Tested for single player only. Those who wan't to try multi, I'd be curious to know if it works.
Language
English
Level Range
20-23, though many encounters scale.
Races
All supported.
Tricks & Traps
Medium
Roleplay
Light
Hack & Slash
Heavy
Classes
All supported.
Scope
Small
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
23
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
20
Content Rating
Mature
Alignments
All supported.
Gameplay Hours
02
Description
Requires NWN and all expansions 1.66, CEP 1.52 -
Dark Water's Edge started out as simply a way to develop knowledge of the toolset for an upcoming epic module, as well as a means of seeing what the CEP expansion had to offer. I tried to do this in the form of a very short, yet playable module so I could see how the various tools of the toolset worked together to develop the story (As you may have already guessed, this is my first module.). This module is a culmination of this work and, in my opinion, fills a niche for people like me who want to play a short game but don't have the time immediatly available to begin an epic campaign. It is a very short, very linear hack 'n' slash module set in the Moonsea region of Faerun. That being said, there is a plot, actions in this game do have consequences, and there are alternate endings to this. Characters can expect to gain between 1-3 levels in this, depending upon your starting level and the choices you make. Read below for more specifics and "thank you" for playing and feedback:
*Single Player only (I have not tested multi capability).
*Lvl. 20-23. Mages and rogues may want to start on the high end of this. Encounters scale and the bosses are hard. Higher level non-uber builds or poorly equipped characters may find this challenging.
*2-3 hours in length and players can expect to gain around 2 levels.
*All classes and alignments are supported.
*Henchmen are NOT available for hire.
*While there is a store at the beginning of this module, it is assumed that PCs are equipped appropriatly for level and possess at least a moderate amount of gold. There is no leveler in this module.
*Players can respawn in a safe location with the standard GP and XP penalty.
*Read your journal often.
Gambling... your downfall. Scarcely three months ago you wash up in this backwater city on the Moonsea, the unfortunate result of a caravan security job gone bad. Since then, gambling has left you deeply indebted to the local crime syndicate known only as "the Welcomers." Perhaps in an effort to earn some extra coin to pay off your debt... perhaps as a means of slipping out of Phlan undetected... you have decided to answer the call of the newly founded Temple of Lathander seeking those skilled in "artifact recovery."
Posted by werelynx2 at 2011-04-26 09:56:55 Voted 7.25 on 04/26/11
not so bad, although the scepter ending cutscene hadn't given me back control so a I had ALT+CTRL+DEL my game. _________________________ Thanks Rolo:)
Posted by Mirgalen at 2010-10-04 17:30:00 Voted 2.00 on 10/04/10
I made a rather long post about John McA's "Sands of Fate 1".
Here are a few key points I made to support my score:
- Can be completed solo but only by POWERGAMERS
- some of the combats will be over the top for non min-max characters and/or characters not equipped with a "full set" of "uber" items."
- (the author) could have balanced the module exactly the way we do it in PnP by simply putting enough offensive and/or defensive equipment along the way to help against the three or four bosses in the module...
You may enjoy this module however if you like fighting creatures lvl 25 to 40 with DR from 10 to 30 in pretty much everything and a long list of immunities not to mention the uber items many of them have.
Note: Score modified for consistency.
Posted by El.Rond Hubbard at 2010-07-27 09:49:45 Voted 9.50 on 07/27/10
Great little module, very well put together. Good balance to the combat, good sense of humor, nice role-playing options. Also some nice gear available.
Posted by edosan at 2010-05-16 23:14:28 Voted 7.00 on 05/16/10
Decent story but the end pretty much just leaves you hanging.
Posted by MackyMac at 2009-11-03 07:24:06 Voted 9.50 on 11/03/09
This is a really good mod. Short and sweet, a nice solid linear plot line. It sets up for what might have been a larger and interesting plot. It is able to stand on it's own which is good since from the author's comments below, it seems like there may not be a follow up.(?)
I played with a Bard8/F2/BG10 to start. (this character came out of the Return to Raveloft mod. Those familiar will understand that one finishes that game with some pretty amped up gear.) The fights overall were tough, but not too much so. I'd be interested to replay with a character that came out of a mod with some more mainstream powered gear.
I also brought a companion via OMB's OHS Henchman System. I was afraid that between that and the gear that I had the balance might have been thrown off and been too easy. This was not the case. _________________________ I'll tell you all my secrets but I lie about my past
Posted by colourwolf at 2008-09-06 00:17:53 Voted 9.00 on 09/06/08
Solid, short module. Had little trouble with my 2/12/8 Bard/Fighter/Red Dragon (ended 2/12/10).
