutorial on how to do this?) I'm playing a 16th Lvl Wizard straight out of SoU."
- I cannot remember that this has been a problem previously, but as with the statue problem referred to by Armnaxis below, this uses the tag-based scripting system. It seems that this is somewhat unreliable. If you still are stuck, I have no other suggestions for you to try a previous save - maybe even the autosave.
I will look into this, but I fear that this is something that happens from time to time. :-( _________________________ best regards,
fk
@ Armnaxis:
"Hi fkirenicus,
I just encountered the same bug brandiles found - no dialogue whatsoever with the statue. activationg and examining it doues not start dialogue.
- playing a lvl 13 barbarian, no custom stuff, no prestige classes either.
- playing newest version of CEP
- no bugs until this one.
I'd appreciate a little help on how to overcome this challenge. I will try brandiles workaround, but prolly don't have the coding skills."
- Hmm. >:-(
So this bug resurfaces once again... Darn. Well, I will look into once more, but as I have been unable to to get this bug firing myself, I fear I won't be able to solve it this time either. I'm sorry. _________________________ best regards,
fk
@ Agamere:
You probably figured out this yourself, but just in case others wonder what gives here:
"Am I correct in understanding that if I'm running NWN v1.68 (w/ SoU & HoTU), I won't be able to run CEP v1.52? And if I can't run v1.52, I won't be able to play the current version of this module? If so, could you give me a rough estimate as to when a v1.68/CEPv2 friendly version will be available?"
- No, but I suspect 1.68 specific content (such as new cloaks) won't show up. The 2DA's are from 1.67. _________________________ best regards,
fk
Sorry, Agamere and Armnaxis. I've been away for some time, but will get back to you as soon as I am able (am at work now, and quite busy). _________________________ best regards,
fk
I just ran into the problem of the Fire Immunity Potion not working for me. I tried taking one, then both potions, still I got fried trying to cross the lava. This is a show stopper for me, since I do not know how to spawn in items yet (anyone want to provide a quick tutorial on how to do this?) I'm playing a 16th Lvl Wizard straight out of SoU.
Hi fkirenicus,
I just encountered the same bug brandiles found - no dialogue whatsoever with the statue. activationg and examining it doues not start dialogue.
- playing a lvl 13 barbarian, no custom stuff, no prestige classes either.
- playing newest version of CEP
- no bugs until this one.
I'd appreciate a little help on how to overcome this challenge. I will try brandiles workaround, but prolly don't have the coding skills.
Am I correct in understanding that if I'm running NWN v1.68 (w/ SoU & HoTU), I won't be able to run CEP v1.52? And if I can't run v1.52, I won't be able to play the current version of this module? If so, could you give me a rough estimate as to when a v1.68/CEPv2 friendly version will be available?
Another thing.... I got into the module, but now I can't find the command word for the portal. I have found the portal, and searched everything that can be opened/searched, but I still cannot find this command word. I even took the command word from the earlier posts and spoke it whil standing next to the portal, but this did not avail me. How in Nalar's Name do you open that portal?!
BW has recently released patch 1.68, meaning that this mod will become 1.68 (or mayhaps 1.69... who knows) when a new version is up. _________________________ best regards,
fk
@ d3cline:
Strange...
It is clear that the potions won't work on the henchman, and I am beginning to think that was deliberate ('cause once upon a time I had it in my mind that you should only find 1 of these potions...)
But it SHOULD work for the PC, and did for me the one time I have tested it today... But, being an item with special powers, you may have encountered a bug similar to the one Berliad ran into... See his review.
Will look into this some more, but now I am soon off to play in the theatre again. _________________________ best regards,
fk
@ d3cline:
That shouldn't be necessary, you know... :-)
Well, I spotted at least one thing that was wrong when browsing through the code yesterday in a 5 min spare time before I was off to play in the theatre... It is only valid for player characters. I think this means that the henchman won't get it to work. Must ponder this mystery some more... _________________________ best regards,
fk
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