Neverwinter, on your successful return from giving Morag a well-deserved heave-ho.
Gameplay Length
5-7
Number Players
1
Language
English
Level Range
14-17
Races
Any Male
Tricks & Traps
Light
Roleplay
Heavy
Hack & Slash
Medium
Classes
Written mainly for Paladins, but any Lawful and/or Good character should work. It ought to be someone Aribeth would be interested in.
Scope
Part of Series
DMNeeded
No DM Required
Single or Multiplayer
Single Player
Max Character Level
17
Max # Players
01
Min # Players
01
Min Character Level
14
Content Rating
Everyone
Alignments
Lawful Good; Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral
Gameplay Hours
05
Description
This module is a continuation of the Official Campaign (OC) for Lawful and/or Good male characters interested in pursuing the Aribeth romance. Your character should have saved her at the end of the OC and believe that a fair trial will mean that she gets something other than the end of a noose - and, of course, he has some sort of romantic interest in her. HINT: It's not for everybody. Your chaotic neutral halfling thief will feel distinctly like a dork spouting half of this dialogue.
"eggerfry" - My regrets re the issues you encountered. I still owe the first two chapters a bit of a spruce-up, not least getting rid of the misleading final dialogue that indicates that the series is unfinished. The fact is that all three chapters are complete and I even toss in some what-became-of-them tableaus at the end. As I've said to others, it is extremely difficult to balance the fights so everybody is satisfied. Some people seem to think that if they don't die at least ten times, the fight is a walk in the park; others get annoyed at anything that gets in the way of the movement of the story. Since I'm inclined to agree with both, I'm always in a bit of an uncomfortable spot with respect to the fights in these modules. It also sounds as if I need to review some of the dialogue to make sure that I'm not popping in jarring references to people you haven't met. I think I tried to get the priest to encourage you to go visiting before starting the dungeon crawl. I know there might be an issue with certain journal entry scripts that fire upon picking up certain quest-related objects. The Bioware dudes did the same thing, though that's no excuse. I'll have a look. Much thanks for your kind comments about the module in general. It is always gratifying to hear from those who appreciated this stuff for what was intended to be its strength, the story and storytelling. All the best to you - DWM
Posted by majesticix at on08/15/10
Just finished up the complete story (Modules 1, 2, and 3). I will post in the 3rd and final module my full review, but needless to say, bravo. This closes the book on OC campaign and more importantly, the story of Aribeth. Superb game play. The last module is epic. I would encourage any of you who are considering this module, to play it. You will not be disappointed. A few very tough fights in the end, especially for a wizard, but made it through and saw this to the end. Glad I did. Look for final review on the 3rd module comments.
Posted by eggerfry at on08/14/10
Brief summary: I enjoyed this mod, which I found to be creative and entertaining, but not without its flaws. My two biggest complaints about the mod were the encounter level matching and the dialogue bugs. Most of the opponents were a bit easy, especially with 2 characters beating up on them. On the other hand, there were a couple of battles which erred on the other side of the spectrum. I question pitting a CR26 opponent against a lvl 16 character at the beginning of the mod ? seems a bit OTT to me... especially when you consider that, in this particular case, the character happens to be a pal3/sor13 and the CR26 opponent also happens to have an SR of 28 ? and a bagful of restores to counter my spell breaches. Let's just put it this way: I was relieved to find out that there are no xp/gold penalties for respawn in this module. Same type of complaint for the big baddie at the end. I will have nightmares for years now because of facing a CR30 opponent with my pal3/sor15 (if the nice people in the white coats don't come for me first and put my nightmares in a box). Hefty elemental immunity as well as immunity to all spells level 9 and lower?? Hmm... not really very sporting. Oh and look, he's back again, at full strength. And again. And again. And having ripped the door off it's hinges and destroying the *spoiler deleted* didn't seem to kill him either... and my elemental lasted just long enough to take the brunt of what came out of that timestop before I was hit with a Greater Ruin... Long story short, while I understand the premise that the baddie should be this type of creature (and even support it, because actually it