This is a short module that can be completed in under 2 hours
Number Players
1 PC, 1 Henchman, plus any associates
Language
English
Level Range
1 to 3
Races
Any, except Drow
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Light
Hack & Slash
Light
Classes
Any, with at least 10 Intelligence.
Scope
Small
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
03
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
01
Content Rating
Mature
Alignments
non-evil
Gameplay Hours
02
Description
Dovedale is a conversion of the Dungeon Magazine module that appeared in Issue #46.
Who is Mother Hulda?
What is Keven Cogs doing with a chicken behind the barn? Bashing butterflies?
Where does the Well in the Woods lead?
Why is a halfing puking at the Boater's Inn common room?
Is Shortyshanks a good henchman?
Can the bard Larkin tattle a tale?
Will the Dirtroad Gang prevail?
Plot: The Dovedale river has nearly dried up. The Farmers' Cooperative has offered a 100 gold reward for anyone who can restore the river. The locals say wicked goblins have blocked the river. The town drunk says a talking fish knows more. Some say a witch has cast a spell on the water. Find out!
Interesting module to start the PC (bard) I intend to use for "Darkness over Daggerford". First time, I played an earlier version of the mod which was very generous with xp... and bugs. The current version is more balanced and allowed my PC to reach about 1100xp at the end. I don't think there's a way to reach the tall, stormy mountain mentioned by a few farmers for more xp. Some fights were difficult but the module offers a good choice of henchmen if need be. In comparison, the treasure level and opportunities to spend it are minimal. I appreciate the fact that people recognized the PC's actions, good or bad. However, the innkeeper at the Peak still explains the presence of road bandits by the lack of business although the problem has been solved. Also, is there a way to end the sidequest with Kevin Cogs and get rid of him if you meet him after getting the reward from his mother. My PC doesn't have any Silence or Hold Person spell in reserve!
Posted by Qobalt at 2006-07-2807:39:28
Although this module is small, there are 30 areas a player can go. Some depend on events. *** SPOILER *** List of All Areas in Module Trading Post Inn | > Outhouse | > By the Wayside | | Wagswood Forest _ | \ Underwell -----> Trade Pass | / | > Ruined Chamber Hulda's House __/ | | | Somewhere | in the World | Ashbourne | > Boater's Inn | > Cellar | > Private Room | > Diviner's Tower | > Mayoral Chamber | > Temple of St. Orlude's Light | > Outhouse | + Along The Way (possible night encounter) | | Inn-on-the-Peak | > Beer Cellar | > Private Room | Lower Dovedale (Cogs Farm, Speaking Fish Weir) | Upper Dovedale > Goblin Beer Cellar > Goblin Outer Cave > Guard Room > Cavern Maze > Big Dome Cavern > East Big Dome Cavern > Bat Cavern
Posted by Qobalt at 2006-07-2514:05:21
gmmaxon: I would be the first to say that in no way is my module perfect. I really appreciate you recognizing the fact that I did exactly what I set out to do: convert a PP module to NWN as faithfully to the original as possible given the toolset limitations. I agree that the Adventerer's Journal may have been unnecessary when there is already a Quest Journal. I wanted as much as possible to keep the Quest Journal uncluttered. The Dovedale PNP module had a large list of rumors said by many different NPCs, some false and some true. Since many of the rumors were not related to any quests I decided to put all the rumors in one spot. I suppose I could have made a "Rumors Heard" Journal entry but for me it was easier and more fun to do a separate journal. It also added a little extra "candy" to the module in my opinion, like the Wheel of Wherebeen and Blade of Pyros. The Dovedale PNP module stated that is was for non-evil players so I kept that in mind, hence the non-evil PC restriction. I made it really hard on evil players. **Spolier** For instance, if you try to steal the contents of Buddy's chest, or kill him or his dog, Johnson's Posse will come after you on horseback (horses simulated by galloping