Posted by Razide0506 at 2008-03-09 09:42:18 Voted 7.50 on 03/09/08
Straightforward linear hack-n-slash built on a go-fetch quest with a plot that serves to move you from point A to B to C. Visually, the module is fine, but unremarkable. I played with a 14/7 Fighter/WM, but my gear was apparently too good, as most of the opponents weren't much of a challenge (although one mage did paralyze me and almost ended-up killing me). After a while I switched to using one of the weapons I found, so as to make the module more challenging. The fights did get a little tougher toward the end, by which I mean I had to drink a few healing potions. Some minor complaints: when you're getting the quest from the cleric, he (or maybe it was the woman speaking) switches from past to present tense at one point. Also, there's a chaotic alignment shift due to dialogue, even though what my character said wasn't particularly chaotic. Finally, there was a bit too much backtracking for my taste. Overall, it's a decent H&S module, but not an exceptional one.
Posted by Nelson The Geek at 2008-03-07 18:37:01 Voted 9.00 on 03/07/08
This was a good (but short and linear) high-level module. I used my character from Hordes of the Underdark. There are some *seriously* nasty critters, some with haste or self-healing or both. I died and re-loaded more than once, usually after blowing a save vs. fear. The next-to-last fight was tough, and the foe should have killed me (due to that $%^& failed save again), but his attacks were not very damaging - I was very surprised. The dialogue before the last fight strongly hints at a sequel, which sounds good to me!
Fun - 8, Layout/Design - 9, Dialogue - 7, Originality/Creativity - 8, Quality Control - 10, Overall - 9
Posted by Flechette at 2008-01-17 21:00:28 Voted 10.00
Gray - Thank you for your vote and comments! If I do find myself experimenting with DWE in the future, it will likely be with adding a few areas here and there to kinda complete the storyline. Still trying to work that out right now, though. Probably won't be making a sequel at this point, given the climate of my personal life (trying to sell/buy a new house/land in a stagnant market - difficult). Currently, I am working with the NWN2 toolset, though what I am working on has nothing to do with the DWE storyline.
Berra - Thank you as well! I'm kinda big into survival/horror games like the Silent Hill series and Half-Life2 so, now that NVIDIA's drivers are playing nice with my NWN again, I'll give your Surviving Horror mods a shot:) They come highly recommended! I really tried more than anything to make this module technically sound. I knew that some folks may not like the story... but I did not want anyone having to give up playing due to bugs in it's design.I'm so glad that you liked it as a short game! Epics are great, but they sometimes just don't fit into the schedule ;)
Posted by Berra at 2008-01-03 12:36:58 Voted 10.00 on 01/03/08
This module had a handful of great ideas, it felt very polished, battles were hard but never impossible, well thought out cutscenes, interesting characters, well written dialog and great item/character descriptions, well thought out plot, a few interesting plot-twists, and finally: a great atmoshpere.
It was a very interesting module, even though it is mostly a "dungeon-crawl adventure" but the author manages to make it interesting thanks to the chosen setting as well as story behind the constant hackin'. :) I personally liked that it didn't take that long to complete (instead of featuring 50-hours of gameplay) since some of us just don't have enough time on their hands. Perfect for me. :D
Everyone: your VOTES are highly appriciated. A vote is like gold for an author. No kiddin'. ;)
Posted by Graymaster at 2008-01-03 08:37:37 Voted 9.75 on 01/03/08
Nice bit of work and, yes, VERY challenging in many places! I realize you submitted it quite some time ago, but we do hope you're still contemplating a sequel - in NWN, not it's red-headed stepchild from Obsidian. The twist, while not wholly unexpected, was made more enjoyable insofar as you gave no hint that this was intended as more than a stand-alone module. Incidently, at 70+ I'm still awaiting enlightenment as to the definition of mature! Drop me an e-mail, if circumstance permit. The address should be in my profile, but I've not looked in years (though should, I imagine) or if not - [email protected]. Good luck in all of your endeavors. Gray.
Posted by Flechette at 2007-12-31 08:06:27 Voted 10.00
ximxam - Thanks for your vote and comments. Glad you enjoyed it!
