Any, but short races (ie-gnomes, halflings and dwarves) will have an additional problem to solve.
Tricks & Traps
Non-existent
Roleplay
Medium
Hack & Slash
Non-existent
Classes
Any, but bards might uncover an amusing conversation route.
Scope
Small
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
Any
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
Any
Content Rating
Everyone
Gameplay Hours
<1
Description
This is my entry to the Bioware writers competition. The player assumes the role of someone lost in a blizzard who is searching for a bard and stumbles across a house, which by coincidence, is home to a bard. The problem is however that this one is sleeping, and his servant will take some convincing to awaken him.
It's possible to breeze through this in no time, but don't presume that just because you do that there is little present. Several routes through the conversation may only appear depending on class or race, and it's possible to annoy the servant which will slow things down.
As I spend 4 hours a day just travelling to and from work, this has been a major achievement for me, particularly as I have had to prepare the scripting myself. This simply wouldn't have been possible in what little time I had without Lilac Souls Script Generator. One thing was beyond me though, and that was making the conversation pause when the Quillmaster calls for his servant, but as this is only meant to display conversation skills, I'm hoping that will be overlooked.
It's worth right clicking on some items for further descriptions which help add to the story.
Leave giving the book to the servant as a last resort when trying to appease him, as this is the only item that will cancel all his bad feelings if you annoy him, and there are other means of lowering his annoyance level. Annoy him too much once the book is gone, and you'll never get to see the Quillmaster.
I thrive on story creation. If you want to find out more, visit my website.
Enjoy! :)
Version 2 notes:
***Changes Made***
The Dwarf is no longer angered by the presence of an elf, which may have led to players not knowing why they had offended him.
The Dwarf is no longer angered by those who haven't heard of him.
Success/Fail routes now accessable.
Alternate ending built in.
Spelling corrections and minor dialogue changes.
Deleted Bard/Monk conversation route to allow for Success/Fail visibility taking up extra space.
***Note regarding Dwarf getting stuck***
As I'm not terribly proficient in scripting (all scripting present is done via wizards or Lilac Soul Script Generator), I couldn't figure out how to make quillmaster conversation pause until the Dwarf was present, and depending on where the Dwarf is, he has been known to get stuck. The best way to avoid this so you can see all the dialogue is to follow the Dwarf when he goes to waken the quillmaster so that he stops closer to where he is needed. Simply click on him to continue once he has failed to open the quillmaster bedroom.
I noticed the "friend" votes AFTER I played and graded it actually. I really did find the module tedious. I am trying to review dialog, you made it really hard for me to access the dialog by putting puzzles in. You were told to make a dialog-based module for that very reason. You chose not to. I simply marked you accordingly. Just because other reviewers aren't annoyed by having to jump through hoops in order to review your module doesn't make my annoyance at having to do that any less legitimate. If you want to dismiss my comments, that's your right. I just want to assure you, this isn't a personal attack, I really did dislike your module. "Perhaps if your style of communication was a little less aggresive, you'd have two friends to vote for you too." I guess it's never occured to you that I *do* have friends and have told them specifically NOT to vote on my module because I am afraid of bias? Besides, the way I see it, honest feedback is a LOT more valuable that one-liner votes of 10. I don't want to win a contest, I want to actually get better as a writer.
Posted by Lorft at on02/08/06
Good use of scripting, and some nice mini puzzles, no marks for them though. Overall the writing was light hearted and of a good quality. However, the poetry and the man from ?Bioware? was somewhat grating. The Quillmaster himself turned horribly out of character, which ended the module on a low. As a player I would have liked to have seen more than one real character here. You were going for the CV within a module, and it may be a good strategy to use with the Bioware judges. Overall, ignoring the CV I give it an 8.0 ? Good. Lorft
Posted by Quillmaster at 2006-02-0814:20:53
I just checked the rules again, and realised I may have misunderstood them: "What do you mean by "no skill use"? The writer can use Persuade or Charm, but not as a character skill-based game action. Rather, simply provide the (success) and (failure) options right in the dialogue box, so that they can be explored by the reviewer, not "played through." " It was the last bit "not played through", that had me believe it was okay to include them without the script so long as the default success of fail didn't result in the mod being impossible to finish. I took "Dialogue box" to mean within the toolkit and not the game. Ah well, too late now I guess. At least I learnt something for any future entries. _________________________ View my blog regarding the Relbonian Chronicles project --> Link
Posted by Quillmaster at 2006-02-0804:10:28
*Yawn* When are you going to stop throwing your toys out of your pram? I can count, I just gave you the benefit of only including those with conversations attached. As for my "Fanbase" giving me an additional 2 votes, I can only presume this is what really motivated you, since no one else has complained of "Irritating puzzles". Perhaps if your style of communication was a little less aggresive, you'd have two friends to vote for you too. I've said all I will on the subject, but feel free to drop by and display some more of the "fun" you come here for. _________________________ View my blog regarding the Relbonian Chronicles project --> Link
Posted by BFlowers at 18:17:15 Voted5.00
"That may well be so, but perhaps without the snark I would have felt more compelled to take it that way when I initially read it." I'm not here to manage your feelings, I'm here to have fun. Your module was a perfect oportunity to work on my "movie critic" voice. It's not my fault that I enjoyed writing the review a lot more than actually playing your module.