hooves). If the charge is serious enough you'll be hung by the neck until dead. Perhaps I, who tends to favor Paladins and LG Clerics, was a bit too zealous in that respect. Remind me never to enter politics. The intelligence restriction could probably have been lifted and I will not have that restriction in Halflingstead but I am strongly inclined to have dialog paths to simulate a less intelligent PC. Actually, I have quite a few ideas in mind to make playing a non-intelligent PC fun and a bit realistic. For instance, when attempting to buy things from a seedy merchant, the merchant will say "Oh, you are much too SMART for these things. Let me sell you some special stuff...heh-heh. The PC, if a DC is passed, will catch on to the deception and have the opportunity to punch his guts out, or perhaps a benevolent passer-by will step in and chastise the unscrupulous merchant. Lot of role-playing fun to be had there but I will make it evident that not being too smart (or too wise) has its drawbacks: NPCs cheating you, certain NPCs and especially nobles refusing to entrust you with complicated quests, or being outright rude: "Why don't you just run along, dimwit, and let someone with brains handle this." The PC will then have to find an intelligent henchman to be the spokesperson to get into the upper quests. People who are or perceived to be dumb have many doors closed on them out of pure assumption that the dumb person has no capacity to do anything but do dumb things. To get a module to reflect all that, however, requires A LOT of extra scripting. Maybe the simplest thing to do would be to have a graduating scale of experience to reflect a lesser intelligent PC not getting as much out of a situation as someone smarter to keep the scope manageable. I am, after all, a 1-man show and only so much can get done in time. As for mini-maps, most of the areas in the game are small. All the tutorials I read said large areas take a long time to load and it's boring walking around so much. In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to have a few big areas with some encounters to add more depth and action to the module. An oversight on my part, trying to stick too close to the PNP module. Unfortunately, "making it hard on myself" seems to be my lot in life. Example: as a teenager, a lady offered to pay me $10 to mow only the grass under her trees because the riding lawnmower she used could not get under the low branches without swiping her off. Her bad back prohibited her from using a push mower. I not only mowed under her trees but proceeded to mow large swaths of her lawn so she did not have to get within 15' of any tree, which meant I was pretty much mowing her whole yard. She flew out of the house waving, "No no no! DON'T MOW MY WHOLE YARD. Just mow UNDER THE TREES." I had it firmly in my mind I was going to mow so she did not have to get anywhere near the trees and she came out of the house again waving her arms shouting. It was a hot day and the mower quit working so I never was able to finish so I told her I could not finish the job and that there was no need to pay me. She just shook her head and that was that, wondering why I made it so hard on myself when all I had to do was just mow under the trees a little. Thanks for evaluating my module and for your input. Most people don't bother or seem to care.In anticipation of NWN2, I am at this time forming an outline of Halflingstead, getting the groundwork laid to make life easier later on.
Posted by gcmaxon at on07/25/06
Qobalt, I am voting a 10 not because your Mod was perfect but because your Mod did what you stated in your discription and objective. I will be looking forward to your expansion into "Halflingstead". BUT please give the player the option to play their own PC. Also I would like to see in your next Mod that the mini-maps are a little larger. I am not so sure you needed the journal beacuse the NWN game comes with one and also an opportunity for the player to make his/her own notes. (My opinion: "Stop making it hard on yourself."). Good luck and keep up the hard work and thanks for a great Mod. Just the facts from Max.