makes perfect sense in this case), I question the creature's being an über epic-level baddie in its stats; a better approach might've been to keep the profile but tone down the stats. There were some major flaws in the dialogue logic. If the PC doesn't go around and talk to people before heading off into the dungeon, the dialogue trees should reflect that. (I ran around at the beginning of the mod and, finding all the doors plot-locked, didn't go around again). Running into NPC's who refer to dialogue which didn't take place is always off-putting for me, makes me feel like more of an amnesiac git than I really am. Having said that, I found the dialogue itself to be well-written ? if long-winded. My personal preference would've been to try to maintain the styles of speech used by the characters as they were in the OC rather than suddenly inducting all of them into the RSC, but I suppose that's more a question of personal preference ? especially when you consider how often Bioware themselves let modern-day "street-speek" slip into their dialogue, which tends to hit me like a cold slap in the face. I applaud the choice of making Aribeth a straight fighter. I'm an old-school DD'er (from even before the days of the "blackguard" class) and a Paladin stripped of virtue is a FIGHTER. 'nuf sed. Even though you could fault this mod as a "dungeon crawl," my personal view is that that doesn't degrade it at all. The fact is, it was a GOOD dungeon crawl. I found it to be well laid-out and, more importantly, it supports the story well. True, there was a HELLUVA lotta treasure ? a lot more than I'm used to, at any rate ? but, again, that may be a question of personal preference. I think one of the best aspects of the mod is also one of the most subtle. It's obvious the author took great pains thinking about how to knit together the various "official" storylines while still adding something original to the mix. Bravo ? well done here, I really enjoyed the way it all fits together! The story made sense, it entertained, and it flowed well. I was all set to get very sour at the end; I thought, "oh great, yet another UNFINISHED mod!" I was very relieved to find out that there is a sequel already out! I am downloading it as I write this, and am looking forward to finding out where all this leads. Kudos ? job well done. :-)
Posted by majesticix at on08/15/10
Like many others, the disappointment with the OC ending left me bitter and itching for a proper ending. Since I devoted a good many hours to completing the campaign, the story of Aribeth especially left my underwhelmed at the end. In fact, there was no conclusion. I was left with my woman in prison. I found myself on this site, with modules built by members who too, felt screwed. I played through Poecile's modules (which too, never really fully completed things, but it was damn close). It was enjoyable and fun, a good read. However, my cup wasn't filled. Perhaps I fell for Aribeth too much I guess. I decided to give this module a whack and see where the road takes me. I'm a few hours into this first module, not fully completed, and I am blown away by the poetry that you have so elegantly placed in these characters. I look forward to my evenings when I get a chance to live through this world. I think this is a superb continuation of the OC, and I can't wait to finish it. Some of the conversations may seem tiring, but I enjoy the spin you have placed in it and find it quite appropriate for the setting. The quests so far have been good, some new twists that the first OC didn't have. Vampires are quite cool, and although it seemed to get a bit buggy at the 4th level face off where I couldn't get the conversation to slay the vampires. Found the fix for it though, just draw a few vampires to one of the smaller coffin areas and will give you enough time to slay a few and get the dialogue to appear. FYI, I started playing NWN back in 2004 when I graduated college...and then life hit and never finished the game, nor touched it since about a month ago. I'm so glad I decided to give it another try, and glad I have found this module to quench my thirst for Aribeth (I don't know how some of these folks didn't fall in love with her). Also got me inspired to build my own modules. I used to build some old Duke Nukem levels, as well as a level designer for some MUD's back long long ago...when there was just text! Thanks again, I hope to leave some conclusive comments once I have completed the entire campaign.
Posted by The at on07/27/10
Most of my comments on Part 3 apply to 1 and 2 as well. Great story characters, good design, excellent quests and battles. I don't remember encountering any bugs in parts 1 and 2. Extraordinary stuff.
Posted by Delf at on07/26/10
See my vote on Chapter III for general comments on the series.