Steve - Thanks for the interview. Good questions and I had alot of fun answering them.
ironysteeth - Interesting you should comment on the background information and how it is relayed to players. My initial version of the temple had a library with books that gave a good portion of the backstory and the history of the region. Other parts were to be revealed as the game progressed. I became concerned, however, that the module would not be long enough to reveal the entirity of the backstory. Additionally, I didn't want players who chose not to read the books to be lost toward the end of the game (Admittedly, I often skip reading books with regional history when I play modules as well... depends on my mood at the time.). So, I decided to relay the backstory as dialogue and, as you have noted, it often makes for some long reading. That being said, if I ever make anything more lengthy I will try to make the backstory more of a "discovery process" for the player. Great suggestion and thank you for your vote!
Posted by ironysteeth at 2007-12-30 22:24:21 Voted 9.25 on 12/30/07
Had fun playing the module. Lotta story in those dialog boxes :) was expecting a speaker or two's face to turn blue. Maybe in future mods think of different ways to relay background information and such. Just a bit of a suggestion. And heck, if that's the worst someone can say about the module, you are doing something right.
Hope to see a sequel to this thing. Seeing that interview of yours pop up on the front page of the vault made me think this was a new one, but, heheh, I actually found out I downloaded it WAY long ago and had the one I downloaded over-write the one that was in my module folder. Anyway-Stop slacking and get part 2 done.
Best of luck
Posted by ximxam at 2007-12-24 15:15:14 Voted 9.50 on 12/24/07
Awesome! Hope you continue with the storyline. I would gladly play it!
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-12-19 10:41:48 Voted 10.00 on 12/04/07
Flech,
I sent you another e-mail recently. _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by Flechette at 2007-12-04 06:57:09 Voted 10.00
Steve,
Thank you for your vote! I'm happy that you got my e-mail. My e-mail client has been giving me fits lately and I was a bit concerned that you didn't recieve my message. I'm even happier that you liked my module! I agree that there can be alot of walking in DWE. As you suggest, a stone of recall on an abandoned island seems a bit unrealistic. When creating this game, I had to unlock different areas of the island by completing certain quests, and alot of walking was the unfortunate byproduct. During testing, when I left all areas of the island accessable in a more "freeform" format, I was consistantly able to break the plot.
Concerning the HOF: I never would have imagined when I created this module that it would ever be a candidate for the HOF. As I've mentioned before on this page, I'm not a scripter or programmer... nor do I have any aspirations of breaking into the gaming industry. I'm just a person who wanted to get the most out of their NWN dollar. In other words, I really liked some of the community made content and decided to make some of my own... then post it in the hopes that others might enjoy it. So I am both flattered and humbled that DWE was inducted. As you said, what a way to end the year!
stubbytroll,
Thank you for your vote and constructive comments. Yup, a sorc/pally should get the job done quite nicely :) Truthfully, the area design was my favorite part of creating DWE so I'm happy that you enjoyed the visuals.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-12-04 03:31:55 Voted 10.00 on 12/04/07
Vote:
If there was a way to end the year, this mod entering Hall of Fame was a way to do it!
I wish there were some options that would take you back to original locations instead of walking back to them, but I understand that this recall stone like feature isn't exactly roleplaying.
Nice use to monsters and tilesets/backgrounds. _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by stubbytroll at 2007-11-03 05:21:50 Voted 9.25 on 11/03/07
Pretty fun hack and slash with a nice twist at the end.
I played an arcane caster, a lvl 22 Sor / Pal. Combat for the most part, was ok, with the final battle the toughest. It was challenging enough to require tactics, not so much that potion pumping was necessary. Uber equipment was not needed, ie everything she had was what a lvl 22 character should have.
Visuals were well done, and there was a nice amount of eye candy. Some nice custom items.
While there wasn't much role playing, obviously, there were choices to make, not just a straight kill foozle dungeon crawl.
_________________________ My shoes are too tight and I have forgotten how to dance.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-11-02 14:36:57 Voted 10.00 on 12/04/07
Hey, could you please e-mail me?
You can do so through my profile.
Thanks,
Steve _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by Flechette at 2007-10-25 14:07:29 Voted 10.00
Hey Steve,
Guess I wasn't very specific in my previous post, was I? If I remember correctly (and it has been over 2 years since I submitted this and nearly a year since I played it thru) there were a few mild curse words and some themes which some could consider mature in nature (summoning demons, references to torture and such). Should be nothing new to fans of fantasy RPG's. There should be nothing of a sexual nature in the module, aside from one snarky character dialogue response option, and it's very mild. No nudity, sexual situations, etc. The level of violence is no more or less graphically depicted than other games of this type i.e straight-foward hack 'n' slash. There is combat and fighting, but it all of a cartoonish, "pixalated" (if that's even a word :P) nature. Regretably, I have been having difficulties with NWN1 on my machine... something to do with NVIDIA drivers and my video card... so I don't have the required CEP files installed right now or I would open the module in the toolset and try and give you specific examples. But, in a nutshell, rated "mature" for some mild curse words and mature themes of a fantasy nature. Hope that helps ya out :)
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-10-25 11:48:24 Voted 10.00 on 12/04/07
Fletchette,
Is the content sexually mature? Or graphically violent? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by Flechette at 2007-10-10 09:32:54 Voted 10.00
Hey Steve,
For 99% of people who play this the content will probably not be considered "mature" in nature. Since I think perceptions of what is or is not mature content can differ from person to person however, I decided to err on the side of caution and list the mod as mature so people more sensative to such things are properly forewarned. The content is certainly nowhere near as strong as some of the other mature rated offerings on the vault.
