A short module with varied gameplay; adventure, fighting, puzzle solving, etc. A deliberate balance of story and game. Gametime is approx. 2 hours.
Number Players
1
Language
English
Level Range
1-5 (levelup to level 3 & money provided for those starting with new characters)
Races
All
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Medium
Hack & Slash
Medium
Classes
All. Some NPCs will react to your class choice.
Scope
Part of Series
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
05
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
01
Content Rating
Everyone
Alignments
Your alignment will not seriously affect your experience.
Gameplay Hours
02
Description
Her Father's Sword
By Nicholas Piachaud
"1422. Bitter civil war has devastated the League. Ithacia is on its knees. Its armies are crushed, its knights and Order disbanded and dispirited, left to fight in a desperate, partisan war against the invaders.
You have fled the worst of the fighting and tried made your peace with your father's legacy. But when the Ithacian stronghold of Tokkayis is destroyed at the hands of a terrible new weapon, you find yourself drawn into a secret war.
This time: a war of deadly retribution waged in the shadows of the wider conflict, one fought for the nothing less than the very secrets and soul of the Order itself."
A densely-plotted adventure story which spans a range of gameplay.
This adventure is the sequel and conclusion to His Father's Sword. That module can be found here:
--"The PC story lost out a lot. I think it suffered in dialogue, where there were far less opportunities to influence things than I would have liked. The story is very NPC based, and the PC is pulled along. I suppose, in the end, I was more fascinated by Chloe and Sigesith than the PC?s backstory. That said, I don?t think the PC is a non-entity. It?s a catalyst role, and occasionally steps into the limelight. Maybe that?s a bit more limited than the other stories out there. I?ll get back on my English-lit pedestal here and say that parts of both modules were designed to grate a bit that way ? sometimes there just aren?t answers where you?d want answers, and sometimes you don?t have any choice in matters (e.g. the end of both modules." I don't think there is anything wrong with that in an of itself--I do not believe the PC should have the powerful to influence everything, or always change things according to her desires. However, the PC being a mere catalyst--or the author being more fascinated by his own NPCs--is, my opinion, *not* a good thing when you are trying to tell an interactive story. Granted, I don't build modules, but I have played a lot of them and I feel I have a good idea about what works and what doesn't. People care about the characters they created--they will most likely care more about their own characters than the NPCs they will have to interact with. A good story *has* to really draw the player in and involve the PC the player took the time to create, and one of the best ways to do, in my opinion, is to make the story as personal as possible. A great way to do this is to make the PCs life at stake--that won't work for every game, of course, but who wants their character to die, or be harmed? Even within the story, I didn't feel like my character knew either Chloe or Sigesith well enough to really CARE about them, other than having a vague sense of good will and a desire to mitigate the suffering of others (my PC was after all a paladin). As a player, I was certainly a lot less interested in those characters than I was in the story of my own character. I was the one playing through the game--if I am just going to watch a story unfold between two characters, and have no real way to affect it, why wouldn't I just pick up a novel and read that? The fact that the climax was all about two NPCs, with my PC as a mere spectator, was immensely disappointing to me as a player. Hence, my vote and comments. But still, I am happy you read my comments and took them for what they are. This series has a lot of good things about it, but if you make another module, I feel the story would be much better off if you tried to focus more on the PC as the main character--to draw the player in first before asking them to care about the NPCs involved. Take care, Riona
Posted by NPiachaud at 2006-04-1615:46:43
Sorry I haven?t responded lately ? had a lot on. I do still check this page, and I?m always interested to hear what people have to say about the modules. I?ll talk about Riona?s comments a bit ? I?d like to say thanks for offering a sincere and detailed comment on the module. I think the criticisms are fair. Though the gameplay is very short, I worked on both modules, on and off, for a good six-seven months. I could have done more to spread the load of the narrative around, but I?m satisfied with the mini-epic I?ve created. You are right when you say the story loses time to reflect, and suffers from being rushed. I suppose the best alternative I can think of is more filler material, which I?m not keen on. I added a journal entry explaining events up until Her Father?s Sword right at the beginning of the module. I think this explained why the PC was in the inn, though I honestly can?t say for sure. I absolutely agree about the henchmen and boss fights/enemies. It?s a tough balance to script, and what I came up with was, ultimately, a cop-out. But it?s the way I found. I?d like to address this if I do another version of the module. The final fight, particularly, could be improved a lot. The PC story lost out a lot. I think it suffered in dialogue, where there were far less opportunities to influence things than I would have liked. The story is very NPC based, and the PC is pulled along. I suppose, in the end, I was more fascinated by Chloe and Sigesith than the PC?s backstory. That said, I don?t think the PC is a non-entity. It?s a catalyst role, and occasionally steps into the limelight. Maybe that?s a bit more limited than the other stories out there. I?ll get back on my English-lit pedestal here and say that parts of both modules were designed to grate a bit that way ? sometimes there just aren?t answers where you?d want answers, and sometimes you don?t have any choice in matters (e.g. the end of both modules). I suppose the real reason a lot of the problems cropped up was lack of time on my part to finish the modules the way they should be. At the moment, they?re out there and do their jobs pretty well. I?m actually very satisfied with seeing them up there, and that people are prepared to take the time to talk about them a bit.