Posted by kordac at on06/20/10
I'm late to the NWN scene but I'm enjoying it a lot. I was a little unsatisfied with the Aribeth story arc in the OC so I thought I would see if any enterprising modder had finished it better. I see that you have, I enjoyed this module from start to finish and there is a very good story arc running throughout. Not many choices to be made but I feel the strong story makes up for it. Thank you for making this excellent addition to NWN
Posted by Daniel at 2010-04-2819:17:06
"Razide0506" - Thank you for taking the time to comment. As I've said before, this series is not for everyone. If I'm surprised by anything, it's the overwhelmingly positive tenor of most of the comments, which I'm not at all sure my work deserves. That said, I have a few responses, for what they're worth. The writing is obviously a tribute to Tolkien and I would be much more concerned if you identified issues with it in that respect. Since you apparently don't, I take your comments as reflective of your not sharing my taste in language, which is fair enough. I see no reason to change anything. I'm surprised that you find my NPCs univocally "completely forgiving" of Aribeth, given that none of them utters a peep that I recall against her being found guilty of Dereliction of Duty and banished for ten years. I also fail to see how this renders her "all but blameless for her actions". One issue is that, up through the trial at least, you are dealing almost entirely with an elite group of people fully aware of her circumstances and/or hand-selected to render a just judgement at the trial. The sort of attitudes you seem to want on display would simply not be allowed in the trial. Anyway, I don't see anything added by having vigilantes out to get her and frankly find that sort of thing trite. But maybe that's just me. As to Aribeth herself, if you can find any realistic way to make her the least bit pleased with or proud of her actions (which is what I'm guessing you mean by "conflicted"), I'm all ears. I couldn't without making her a completely different character, untrue to the one we meet in the OC. In any case, that would be a very different story from the one I'm interested in telling. If she's a "Mary Sue character", she's a borderline suicidal one. You're welcome to find that boring, I suppose, but I can't see how it's in the least unrealistic. Indeed - perhaps this is a self-indictment - I think her internal turmoil at receiving what she sees as an unjustly lenient sentence from her lawful liege lord whom she must obey creates more than sufficient drama for one module. And yes, her attitude carries over into the next module as well. Frankly, I doubt you'll be any more pleased with the next one, though you may have a different opinion of Chapter III. I don't blame you for not being in any rush. All the best to you - DWM
Posted by Razide0506 at on04/26/10
This is a decent module with a good story, plenty of action, and no bugs. Of course, the thing that stands out the most is the writing. The dialogue in this module is very well-written, with no spelling or grammar errors, and a richness and depth that you rarely find in other modules. Ironically, the writing, which is one of the best things in the module, was also one of the things I liked least about it. As a few others have said, the characters all tended to be very verbose, and there wasn?t much roleplaying early on, as there were few dialogue choices. However, the bigger issue for me is that the stylized dialogue felt so artificial that it kept me from connecting with the characters or becoming immersed in the game. I understand what the author was trying to achieve, and in that, he succeeded, but I think it was the wrong way to go. Simply put, no one talks that way, and what works in a novel or a play doesn?t work in this kind of a game ? at least, not for me. I didn?t expect the characters to talk in modern, colloquial English, but the overly-baroque dialogue meant that I never thought of these characters as ?real,? and thus couldn?t really get into the module. This problem was further compounded by the personalities of all the NPCs. With a few odd exceptions, everyone in this module loved Aribeth and were completely supportive of her and completely forgiving, and Aribeth herself was all but blameless for her actions, and completely remorseful and apologetic and so on. As a result, Aribeth came off as something of a Mary Sue character, while all the other NPCs ended up not being particularly distinct from each other. It would have been far more interesting, and believable, if some of the NPCs were suspicious, resentful, or outright hostile to Aribeth, and if Aribeth herself was somewhat conflicted, and gave the player some reason to question her motives. Finally, visually the module was ok, but not particularly interesting or memorable, and the combat wasn?t especially challenging for my 14th level paladin. Generally, it was just a matter of buffing, attacking, and occasionally using a healing potion. I really didn?t need to use much in the way of strategy or tactics. Now, all that being said, I didn?t dislike the module, and I don?t think it?s bad. I had a fairly decent time playing it, but it didn?t blow me away. Based on the ratings and comments, I guess I expected a lot more. I plan to continue on with the series eventually, but I don?t feel any urgency to do so.
Posted by Daniel at 2010-03-2405:49:35
"vlad755" - There's no alignment check. Evil/Chaotic characters won't get booted out. They'll just wind up saying a ton of out-of-character things for reasons I have given. There are also opportunites to move in a lawful/good direction. There's one little throwaway in the game that will move you in a chaotic direction if you do what Aribeth advises you not to, but I'd recommend against sticking with it for too long. For that matter, if you're into gender-bending, you could play a female character if you wanted, but again, everyone will assume she's a he, just as everyone will assume you're what I consider a reasonable alignment match for a paladin. Hope this helps and I hope you enjoy the module. Regards - DWM
Site