Posted by Quillmaster at 2006-02-0717:14:08
"While it is delivered with a heavy dose of snark, I honestly feel there is good advice in here for you." That may well be so, but perhaps without the snark I would have felt more compelled to take it that way when I initially read it. _________________________ View my blog regarding the Relbonian Chronicles project --> Link
Posted by BFlowers at 16:52:09 Voted5.00
You misunderstood my feedback. I didn't take any marks away from you for being over in word-count or under in number of characters. It was simply an observation that, though you used fewer characters than required and allowed yourself more words than were stipulated, you still failed to give your characters any personalities. I found that to be a failing when Bioware said they'd be reviewing whether your characters were interesting as one of their criteria. Let me explain my marking system. It's like school. You got 50%. That means you met the most basic requirements of the assignment, but failed to impress me in any way. You "passed", but you didn't do well. I considered giving you a lower mark because your scripting unnecessary puzzles into the module made it hard for me to get to and review the dialog. I HAVE given lower marks than what you got, so it's not inconceivable that you could have done worse in my marking system. You got a "pass" because you met the basic, obvious requirements. (being that it had a beginning, middle and end, took place in a 4x4 area, no more than 3 NPCs, and approximately 3500 words, though the last two, in my eyes, are guidelines, not laws, and subject to fudging if it makes a better story). However, you completely missed doing anything that would impress me. You didn't make compelling, interesting characters to interact with, and you didn't give me a lot of good role-playing choices. Inserting your website into the conversation was a rather obtrusive breaking of the "no modern slang" rule, so even if I had the mistaken impression I was playing an adventure, rather than watching an infomercial devoted to you, my suspension of disbelief would have been broken at that moment. You also completely failed to meet the not-so-clearly-stated requirements of "in the style of a Bioware sidequest", which means FUN TO PLAY, not advertising your cleverness. And the requirement that it be a "writing based" submission. Most of your module hangs together on overly-complicated script tricks that are both unnecessary and get in the way of reviewing the writing! In a competition where we are supposed to be evaluating the dialog, you've made it terribly difficult to do so. I did not play it again (which is REALLY odd since I think I've played every other module I've reviewed at least twice), but I did see the rest of your dialog by opening the toolset. Nothing blew me away. That's an honest review. Sorry you don't like it. As for you reviewing me back and whether or not you were impartial, I'm soooo very not worried. It's a foregone conclusion that I won't be winning the popular vote. I don't have a fan-base (or is it friends) who will sign up to these boards specifically to give me a high mark and never be seen or heard from again. This is my first attempt and I am just here for feedback. Incidentally, I had 5 characters, not 4, sorry you don't appear to be able to count either. I'm aware that I bent the rules and I don't have a problem with that. As for your comment "There's no way a simple mod like this can get anywhere near to displaying my talent to the full, so I treated it as more a marketing excercise in an attempt to say "Go look see what else I can do".", let me put this simply... if other writers can display talent within the confines of the requirements, how exactly do you feel the demonstrating your inability to do so will be a good thing for you? I know this seems harsh, but put the 5 away, put this module away and try to read what I'm saying. When they ask for a writing sample, and they get over 300 to review, they want a writing sample, not a resume. They're busy people, they're not likely to try to navigate your website looking for this great writer you say you are. Give them exactly what they ask for and you stand a much better chance. As for your comment to Zog about it not being broken... it is, or rather, you didn't do it the way it was asked. You're supposed to have "(persuade success) PC line" and "(persuade failure) PC line" so a reviewer can easily view both results and select which one they want to see. "defaulting to success for playablility" means they can only see one option in gameplay, which is not correct. While it is delivered with a heavy dose of snark, I honestly feel there is good advice in here for you. Do with it as you will.
Posted by Quillmaster at 2006-02-0716:37:50
I've played it and it works fine. The "End Dialogues" you refer to are the results of copies and paste links before the nodes were complete, but if you check the lines they link to there is more. They certainly carry through in game mode for me. Most bizarre :/ . _________________________ View my blog regarding the Relbonian Chronicles project --> Link
Posted by emperorzog at 2006-02-0716:11:23
Hmmm, after reading your last post Quillmaster I went into the toolset to check the module myself. It appears that all of your linked files for the bluff check, etc., are all marked with end dialogue. The link is messed up in them... If I had selected the right options (which contained the original dialogue you wrote and then pasted as a link later) I could have gotten through. Your pasted links at that point are flawed for me however. They are flawed in the toolset when I look at them and they were flawed when I tried to play the game itself. Perhaps it is just me... Or maybe others just picked the right path that didn't have the broken links. Still, give it a check for yourself to make sure.
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