Posted by Riona at on04/10/06
This was not a bad module, but once again, my sentiments lie with some of the other players--the story and game just felt like it went by too quickly. It truly does feel, at times, like Her Father's Sword is a tale of a large scope that has been squeezed into a very short module. The problem with this module is not that it is short, but that the major events happen so quickly--and in such a sketchy manner--that there is little time to reflect on them, which diminishes the impact the story might otherwise have had. The beginning of the story is also not too effective--you begin trapped in a room at an inn, but there is no context for this...you don't even learn what you are doing in the Inn (and in that town), until *after* you solve the very first puzzle. I think this should be fixed. The other major shortcoming, in my opinion, is that the module seemed to be more about the pain and troubles faced by Chloe and Lady Sigesith...but not my character. Indeed, my PC felt like something of a non-entity at times, and certain important events didn't quite affect me much, as a player, simply because they were not personal matters to me as they were to the aforementioned characters, and also because my PC was unable to react to these events as I believe she should have been able to. Believe me, I am all for amazing NPCs, but I also believe that the story should still be mainly about the PC, because this is the role the player has taken on. Few people play a game to be an NPC's sidekick. There was some nice detail to be learned of the PC's father in the Old Order area, but again, it was unfortunately sketchy--too little, too late. All that being said, this module is much like the previous one in terms of gameplay, except without the fetch-and-carry quests (that's not necessarily a bad thing!). The combat is tough but managable. There is a nice puzzle involving a Minos base, and a not-so-nice puzzle involving cryptic arrows in a wasteland. However, as Lebowski rightly pointed out, it would have been better if certain enemies were less tough in exchange for killable henchman.
Posted by lebowski at on01/31/06
Better than the first one, with the so many scripted situation kind of graphic adventure - on the easy side though. Still liked the FX the story and the character, but again it feels very much too short for the story it intends to tell. Also I hated the ending for two reasons: SPOILERS 1. the fight with the big knight was very bad, I actually had to use the fact that chloe was unkillable to win that, she being a meat shield and me attacking from the side. It's very frustrating to find out that after all you are the sidekick. It was like exploiting the poor desing of the mod in having unkillable companions. It would have been much better with a less strong foe and a killable Chloe. 2. The Chloe vs. Sigesight final fight was a bit absurd especially because in both ending they cry for what they had done. But the worst thing here is that your character is still very unimportant, you don't even have a word to say about what happened. _________________________ The hottest new modules you can't miss - player suggested Contributor to Overlooked Module Reports An interview with me about NWN mods
Posted by lebowski at on01/31/06
Quite innovative with a good amount of FX and interesting scripted situation. At times it felt like a graphic adventure. Still, just like the first, the scope of the story is a bit too epic for a mod so short, and it feels in places like a resume. Also the ending is not that satisfactory here too. _________________________ The hottest new modules you can't miss - player suggested Contributor to Overlooked Module Reports An interview with me about NWN mods
Posted by NPiachaud at 2006-01-1309:54:10
I'm sorry to hear that. If you've skimmed through the other comments, hmdai seems to have given up on that puzzle too. When I look at this mod again I'll review that part in particular. For now, sorry again. The solution (SPOILERS ETC) is this sequence. Head right to the end of the area. If you're headed in the right direction you will be 'jumped' back to the start of the area. After this, head left... the same 'jump' should happen. Now head straight ahead to the end of the area. You should be jumped out of the wastes.
Posted by Anonymous at 2006-01-1219:36:14
After spending an hour walking to edges in different sequences with no apparent result in the arrow puzzle, I gave up on this mod. Maybe I`m not smart enough, but patience ran out after an hour with it.
Posted by cegli at on01/04/06
Very creative! Interesting plot and interesting characters. Final battle was tough and only succeeded on easy setting.
Posted by NPiachaud at 2006-01-0404:02:23
Hmdai, ===SPOILERS ETC=== 1: I?ll probably add it as a dialogue option in a couple of conversations: the Sigesith henchwoman at the start of the game and to Aniko in the bar. That way the information is there for the curious PC. 2: Perhaps something like this, though I think what you suggest might be a little too obvious. 3: Again, it?s an oversight. I?ll stick it in there somewhere. 4: These are all very good ideas indeed. Time Stop was initially in there but it didn?t work for some reason so I took it out (wanted to get it done rather than spend hours on a small problem). I think a shield spell of some kind would be very appropriate, particularly from the magic missiles. I?d rather keep Talel as he is atm and buff up the PC somehow, simply because Talel atm isn?t an insurmountable challenge, just a rather long one. 5: Yeah, it?s not a bad idea at all. I?ll look at this section again and see, though if you talk to both NPC?s throughout the game I think it?s clear that the game is headed in this direction. ====SPOILERS END====
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