Lariam - Thank you again for your kind words :)
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2007-10-10 07:45:27 Voted 10.00 on 12/04/07
Why is the content rated mature? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by Lariam at 2007-05-15 13:08:36 Voted 9.50
Hey Flechette - sad news about NWN2. I thought you seemed to have the talent for making good-looking areas, and thus I was looking forward to seeing what you can do with the NWN2 toolset... :) Incidentally, some folks have been saying that scripting, say, would be a lot easier in NWN2. ;)
But yeah, I know that just working and being a husband takes a lot of time! :)
Posted by Flechette at 2007-05-09 14:28:48 Voted 10.00
dwong1207 - Well, the intention was to re-create the entire module plus it's conclusion in NWN2. After opening the toolset and working with it a couple of days, it became obvious to me that this would never happen. The new toolset seems alot more complex than Aurora. I am not a programmer or scripter or level-designer by trade (I'm in the medical technology field) and the new toolset seems foreign to me - I was getting nowhere. Truthfully, any future work I may do with DWE will likely constitute a revision of the existing module. With four or five new areas, I could bring the story to a logical conclusion (though not necessarily the epic one that I had originally envisioned). Eventually this MAY get done (I have been disappointed in my own progress before - it took me around a dozen different attempts before I released anything to the Vault to begin with - so I make no promises). Hopefully, if I do this, I will not erase my download count like I did on my first revision :P Between being a husband, father, working full-time, and part-time student - it's hard enough finding time for myself - so a full-scale DWE 2 is looking increasingly unlikely.
This is a tough epic mod, creative and challenging. I'm going through with a Fighter 10/Dwarven Defender 11/Rogue 7 and I'm still getting my butt handed to me sometimes. Not quite done yet, so I'll vote then, but it's gonna be a high score! Is part two coming out in NWN?
Posted by Flechette at 2007-01-26 09:43:39 Voted 10.00
timmadigan & lands889 - Thank you both for your observations, kind words, and votes :) I'm glad that you both liked it! I'm also glad to hear that it's still playable after months of NWN and CEP updates and such.
Posted by lands899 at 2007-01-20 21:05:44 Voted 10.00 on 01/20/07
Flechette,
I thought it was a GREAT mod! Yeah, it was short and yeah, it ended on a cliffahanger I would really love to see resolved (in either a completed mod or a secoond part...but keep the level high! Most mods are terribly easy with the right sort of character...), but I loved how it kept surprising me! I began the mod with a level 19 mage, but the sea hag kept kicking my butt, so I rebegan with a very strong level 16 rouge/fighter. Challenging (but not impossible...) combat is difficult to find at higher levels (when fighting is much more fun.) Excellent, innovative level design mixed with a good story kept me glued. I started the mod last night, thought about the mod all day at work, came back and fought hard to a completely unexpected ending. Delightful! Really looking forward to more of your work...
P.S. Good job on working out your personal life. Any pointers?
Posted by timmadigan at 2006-12-29 19:35:42 Voted 9.25 on 12/29/06
*with minor spoilers*
A fun hack-and-slash mod but the semi-climax, with the large un-dead thing, was definately a killer at level 23 - it used up my heal potions at an alarming rate. My only issue is that there were too few "bulk fights" - a ton of mid-level guys that takes time to fight. You'd expect some.
Am definately looking forward to any sequal you can do.
Posted by Lariam at 2006-12-02 10:38:24 Voted 9.50
Hi Flechette - good to hear that RL is better and good to see you back! I look forward to playing the NWN2 version of DWE. And as DWE, at least, will be set in Forgotten Realms, do check out the link in my sig - DWE would be a most welcome contribution, I think. :)
Site
at 2011-04-26 09:56:55
at 2008-01-17 21:00:28
at 2007-05-15 13:08:36