Posted by Qobalt at 2006-07-2005:55:03
Drexar_Heulbric, JonnyP: Very glad you enjoyed it AND thank you for voting. It means a lot really. It encourages me to undertake another project. I definitely plan a bigger and better module. I know this module is short because I had to work within the constraints of the original PNP module which was extremely short. In fact, had I only stuck with the original module without adding anything extra the module would have been over in 10 minutes. It came from Dungeon Magazine so the modules in there are really short but had really great plot ideas. When NWN2 comes out it is my plan to incorporate an enhanced and expanded Dovedale into a bigger module named Halflingstead. In that module I plan to provide for a Paladin to complete enough quests and such to get a warhorse and for a druid to battle for a place in the hierarchy. In making this module I learned, using elbow-grease and hard work, how to script and use the toolset. It took a lot of time but was a lot of fun. The hardest thing (for me) in making this module was getting the conversations and journal entries to match with all the actions of the player and to make sense while moving the story along. You have to check every detail about who spoke with whom and who did what or who did not do something. I also wanted to customize the resting to make it a little more realistic. THAT script was a bear to write because it actually runs twice and there is another portion for rest cancelled/interrupted. Cutscenes were also very difficult to script because of timing issues and camera angles. If the player does some things like clicking crazy all over the place zooming in and out just prior to the cutscene it can mess it up. As my first mod, I learned that the first thing you ought to do before doing anything is outline all the quests and write out all the journal entries first and tally the experience points. This will identify who the key NPCs are going to be. Then you should determine the ending and script out the finale, preferable with variable outcomes. In Dovedale there were only 2 outcomes: fight the goblins or negotiate. A whole new module could have been made based upon the player's choice at the end but a line had to be drawn somewhere to end it else it would have perhaps meandered on meaninglessly. The goblin caves alone could have opened doors to many other things and places. For instance, *spoiler* There is a goblin shrine deep in the goblin lair as well as an alchemy lab with a pet water moccasin whose venom is used for poison potions. So many ideas...so little time.
Posted by JonnyP at on07/19/06
A pleasant way to spend an hour or 2. Well thought out, well scripted, a little lightweight but enjoyable all the same. Some very nice ideas, I'd certainly be interested to see future installments.
Posted by Drexar_Heulbric at on07/02/06
Fun little mod; ditto other comments; thanks for making it.
Posted by Qobalt at 2006-06-2504:56:13
Vidal: thanks for reviewing my module. It really helps me understand how I am doing. It's like building something in a vacuum and you have no idea what the outside world will think. I think your rating and CountZero's rating is an honest and accurate assessment of this module. The module is definitely short. I took it from Dungeon Magazine which featured mainly short modules. Once you find the secret entrance in the Goblin Lair cave, you can either kill Fishbelly and wander into the caves to fight the clan or negotiate. The end. I have scripted out the "fight the goblins" scenario but even the module itself states "a fight in Bigdome Cavern should be short and brutal with all the PCs either killed or captured." Low-level chars will not win a fight with the goblins and Mrs. Cogs won't give extra experience or gold if you do but if you want a big fight, well, kill Fishbelly and go for it! After I finished the module I too noticed it could have used a few more quests, especially with Sevastus, but NWN2 is coming out soon and I did not want to be caught in the situation trying to release a new module when NWN2 debuted. Few people even now are downloading the module so I am "perty sure" when NWN2 comes out hardly any will even bother. Now with my feet wet I can focus on a bigger module. At first, this module was going to be part 1 in a 3-part series. Dovedale was going to be melded with Hommlet but being only 1 person with already a full-time job it wasn't going to happen this century. So, I decided to do a thorough job on a small module rather than, like so many modules I've tried here, do a big module halfway or finish part 1 and leave everyone hanging. Can you believe it took me almost 2 years to do this module in my spare time working in spurts? It was fun though!
Posted by Vidal at on06/24/06
A fine little Mod with beautiful areas and a decent plot. The conversations are good, and details like the outhouse early on, or the grumpy wizard, really help to balance the mood and are a nice touch. Actually, some parts of the story would benefit from being slightly longer and I agree the ending needs to be improved. But it is very good for a first module.
Posted by CountZero at 15:06:30 Voted8.50
I didn't try sleeping in the commom room; there was no need to health wise or time wise for that matter. However, as my char is in town I will give it a go. I did go into the outhouse first time round, but didn't try sitting down. I did see the graffiti on the wall though. Not entirely sure about it but... Anyway, for a first module, well done. Look forward to seeing more in the future. Tony
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